It’s that time of year again. Winter solstice. Yule. The birth of a new spiritual year. Many (most?) Wiccans and eclectic-style pagans feel Samhain is the spiritual new year, and in Celtic tradition, it is. But it’s just never felt right to me. I feel much more spiritually connected and grounded on the solstice, where at last, darkness will once again turn toward light. It’s a time of light and renewal, and what better way to begin a new year?

Bucking my own tradition, I did not have a huge ritual this year, but instead, kept things simple. A sunrise. A cup of cinnamon apple rooibos tea. A fuzzy blanket and some cats. And Tarot.

It was nice. Comfortable. Warming. Not too stressing. I found a new tarot spread for Yule, called the Sacred Days of Yule Spread. It’s meant to be performed over 12 days, one card drawn each day. I’m a day late, so I drew two today. This sort of thing stresses me out - being ‘behind’, that is - so I’m trying to take it in stride.

Tsuki has been laying under the tree there for hours and hours and hours. She likes it. A lot. Silly kitty thinks she’s a present! Speaking of presents, I opened a gift from TJ, who sent wonderful things from Washington - like smoked salmon and MarketSpice Tea (cinnamon-orange flavor!) along with some other goodies. All my other gifts will, of course, be opened on Christmas Eve with the family. I don’t think they’d buy the whole “But my holiday comes two days early!” bit. Heh.

I also opened the kitties’ Secret Paw packages, because they’re Yulecats. Felony was quite excited. For her, anyway. They recieved some fun toys - like feathers and pompoms (okay, I stole these for my tree, but only momentarily… honest…) and catnip and a feather boa, which Felony likes very much… and this cute little birdie with a bell on a stick. At first, they were freaked out by it, and Sebastian actually meowed and ran away. But I got him and Felony to play with it eventually. Tsuki just wanted to curl up in the now-vacant spot under the tree to sleep. She even refused the treats their Secret Paw sent!

“Hey, gimme more treats! Those cheese ones were great!”

I lit a candle tonight for Salem, an orange and white kitten who passed to the other side of the veil today. He wasn’t mine, but I wished he was. He was a beautiful, loving kitten, and though his life was short, I know he made A’s day brighter just by being there when she walked in the door.

We’re both missing him tonight, but she’s missing him more.
Here’s hoping tomorrow’s a brighter day.

Sebastian got a haircut and a bath today (today is relative: it’s 6:30 a.m. the next day, technically, but I haven’t yet gone to bed) at the groomer’s, and he’s not happy.

He’s been shaved before, which doesn’t usually bother him, but the bath was new and unhappy. And the lion’s tail is new. He seems to be a bit puzzled by it, and prefers to hide the poof under himself. I think he’s a bit embarrassed! I don’t blame him. He’s fat, hairless, and with a poof at the end of his tail - pretty damned undignified. But in a day or two, he’ll be a lot happier - free of mats, and with less fur to hold him back.

Tsuki got a haircut, too.

She likes being groomed, and I doubt any of it bothered her too much. But man, she’s tiny - about half Sebastian’s size all around. Sebastian’s been hissing at her all day - I admit, she does look a bit like a drowned rat! But the trip to the groomer made for a long day, nonetheless. She’s plum tuckered out.

Weekend Cat Blogging (schedule here) hosted by Tuxedo Gang Hideout this week! Thanks, gang!

So here it is at last! Photos of my SP10 package, which was sent uber early because it was my birthday on the 26th! Hurrah! And indeed, I got it that weekend, and was terribly excited!

That’s the full list - Jojoland Melody is the yarn, and it’s sooo pretty. Very casual jeans-y, the sort of thing to wear with almost anything. I’m planning a shawl of some sort from it, since I have five balls! It’s a fingering weight wool, not terribly soft, but plenty soft enough to be a lovely wrap, I’d say! And I’m in love. It’s already in balls, too!

Moving on, I’ve completed exactly half of my Backyard Leaves scarf, thank god. And unfortunately, I do not have enough yarn to complete the second half, so I’m gonna have to take my chances with ordering another ball and hope I get the same or a similar dyelot .Er. Yay. Not.

Bloody pattern said 4 balls, but I most definitely need five. How. Lame. The one time I don’t buy too much yarn….

Moving on, I’ve realized that time is flying, and I hadn’t even STARTED my grandmother’s birthday gift, so I rushed through and did this last night:

That’ll be the gift bag from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I’m in love with the yarn. I’ve got one skein of it, which is supposed to be enough for both the small and the medium bags. It’d better be enough. Grrrrowl. And I still need something to put in it! Sorry if it’s a wee bit blurry. My, uh, flash did not pop up all the way. I took another photo, where the flash worked right, but it was all… harsh, and this was prettier. It’s not /entirely/ the right color - I reserve artistic rights to make the yarn look peachish even if it is a pale, pale baby pink. Comprendes?

Oh, and that card? That’s going out either tomorrow or the next day for my secret pal. But shhh.

And one last photo, because it’s cute.

Tsuki loves her pi…

Kitty Pi is done and blocking as I type. I knit furiously, running through six balls of Knitpicks Wool of the Andes, plus almost a full ball of Twilly’s Freedom Wool for trim. Pre-blocking, it looked like a giant’s hat, or a tote-bag with no handles, or something really freaky.

I knit it longer (taller) than the pattern called for, concerned that maybe it’d shrink too much and be a kitty pancake like some of the gallery photos seemed to be. Then I tossed it in the wash with a pair of dirty jeans and some soap, and felted. Twice.

And the result?

Perfection.

Though it’s not quite /round/. I didn’t have anything round. So I blocked it on an oval hamper. Sue me.

The beasties don’t know what to think much, yet. It sure smells… sheepy. Blech. Wet wool is not a pretty perfume. But it has intrigued the monsters. This one jumped up to check it out during the photo shoot.

Think they’ll like it? I hope so. I’m really pleased with how it turned out! I think it reminds me of a prairie - first, dark, rich soil, then topsoil, then green grass with some wildflowers poking out the top in a splash of color. Here’s to kitty-love. Though I guess if they don’t like it, I can always use it for a basket!

It’s time for a new layout! I worked this up last night in the midst of agonizing cramps and a strange desire to collect all those little bloggy button badgey things. (See bottom left.) I even made some of my own before I halted the obsession and ran. I found I was needing more sidebar space, so I doubled it with a second sidebar! Woot. I like the colors, and the quote I found with the word ‘elixir’ in it. Anybody know where it’s from? Hey - using Google is cheating!

I caught this picture of my kitty Felony today and submitted it to the Friday Ark. She’s the only member-cat of this household that hasn’t yet been featured here, so… here she is, looking devious and evil, and a little bit high.

Yes, that is catnip. Muahahaha. I drug my kitties regularly, you see… Speaking of catnip, I washed one of their catnip mice in the wash. Wonder if that’ll do anything odd to it.

The Shimmer Branching Out scarf is blocked! Here she is, in all her delicate glory! Mom wants one for Christmas. I may have to oblige, but maybe not Branching out, and maybe not that color yarn. Just something lace… I get so bored doing the same thing twice! *laugh* She’s over 5 feet long, featherlight, and this is a somewhat crappy photo. I’ll see what I can do elsewhere later this weekend.

Feel free to compliment the scarf. Really! I’d like some feedback!

So I am now the proud owner of THREE cats. Yes, three. First came my lil’ bitch, Felony, who came to me five years ago. She’s a black kitty with yellow eyes, and it’s terribly difficult to get a good picture of her. She’s not camera shy… she’s just not very photogenic, handsome as she may be.

Then came Sebastian, almost three years ago. He’s a handsome black and white longhaired giant, 13.5 pounds of fur and jiggliness. He’s really a sweetheart - tender and affectionate (to me - he’s rather jittery around strangers) and never too sulky or snotty.

And then, last night, at 2am, A rushed inside with the gray furball that used to be my grandmother’s cat. Since she went in the nursing home for a week to regain her strength after her fall, she discovered that she no longer coughs like crazy, and has determined that she’s allergic to her cat. A adopted the cat - but a day later, A discovered that she, too, was allergic to her. She broke out in hives all over her arms where she petted the creature.

Tsuki, as I’ve named her, is a Persian - and mind you, I’m not a big Persian fan, but she is rather sweet and shy. A picture of her:

That darned Persian face always looks so grumpy! *lol* But I love her eyes - copper and intense. She and Sebastian have been having little hissy fits. Literally. And staring matches. But she’s not really afraid of the other kitties. Just people. She’s been exploring the house inch by inch, and she’s taken up residence under my bed.

Inspired by all the kittiness, I whipped up a little catnip mouse toy with leftover gray yarn from the kitty hat I knit Tina. According to Sebastian, and Tsuki, who both play-tested it, it gets an A+ rating.

On a whim of hunger, I also whipped up a batch of lemon poppyseed muffins (from a mix) this morning before bed, and this utterly beautiful loaf of cinnamon raisin bread in my breadmaker!

It’s one of the few perfect loaves I’ve made! No collapsing anywhere! And it tastes oh-so-good. It’s a mix, too, but that’s just cuz I’m trying to use them up before the yeast goes bad. (Nothing like yeast failure to ruin your day!) My next cinnamon raisin bread will be from scratch. *crosses fingers*

Speaking of cooking… I bought (another whim) the Mary Jane’s Farm catalog/magazine on sale at the store - the food issue, all about recipes made with her special Farmgirl Budget Mix. The Budget Mix is a (somewhat expensive) mix of organic flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and it’s the base mix for dozens of recipes from cookies to crackers to scones to pizzas, to hotpocket-y items. Kinda like Bisquick, but not. I looked all day for a comparable recipe, but all the baking mix recipes I found have some form of oily stuff added (shortening, usually) and I doubt such a mix would work well with the recipes that have been formed to fit with a mix that *doesn’t* have shortening already added. So I may have to buy this stuff yet. I’m not really a very adventurous cook. Neither is anyone in my family. Altogether, the mix comes out to something like $1.30 or something a serving, which isn’t /too/ terrible, I guess.

Checked on my Knitpicks order. It’s been shipped, and is expected to arrive something like the 11th. *sigh* That’s 4 days after the Mystery Stole Part 1 is released, and I’ll never have the time with company coming to catch up. But oh well. I’ll just be a slow-late knitter, I guess! :) I’m excited anyway!

I got two packages today in the mail! Hurrah! I first got my little hummingbird stitch markers - which /are/ far prettier than the picture shows, though I can’t get a decent picture of them to save my arse - and my second Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell book! Though I had a surprise with that one. Namely, it turned out to be a softcover, not a hardcover book. Like… wtf? I specifically ordered a hardcover. But oh well. For something like $5.50, I’m not complaining. Even the softcover is priced at $15.95 - and the softcover’s in near-perfect condition, except for the tiniest wrinkles at the corners. Anyway, I caught my cat admiring it, so I snapped this photo.