Sunday, January 12, 2014

Meet the Wrights

Katie Rose here.

For those of you just arriving, this is a blog about fiber arts: knitting, crocheting, spinning, sewing, and anything else in between.

When I started this blog back in 2006, I swore I would never blog about my cat(s). There were lots of reasons for this.

The first reason is logical: cats have nothing to do with fiber arts. Why would you blog about cats on your fiber arts blog?

The second reason is philosophical: blogging about cats on my fiber arts blog seemed like a step down a slippery slope toward dowdy-hood. "There goes that crazy knitting cat-lady," they would say. (Who this mystery they is I have no idea.) It was the principle of knit-plus-cat-blogging that bothered me.

Then I encountered a problem. Her name is Richard.*

Richard Wright, the yarn thief

Richard reminded me of the reasons why knitbloggers blog about their cats.

CATS FREAKING LOVE YARN. It's an indescribable and immutable passion that transcends boundaries and perhaps even time and space.

My yarn is kept nowhere near the den. She goes down to the far-away reaches of the downstairs studio, pulls balls off the shelf, and brings them upstairs, where she stashes them under couches and cabinets to pull out and play with when the mood strikes.

She weighs all of four pounds.

This is her step-brother, Orville*:

Orville "helping" pack up the Xmas decorations

When we first brought Richard home, she weighed 1.5 pounds. Orville took one look at her and decided she was just too much for him to handle. He snuck away on a six-week sabbatical. Then he came back and rejoined the household with an almost unbearable smugness, as pictured above.

And just so you can have the complete picture of what a wretched cat-lady I've turned into in my old age, here's Wilbur, AKA, Wil-Bear, or just simply The Bear, since he weighs 20 pounds. For some perspective, Richard is about the size of Wilbur's head.

Wilbur is just sleeping. Don't be concerned--he's certainly not. Apex predator here.

Anyways, back to cats and yarn. Yarn seems to be part of cats' genetic makeup.

Either that or Cascade uses catnip in their dye.

Not the intended use of Cascade 220. Richard does not care.

*Yes, Richard is a girl. Get over it.
**Yes, all of our cats have the last name "Wright." We need a Frank Lloyd if anyone has a cat that needs a good, if chaotic, home. Must be spayed/neutered and able to deal with smug yet histrionic Orville.