Ten Things, Relatively Random

Ten random things (meme stolen from Knotty Mouse)

1. Magazines subscribed to - Time Out New York. Like Mouse, I would like to someday renew my subscription to BUST magazine, and would love to subscribe to Craft (craftzine.com).

2. Aside from knitting, my favorite pasttimes are - spinning (hm...haven't done that in awhile), working on my blog (not that you can tell from my prolonged puter absences, hehheh), taking walks in the city, doing crosswords, watching the telly, going to the movies.

3. If I were not a dilettante (insert your own profession), I would be - a dilettante. Why, oh why can't this be a viable way to make a living? I really ought to have been independently wealthy.


4. I am irrationally worried about - being stabbed to death in the shower.

5. If I were the opposite sex - I wouldn't be terribly handsome, but I'd spread my knees apart so I'd take up a lot more room on the subway, and I'd scratch my crotch with happy abandon.


6. The thing I miss most about childhood is - I don't. I tell everyone I'm nine years old anyway--and they usually believe me.

7. I like to collect - nothing really anymore. I used to collect lots of things, from cat figurines to postcards to art books, but recently I've pared down my life and I'm happy about that. Lately I've been trying to collect sock yarn to make monster hats, but that's different, because I only want it so I can use it up.

8. Though I’ve never been there, I feel inexplicably homesick for - Scotland


9. I’ve never really liked to eat - most kinds of holiday cookies. They're usually too hard and dry. I really only like chocolate chip, or molasses or peanut butter if they're soft.

10. When I have nightmares, they’re usually about - driving (even though I don't have a car anymore). In the dream, I don't quite have complete control of the car and have to somehow stop it without hurting anyone, crashing, or hurting myself...hm! I also have apocalyptic war dreams where the entire city is being destroyed in a huge invasion--by land, air, and sea, and everything is exploding--those are truly awful.

A better place to be if the world is going to end?
That is, if I don't get stabbed to death in the shower first.

Cool Cat Stuff

I found a few things on etsy today that I thought you might enjoy as much as I did. Like these organic catnip eyeballs...



...And these Huggy Buddy cat pillows, also filled with organic catnip and rattly beads and jinglies.

If you like those sleek, mod cat beds on moderncat.net, you should see the ones at Like Kittysville, "A swank pad for your hep cat or mini dog." Vintage fabrics, great design, good price, and they come apart for washing. So cool.

Don't knit? Mojo Place's Grandma Gooch will knit your cat (or dog) their own pet holiday stocking (or even a whole pet blanket, and you won't believe the low price, either). Cute catnip toys, too--like a snake and a hedgehog.
But maybe you need something just for you...

...Like this tee from PengCath. (Note that Clever Kitty is not to be confused with Bad Kitty, Wonder Kitty, Pretty Kitty, Moustache Kitty, Spoiled Kitty, or Pirate Kitty).

PengCath, an illustrator, also has a great holiday card. She says, "I created this card several Christmases ago to honour my kitty Suki's first Christmas. Doesn't she look so thrilled?"
And guess what? I think I found my Christmas cards at crankycats. Now I can rest easy for the remainder of the holiday season. Doesn't this pretty much say it all?

Kittyville-Inspired Wristwarmer Pattern

Kittyville-Inspired Wristwarmers

I made these wristwarmers to match my Kittyville hat. They’re a quick and easy one-skein knit, and you’ll love them even if you don’t have a hat with cat ears to go with them. This will be the third winter for my pair, and they’re still going strong.

SIZE: S [M, L]

MATERIALS: Worsted weight yarn. I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease Worsted in Black, less than one 197-yard (180 m) skein.

If you want the fuzzy trim, I used Moda Dea Aerie in black, because that was what was on sale. You only need a few yards for the trim.

1 set US #6 double-point needles for the worsted
1 set US #7 double-point needles for the fuzzy yarn (or adjust size as needed for the trim)

GAUGE: 20 stitches = 4 inches (10 cm) in stockinette stitch with worsted on US size 6 needles

NOTE: I worked these on double-pointed needles from the wrist up. Since I used 1 3/4 inches (4.5 cm) of fuzzy yarn on the bottom of my Kittyville Hat (and the back of the ears), I used the same fuzzy yarn on the bottom of the wristwarmers. You could just as easily work the bottom 1 3/4 inches of the wrist in seed stitch as the Kittyville pattern calls for (or even 1 x 2 rib) instead.

They could also be worked to any length you desire.

DIRECTIONS: Cast on 40 [44, 48] stitches and divide the stitches among your needles. If you’re beginning with fuzzy yarn for the cuff, use appropriate gauge needles and cast on with the fuzzy yarn. Join and work 1 3/4 inches (4.5 cm) seed stitch for the cuff.

If you’re using fuzzy or novelty yarn, you can be lazy like me and work the cuff in garter rib instead of seed stitch.

Switch to worsted yarn and size 6 needles. Continue in stockinette stitch until wristwarmer is 6 1/2 [7, 7 1/2] inches (16.5 [17.8, 19] cm) long, or about 1 inch (2.5 cm) from desired length.

On the next round, make a buttonhole. I found a 7-stitch buttonhole to be about the right size. This buttonhole is a really good one, very comfortable and stands up to a lot of wear. (It looks confusing, but it's not so bad if you just follow the directions through.) Make buttonhole and finish the round.

Continue with 3 more rows of stockinette stitch, then 4 rows of seed stitch.

Bind off. Make sure to bind off loosely, or the wristwarmer will be too tight around your palm. Work in ends. Voila!

The Vee Word

Now that I've moved from that rural area back to an urban one, I suppose this is still just as relevant. You can skim it to get down to the good'n'relevant part. *grin*

I'm just sayin.

New Money Shot

If you haven't visited my new blog yet, please do. It's a blog called The Money Shot, and it's about living within your means...or perhaps about how I've learned to live within mine. Not without a lot of help, mind you, but I'm getting there.

Today there's a new post up, Plastic Attack, Principle #2: Use Cash.

Posts you may have missed:

Therapy for Retail Therapy
Principle #1: Know Your Poison (or, It's All about "More")
Welcome to the Money Shot

'Twas Hallowe'en

We had one Trick-or-Treater in the form of our niece, dressed as this adorable Abby Cadabby. In case you're not up on this sort of thing, Abby Cadabby is a fairy-in-training from Sesame Street and she came wand in hand and pumpkin a-swinging.

Here's I am with my Boy Wonder. We went into Manhattan, where Halloween is far more a holiday for adults than children. Everywhere we were greeted with "Hey! It's Batman and Robin!"--okay, so they didn't recognize that the skirt probably meant I was Batgirl--and once a Batman even threw his arms around my Robin and shouted, "Robin, at last I've found you!" We went out dancing at The Pyramid, one of my favorite clubs as it has several '80s dance party nights a week and where I had to scrape the boys off of Robin with a stick. It was a great way to spend an All Hallow's Eve.

Let Sleeping Cats Lie

All the festivities wore Morgan and Isis out, and I found them with paws intertwined on the bed.

Now on to November, with turkey to eat and other holidays and such to wear us out. Thank goodness for the bounty of a good, long nap.