Sunday, April 22, 2007

My Opinion On Cotton

With emphasis on *my*!

I've been working away on this -


"Peace", by Kim Hargreaves. Don't get me wrong, I love Kim Hargreaves, I always have. And this is a lovely design. It's knit with Rowan Handknit cotton. I mentioned in the previous post that I actually don't mind this cotton too much. I'm normally not a fan of working with cotton, but I found the Rowan Handknit to be quite nice, and the stitch definition is lovely. It's good quality cotton, without a doubt.

Where I lose it? Finishing. Finishing is just part of the process, and I neither like or dislike it. However, with cotton? It drives me *mental*. I was ready to chuck the thing, or start using it as a rag to clean my windows. No matter how hard I tried, it was near impossible to get a half decent seam! It looks bumpy, increases/decreases stick out like a sore thumb, and the yarn piece used for seaming "pulls" if you so much as tug on it. The seam looks crooked, regardless if I used mattress or backstitch. Cotton has NO give. At all. OK, I'm sure if I were to work a bit more in cotton, things would be better. But I'm a wool girl. Wool is flexible, forgiving, and in my opinion, softer. I love my wool, *sigh*...

So. This is being done for someone else, but this will be the end of my cotton experience. I think I may have to go through my stash and see what I have...

Stick to what I'm comfortable with...wool! Look here -

A lovely shot of Amphora, basking in the lovely spring sunshine. Her sleeve is coming along nicely. I worked on her yesterday, but didn't get as much done as I'd hoped. You know how there are days when you're just all thumbs?! Yeah. That was me.

OK. I have a bit of a confesion to make. Nothing serious. I do not own an air conditioner. It gets hot here in the summer. And, my main sitting/TV room faces west, and can get VERY hot in the late afternoon/evening as the sun begins to set. Every year I get through the summer, and say - next spring, get an air conditioner, you dummy! And every year, I forget. But not this year! I'm getting one - primarily so I can keep working with my beloved wool. Oh, and the cats will be more comfortable. And me. But mainly for the wool. I love you, wool.

Priorities.

Reason #1085 To Love Atticus

I lay down the other day for mid-afternoon snooze, and left the bedroom door open so the Little Dudes could come in and snooze on the bed if they wanted to. Normally, Gandalf will, Mae will creep in sometime during the night, but Atticus? Hardly ever. Just the way the little man is, and always has been.

I tend to get nightmares, I have for most of my life. I'm not sure why - anxiety, stress, an over-active imagination? Probably all of them. On this particular occasion, I was having a doozy of a dream. I know I was in the half-awake, half-asleep zone. In my dream, I kept telling myself that this was so weird and creepy, I knew had to be dreaming, but when I would try to wake myself up, I'd find myself to already BE awake. In my dream. OK.

I started feeling someone poking at my head. Poke. Push. Poke. Push. Push. I finally woke up, a bit confused, to find Atticus on the bed next to me, trying to wake me up.

"Meeerrrooorrrwwww Mom?"

I got up, and he jumped off the bed, looked back at me, and went back to his sleeping spot, and just fell back asleep. He didn't want to be fed, didn't want to play, or want attention. He just wanted to wake me out of what he must have sensed was a bad dream.

*sniff*

I challenge anyone who does not think animals possess the capacity for love and caring, or can sense beyond what we allow ourselves to see and feel in this plastic world of ours, to spend a day with Atticus. He'll change your mind.

"Aw shucks Mom! You would have done the same for me!"

12 comments:

Lorraine said...

Bridge- He is a special Kitty.

Could I make a suggestion? When you're sewing up with cotton, split the yarn, and it won't be so bulky.

I know, your cotton days are over.

Marina said...

Yay for air-conditioners! I tried that switch to cotton and silk in May but failed miserably :-( It's wool for me all year round!

That Atticus is one clever kitty! So glad you have him to look after you.

Sonya said...

I lived for years without AC until I got married. Now I don't know how I survived without it. Amphora seems to be enjoying spring.

Anonymous said...

Amphora is so pretty in the natural light. Atticus is such a sweetie for taking care of his Mom. I believe kitties ARE capable of sensing things. Meems has been there on so many occasions to cheer me up. She takes care of her Mom in her own little kitty way.

Victoria said...

Your kitt is AWESOME! Yeah Atticus!

I truly believe the the furry children of the world...when loved and cared for become connected to us in such a way that they become intuitive...they have some deep sense of what we need....when I am sad or upset my little dog KNOWS it ...and he will quietly come up next to me and just cuddly next to me and watch me....give me little kisses and just be...one of my kittes (Nani) will follow me around and watch me when I am upset and if I sit down climb in my lap and then put a paw on my face as if to say..."there there it will be ok"

Animals do love and they know when you need it the most!

Chris said...

Aw, Atticus, what a good boy!! :)

Hmm, would sewing up with complementary embroidery floss help? I try to avoid anything that requires sewing up, so...

Yay for the air conditioner! Black kitties are particularly done in by the heat...

Brenda said...

Amphora is looking so lovely!

Yay for Atticus! I get nightmares, too, so I can appreciate his waking you up! Give him a little scritch behind the ears from me!

Anonymous said...

I so feel with you about the cotton! I've been working a lot with cotton as it's my fave material for summer tops and the likes, but I definitely share your opinion when it comes to finishing - it just doesn't work well with cotton, and it gets so frustrating indeed! I have to agree with Lorraine here, the splitting-the-yarn-thing works best with cotton, the sewing won't get so thick and bulky then.
Gosh, and yay for air conditioners! We don't have one either - air-conditioning for private homes is still considered an immense luxury in Austria, something "we just don't need". Huh? Yeah, right on - with temps way over 30C in April and lots hotter than in Southern Europe I wonder how any one could not "need" that - I do, actually ;)
And what can I say - yay for Atticus! ;)

Anonymous said...

Awwwwwwwwww for Atticus!

I agree with everything you say abut cotton.

Nicole said...

I've never done any major work with cotton (actually, the closet I've gotten is crochet thread for doilies, which has a whole different point, anyway) and so I can't really comment on my opinion. But I don't think I could imagine knitting up a fabric that was anything like my doilies turn out and being happy with it.

Cotton socks are in order. That should give me some sort of idea without being too huge a project. :)

Anonymous said...

Aw, that was so sweet of Atticus, looking out for his mum. He did it to wake you up and get you out of the bad place. Couldn't convince me otherwise.

You're knitting Peace for someone else? Splitting the cotton makes sense though.

Air conditioning. I lived without it for years. Now I have no idea how I survived.

Amphora's looking good!

Anonymous said...

Reading your post was so cathartic. Substitute "Debbie Bliss sweater" for "Cotton" in your post and it could be me...I love what you said about using it for a dishrag because that is how I feel at the moment!

I think that gray striped kitties with white vests and paws are especially gifted at understanding their persons, but I could be biased. Ours senses our stress from a bad workday and will start to pace and yowl until we calm down too. He developed IBD, and my husband has it...coincidence? :) Anyway, I'm glad that Atticus woke you up out of that dream. He's a treasure.