Chickenlips Knitting

No sooner had this little guy and Michelle encountered one another, than he began climbing the bars of his cage at the shelter, eager and desperate, stepping on the head of his roommate. “Uff! I am going with you and you are not leaving without me HEYWAITAMINUTE----!!!”

But alas, it was so late in the day that the shelter people told us to come back the next day, and he would be ours. Sadly, we had no choice but to leave little Hannibal (Michelle and Jason chose this name, for one of the greatest military commanders in history) to spend one more night at the shelter.

Oh, and he’s a genius! He knows the answer to every question I ask him. Check it out.

“Hannibal, what is the name for the part of a boat which is directly opposite the stern?”


"BOW!"



“Hannibal, who founded the Chinese Communist Party in 1949?”

"MAO!"

“Hannibal, when would you like to eat some tuna?”


"NOW!"

See what I mean? I've been trying to book us for an appearance on Montel, but so far they haven't returned my calls.

***

I also have something that's been sorely lacking in my posts of late--something I knitted!

Elizabeth Zimmermann's modular Tomten jacket. I used Donegal Tweed in Oatmeal for the body and cuffs, and Lamb's Pride Worsted in Sable for the hood and sleeves. This is one of three large projects that were neck-and-neck in the race to become FO's. It took about eight days from start to finish, and even though it's a child's zip-front hoodie about size 4 or 6, it sure felt like miles of garter stitch! I know the chant: "I like knitting...I like knitting..." but I'm ready to pick up my lonely Print o'the Wave shawl or something else more challenging. If I didn't have more deadline knitting, that is, which I'll get into later.

The mistakes in this sucker are legion. The most obvious is on the left sleeve, which I guess would be the one on the right side of the photo. Late last night, I ran out of the Lamb's Pride. There was no way in hell I was going to try to squeeze in a trip to the LYS, what with going to the shelter to pick up little Hannibal, settling him in, doing a blog post, trying to have some quality time with the spousal unit AND getting some yarn dyeing done all in one day! So I fudged. I rummaged through my stash and came up with some leftover sock yarn, which was the closest color match I could find. I used a double strand to finish the sleeve. Probably should have used a triple strand, because the gauge is obviously off, but I was in my usual fugue state at that hour of the night. I figure, the sleeves are longish for a child, so they'll be rolled up anyway, and no one will be the wiser. Right? Right??

I haven't decided yet what I'll do with this item. I don't know anyone with small kids, and because of the sleeve mishap I'm embarrassed to gift someone with it. I joined the Knitting for Homeless team, which was founded by Vik in Buenos Aires, and I will probably donate it to the local shelter along with some hats and scarves.

I cheated on the photo, too. The zipper isn't sewn in yet, I just faked it.