A good kitten project

I finished my WestKnits “Clawed” shawl about a week ago. It was definitely an excellent project to work while integrating a kitten into the household. All the following made it easy to put down quickly if a kitten was getting himself into trouble, whether knitting related or other trouble.

• simple garter stitch – always plain knit stitch
• easy to memorize each section, so only periodically looking at instructions
  • even the short rows were very regular
• just enough color changes to stay interesting
• gauge isn’t critical, so minor changes in tension due to kitten watching would have minimal impact

I still need to weave in the ends and block it, but I’m pretty happy. The only alteration I made was to add short rows following the skewed manner of the “claws” in the border with the orange to length it at the middle.

I also used up just about every bit of yarn except a small bit of pink which wasn’t going to be quite enough for one last row. As usual, the Unplanned Peacock yarn did not disappoint. FYI, if you live anywhere near Henry, VA, they are doing an open house (appt only) on Oct 9-11th.

I’ve also received my September Clan of Igor yarn (it’s AMAZING), so that means it’s time to show off the August yarn, which was an absolutely refreshing colorway to receive in the middle of our heat wave:

It came with a small pack of gummiworms, which I gave to TheEnabler since he was having a bad day. I’m afraid they were rather more easily disposed of than the giant worms in Tremors, so I have no photographic evidence of them.

Vote Vote Vote

I really can’t stress enough how important this is. If you are a United States citizen, please make sure you cast your ballot*. This is an incredibly important election, and the outcome will impact so many of our most vulnerable populations, from women and minorities, to LGBTQ+, immigrants, and (especially with Covid) the disabled, those with pre-existing conditions and the elderly who have been ill-served, neglected or deliberately harmed in the past 3.5 years by the current administration. You may be a member of one or more of these populations, and you certainly have friends and family who are.

If you are feeling unsure how to get registered, learn about candidates and issues, or generally lost, I recommend the League of Women Voters. They have a non-partisan website dedicated to voter resources, VOTE411.org, which can help you figure out what you need to do to get registered (deadlines are looming in most states), and voting options (such as mail-in/absentee ballots, or early voting places). Your local league will often have information on local ballots, including who the candidates are, their key positions, and any other measures on the ballots. This can be especially helpful if your state is one which doesn’t send out sample ballots to voters in advance so you can research and plan your votes.

VoteSaveAmerica also has voter registration resources by state, as well as information on how to get involved in helping ensure everybody can vote, by helping with voter registration, becoming a poll worker, and more. And FairFight is dedicated to fighting voter suppression, which is far and away the greater threat to our elections than voter fraud in which people who aren’t eligible to vote do so, or voters vote more than once.

*and if you aren’t, please exercise any rights to vote you have within the country where you are a citizen during your elections. If you live in the United States, there are still ways for you to be involved and active in the political process.