Sunday, November 27, 2011

Winthrop and Bella

Malcolm sure does love his box.

Dozens of soft, comfy places around the apartment, yet he gravitates towards his Grocery Gateway delivery box, that sits on a hard table. I tried putting in a liner from one of the cat beds? He was having none of it, and was seriously offended. I removed it, and he resumed napping in his happy place.

I knit precious little over the summer. As you can well imagine. Most of what I did consisted of small, mindless projects. To be honest with you, I don't think anything I may have started during that time survived the wrecking ball. Either too ambitious, or not ambitious enough... Everything was in fits and starts.

I'd decided to do a little yarn stash re-org, which was very therapeutic. I thrive on organizing, reorganizing, and making things look organized. I'm weird that way. I figure it's a bit like Christmas, rediscovering yarn you'd forgotten about, and neglected projects you'd hidden away. A few of those neglected projects found their way back into my WIP bin. I was quickly reminded why I'd hidden them away in the first place. *sigh*

One of the forgotten yarn stashes I'd found was a bunch of "Felted Tweed Aran" from Rowan. Nice stuff - soft enough, good colours, and just enough of a wool content to keep my inner yarn snob satisfied. Of course - no clue why I'd purchased it in the first place. May have even been a gift, who knows?

So, I made this!

Cute, huh?! A pretty simple and easy knit, it's call "Winthrop". Interesting construction, knit in one piece from the bottom up. The sleeves are knit separately, then attached as you reach the underarm. From there, decreases are made at regular intervals by simple k2tog's until you reach the neckline. It makes a lovely A-line, swing jacket that fits very nicely! The neckline's a bit large for my liking, so I'll be adding a button or two up top to keep it from riding down my shoulders. It was a quick knit, I think I'd whipped it up in a couple weeks, give or take.

But that Felted Tweed Aran? One slippery yarn, let me tell you. Probably because of all of the (*gasp*!) viscose in it. Oh. And the other, uh, issue I have with this yarn? The 25-freakin' % angora. God love the little bunnies, but man oh man - never will I use a yarn with angora in it again, unless it's a yarn that has pictures of angora bunnies hopping around on the label. Sheds ridiculously.

But yay for a finished piece of knitting!

It's been exciting these past few weeks! Sasha, my neighbour Brian's dog, has a new baby sister!

Her name is Bella.


"Hi Bella, well aren't you just the cutest little ki..."

"STRANGER DANGER!! STRANGER DANGER!!"

"No Bella, I'm your Auntie Brigitte!"

"I need an adult!"


"Don't mind her, she's a bit...um...high-strung. And slow. No Bella, this is our Auntie Brigitte! She comes over in the evenings when Dad's at work to let me outside."


"Really?"

"Yes, really. Now say hello, and be nice."



"OK, Sasha. Hi Nice Lady! Don't mind the mess around here, Daddy's renovating!"



"Much better Bella. Now, Auntie Brigitte and I are going outside for a bit."



"You don't want to use my box, Sasha?"

"No. No...I'm good, kid."


"She's right behind me, isn't she? Going after my tail? Can we go now?"



"...eeeeeeeeheehee...!"

Now that she's used to me, she's a little cuddle-muffin, that Bella. She'll run up to the door when I come down in the evenings, and purr like a machine. She's so cute! And she'll

"Hey! Remember us?? HEY!! Mom! MOM! Dammit... Hey Brigitte!!"

Sasha, who had a few litters of puppies at a puppy-mill before being rescued, is very patient and gentle with Bella. And Bella? She sure loves her some Sasha! Sleeps with her, follows her around, plays with her tail. And Sasha just lets her. Once she gets tired of it, she'll put her in her place, much like she would have with her puppies. It's really something to see.

"I for one would like to meet this Bella. She sounds cute."

"You're not helping, Gandalf!"

"So, can I come up and hang out with you and the dudes for awhile, Auntie Brigitte? You know...at least until Bella's finished running around and falls asleep?"

I have some major cleaning to do today. Brian ripped out some walls yesterday, and I now have a fine layer of dust in my kitchen and living room. Ugh. Time to bring out Mr. Scary (the vacuum), and Mrs. Less-Scary-But-Not-By-Much (the steam mop). The guys are gonna love that.

Have a great Sunday everyone!

7 comments:

Bridget said...

Love the color of the sweater!

Bella is adorable, and I think it's so cool that she and her pup sibling are such good friends.

Glad you resurfaced, I've been hoping that things are going OK for you.

Lorraine said...

Brigitte- I miss dogs. And Bella sure is cute, but kittens always are.

I haven't been impressed with Rowan yarns- I find them overpriced, and not usually great quality. Rowan is not what it used to be.

But I agree- yay for a finished sweater.

Chris said...

Oh, that top is cute! I refuse to knit with bunny fur, too - makes my eyes itchy. But I'm told it's very, very warm.

Bella's adorable!

Lynn said...

Bella is adorable!!!! How wonderful Sasha is with her.

And funny how Malcolm is with his box. Tiger is the same with her box. Wants no blankets or anything soft in the box. Just her. On the hard night stand. Wont even come on the bed.

Winthrop is NICE!!! Was it worth the $7?

mrspao said...

Yay, your back! Love the sweater and your cute neighbors. Bella is tiny!!

Carrie#K said...

You have an FO!! I am so jealous.

Bella is adorable and Sasha is an angel. I remember when Malcolm was that size! Long long ago. He has the same coloring as my bonus kitty, Tony.

No more knitting with angora unless bunnies come with it? Gandalf would like that.

miyamojo said...

Doggie!! Sasha is cool.

Hooray for you! I wish I could finish something... anything... a sentence even. :P