C is for...

Cat.

Because, seriously, what would a year of knitting-themed pictures be without the Crazy Cat (or Cat Lady) picture?

As you may know, Scruffy is the pushiest, clingiest, most affectionate furbeast I've ever known. So, having knitting in your lap is absolutely no obstacle at all if he decides to settle himself in your lap. He will push his way in and make himself at home. You know, the way cats do.

This would all be fine and dandy, except he is still one of those string-frenzy cats. He's about 3 1/2 years old right now, and definitely still has some kitten-ish tendencies. The intense desire to attack anything remotely string-like is one of them. Shoelaces, cable cords, ribbon, and of course, yarn. He's not one of those cats that will sit in your lap and quietly let you knit once they have their lap (because, really, they have their lap and that's all that matters). With Scruffy, it's not long before the paws start trying to catch the yarns that's making it's way from the skein to the project. Then it just escalates from there.

The best (?) one was last summer. I'm still surprised I didn't get a picture of it, but I was a little irritated at it, and kinda forgot. Basically, the cat tangled our house up in yarn. To explain, our apartment has a loop between the kitchen, dining room, hallway and living room. I had left a project out on the ottoman in the living room, so that I could work on it the next day. Scruffy hadn't touched my knitting up til then if it wasn't moving (i.e. in use). But that morning, I woke and came into the living room to find that he had attacked the project and managed to drag the yarn several times through that loop of rooms. I think it got stuck on his claws or something so that he couldn't get it off and proceeded to drag it all over. However it happened, the fact remains that he wound the house up in yarn. It was one of those mornings where you want to yell and laugh all at the same time. Zach just laughed. I made enough commotion, I think, that the cat hasn't touched my resting knitting since, but it hasn't stopped him from messing with the active projects. At least with those, I'm there working on the project to bop him on the nose and tell him that "No, this isn't your yarn." What can I say, he's still learning.