11 May: Health and Holiday

The cat needed his booster jab, so we took him along on Wednesday evening. As he used to be a very tubby tabby, we have been trying to slim him down over the past couple of years. Last year, at his check-up, he had lost a bit of weight; this time, we thought the scales were wrong. He has lost quite a lot, and when the vet checked him over, she declared he has a heart murmur and an enlarged thyroid. She also spoke about diabetes, and geriatric cats - he's only 11!

So he will need some blood tests to find out exactly what is wrong, then probably medication.

But we can't get that sorted out just yet, as we are going off on a holiday tomorrow. Hurrah!
Except that the 5-day weather forecast is not good. But at least it will be a change from lazing around doing exactly as I please. Hmm...

(Later update: The cat has spent much of the afternoon in the conservatory, keeping an eye on the blackbirds, who have 3 fledglings to feed, and rely on the messy habits of the greenfinches to provide them with seed from the hanging feeder. The cat does not look incapacitated.)

So, knowing how much you'll all miss my regular knitting items, here are a few to keep you going. I have been trying out some Elizabeth Zimmerman designs, which have a whole blog devoted to them at Zimmermania. This one is called the Ganomey (or Gnome) Hat -


Pretty neat shaping, I think. Now all I need to do is work out how to make it big enough to fit a human head.

One of her designs gets a lot of attention; it's called the Baby Surprise Jacket, or BSJ. The book in which this pattern was published is out of print, and I haven't been able to get hold of a copy. However, a handy website called Knit Wiki has a nice clear photo, pointing out where it is started from. So I think I've worked it out - slightly odd way of shaping, rather like origami, and it looks a proper mess till you fold it over .


This one is just a sample, and I got the mitres wrong at the corners of the front band, but as it was tea-time, I couldn't be bothered to frog that bit and re-do it. Don't know if I would bother to make a baby sized one - unless somebody produces a rather square baby.

And here's the colourwork/Fair Isle hat I was knitting at the demonstration last weekend - modelled by me.


While I'm away, look after yourselves and don't do anything I wouldn't do.
And you'll never guess where a knitter goes on holiday - yes, Jersey!