Big Announcement!!

As of this weekend, I am an official knitter. Yes, I've had yarn and needles and completed projects...but I was never a "real" knitter, until Saturday. What happened Saturday? The Family acquired, Pepper. A feline. A beautiful, large cat. Seems that to be a real knitter, one needs a feline companion and now we have Pepper. The Mister has been asking we get a cat from the second we moved in together. I've always been against a kitten because it requires a lot of cash at the upstart to take care of them properly...and I've always been put off by the large security deposit and "pet rent" that you have to pay while living in an apartment. Well, Pepper's temporary owner made a plea that could not be ignored. Poor Miss Pepper hasn't had a proper home in a long time. Her original owner was talking of euthanasia, and we just couldn't have that. I'm sure she's part Maine Coon, she's just gorgeous. As soon as I can get a photo of her, she'll make her debut as my blog mascot. We're looking into getting her shaved for the summer and an update to her shots. She's been with us 2 1/2 days and I think the Mister and Peanut would kick me out before they allowed Pepper to go. It just kills the Mister that she tends to prefer me a bit over him. Cats are funny that way.

With Pepper by my side, and ignoring my yarn (I think I'm her first knitting owner) I worked hard on Baby Alison's pink & white sweater. I'm nearly down with the second sleeve and should be by the time I sleep tonight. It's a neckdown raglan (my specialty) so that'll just leave the body to finish. This is my first multicolor try at the pattern. The yoke is white and the rest baby pink. Definitely a baby girl's sweater. No getting around that. I'm trying to decide what kind of hat to do. The traditional bonnet or rolled brim stocking cap? I know they'd get more use out of the stocking cap but she's the first and only girl Julie will have, so she might like the fru fru factor of the bonnet. Decisions, decisions. I let the Mister choose the yarn and colors, I'll probably consult him on the hat pattern as well. He likes to feel involved even though he claims not to be "a cute kind of guy". He is and everyone knows it.

Some wonderful news for the Preemie Project: I was able to get a contact to St. Joe's in Ann Arbor (ok, it's actually Ypsilanti but old habits..). If enough volunteers join up, Laura will be able to add another hospital and we'll have a Michigan chapter. Take a look at the site if you're interested, there's a super cute button on here that'll take you to it.

I took photos of the total Baby Marina layette before wrapping it up. I've already posted photos of the sweater and hat, so I won't bore you with those. Here are the matching booties, though: