A Use for Fun Fur

Hi Cindy!

I can't believe it's been over a week since I last posted. Guess time flies. Looks like you had a good time at the wool festival. I'm envious.

If you looked at my comment the other day and the associated blog you may have guessed that I'm working on a cat sweater. Crazy Aunt Purl is having a contest to celebrate the launch of her first book. Margi has agreed to be the guinea pig for this little experiment. I got her approval on my yarn selections. She really likes the wool blend that will be the body of the sweater and even appreciates the fun fur that will trim the neck and sleeves. She even agreed to early fittings and purred her head off the entire time.

I debated how to construct the sweater. Make it like a tube but with arm holes? That would mean a lot of back-and-forth knitting without being able to take advantage of the knitting in the round. So I decided to knit the arm area first rather like a key-hole scarf but with key holes at each end where the arms would be. I then used a three needle bind-off to close the tube and picked up first for the neck line and then for the lower body.

I am down to the last arm. I just started it but I should finish it tomorrow evening and then just have to weave in the ends. DH and I both think that she will actually like the sweater and may even wear it willingly. Every time I pull it out to work on she comes around to investigate, almost as if she knows it's for her.

On Sunday we went to the opening of the Tempe Center for the Arts. It is up at Tempe Town Lake. They had a free open house with short performances and such. It is located on the south back of the river at the west end of the lake, right near the dam. It is located right under the flight path for Sky Harbor so there are constantly planes over head. They had a specially designed roof system that actually blocks the noise of the planes. We were in the Lakeside room listening to a QA sessions with the architects and you could watch the planes flying overhead and not hear them at all. There is a small theater inside as well as a Gallery space and a Studio space. Each room is actually it's own small building and they are all clustered under a larger roof structure that helps cut the noise and keep the building cool. The roof line is actually designed to mimic the nearby mountain. On the lake side they have built a shallow reflecting pool with a negative edge. From inside the building it is just a clear vista out toward the lake (and the train bridge and the light rail bridge and the freeway....)

DH is counting the hours down until he is done with his current office. He is planning on working the rest of the week. Next week we may take a trip somewhere and then he'll take a few more days around the house. He starts his new job two weeks from tomorrow on the 27th.

Guess I should close this up. Next time maybe I'll have a FO to show you. And I've got a story about moths, churro wool and dying.

Take care, A