She’s in my bed

Izzy the cat has decided that Missy the dog’s bed is the place to be.

Photo description: calico cat curled up in a round pastel rainbow pet bed, small black dog sitting beside the bed looking sad and confused

Striped socks

I finished a pair of socks in three months! This is much better than the year and a half for the last pair. It must be noted that I can only knit for about 15 minutes before I get distracted; I am not a power knitter. I usually knit as a time filler between other activities.

Photo description: newly finished toe-up striped purple socks with ribbed arch knitted from Cascade Yarns self striping yarn, toe and heel from Cascade solid color yarn

I knitted these by feel and measurements, rather by row, and that also helped save me time. The ribbed arch is a personal preference that I added to the basic sock instructions.

Photo description: socks on feet, ribbing is right on the arch

That the socks match almost perfectly is pure serendipity. Or fabulous planning by the yarn manufacturer. I split the skein of yarn in two by winding one cake until I reached half the weight, then wound the second cake of yarn. I knitted from the center of each yarn cake, one per sock. I used a coordinating solid color for the toes and heel to avoid disrupting the stripe pattern. To be honest, I’m a little sad that they match so well, I rather like coordinated mismatched socks. Hm.

He got it

It took over two months, but Thor the gray tabby cat finally figured out the cat flap to the catio.

Photo description: gray tabby cat going through a window installed cat door, picture from a motion camera

He is still skittish about it and it takes several minutes for him to build up the confidence to go out or in, but he eventually does it on his own.

Throwback Thursday: crocheted bookmarks

Here is a cute teacher gift: crocheted pencil bookmarks. They make up quickly, use just single crochet, and use up yarn scraps, or those cute tiny skeins. I made these in May of 2015 using this pattern from LittleOwlHut on Ravelry.

Photo description: eleven multicolored pencil shaped crocheted bookmarks

Important note, as you crochet these curl. To get them flat, steaming them works well. You can also iron them between two thin layers of cotton. If you choose to do blocking (getting them wet and laying flat to dry), pin them down well.

Thoughts on an afterthought heel

After taking a year and a half to knit one pair of socks with a line-by-line pattern, I needed to try something where I could just knit by inches. I chose a toe-up striped sock with a ribbed arch and afterthought heel.

Photo description: a pair of purple striped socks with one afterthought heel location marked with scrap thread and one heel complete

The yarn is printed and self-striping, so no forced color changes or multiple ends to weave in, which is fantastic. I also really like the afterthought heel. It knits up like toe shaping, and is easy to track. No heel flap or gusset confusion.

This pair is almost done. Just one more heel!