Completing The Task At Hand

The aforementioned snowfall brought a small degree of boredom . It's not that there wasn't enough to do ( the dreaded To Do list overflows ! ) , it's just that in the aftermath of the storm , I didn't feel especially ambitious . The kitchen did not draw me . Recipes would feed far more than me and, with a stuffed fridge and no way to slog across to share with the neighbors , there was no point to culinary fervor . Each casually considered project was rejected...until the yarn was remembered . I'd purchased some lovely stuff , an unlikely mixture of wool and soy , for a muffler .
Out came the needles and the trusty book of patterns . As a novice knitter , the checkerboard pattern was perfect . It was simple enough to do , and yet complex enough to challenge those rusty neurons . I settled into the myriad bed pillows , under a snugly throw , and began . This pattern requires focused attention as every four stitches you switch knitting and purling...every four rows , the sequence is altered to yield the desired checkerboard pattern .
All was proceeding kind of as planned , when the Ever Expanding Cat began the dreaded game of Marco Polo (see a previous post ) . She finally found me and launched herself onto the bed . Nothing would do but for her to pierce and pummel my lap , settling in as close to me as possible . The knitting , still in the unfamiliar count-and-stitch phase , now had the added challenge of the cat encumbrance . She was less than amused by the clacking needles and yarn that flicked her ears with every move . And yet...she did not move ! As far as the lap was concerned , possession was nine tenths of the law ! No shuffling of captured limbs affected her...she was unmoved by my plight . Finally the non-negotiable "call" came . I wriggled out from under her massive bulk and was free !
The challenge , of course , was that the muffler had to be completed . No other spot was as warm and cozy to do the deed . Once back in place , with the foresight to install a pillow between me and the cat ( so I could knit without having the needles under my nose !) , she huffed into the new position . Funny old girl !