The Nator's Gone

Missing. Vanished without a trace. On a late June morning, The Nator wasn't at the front door when I woke up. An APB was put out, neighbours were called, sheds and barns were searched, but within 2 days, I realized he wasn't coming back. Nator never strayed far, and had never gone AWOL before.

Nator came to us 3 years ago. During an early summer drive, we happened upon a young orange cat, soaking wet, obviously abandoned in the middle of nowhere, and when we rolled down the car window to check the little guy out, did we ever get an earful! That's how little Howard, who later became the Howarnator for his Terminator-like tendencies, made his introduction.

We brought Howard the Howarnator home, and he made his presence quickly felt. Unlike BobCat, who cheated on us with various neighbours, Nator never roamed.

He never liked other cats. He tolerated our females, Schatzie and Popina, but tormented poor BobCat, who neurotically licked himself half-bald because of Nator's merciless attention. He shadowed poor BobCat, and try as we might, we couldn't find a home where the Nator could live as a single cat. One of our friends tried to adopt him, but within a day at his new house, the Nator stopped eating and became lethargic and lifeless. It was pretty obvious Nator wanted to be our cat. We brought him home the next day.

You could count on Howard to provide comic relief:


I am here to tell you, this guy was a ham. With pets, you sometimes get the feeling they understand and relate to you on a different level. Well, Howarnator was that kind of cat. A recycled soul in a furry body.

No one liked suitcases more than Howard:

No one liked boxes more than Howard:

And no one liked day-dreaming about the bird or mouse that got away more than Howard:

Like Cooper, Howard was a foreman in his own right. He watched, inspected, and distracted:

One day, Howard came home with what the vet best described as heavy-metal disease:

His ears were bloody, one eye was swollen shut, a patch of fur the size of a dime was missing on his forehead, and one of his front teeth was knocked out. In all likelihood, he'd had a run-in with a car or tractor, because he'd wake with a start when he heard cars zooming by, or heavy equipment driving past. I hoped this run-in meant he had earned extra street-smarts, and if the road wouldn't get him, he'd live a good long life.

Nator just wanted to be near us. Here he's helping with the upstairs renovations by finding a good resting spot on the drop-cloths. He'd make himself at home, and despite the noise and dust, he would fall asleep anywhere.

Nator could do a smashing Zombie impression. I don't know why he'd sleep like this, but he did it quite a few times. I think he was channeling a past incarnation.

Howard has joined the ranks of cats who find their way to our door and into our hearts. Cats we take in without question, have vaccinated, spayed or neutered, and who we love and cherish. Some, like our 25 year-old Schatzie, chug along, and others, like Howard, spend far too little time with us.

Godspeed, little Nator. I hope our paths cross again.

More Lopi Success - The Love Affair Continues

The 4 skeins of Létt-Lopi I had ordered were to make myself a pair of felted flower-power slippers. While making the kid's version, I entertained thoughts of making myself a black pair with gray, black and silver flowers. I wasn't quite sure how to go about making them, so I scaled up the kid's sizes using a linear calculation. (I should also add I only ended up using 2 skeins, having about 2 or 3 metres of wool left from each skein. That means I get to make another pair!)

I reasoned (hoped!) that the shrinkage would be proportional. It was. I used a provisional crocheted cast-on, casting on 46 sts on 4.5 mm needles. I increased 2 x 2 stitches in the middle of my first and third knit rows, for a total of 50 stitches. I wanted to create a rounded heel, and was successful using this increasing technique. Observe:

After 50 rows of knitting back and forth, I now started to knit in the round. To do this, I cast on 6 stitches that would form the bridge on the top of my foot, for a total of 56 stitches (14 on each needle). I then knit in the round until I had completed 36 rounds. I decreased the toes like I do for normal socks, using K2tog and SSK's until I had 4 sts left on each needle.

I grafted the toe stitches together, and removed my crocheted chain (tip: use slippery yarn!) so I could also graft the heel stitches together. I didn't want an uncomfortable sewn seam at the back of each slipper, and this was the only way I could think to do this. This extra effort made for a completely seamless slipper. (Before felting, always make sure your ends are well sewn-in and trimmed.)

Here's the before: (Appreciate the rounded heel, please!)


And here's the after, pre-trimming:

Before trimming, the are mega-fuzzy. Observe:

Has a nice Yeti look to it, doesn't it? They're almost terrifying! For what it's worth, I wear North American size 8.5/9 or Euro 39 shoes.

I trimmed the fuzz using my trusty Olfa scissors. (Seriously, if ever you see these scissors at the store, ignore the hefty price tag and buy a pair. You won't be disappointed, I promise).

Here's the end result:

I am really pleased with them! They are as pretty as I had imagined, and I had fun combining lots of odds and ends to crochet the little flowers. I used pearls and silver beads to decorate each crocheted flower.

Check out this little detail I found at the bead store:

The little silver hands say HAND MADE. I LOVE IT!

I still have to treat the soles with the Super-Grip spray, but there's always later for that. This is the pair of slippers I plan to take along to friends' houses when visiting. My "home" slippers (clogs actually) have had it; I am embarrassed to wear them in the house, let alone take them places!

This way I can step out in style!

The Green Mountain State

We took a little day trip down to Vermont via New York state last week. I'll save you the sordid details of our comic interlude as we crossed the border, courtesy of Mr. Rayban and Mr. Buzzcut, and I'll save you the non-details of our entry back into Canada, where we obviously had woken up the border guard and weren't even asked for proof of ID.

The day started off overcast and humid, we'd had a lot of rain the day before, but once the skies cleared, we were in for a treat.

Route 108 winds its way down Vermont through Mount Mansfield State Forest, truly one of the nicest roads I have been on. Pardon the dash in the photos, I was just dumb-founded by the scenery and wanted to take it all in, all at once!

The road sign below says ROAD NARROWS:

They aren't kidding. The ROAD NARROWS:

That's a Smart Car above, so you can have an idea about the scale.  Cars literally have to wait for the all-clear before heading around the next blind curve. The scenery was so breath-taking it's hard to describe without sounding melodramatic.

Vermont is green and undulating. The people are friendly, the landscape is gorgeous, and the architecture is beautiful. I can't get enough of Vermont.

I love pastoral scenery, John Deere tractors, and old barns with stone foundations. I'm batting three for three above.

This photo was taken from the bridge with the car in motion, hence the terrible quality, but clearly shows Fort Montgomery in Rouses Point, NY. The story behind it is interesting, so have a look at the link.

We love Vermont and can't wait to go back. We love the smooth roads (and the wi-fi hot spots!), and the breath-taking scenery. At risk of gushing, Vermont just shines.

May 4, 2010 Sunset

I forgot to post this earlier, but feel it's worthy of sharing, even after the fact.

Of Mice and...Frogs

Every summer I plant some herbs in garden planters to keep near the kitchen. Yesterday evening, as the day's temperature dropped, I thought it would be a fine time to transplant my herbs. Today after work, I dutifully watered the plants, and found this little frog nestled in between the thyme and dill!

I don't have the heart to move him, so I guess he's here to stay.

We have had an incredibly dry spring, the water level is very low and our rivers which are normally high at this time of year sport levels that we don't even see in the middle of summer. Suddenly, there are beaches where there used to be water. Our frog pond is dry, observe:

Maybe that's why Mr. Toady McToaderson is in my herb planters?

The weather has been beautiful - but dare I even say it? - it's almost too hot outside! We reached a scorching 31 C today with no end in sight for the week. It's hard to believe we had snow just a month ago. I always say it's all or nothing here - our climate can go from -30 to +30 in no time at all. In 2007, the last time we had wheat planted, it went into the ground at the end of May. This year it was planted on Easter weekend, nearly 7 weeks earlier.

Today I found my seed packets I kept inadvertently hidden (that's a nice way of saying I put them somewhere for safe keeping and forgot the location). I have some ornamental grasses and small sunflower seeds that I keep meaning to plant, but keep forgetting about. This is the year! I went to check out the potting shed where I put my potting soil from last year.

Behold my contraption:

A 20-litre pail with a lid, and an overturned terracotta pot for good measure.

I lifted off the pot:

And underneath the lid, I found this mouse nest:

Finding something like this always makes me laugh. I can picture the little mice family, crawling through the hole in the pot, and then into the hole into the lid, and furnishing their little mouse den with bits and pieces of fibre glass insulation and grasses. They are so smart!

We had mice at work this spring, and after much deliberation, someone brought in a Hava-heart trap. We managed to capture 7 mice, and convinced our equally animal-loving boss that he needed to relocate them a minimum of 2 miles away so they wouldn't return.

He obliged.

Lopi Problem, what Lopi Problem?

I like Lopi. After I started the Flower Power series of slippers, my like has been transformed into lust bordering on obsession.

As the Lopi is washed and felts, it is transformed into a miracle fabric, so incredibly touchable, yet infinitely durable. It sounds cliché, but I think I am in love.

When Ram Wools had their anniversary sale, Lopi at 25% off seemed too good to pass up.

Observe the damage:

That's 20 skeins of Lopi, dear friends. Waiting to be transformed into more little slippers. That means 480 little !@#$ing flowers to crochet, but who's counting? I'm in love, remember?

These 4 skeins of black Lopi are going to be transformed into a surprise:

I've got high hopes for this Lopi - The Selfish Knitter strikes again - it's all about ME ME ME! I just need to do a bit of math, and we're off to the races...I CAN'T WAIT!!!

And speaking of selfish knitter, observe yet more damage:

20 skeins of Acorn Létt Lopi. I am trying to redeem myself for The Wrapigan Disaster, a story I will share at a future date, to make this:

I love this wool! Wholly and unconditionally! Little bits of vegetable matter that get stuck into your skin as you knit I can overlook, it's good, all good...I can't get enough of it!

Probably by the time I am done with the slippers and the above cardigan, I'll have to enter Lopi Rehab.

Hi. My name is Ann and I am a Lopiholic.

Leaning Tower of Malabrigo

Malabrigo, at the best of times, is luscious and knitting it is like putting a hot knife through butter.

At the worst of times, it turns into the Leaning Tower of Malabrigo:

I have been flogging this dead horse for far too long now. It was time to put it out of its misery:

The colour, Pearl, was so varied that I ended up with 2 different coloured fronts on my cardigan. Don't ask me why I kept plodding along - my optimism that maybe the knitting fairies were coming to fix this baby while I slept wore off a long time ago - so it was time to admit my shortcomings and revitalize this project once and for all.

I frogged the entire sweater, and wound it on my yarn swift. I was going to soak the hanks in some Eucalan, and then dry them with weights on, but in the end I wound them into balls on my trusty ball winder, and my hopes are that by the time I am ready to use this wool again, it will have magically transformed itself into straight yarn. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it (more knitting optimism)!

Not quite sure what this wool will become, I can guarantee you it won't involve getting gauge. It's been manipulated, knitted, frogged, wound, and one can only hope its next and final incarnation will be more fulfilling. I keep trolling Ravelry for a pattern and no doubts something will come up, for now I am pleased I have one less UFO to deal with...