One for the Bee (and Me)

What I see when I come downstairs.

Thank you so much for the orders yesterday!!! It feels so good to be wrapping up some of the things I started this spring. There were just too many unfinished ideas happening around here, so I am trying to be more strict with myself about this.

She leaves.

I went through my yarn stash this week, looking for moths or evidence of moths, and I couldn't find anything. I'm not sure what that means? I'm going to get more cedar blocks and lavender today. Too much yarn to freeze it all, I'm afraid. I found these green grannies in the stash — Bridget's grannies — a big pile of them, waiting to be turned into something. If you've been hanging around here for awhile, you might remember these, and how I promised Bridget (the Bee) they were for her, and how weirdly fascinated she was by them. It's hard to believe that was over three years ago. Wow, times flies. I went through all of the posts about those squares and linked to them all on my Ravelry project page. I re-read this post, about teaching Arden to make a granny (auntie) square — oh, dear me, sweet, sweet girl. I remember that day. She was so little! Agh. Time flies.

Where I'd left it the night before.

It turned out I had 25 squares finished, and in the (new) interest of finishing things in general, I decided to call that enough and started stitching them together the other night, five by five. I left the blankie out on the sofa and sure enough, yesterday morning when I came downstairs, there was Bridget, sitting next to her blanket, just like she used to do when I had that thing in major production mode so long ago. I just busted out laughing when I saw her, since I hadn't really seen much of her in the past couple of days. I swear, there really is something about this blanket and Bridget! You might be able to tell this from the blog, I guess, but the Bee does not "sit around" with the rest of us. The Bee is totally on the move, and when she's not on the move, I honestly don't even know where she is most of the time. The Bee is definitely her own woman. She was a stray kitten who came to us ten years ago now, very wild then (our vet didn't think she'd ever been handled by people before we found her) and is quite set in her wild ways. From spring to fall, we see her once a day or so (unless it is constantly raining, when we see her fifteen times a day, as noted), because the Bee really has her own very full, and very invisible-to-us sort of life that is more about the neighborhood than the house. Unlike Clover and Violet, who are very present in the house, even when they are napping, or in another room, or out in the yard, the Bee is sort of a mystery to us all.  We tease her by saying that we are sure she is half cat, half squirrel. Clover likes to curl up in teensy, tiny spaces; the Bee is at home on top of the fence, overlooking the neighborhood, surveying her kingdom (and watching for the other half-dozen or so cats on our block). I forgot to mention yesterday that a few people asked me how we crate-trained Clover, but unfortunately I don't really have any advice about that. Clover has just always naturally loved her crate (and other sort of weird, small places, like the corner behind the bathroom door [we actually put a pillow there for her, which confuses everyone who comes over and uses the bathroom], the space where your feet go under Andy's desk, and the spot behind the chair under the kitchen table), and routinely puts herself into it for her afternoon snooze. I think some dogs are just like that and some aren't, but crate training her was a breeze, and involved almost no "training." Audrey, on the other hand, absolutely hated her crate, and I don't remember that we ever used it once she was old enough to stay in the house by herself. If I had to guess, I think Clover likes the sense that she is somehow "off the clock" when she's in her crate. She has strong watchdog tendencies (Cardigan corgis do, in general) and I honestly think she gets tired of having to be so alert all the time.

It kind of matched the flowers and the grass.

Anyway, back to the squares.  I wound up whip-stitching them all together. I was going to single-crochet them, but lately I prefer the flatness of that whip stitch when joining squares. The sizes of the squares were sort of all over the place, too — crazy gauges, even though I used the same yarn and same hook throughout. I'll put a border on the whole thing (almost finished with that) and then block it in sections, and we'll see what happens.

She came back.

After going through my stash, I really just have so many partial skeins of so many different colors. I was going to do another little blanket like my grandma's, but after stitching this together the past few nights and working on the border, I have to admit I am also a bit burnt out on crochet for a while. I think I am going to knit for a bit. I have a few ideas for that.

I think it is so funny when she lays with her head down like that.

Ravelry has been such a super incredibly fantastic inspiration to me these past several months. I have been a member since 2008, I think, but I wasn't really using it much until lately. I think it's the type of web site that encompasses the best things about the internet, in so many ways. I haven't talked about it too much I guess, but only because I don't even know where to start. I think it has transformed my experience with knitting and crocheting, which was already pretty good, but with Ravelry has been fantastic. I use it mostly to search for patterns and get ideas for new things to make, but it's so much more than that. I do know that keeping all of my projects organized there has given me such a weird sense of satisfaction. And there is just so much inspiration collected there. I am having the best time with it.

Several hours later, she was still with it. I think she really loves this thing.

I'm almost done with the border on this, and then I'll show you a top view, because it is kind of cool to look at from above. It's pretty much not even big enough to be called a throw, but good enough for a lap quilt for me, or a big baby blanket? Don't tell the Bee.

Comments

[Amanda]

I'm so glad you're back on the Ravelry train! It was a while there you didn't update it ever but I see now you are adding projects. So fun.

I'm a bit obsessive about using it to track projects. And it's come in handy, too, when I'm referencing old projects (which size hook did I use last time? and so on). I'm definitely in granny mode now. Making a giant granny square baby blanket. Round and round and round I go. Can you believe it was 2.5 years ago now when I was pestering you for an 'easy first pattern' idea? :)

[Jennifer Maroney]

Oh pets are so wonderful and lovable and make our lives so much richer for their little quirks and perks. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful and loving story!

[Amy]

My corgi is the same way about small corners. If I can't find him he's probably under the desk, hiding in the corner by the front door, or nuzzled between pillows and the wall. He even buried himself under luggage on our drive out to Portland when we moved here.

[puglette]

oh, bee. i love the solitary kitty. we found a little kitten at a river's edge one day. hubby scooped him up and we brought the tiny fellow home. we named him salmon because we found him while salmon fishing. he was a special little boy. our most recent stray was a kitty who adopted us. she came to visit one day and never left. she stayed for over five years and just recently passed away.

i love your color palette. the colors you use are always so peaceful and restful on the eyes. very northwest tones.
hugs,
puglette
:o)

[Gloria]

Those are beautiful pictures! Your blanket is a perfect compliment to your pretty views out your window!!!! I love it!! :)
Cats are interesting pets! Who knows what they "really" think?!!! It is obvious Bee adores that blanket, maybe it makes her think of her mama...:)

[Mandi]

Lovely blanket. I miss having cats. I love my Husky, but cats just have so much personality.
Hubby and the boy child are allergic to them though. :(

[Kelly Grace]

I think it's definitely time to make Bee her own blankie.

[wishful nals]

you have such a cozy home!

[tanya]

SUCH a precious kitty!!
TAnya

[Anna]

I cannot ever say enough about Ravelry. I know exactly what you mean: it has revolutionized not only how absorbed I get with the process and documentation of making something, but I get so many great ideas from all the wonderful knitters and crocheters out there. Who knew the yarn community was so BIG?!

[Claire]

I really want to just kiss the top of her soft kitty head in that last photo, though i can just tell she'd have NONE OF IT. don't break the girls heart, just give her the dang blanket!

on another note, my foxhound hating going in his crate when i was leaving the house (treats eased the pain), but still liked to lay in it whenever i was home, like it was his own personal man's den i was not invited to.

[elizabeth]

Wouldn't you love to have a Cat Cam on Bee and see what she's up to when she goes missing?!?!

[Una]

Hey! I was wondering - for two years actually - what happened to this. So great to see it again. That green goes so wonderfully with the other colors. Your cat is special - in every positive sense! Una

[Rachel]

Your tales of the bee sound like my kitty (of 9 years). She is definitely her own person. Thanks for the link to the aphid solution-those little buggers almost destroyed my garden last year before I figured out how to control them safely!

[Laura]

It's extra sweet when an otherwise aloof cat takes ownership of a "treasure." It's like, 'Aw, you do have some some type of feelings. Even though you CONSTANTLY IGNORE my loving!' Or maybe that's just my little beastie. He and I are like Pepe Le Pew and that little girl cat Pepe's always squeezing on in the cartoon. Mwah, mwah, mwah--ignore.

[Teri]

Our big Golden Retriiever, Abby, loves her crate so, we could never take it away from her. She often naps in there, upside down with her legs stretched out straight! How the heck can she do that.....

I love knitting but seeing those Grannies makes me long for some...I made a big Granny Square just for fun, guess where it is now? Yep, in the Princess's crate!

[Polly]

I was recently told by a knitting teacher that natural yarns can get tiny little bugs called "wooly bears" in them, which have a similar effect to moths and make holes in the yarn. Apparently if you freeze the yarn it gets rid of the bugs. Might be worth a try if you're still having problems after the lavender and cedar blocks.

[katiecrackernuts]

Sounds a little like the ebb and flow of life. Things sit, things are finished, things return, memories revisited, new things are found, new ideas thought about. I like it.

[April]

I love Ravelry! I just barely use it, but love to look for projects and see what other people are making. Looking at other people's yarn choices and reading their project notes is sooo incredibly helpful- I feel like I can start a project with more confidence after a good search (or so), on Raverly. I also love to look through other people's "favorites." So much great stuff out there!

(love your kitty blankie, too.)

[Jessica]

One of the things I love about Ravelry is reading people's reactions to patterns or yarns, the modifications they made, etc. It's like getting to learn from the collective wisdom of the entire world of knitters! [or Ravelry knitters].

Gorgeous blanket. Better small-ish and used in the present than sitting in the WIP pile! Have you thought about rotating the yarn through the freezer [my current plan of action after I read your last post]. Or at least sunning the yarn for a couple days - I think the UV rays will kill a lot of the moth eggs, apparently once they're laid the cedar and lavendar doesn't do any good as a deterrent?

[Tina]

Beautiful colors in that blanket - and I love the cat! :-)

[jody]

I too love Ravelry - it's my fiber journal to accompany my blog. I received your book from Amazon yesterday and was very glad. Your work inspires me and sometimes I think that we share many fiber ideas. Sometimes you know before you know!

[Kate]

It really is a beautiful blanket, and maybe that yarn started life as fleece on a sheep eating catnip in a pasture somewhere?

It's actually so lovely that it's making me wish I could crochet, which not many things ever do. Mostly I'm happy with just knitting. Being here in Texas, I really only have enough cold weather in the year for one yarn-based craft. The rest of the time it's too hot to touch wool!

[Lisa]

Something about pictures of cats napping really makes my heart sing. :) I also love the dainty way they lick their paws. Too darn cute.

[Laura J.]

It is a lovely blanket. I vote for letting The Bee keep it.