ARDIRI

Farewell Blue Eyes

February 2, 2009:  Rest in peace my dearest Zoe. 

You were a wonderful companion and I miss you so much!
May you always have a spot of sun to bathe in and a bowl of tuna to nosh on!

Almost makes you want one...ALMOST!

This picture of my friend Fabienne's baby, Gabriel, makes one almost want a baby...but only ALMOST!!! 

Details, Details:

• One damn, cute baby
• Yarn: Malabrigo Chunky in Bobby Blue
• Needles: Size 10.5 or 11 not sure
• Yarn Used: Hardly any at all
• Pattern: My own modification of the Bulky Wool Chapeau from Minnies: Quick Knits

And here is Mamoko modeling it as the latest hipster accessory, the slouchy hat:

He is officially ready to stroll the streets of San Francisco, Paris, or New York.

Mamoko may look cute...

But he sure is a devil!

I had way too many ends to weave in because this little booger above kept on gnawing through my yarn whenever I'd turn my head! 

• Pattern: Jennifer L. Jones Umbilical Cord Hat from Stitch and Bitch, minus the "umbilical cord"

• Yarn: Tatamy Tweed Worsted in Evergreen and Navy (40% cotton, 60% acrylic--I gave in on the acrylic because I wanted it to be machine washable/dryable and I didn't want to spend a fortune on yarn for a baby's hat).

• Needles: Size 7 Clover Bamboo DPNs

• Made for: My friend, Lisa's, new baby boy.  I figure I'll make her the size 1 year EZ (Elizabeth Zimmerman) Baby Surprise Jacket for her baby's birthday next year.

Happy Belated Ho-Ho-Holidays!

My parent's cat, Jimmy, wishes you a merry Christmas, a good Eid-al-Adha, a happy Kwanzaa, a super-duper-late happy Chanukah, and a pleasant winter solstice.

Jimmy-Cat is the only ornament my parents bothered to put up on the Christmas tree this year (for the most obvious reason!!).  Honestly, I think he's the cutest one that they have!

In other fun holiday news, my brother--ever and always the prankster--enjoyed scaring the crap out of me on multiple occasions...

by doing such things as placing the above dummy in his house (where I stayed while home for the holidays) and then jumping out to startle me!  Close-up of dummy below:

I hope you had a wonderful holiday break, no matter what you do or don't celebrate!

P.S. Stay tuned for a yarn-destashing contest soon!

Cyrano's Creature Comforts Drive--Some Blankies Delivered & a Kitty Adopted!

Yesterday I delivered about 30 blankies and twenty or so doggie toys to the Valley Animal Center and the California Feline Foundation in Fresno, California.

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so I wasn't able to get any pics of the 200+ cats and 6 dogs that are currently awaiting adoption.

However, we did bring a cat home!!!
Meet Bella!  She is a darling 2-year-old cat with the best manners--i.e. no jumping on counters or using furniture for scratching posts--and the sweetest disposition ever known:

She is a Persian and she looks like a little lion at the moment since her hair is all shaved short (except for her face and the last inch of her tail!) by the shelter to avoid heat sickness in the super hot valley.    She has gorgeous lilac-ish/blueish eyes, the sweetest snub nose, and loves to be held.  I will work on getting a better picture of her before I leave (she's really squiggly when it comes to getting her picture taken!).  Although I am completely in love with her, she's my parent's kitty as I've already two cats and can't take another.  Plus, Mamoko is having a conniption fit thinking he's being replaced by another kitty.

Not Hatin' the Haight!

Actually, I LOVE IT!  Our new apartment is so amazing!  So wondermous!  So lovely!  Just so right!

It is right on Haight Street, but fortunately is located away from the street with a neighbor's apartment to block the noise of the street.  It has a lovely view with a window seat for the cats (and the humans, too!) to sit on and look out:

The apartment has two skylights so that the cats can act as cat-sundials as they follow the path of the sun throughout the day:

It has a big, open kitchen with lots of storage:

And a crawl-in closet for storage, too...
Closed...

Open!

And the fire escape, of which only half is shown in this picture (and of which half will be left free for fire-escaping!), will be perfect for growing kitchen herbs like basil, thyme, and so forth!

It has lots of shelve-storage in the bedroom, the most wonderful window, and a cute mirrored closet.  There is plenty of room for a queen sized bed, although the pic doesn't seem to convey that:

The bathroom is rather spacious and has a shower/bathtub combo.  Unfortunately, my pics of the bathroom didn't turn out so great, so no sharing.

And it has loads and loads, bundles and bundles, and wavelengths of LIGHT--natural light!!!  My last apartment didn't and I was always wishing it had more light because I sometimes felt like I was living in Plato's Cave.  All the pictures here were taken between 6 to 7 pm and, so as you can imagine, this place has lots of natural light--yippee!

I L-O-V-E this apartment!  Way to go, Johnny, in finding and securing us this apartment.  You rock!

Just because...

Just because Zoe always looks so peaceful when sleeping:

Clayroom Cats

Zoe and Mamoko chilling in the Clayroom (my old room/current room which has smudges of clay dashed about):

Procrastinating Again...

Another post in which Mamoko and Zoe take over blogging duties.

Zoe: Uh!  Oh!  Mom's procrastinating again...
Look at this adorable kitty she found on the internet at the Random Kitten Generator:

Mamoko: I hope she's not thinking of getting another cat!  Then she'd really be a wacked-out, crazy cat lady.
Zoe: Uh, don't you think she already is?  Here's she's writing our conversation with human words and we only meow-meow.
Mamoko: Good point, but she did only get 2.5 hours of sleep last night!  Then she worked all day with her project partners and only took another 3 hour nap this evening!  She may be a bit loopy, but it's probably just sleep-deprivation.
Zoe:  Most likely.  She probably feels a bit too much like this kitty here (From the Random Kitten Generator):

Mamoko: Yep!  Zoe, you should give her the Evil-eye to get her back to working on that final project for that super-outrageously-tough-grading professor.
Zoe: Okay, here goes...Powers of the Evil-Eye Potently Prevail!!!

Mamoko:  Good job, now let's go to sleep--again!

Zoe: Okay, but can you try not to take up the whole chair?
Mamoko: Zzzzzzz.

Mamoko & Zoe Temporarily Take Over Blogging Duties

We're almost Yin and Yang:

But Mom won't even come close to a state of Zen till she finishes her damn final project for class!

No matter, we'll just kiss and cuddle while she types away and ignores us: