Dear Kim,
Oy, I'm already falling so far behind! I'd like to commend you on your wonderful posts, complete with pictures, no less! I would have loved to feast my eyes on that knitted wedding cake, but don't beat yourself up about not having your camera - I know I seldom went to a gig thinking "Gee, better take my camera just in case someone knits a three-tier pastry and I need to document it!"

It sounded like a lovely wedding (ah, to sing under that dome!) except for the professional ballroom dancers. For some reason, that just didn't sound right to me. I'm sure we've both seen stranger things at weddings, but while the Irish dancers were a cool nod to the couple's heritage, it just seems that the ballroom dancers were a little, ummm, Solid Gold for my taste. Well, perhaps we don't need to drag Marilyn McCoo into this, but really, it's a wedding, not a variety hour.

Ok, enough grumpiness and let's get down to the knitty gritty :0). I think the weird stitches will probably even out for you as you keep knitting and your fingers get to know the yarn better, but either way, the miracle of blocking will probably make it all a bad dream anyway. Otherwise, I think it looks wonderful so far. Log Cabin is looking awesome, so colorful and happy! I can't wait to see how it turns out, and if you will ever want to do a garter stitch project again once it's done. I am totally motivated to pick up the needles now, and yes, I think that KnitPicks gift certificate a certain darling friend gave me is about to get sqandered on Options needles. Once I have them I will swatch like a demon and give a full report.

Knitting has been on the back burner, though, due to, you know, stuff. Nik-Nik is sick and through the magic of black-light sensitive dye we've discovered that both she and Hecky are continuing Gavin's grand old tradition of using the entire public area of the basement as their toilet. At least they have not decided to continue his wonderful habit of using the dining room and Lena's room as well (sigh).

We are going to look for a new home for Nicky, but Hecky, well, he's a different story. Hecky was Steve's first cat, given to him when he was just a few weeks old (Hecky, that is) and Steve made a promise that he would take care of him his entire life. Despite the fact that I've demonstrated Hecky's lack of long-term memory, Steve feels bound by his word and his affection for Hecky to see this thing through no matter what. The next step is to try to re-crate train Hecky once Nicky is gone, but if that doesn't work I think I'm going to either demand Hecky's ouster (I know making demands in marriage is Not Recommended, but I have reached a nadir of desperation) or I'm just moving to the state with the lowest cat-to-human ratio until Hecky goes to cat heaven.

We are having a garage sale this weekend, and let's just say preparation to date has been minimal. I'll be working on it in the afternoons and evenings and actually, I'm totally ok with all the work to get ready, because everything that doesn't sell goes to charity and is not allowed to re-enter the house. Hooray! Once we get the garage sale stuff out and the cat waste management issue resolved, I'm going to have professional cleaners come in haz-mat uniforms and clean the basement and then - wait, I have to get a tissue - we'll actually be able to make the basement livable space! *sniffle, sniffle, wipe* I'll let you know how that is going in my next post, which at this rate will be early next week (I'll include photos of knit stuff too, just to keep up the fiction that this is a knitting blog ;0)).

Give Rosie and Andy hugs, and I hope Dermie is feeling better even as you read this. Maybe if you rubbed him with a dryer sheet or something, he'd smell more like home? Anyway, keep knitting - someone has to!

Love,
Rachel