Knits With Cats

Dry land cotton farmer in West Texas

Ranch hand / cowboy / farmer in Central and West Texas until his mid-40s, then worked oil leases in West Texas

That's beautiful! Love the colors! You can tie it, or put a button, or wear it with the point in front, or criss-cross the points on the shoulder and pin it - so many options.

As bad as cigarette smoke. New housekeeper helper reeks - I can smell her when she comes into the downstairs mud room; she swears she quit smoking months ago. I disagree!

A triangular shawl in shades of emerald green with flashes of gold and white. The pin is wooden from Ukraine, painted with yellow and lavender flowers.

Finally learned an easy way to wear a triangular shawl easily all day - don't laugh, I'm sure every other knitter knows this! I like to wear shawls like cardigans, here's how. Drape it over my shoulders with a bit of a collar, overlap fronts a bit, and use a pin or shawl pin to hold it closed. Done!

Body let me get to sleep about 4:45 am, and I got about 3.5 hours. It's a bit light but my only obligation is playing mah jongg and they understand about this - we've all got something!

I have enough yarn (at last inventory before we moved 6+ years ago) to knit more than 100 adult sweaters and 200 pairs of socks. I still buy the special yarn because tastes change. We won't talk about fabric, embroidery stuff, beads, books, etc. If it makes one happy it's necessary. No guilt.

You don't have *that special yarn* at home, do you?

I was at the bank for 15 years- longest anywhere - and delayed my retirement several times over 2 years because we couldn't find a replacement. Finally divided my teams under leads and put each team group under a different manager. Not ideal, but my teams and leads were self-sufficient.

Manos del Uraguay yarn still exists, still beautiful, still expensive. Available through Jimmy Beans and other resellers.

That list was really dumb - I rolled my eyes so hard they almost got stuck.

Yeah. Due here around 1 pm. It can stop any time, really.

According to Fitbit I got to sleep about 4:45 and slept off and on until about 9:15 for about 3.5 hours. Thanks to SO for understanding. Today will be a little tough, but not terrible and my knees feel better.

3:30 and still awake. Now I'm hungry too, so I had a granola bar, then broke out the Cheddars. I'll be placing another order to British Foods in Boston tomorrow for more! Back in the recliner with a heating pad and heated throw, but I'm not cold, just awake and very alert. Time to read or knit.

Just after 1 am, still wide awake. Working NYT word puzzles, all 3 xwords complete. Turned on the slow rain sounds, got into bed with the CPAP - the rhythmic breathing often puts me to sleep in less than 10 minutes - we'll see. Ate too many Ghirardelli chocolates, Cheddars and Garibaldi's were next.

Thank you!

Birthday month treat, day 2: signed up for the 2026 Quiltfolk BOM - Botanical is the theme. I haven't made any of the 2025 BOM blocks yet although I have fabric picked, but this one really spoke to me. 1 class per month starting in April, 1 block per class. Should be fun!

My mother made something like this in the 60s, and we kids called it dog food! Ground beef, onions, rice, and cream of chicken (or celery) soup. Guy I was dating stayed for dinner one night and *loved* it - when we got engaged had to promise to make dog food for him! Would have, but we never married

Angelina, designed by Joan McGowan Michael. Fun to knit, very clever, flattering as all get out. I'm a klutz and those sleeves would have been dipped in the punch bowl or dragged through the salsa for sure. Sweater is a redesigned 40s bed jacket style, 2x2 ribbing with deep lace cuffs, hem and wrap edges made in ivory mohair yarn.

7 balls of ivory mohair 2-ply yarn, varying sizes. 2 are about 6" in diameter, 4 are about 3" in diameter, 1 is 2" in diameter. Lime green bordered phone for scale (it's old and about 6" long). I'll have to check the pattern, seem to recall it's about 1800 yards.

Yesterday while "watching" Nascar with SO I finally unraveled a mohair sweater and it was much easier than expected! I loved the sweater design (Angelina); it's been finished for 10+ years and never worn! Too fancy, and I'd drag those cuffs through the guac for sure! 🧶#ShowMeYourKnits lace edition

Cortisone shots in my knees this afternoon so I'm expecting difficulty sleeping tonight. I have books, games, and projects planned to occupy my time if I can't sleep (so I won't be frantic) and if I do sleep it's a miracle! Either way, I'm not gonna sweat it because it will be fine.

There is a nuclear power plant on the coast in Seabrook; it's close to Boston. There are also 2 power plants in CT and 2 (besides Seabrook) in the Boston area.

As an fyi, the Danish yarn company Hobbii is no longer majority Danish owned. It was purchased by private equity firm Verdane.

They had recently purchased Schachenmayr yarn company; this is likely less than optimal.

Virtually no info; believed to be tankers for air support. WMUR headline has all that info - nothing in the article!

Mine does that too but it branched out this weekend. Today I unraveled a sweater and rewound the yarn. Fitbit said I did 40 minutes ox aerobics for 17,935 steps! Yesterday's laundry folding was 20 minutes of dancing. Fitbit thinks I have a more interesting life than I really do.

4 bottles of glittery metallic nail polish. From left to right gild glitter, yellow glitter, rust glitter, and gold metallic- that's my favorite! There's a sage green towel in the background and the granite bathroom vanity counter in the foreground.

Birthday month treat, Day 1: Noticed my favorite nail polish is getting gloppy and the bottle is almost empty. It's probably 10 years old, so I found a replacement on eBay; even came with 3 other colors I might like!

If they want to so anything here surely they'd start with MAL, military bases, or major cities.

3°F at 6 am tomorrow, if we're lucky. Next week it might be above freezing - this winter has been pretty awful.

A completed jigsaw puzzle on a green surface. The puzzle is the Summer version from the Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady series, and features flowers, birds, and flying insects seen in summer. There are pink foxgloves, purple thistles, apple blossoms, daisies, wild roses, bees, birds and other bits of nature on a background of shades of cream and beige.

Finally finished this lovely 1000 piece puzzle last night! Winter, Spring, and Summer have been completed, just Autumn to go. I usually work on puzzles in Winter when laundry is drying (so I don't forget and let it wrinkle) but I might continue into Spring for laundry management purposes.

I'm glad you're feeling a bit better. Pain is a real bitch.

...it my anvil. The treadle and 50s machine were "rescues" and need maintenance, which I'll do this summer. The new Singer is good for denim and I might try it for upholstery, although the Brother works fine for that too. Ooh - just got email from Missouri Star! Gotta check it out!

I have 4 machines: a new heavy duty Singer, an old treadle machine, a 50s machine, and the Brother machine with built-in cams that my dad bought used and gave to me on my 19th birthday in 1972. I prefer the Brother - made tailored suits, coats, evening gowns - it's metal and weighs a ton. I call...