It always seems that there are few pictures that convey domestic contentment that are quite like that of a person relaxing in his or her living room, no worries, rapt in their knitting and the quiet wonder of weaving something useful and tangible out of the vague tangle that is yarn.

Of my cats I think Roxie is the most "domestic" in that Martha Stewart sort of sense. She enjoys an orderly home, is consistent and watchful in the discipline of the younger cats, and likes to sit with Mama on the couch as Mama tries to make sense of That Which Is Yarn. And Roxie, helpful little girl, likes to assist Mama in The Ways Of The Needle. She just wants to help, really, and will reach out and grab at the needles so that she can make sure that every stitch is done right; and to make sure I'm conscientious, she'll pull all the work right off the needle to make sure I count all the stitches and make sure I didn't purl where I should have knitted.

Odessa couldn't give a rat because she's far more interested in scoring catnip; Stosh likes to ambush the yarn; and Brandy tries to munch on it, which Mama does her damndest to discourage!

Copyright © Baha Singh
May 11, 2006