Mittens, finally

I've been working on a pair of mittens for almost a month now, and I'm still not done!  I need to finish one thumb yet, and I decided to pull out the decreases on the first one and redo them.

I'm also thinking of making a felted lining for them...maybe with some silk hankies?  My plan was to put on a rubber glove, wrap my hand in silk, get it wet and add soap, put a layer of plastic wrap over that, and roll it back and forth until it felts.  Will that work?  If it does, I'll let you know.

I also got a new book from my aunt - the Ohio Knitting Mills book - and I think I may even have the yarn to make one or two of the sweaters.  I just need to finish up the ones I already have on the needles!

We took our kitty to the vet last week for her shots and a checkup.  That rabies vaccine is a killer - she had a bad reaction to it.  She's okay now, but for 12 hours or so, I was very upset and scared.

She's so snuggly...she'll lie down with me at night, and wake me up with little trills in the morning.  I love her a lot.  DP says he feels a bit like a stay at home dad, since he's with her all day (working from home).

Everyone's talking about

The Costa Concordia this week.  What with the recording of the coast guard being released, I don't blame anyone one bit.

One of the many interesting things I read about this incident was the huge blowup people are creating about no "women and children first" in the lifeboats.  We have women complaining that men were being selfish by not letting them have all the spaces.  We have men angry that women - who are self described equals with men and thus deserve no special treatment - are complaining they didn't get special treatment.  I'm seeing that chivalry is dead, or outmoded.

What is chivalry?  I believe that chivalry is men treating women as though each woman they meet is a lady.  Why would you take your hat off, or put your cloak on a puddle for a woman?  Not because they are weak, but because they are a higher social status than you are, and you are showing your submission.  If the woman you're doing this for is a queen, you get no brownie points because you must do it.  If she is not a queen, she feels that you are doing her a favor, and thus the brownie points.  Who doesn't feel a little frisson of pleasure when they are looked up to?  It's when women start expecting men to act like this that it becomes problematic.  I know I hate it when something I did as a favor for someone becomes something I must now do to maintain the status quo.  And chivalry (in my opinion) does not mean dying for someone.  That is yet another thing - sacrifice.

I am in favor of chivalry.  I'm also in favor of courtesty.  Both are really just old french terms for the same ilk of thing, but one is for men only and one is for everyone.  Was the husband who gave his wife his life jacket being chivalrous?  I would say yes and no.  Yes, because he was giving up something he had a right to by choice.  No, because he was being greater than simply chivalrous.  He was sacrificing his best chance for survival. 

And how much should we blame the passengers on the boat?  From what I've read, many of them were not good swimmers.  What if you were on a huge boat, in the dark, and it started listing and sinking? Most people would like to say that they'd help people, be orderly, not panic, etc.  But what if you couldn't swim?  What would be the first thing in your head?  I'd say the Titanic.  Once fear gets hold of you, you pretty much lose your reasoning power and act to save yourself or your loved ones.  That's why you need to have a captain and crew trained in emergency procedures to be overseeing an evacuation.  It seems the captain was just as scared as everyone else - which is an explanation, not an excuse.  If you are a captain, you need to be chivalrous, courteous, and ready to sacrifice.  If you are not these things, you're not a bad person.  You should just be working in a different job.

/soapbox.

Blogger is killing me

It's really making inserting images difficult.  Blargh.

I finished one mitten in time for the big snowstorm, but I can't really go out in one mitten, so I'm still not quite situated :)  The yarn is Malabrigo Rios, which is very nice.

My little kitty will be 16 weeks old tomorrow.  She's so playful and smart - maybe too smart.  She can get into my mixing bowl cupboard as easy as you please.  This is a bit problematic from a clean mixing bowl standpoint, but I also need to make sure she doesn't get stuck!  Her jumping ability is rapidly increasing, too.  Soon nothing will be safe.

I know she's not a substitute for a child, but it is nice to have a sweet little creature to take care of.

Here she is

sweetie, a photo by Long Haired Spider on Flickr.

Isn't she loveable?

I have become a cat lady

The cat that we've been waiting for for so many months is finally here!  We haven't figured out her name yet - trying to see what fits the best.

She's a Siberian, so I'm much less allergic to her than to other cats.  DP and I just love her...she might end up being the true lady of the manor.  She really seems to enjoy wool socks - that is, she enjoys attacking them :)

I'm a bit stuck on what to knit right now.  I'm swatching for a lace cardigan, even though I didn't finish the other cardigan on the needles.  I also really want to make myself some mittens, because the weather, while warm now, means that mittens are going to be necessary.  Gloves just don't cut it for really keeping your hands warm.  I also have some yarn coming from the loopy ewe for the first quarter challenge of knitting with silk.  I'm trying two yarns new to me - Enchanted Knoll Enchantments, and some Shibui silk blend in a fingering weight.  I'm thinking of making some more fingerless gloves, either for DP, or for the gift pile.  I say it every year, but having a pile of ready made gifts is a lifesaver.

So, hopefully I'll be able to get some stuff done even with a kitten who wants to play with everything in sight!