It's hard work

... keeping a tail clean. But so much easier lying down.
And it doesn't end there

We're still here

Just very busy. And a bit tired.

I'm not sticky

Vincent's lucky day

The radiator turned into a Sunny Spot!

Hey, I've actually been knitting

I have finished knitted objects to show!
A pair of fetching fingerless gloves for Katrine, using the softest, most luscious blend of silk and baby alpaca. I hate how much I love that yarn.

Somehow one keeps looking shorter than the other in spite of same number of stitches and rows, same yarn and same needles. But I don't really care too much.
It just adds to the lovely and unique handknitted softness.
I hope she'll appreciate that.

And to add to the long list of WIPs I have started knitting the Vali dress from Rowan Studio 2. I came across the pattern and fell head over heels in love with it.
And they have a finished version on show at my not-so-local-but-favourite yarn store, and it's even more beautiful in person.
Having worked my way through the first 10 cm I feel somewhat confident that the dress will be finished some time this decade.
And I'm using sock yarn. I have a severe crush on Filcolana Arwetta, a soft and lovely superwash merino sock yarn. And now it's dress yarn too.
I have however decided against the lace skirt after a few repeats of the pattern, instead it has become a very nice lacy border matching wonderfully with the bodice stitch pattern.

I want to be able to wear it to work. At the big Investment Bank, where for some odd reason the boys are just too boyish for a lace skirt to be wearable.
Even in their thirties they appear to be still rather amazed and surprised by the fact that women have breasts, and anything hinting at transparency or giving unexpected glimpses of skin seems to disturb them.

And there will be no angelicats this year since Vincent, not so very surprisingly, ate his set of wings.
Maybe next year.

So many photos, you would think it was a new kitten - not a new Hard Drive

I finally gave in to the fact that the Hard Drive in my much loved PowerBook needed to be replaced.
And so I searched for a DIY solution on apple.com, but soon realized this was not one of the parts they gladly advice you to replace yourself in this particular model.
So .... after a good bit of half-arsed research I ordered a Seagate Momentus 160GB 5400 rpm drive from somewhere else.
And found a half-arsed guide at ifixit.com (which didn't look much like the right guide, once I got down to it).
Friday, feeling both fearless and capable, I picked up the drive (trying to ignore the snigger from the sales-nerd when I mentioned I would do it myself), put out the good tablecloth, folded little, wobbly origami screw-holders (with clever notes of where the screws came from) and found the big set of tiny screwdrivers.

And I set to work.
The fearlessness started fading once I found myself actually holding the screwdriver, and I did consider a good, healthy dose of Glenmorangie before opening the wonder-machine. But I decided against it on account on the tininess of the screws and the delicacy of a CPU.
And of course the fact that it was not even lunchtime yet.
(And the fact that my pancreas is in less than stellar condition these days, now that I think about it. And it is hard to forget that. For too long at a time.)
I did my best to keep the cats away using a good serving of their favourite special treat wet-food. But they have always been fast eaters.
However, Vincent had much helpful advice to give, while Laurenz was happily chasing a fly in the living room.

It took a good bit of very gentle and increasingly nervous wriggling to get the top off, but off it went, and this is what the wonder looks like on the inside:

Once I got over my fascination with finally seeing the inside of the wonder that is a PowerBook - and once I got over myself for fiddling around the same inside with little idea what I was doing while armed with pointy screwdrivers - getting the old drive out was rather easy.
Quite a bit of yellow tape had to be removed, and since I didn't know whether or not it was very important or reusable, I just tossed it.
And in the new drive went.
Soon to be followed by all the little screws in correct order.
Vincent was making sure the screw drivers didn't go anywhere.

And I could soon start reinstalling everything on my new healthy and happy Hard Drive. The operation took less than half an hour.

Although I still wonder why it says 148GB, when I was expecting 160GB.
But pride and a feeling of smug coolness for replacing it myself is stronger than the wonderment of the vanishing 12GB.
And if I find myself in need of more than the 148Gb .... heck, I'll just replace the drive. Now that I know how.
And the beauty of the old drive is something I cannot quite get over, yet unable to decide whether it looks more like tiny islands in the ocean or stars in a summer sky.

And Vincent could take a well earned nap.

And Laurenz did catch the fly in the end.

How Vincent spends the afternoon

OMG!!!!!!!80081ES!!!!!

I'm afraid that this Waist-cincher top is not really a good look for me.
To put it mildly.
It may be because I feel bloated and sweaty, and tired and a bit grumpy but .... no!
I would have posted a photo of the before-finishing-the-second- sleeve-trying-on-session.
But it is practically obscene.
If the lacy part is to stop right under the boobs, as I think it's meant to, .... there really is not enough fabric in the part above that to cover my boobage adequately.
They just suddenly look ..... huge, trying their best to stay inside.
(Sorry)
But I do think keeping it around for a while will help keep me away from the chocolate. And the ice cream.
While I wonder just how much short rows can do.
Or if I should just let it be transformed into the lovely bed jacket.
And pretend nothing ever happened.

And so, instead of a photo of me in the role of the rare red-faced humpback whale, we have Vincent insisting that stripes will have a slimming effect.
And that he will gladly take care of the ice cream for me.
(I could of course let the cats keep the waist-cincher/boob-enhancer top and knit sleeves for the kitty pi, and see how that fits. G knows the bad cats have slept more on the top than in the pi.)

Vincent and the Purple Roving

Actually I am not sure if it really is roving.
Was roving, that is.
(If roving is the correct term.)
It was a lovely purple merino wool and according to the sign in the yarn store it was perfect for both felting and spinning.
And I meant to send it to someone in Germany along with a yoga dvd.
But that was before Vincent found it.
While I was in the shower.
I don't know if the wool benefits from being grunted into, chewed and stomped on (I know next to nothing about spinning).
If not it is beyond salvation.
And in that case I could just as well just let the happy cat stay happy - and just document.

Still suitable for spinning?

Some days are better than others

And so today has been very good so far.
I've baked oatmeal biscuits and done laundry (in bucket in shower).

And I've had my synopsis approved and made progress on the paper on Cézanne - Cézanne put into a neuro aesthetic frame with focus on cognition and perception.
The dying of the harddisk allowed me to reconsider the subject of this paper. And I chose to make a complete change.
And now I'm flirting with Cézanne again.
I fell in love with him last year and am strangely excited about this paper, especially as I'm still in the process of making up things and finding out and investigating.
And reading more than writing. Other than the stray thoughts and things to remember and wild ideas.

And I've done the dishes and knit a few rounds on Clessidra, (which looks black and boring right now and is covered in cat hair, but will be lovely and warm and is at some point to meet the lint roll).
And I've invited our gardener up for tea (and biscuits) as she's really, really interested in meeting the cat who barks at her.

And I still have a few hours left to do things before going to the library (to pick up Erika Knight's Glamour Knits and some more neuro psychology - and returning a few overdue books) and then to work.
And the sun is shining.

Guard cat extraordinaire

While Laurenz is beautiful and sweet he is not the brightest cat.
He is very good at fishing edible things out of handbags, though.
Vincent on the other hand is a very good guard cat. And a very patient one.
And I wonder if, with proper training, the two wouldn't make a brilliant addition to Airport Security. Laurenz could search through handbags, and Vincent could stare down the suspects untill crumbling under pressure they would admit to trying to sneak through too much handlotion - or worse.
(And so they could help bring home the tuna and I could switch to working only part time.)
Vincents motto could very well be constant vigilance (something Laurenz thinks interferes too much with quality nap time - and besides we would wake him if something important was happening).
For half an hour Vincent sat like this, staring intently at something on the roof:

Not making a sound.
Which is very unusual and so I got curious as to the object of his stare:

And then it moved.

And a bit later it left.

And Vincent could go get a snack in the kitchen knowing he had saved the neighbourhood from being taken over by a pack of pigeons.

There was only room for one in the Kitty Pi

But sunny spots enough for all to enjoy.

Big Mouth Strikes Again

This is how I found my carefully wound up sock yarn this morning.

Very bad Vincent with his great Fondness of Yarn.
I will have to find a box for yarn storage.
However the first sock is finished.

The second will follow as soon as possible.

And now I have the evidence

The cats are bad.
First Vincents "eats" my lovely, red mohair (which has been reduced from Branching-Out-to-be to cat-chew-toy).
(You will have to imagine the loud, happy snorting and grunting)

Then Laurenz eats the cake I bought myself earlier today to soothe my underslept mind with a bit of sugar (and forgot about).
And so, even I got a YouTube account. Having cats make you do strange things.
However the bad quality makes me consider a new mobile....

Loud and clear

Vincent has his voice back.
I came home from work around 9 this morning in bad need of a bit of sleep.
No sign of the great voice of catness at that time.
Shortly after noon I was a awaken by the feeling of intense staring, impatient shuffling of paws in pillows, and some light snuffling in ear, which was all quite ignorable.
But then he, the Prime Yeller of the Catdom, yelled, something which can roughly be translated as "Wake the heck up now, you lazy human, we are in dire need of attention here."
So his voice is most certainly back.
And I have yet to find the snooze button.

Come here, Spidey, Spidey

Vincent is a great hunter.

If he can get to his prey....

"Come here, spidey, spidey"

"Stupid spider"

Well, hello again, Vigdis!

I have been so absorbed by sock-knitting and general going-ons that I have ignored the poor Vigdis.
However, as the wintry cold quite suddenly arrived without warning, I realized that I really, really need this sweater.
And, voila, I've finished the front. Not quite as "voila" as that, but I'm a bit surprised by it, nonetheless.
I had expected to knit for ages, and ages, and ages, before reaching this point.
But it seems I may very well be much more efficient than I think.
"She" will not be nearly as big as the original Vigdis, as I'm really not tall enough to carry something that wide, but the length I do like.
And since this was the first thing I started knitting, before I was sure if it was a thing for me to do, I chose a cheapish (but still wonderfully soft and nice) wool, with a higher gauge, but stuck somewhat to the original pattern (in spite of a surprising lack of pattern-following skills), with a small, intended, variation in the ribbing.
Cat-less photos are hard to come by in this house.
Hence the stretching taking place.

One part aristocat, one part yarn-snorting guard-cat

When we have company, Vincent does his best to appear elegant and aristocratic, just as a fine Oriental is supposed to be. However, when we are alone he snorts loudly in appreciation of 100% merino sock yarn.
(And he barks at the gardener.)

A square for Grandmother Purl

I too have knitted a square for Grandmother Purl, and I loved knitting this. And for a short while it felt like I had my own grandmother to knit for.
Of course the center-motif is .... off-center.
But that's how it is.
Gives it the right hand-made touch, I think.
And I have to admit, I didn't love knitting it enough to frog and knit again.
Modelled by the ever-present Vincent, who thinks it's a bit small for a blanket, but nice and warm anyway.