MEMORANDUM

TO: Louie, a.k.a. "Killer"
FROM: Sharri, a.k.a. "The Lady Who Lives Here Too"

Have you ever noticed that sometimes it feels like things are shifting beneath your feet?

It's because I'm MAKING THE BED.

In future, could you please stay off it until I've finished? I do not enjoy removing you from said bed in order to complete this task. Nor do I enjoy doing it five times. Please take the hint.

I will appreciate your consideration of this matter.

P.S. Also, please quit tracking sand between the sheets. It itches.

So much to love!

So, it's Valentine's Day and I have lots of love in my life: my dear, sweet Husbeast, my Mom, my friends & family all over the place. A cat who loves snuggles & chin skritches. I have a fulfilling career and  hobbies to nurture. I am grateful. I hope for everyone today that they're with someone they love or doing something they love.  My love and I have been married nearly 7 years now, and every day I love him more. Cynic that I am, I'm glad I get to be a cynic with him. Here we are, the night before our wedding. We had a duckpin bowling party, instead of a rehearsal dinner, so that's why the matching shirts. 'Cause we're a team! Yay, team!

My plans for today involve taking the cat to the vet for his annual shots. I meant to do it last week, but, really, when you get right down to it, what's a better way to show your pet you love it than to ensure its vaccinations are up-to-date? (Louie would say tuna in gravy would be a better way to say it, but he doesn't speak English, so he'll just have to suck it up. He's going to be in a sulk for the rest of the day, anyway.)

I also plan to do a little knitting today, in between loads of laundry & grocery shopping. Yesterday, Husbeast & I went to Indianapolis to meet up with a friend of his from high school. On the way, we stopped at the outlet mall in Edinburgh, where I bought some jeans and running pants. Then we went on a trek to check out the local yarn shops. I already knew that Broad Ripple Knits wasn't open on Sundays, but I didn't check the store hours for Knit Stop. We found out when we got there that they don't have Sunday hours. We eventually ended up at Mass Avenue Knits, in the Fountain Square neighborhood, about half an hour before they closed.

It was a really big space, with a lot of yarn all over the place. I couldn't really figure out the organizing principle for the shop, but it seemed that woolly-type yarns were along one side, that there was a little section for baby-type things, another for sock-related things and areas for non-wool things, bags, buttons. There was a longish table where a few people were knitting, strewn with ephemera, completely chaotic. I think if I were a regular at that shop, I might have gotten used to it, but my rigid little brain, which likes organizing & categorizing things, really had difficulty focusing on the yarn. I wanted to straighten & clean the place from top to bottom! I think I saw a lot of Malabrigo, Cascade & Plymouth yarns. There was a lot of everything. I ended up with just one little skein of Classic Elite Alpaca Sox, which will eventually become a well-loved pair of socks for me.

We still had some time to kill before we had to be in Greenwood for dinner, so we went to Broad Ripple to see if there was anything interesting there. It's been more than 15 years since I lived there and while many things about the neighborhood have changed, there wasn't anything I was willing to get out of the car for. Husbeast found a record store to investigate, so he went in while I stayed in the car, knitting away on the Milo socks. With all the driving we did yesterday, I must have completed about 3 inches of it! I got through the gusset shaping and now I just have to get enough length on the foot to fit the Husbeast.

Before dinner, we found a bookstore, where I got Wild Color, a book about natural dyes & dyeing techniques. I have been thinking about trying to dye my own fiber, so this book will be a good start. It appears to be comprehensive and authoritative, so I'm looking forward to it. Maybe a little indigo will end up in our garden this year.

After dinner in Greenwood, we headed for home, arriving well after dark to a hungry, lonely cat. It was nice day. The Husbeast was a great sport for doing all that driving. What a great valentine!

Our Basement is Cold.

How cold is it? It's so cold, my husband wears his fleece jacket & hat when he's there. It's so cold, we switched to powdered laundry detergent, because the liquid stuff barely poured. It's so cold, the Wii Fit shivers. Okay, so I made up that last one, but, seriously, it's really freaking cold down there. It might have something to do with the perimeter of the house being uninsulated (it's an old house). Or that the basement windows are drafty as all get out. Whatever. It's cold.

Since it's so cold down there, I decided that we needed a really warm afghan to snuggle under. You see, the basement is where the big TV is, and if I want to be able to read the subtitles when I'm watching The First 48 (don't you judge me), that's where I need to be.

Enter Jared Flood. (And, Jared, if you ever see this, you're totally welcome to come visit. If you happen to be in town, let me know. We have a guest room & a sleeper sofa. And bourbon.) As soon as I saw his Umaro pattern, I knew I had to make it. Nevermind that it calls for size 15 needles or 13 skeins of super bulky yarn. This blankie had to be mine. Thanks to my friends at The Knit Nook, I was able to special-order the yarn and I cast on a few days ago.

Since Monday, those three balls of yarn have become this:

This pattern is beautifully written and charted. I was able to get into a groove very quickly, and it seems like the stitches just about make themselves. Even after just this little bit, it's keeping my lap nice & cozy as I progress. The yarn, Cascade Lana Grande, is soft & squishy - and apparently irresistable to cats. Here's my cat, Louie, diving into my knitting bag:

I don't what it is about this yarn, but I think he is compelled to rub his face all over it. So enthusiastically that there was actual cat drool on it. I even began to worry that he would somehow felt the blanket and the yarn in the ball. It's nuts. In the past his taste has been for alpaca & cashmere. I'm pretty surprised at how ape-y he went for the 100% Peruvian Highland Wool. I don't think I'll ever understand the feline mind.

Aside from the new blankie, I've made modest progress on the Milo socks. No pictures, since it's only about an inch since the last photo I published. I'm also about to start some charity knitting, for Save The Children's Caps for Good program. It looks like they're looking for 12" diameter caps for newborn health programs in Africa, Asia & South America. The deadline is February 28, so there isn't much time. I'll knit up as many as I can and send them off. I couldn't find out whether that deadline is for shipping or arrival, but I'll do my best to get them there in time. I have lots of superwash merino that would love to warm the head of a newborn!

Well, I guess that's all for now. Stay warm, y'all.