Julia's KnitWits Blog

Well, today has been slightly bizarre to put it mildly. Like most knitters I also have cats. Three to be precise. I adore all my pussies but the FB - like a lot of men - dismisses them completely until they're ill and then he fusses them like mad. We have Tabitha who is approximately 18 - I say approximately as, as with a lot of cats, she adopted us as her old lady's retirement home and very rarely moves from her satsuma box in front of the Aga so her precise age is unknown. We know from our neighbours (with whom she used to reside) that she is getting on a bit and that she wasn't allowed in their house due to her unfortunate habit of - how shall I put this delicately - s**ting everywhere - especially the middle of ones bed. We discovered that she's allergic to milk (trust us to have a milk allergic cat) and since she no longer has milk she no longer s**ts - marvellous. She is really Tom's cat and will sit next to him at supper for little tit-bits which we pretend not to notice.

Then we have Eric who really is our cat and only has 3 legs. Yes, one with a milk allergy and one with 3 legs - trust me, it gets better. Eric is enormous, an enthusiastic traveller (has been known to visit friends 5 miles away for a ratting expedition even on just 3 legs), very vocal, a keen hunter and loathes water. He returned last night dragging his only back leg and soaked to the skin. Normally he would shelter under a hedge until it was drier so we knew he must have a pretty good reason for dragging himself home (literally). Turns out he's cut a pad on his only back leg so was feeling pretty sore and sorry for himself. He ate two bowls of food and settled down for the night. This morning, he couldn't get his back leg to work so he did his morning s**t on the kitchen floor and then cried to apologise. There's nothing quite so joyful as clearing up cat s**t before you can have breakfast - what a terrific way to start the day.

Then Tom discovered our third cat - Deidre (who is a boy - I told you it only gets better - one with milk allergy, one with three legs and a boy called Deidre) in the garden shed crying. He was acting most peculiarly so was whisked off to the vet and it turns out he's had a stroke. I didn't know cats could have strokes either so, there you are, you learn something new every day. Deidre is FB's baby (although he will strongly deny this) as we had him from 5 weeks old when his mother abandoned him in the farmyard. He could easily fit in a pint pot and was a hissing ball of fury for the first 5 days, when he learnt how to purr. He is a stunningly beautiful tabby so to see him sick is pitiful. With strokes it's a case of "wait and see" so I'm keeping everything crossed and trying to tempt him with titbits.

For those of you who don't have cats but do knit I'll now do the knitterly bit. I've added Sari Silk to the site today! Hooray! Sari silk is really difficult to sell on-line as every skein is so different but we sell a lot in the shop and lots of people say they can't find it anywhere else so we thought we'd share it with everyone. Sari silk, for those of you who don't know, is the remnants of sari material literally swept up from the factory floors and then hand spun by Tibetan refugees. Every skein is different and every skein is gorgeous. It's a bit "pot luck" buying on-line but most skeins are in the red/pink zone with flashes of other colours.

I've also uploaded four new colours in King Cole Mirage and one in James Brett Baby Magi-Knit (a great colour for boys - blue/beige).

I also forgot to say that we had a big delivery in from James Brett last week so the stock is high in Marble Chunky (always fantastically popular) and Marble DK and Baby Magi-Knit. All of these yarns sell incredibly well in the shop so if you haven't tried them before - give them a go!

Tonight I'm formatting some new patterns in Cornish Organic Wool and, hopefully, we can photograph the garments this weekend - never a dull moment, that's for sure!

Our baby is definitely growing - I hope you like it.

And, oh, yes, for the person who sent a comment about knowing me 20+ years ago in Cambridge (was it really that long?!) can you email me your address as I have no identification for you so have no idea who you are! Thanks. Assume you knit? Wish I had time to!