Wednesday, October 24, 2007

The Incident

So, about the Incident. Let's first start with a little bit of background story. I've been having a fairly bad time lately, knitting-wise. Seams that don't look right, projects that leave me uninspired, or set-in sleeves that don't fit into the armholes on my Tangerine Twist because I decided to try seaming without blocking. See where my finger is peering out of a hole? That hole is created by extra sleeve fabric. Block before you seam, people. It'll avoid this unfortunate scenario.


But I digress. The Incident started out pretty harmlessly. I had finally knit something I really liked, something that made me feel better about my knitting. I was happy. Here it is, a shot of my I Love Gansey sock for the Six Socks Knitalong. You can't see the heart pattern or intricate cables very well in this picture, but you get the idea.


This will be important in a little while. I left the house for a trip to Jo-Ann's because I had a coupon. I love coupons, particularly when they make knitting books affordable. I was very happy when I came home and talked about knitting. To this, Mr. Batty said something along the lines of, "Oh, the cat did something with your knitting bag." My heart stopped for a second. "It had something to do with that gray sock you were making."
Gray sock. Gray sock. Gray sock. There's only one gray sock in my knitting bag, and this is it.


I lunge for my knitting bag as Mr. Batty tells the story. "I came up the stairs and saw the funniest thing. Merlin was on the landing. He was standing on his hind lags and he had your sock clutched between his front paws with the claws dug in. He was spinning in circles like a hammer thrower at an athletic event. It was so funny!"


These may not have been his exact words, because the entire time, I'm frantically digging through my knitting bag thinking, oh no, my sock, my sock!

I found it. The damage was not as extensive as it could have been. Once I calmed down enough, I noticed that most of the stitches he had pulled out of my beautifully even stockinette and my pretty cables were not entire stitches but single plies. I pushed them into the inside of the sock, and even though the yarn is superwash, I'm hoping that wear and blocking will do its work and pull the damaged plies back into place.

There is always hope.

22 comments:

Stickyfingers said...

OH LORDY. I hope it's fixable! I hope you get it fixed! Groan, how frustrating!

sharon said...

It had better be fixable. I am knitting that pattern too and I love it. I think Mr. batty deserves the punishment- he laughed.

Bonnie said...

My cat has two old socks filled with catnip, one upstairs and one downstairs. She loves them so much she never bothers any other socks.

Get some catnip (my favorite brand is Cosmic). Take an old sock (a thick one is best--maybe one that's felted a little and doesn't fit so well anymore?) and fill the upper foot with catnip. Tie a knot to keep the catnip in the sock.

Call your cat(s), throw the catnip sock, let them chase it, and watch the fun begin! My cat has a great time wrestling with it, gnawing it, kicking it with her hind legs.

The catnip will get "old" after a while and less attractive to the cats. I just untie the knot and add fresh catnip. The toy gradually gets fatter and fatter. Every now and then, I buy a new tub of catnip, empty out the socks, and fill them up again.

The Kelly Green Rogue said...

oh wow! I hope it's fixable!

weezalana said...

Oh my, I think MY heart stopped! Thank goodness it was only the plies, hopefully a nice sock and wear will make it all better! Mr. Batty owes you breakfast in bed for not realizing the gravity of the situation.

I'll send some mojo vibes your way, too, to make sure that sleeve fits next go around.

Andi said...

I think my DH would have laughed, too. Must be a guy thing. A non-knitter guy thing.

cpurl17 said...

Oh those kitty pre-teen years! I hope you can repair the damage!

Jo said...

Oh! Poor sock!

knottygnome said...

ooh, i feel for you. hope you can salvage it!

chemgrrl said...

Ack! That little fuzzy butthead! He's lucky he's cute. :) I hope everything bloxks out okay. It's a beautiful sock.

TheKnittingBee said...

It sounds like the stress of knowing something happened to the sock may have been worse than the damage?

If it's just the plies then you should be able to push them through and anchor them on the wrong side :)

Unknown said...

I feel your pain. I've been having a hard time with my knitting too. I hope that blocking with help salvage the sock, I really love it!!

Kate said...

Blocking works wonders. Hopefully even kitty damage is repairable. :-)

Sue, aka seiding said...

I have to admit that the image of Merlin on his hind legs, twirling around with your sock in his paws does make me smile a bit. Maybe I'm more Crazy Cat Lady and less Knitter.

I bet a bit of stretching this way and that will straighten things out for the most part!

spinndiva said...

sock is still BEAUTIFUL!
uhm... is the cat still alive?

Maureen said...

I too hope it bounces back in the wash. We had a puppy that would eat my knitting. Thankfully he grew out of it. Hope MErlin does too!

Unknown said...

Sending good blocking thoughts for your sweater and socks. Socks are somewhat resilient, so I think they'll be okay.

Rebel said...

Oh no! I hope it is fixable. It was just the one sock right? It's a beautiful sock. And I think Mr. Batty needs to learn that injuries to knitting are almost as bad as injuries to a person - no laughing until it's been determined that everything's going to be okay!

maryannlucy said...

Hopefully it can be sorted....bad kitty, don't see it as revenge for his little op ;-)

Anonymous said...

Oy! I'm glad the sock was (probably?) saved. But think of it this way - now knitting is an extreme sport, with lots of fangy, clawly, cuddly little hazards.

Larjmarj said...

He LAUGHED!!!

What would I do?

"Oh Mr. Batty it was the funniest thing, I was walking past your car with my keys out and they left this HUGE scratch in the paint...it was so hilarious! BWAAAahahhhahh!"

That or else the old, overhead ice water splash while they're in the shower trick. ( I actually did this). Just make sure the door is open and the car is running.

Hope it's fixable............

Becky said...

An intricately designed sock is not the one you want the cat to play with, that's for sure. The sock is beautiful. I hope this doesn't disturb your good knitting vibes!