The good news about last week is that I lost 11 pounds

The bad news is that 6 of them were my beloved boy cat Maka Hupo who, despite the best efforts of the great staff at VCA Animal Hospital, couldn't come out of renal failure. I'm hoping that his sister, Kali ko opo aka the hoochy kitty or she who has issues, will mellow out now that she doesn't have competition for my attention.

So as soon as I get through the design submission prep knitting, class project samples knitting, family and friend over due knitting and have a little bit of knitting for moi time, I'll revisit the long languishing Polynesian Popoki Shawl (my adaptation of the Joan Schrouder designed Kilamanjaro Kat Shawl). I may have to experiment with knitting with gloves or suddenly turn over a pampered leaf and have regular manicures to avoid the perils of cuticles that kill since the rayon ribbon snags easily.


While playing the hospital waiting game, I worked on the gilded and goth version of my knitted lilies -- mostly the goth. Somehow I find that very appropriate because Maka was a black cat who, like many a goth I've met, often presented as dangerous but was truly sweet. The lilies are an out growth of a mistake I made while knitting the samples for my virtual seminar on Knitting Centre out Polygons fpr the KBTH Fall 2004 Virtual Conference. I revisted that mistake originally in the pine paper yarn from Habu Textiles but like many things I've designed/worked with pine paper, I wanted to find a more "mass market" available yarn to make the design more marketable. I'm very happy with the results so far but I do wish that:

• DMC Senso Cottton had a green other than the "poison green" of the goth lily stamen
• There were more metallic gold yarns available than the Twilley's Gold Fingering and the South West Trading Company's Shimmer