Now is the winter of our....

Temps in the teens and below; winds like the Roaring Forties; clear roads and sidewalks that are ice rinks made so by wintry mixes, snow, rain, sleet or small chunks of ice (last Sunday afternoon).  This winter has hit the gauge by which I measure bad winters: Your fingers don't feel cold without gloves when it's 32F.

I have a quilted coat that I save for the coldest days. Most winters I wear it maybe 20 days between December and March 1, because it is keeps me so warm that above 35F, it is uncomfortably warm. I have worn the coat almost every day from the end of January and I'm still wearing it. I've worn shoes to work once in the last 15-20 days. The rest of the time it's been my purple boots because they grip best on ice. Warmish days (those where the temps climb to the mid-30'sF), deepens the nightmare because what melts during the day, freezes again at night.

Today is another snow day. It's been snowing steadily since about 07:00 and it is 16:15 now. I sent emails and chatted at bit on FB (a rarity for me). Then I spent a few hours working on the financials for work making some good progress.

So until the sun of York decides to show his face and make glorious summer or 40F with no wind, here are some photos:

February Adventures

Happy Lunar New Year and Welcome to the Year of the Wood Sheep

 

Our weather of late has made and I suspect in the coming days, will continue to make the news. It is cold; or COLD as the word appeared on the weather page of one of the region’s most reliable sources of news for weather and traffic. We’re all little bundles of our own warmth walking about, standing on subway platforms, or waiting to cross the street. We doff our hoods from swaddled heads once in the safe warmth of an indoor space. The brave remove their gloves to raccoon away on a smart device or more often to reinvigorate circulation to cold hands. Yes, this week it has become increasingly unusual to see someone stop in mid stride arrested by something on a small screen. Our movements in the outdoors are purposeful and directed. Even that dreaded and much derided phrase of last winter Arctic Vortex has reemerged. No one now needs a definition and the temperatures have muted protests of exaggeration. 

My personal hero has been the Nomad Hat. The hat portion covers the entire head and wrapping the scarf around my neck—even though I didn’t knit it as long as the pattern dictated—protects my throat and neck from the cold. Next are my various pairs of fingerless gloves worn over gloves or convertible mitts providing an additional layer of warmth without inhibiting dexterity. Lastly, the Gansey Legwarmers worn with a ski liner and socks stuffed into boots. 

Besides the weather, I have finally picked a stitch pattern from Nihon Vogue Sha’s Knitting Patterns 300. I’ve worked out how to use the knitting symbol fonts downloaded from the Knitting Universe website to type the patter into an Excel workbook. I’ve learned the value of the traditional SSK—having previously always used Barbara Walker’s version—in knitting the vertical double decrease. I’ve managed to rearrange the stitches to avoid YO’s being the first or last stitch on the needle and the knitting is starting to percolate along nicely. 

 

 

Toupie is coping well. He has the ottoman, the dresser, the armchair in the dining room and the futon as refuges from the cold floor. I give him warm water daily and keep the heating at 72F. He has avoided his usual perch of the bathroom rug this week. I think the tiled floor is just too cold.

Gussets Again

My bedtime reading of late has been The Principles of Knitting by June Hemmons Hiatt. I’ve incorporated the left and right leaning raised increases in the thumb gusset. Very pleasing and very easy to do.

It’s been very cold here lately. My apartment is always cold because it sits atop the concrete roof of the garage. Yesterday, I picked up Toupie’s water bowl to fill it, only to find that it was frozen to the floor. But never fear, puss has lots of places to curl up and roll around, like the computer chair.

A wind gust catches his attention

Disorganized Organization and Gusset Adventures

While awaiting the start of my next temporary assignment, I mentally went through my list of to dos, which consists mainly of things whose disorganization I find annoying.

Long wishing to organize my downloaded knitting patterns, I started there. I kept the categories broad: tops, mittens (including gloves, arm warmers, in short, anything related to hands), e-books, skirts, socks, shawls, cowls, home (anything not wearable), etc. I also weeded. Anything I knew stood no possibility of being knitted went to the Recycle Bin.

The rewards were immediate. New downloads are immediately saved in a folder. During one of my stash dives, I came across one of a pair of gloves I was knitting in Cascade 220. But what was the pattern? Scrolling through my mitten folder, I discovered the pattern complete with the last row knit highlighted in pink.

Gusset Adventures

One of the reasons I so desired to knit the 1861 Cottage Mitts was the different gusset for the thumb. While the lifted increase produces two nice rows of left and right slanting stiches outlining the V of the thumb gusset, I found overtime these stitches are under strain. I wanted to keep the nice gusset outline but eliminate the strain. I found solutions in Beth Brown-Reinsel’s book Knitting Ganseys. 

Using Lion Bran Fisherman’s Wool in the Birch Tweed colorway is 78% wool and 13% Acrylic and 9% Rayon I cast on 40 stitches on size 3.5mm dpns and knit 27 rows in k1p1 rib. On row 28 I knit one stitch, placed a marker, purled the next stitch and lifted one stitch from the row below for the increase. Knitting one row between increases, I plan to continue this until I have 12 stitches for the gusset before casting on stitches for the fourchette and joining in the round.

What I learned from knitting a pair of convertible mittens with this yarn on size 4.5mm needles is that it pays to knit mittens and gloves a tighter gauge than recommended. The firmer fabric is warmer and keeps pilling to a minimum. 

Start As You Mean to Go On

It’s January 9 and I’ve finished my Gansey Leg Warmers and one of my 1861 Cottage Wristers.

Besides the snow on Tuesday, it has been very cold this week. Temps managed to get into the 30’s today but won’t get past the mid 20’s tomorrow. The wristers gave me an idea. I wore a pair of fingerless mitts under my Rowan Creative Focus wool gloves this week. Toasty!

Our new controllable heating system works well. I can lower the temp during the day and at bedtime and only keep the thermostat at 80 in the evenings and on weekends. I am thinking about putting the cotton rug to use. Because I’m on the first floor and sitting on top of the concrete roof of the garage, my floors are really cold. The water is positively icy from the cold-water tap; and I’ve been downing 20 ounce glasses of fresh lemonade in the evenings. I attribute the pneumonia shot and the fresh vitamin C combined with plenty of hand washing as the reason I’ve so far avoided catching the flu. Several people at work have had it and a few have developed pneumonia.

Koala's and the Australian Bushfires

Koala's can use our help to recover from burn injuries to their paws received during the recent bushfires. 

Please read: Click

Link to sewing pattern for cotton mitts. These are easy enough to stitch by hand if you don't have a machine.

First Pawing

The New Year’s Day tradition here is that as the man of the house, aka Toupie, First Paws the apartment. He had a bit of a wander before returning this year. I gave him treats as a reward.

 I have finished the first 1861 Cottage Wrister. Once I figured out the issue with the stitch count during the increases, it was smooth sailing. The thumb is very natural looking, no gaps or pulled gusset stitches.

 

 I have four skeins of the Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool. Words cannot express my disappointment in the quality. It is splitty because it is so poorly spun. I had no knots but did have two clumps. It is full of guard hairs, which didn’t bother me but have bothered others. My gauge was 8 stitches to the inch. I don’t think I would want to create a fabric less dense for an item that will get a lot of wear, because it might not hold up.

Unlike my mittens knit with the Sirritogv, there is no bounce or energy in the final fabric. But they will serve their intended purpose as an under glove for the Sirritogv mittens.

 

EU VAT Mess

What were they thinking? It’s a little obvious that not much thinking went into it. As more people access EU digital services and content discovering price rises or content and services no longer available, politicians will start to hear the complaints and feel the heat. If the intention of this law was to hit the big multinationals, then why wasn’t a revenue threshold set? Instead of growing micro and small businesses, this legislation not only puts their existence in danger, but makes starting up more onerous.  

Here are more links and some possible solutions for traders.
http://www.gamerlaw.co.uk/2014/a-practical-guide-to-the-eus-new-vat-rules-video-games-and-digital-content-sales/
http://www.irishtimes.com/business/retail-and-services/vat-on-digital-goods-to-be-levied-locally-under-new-eu-rules-1.2049880
http://www.taxamo.com/

Year of the Wood Sheep

It doesn’t officially begin until February 17 or so, but since celebrations for everything nowadays begin months before time, why not. As long as we don’t forget that officially we are still under the influence of the Iron Horse. Unlike the Iron Horse, the Wood Sheep is a more expansive. 2015 should be a good year for growth—no this is not a financial prediction.

To start the year’s knitting off right, I cast on for a project I’ve wanted to knit since I read the article in Piecework’s January/February 2013 issue, 1861 Cottage Industry Wristers and Mitts. It took cleaning the coat and luggage closet leading to the discovery of a bag of hidden stash with a skein of Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool in Nature’s Brown colorway that decided the issue.

In the project notes on Ravelry and on the Piecework website, I discovered an issue with the pattern. I sat down and spent some time rereading the directions and figured out where the initial confusion occurs in the first round after the ribbing the number of stitches increased is given as 3. Three stitches are actually increased each time you complete the three round sequence for the thumb gusset. But if you knit that sequence 6 times as directed, the total round of increased stitches is 18 instead of the printed 17. It is possible to knit the three round sequence six times and set of 18 stitches for the thumb gusset. However, since I have small hands, I decided to stick with the 17 stitches. To achieve that, after the thumb gusset contained 15 stitches, I knit rounds 2 and 3 once more.

I think there is a further problem with the number of fourchette stitches but I will deal with that once I knit the 8 plain rounds.

All this is a shame because this is actually a pattern a beginner could knit and since it is knit using a worsted weight yarn on size 1 needles, the fabric created is dense and will keep the hands warm. Especially since the wristers and the mittens can be worn together or separately. But I confess to being one of those who more often than not when there are issues with a pattern, just move on to the next item in my queue or bright and shiny object that catches my attention. What drove me in this instance—which is the initial thing about the pattern that grabbed my attention—was the construction of the thumb gusset. A construction I will apply to my next set of mittens or gloves because it eliminates the possibility of holes or stretched stitches that can occur with the M1L/M1R construction.

I have posted my modifications on my project page on Ravelry and on the Knitting Daily forum for the pattern. I hope that some knitter will find my notes helpful.

 

 

Latvian Braid and other adventures

Sometimes I find Audiobooks a struggle. I love the Great Courses but there are so few on non-Western history. I like the courses because they are generally long and I can listen to them through a weekend as I knit, tidy, and generally space out. Subconsciously ruminating on what to listen to next, The Forsyte Saga suddenly popped into my mind on the way home Friday. I’d read the books when I was 17 or 18 and had a vague recollection of them being hard going. The reviews on Audible were glowing. It took me about an hour to get used to the narrator but he really does capture not just the characters but also the tone of the underlying themes of the books.

Last week I perused Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2013 featuring a hat with Latvian Braid. In my continual stash busting, I’d bought some KP Telemark yarn when it was being discontinued to make gloves. Needing another pair of fingerless convertibles, (they really are SO useful in the winter). I decided to conquer Latvian Braid. A five-minute You Tube video and I was off and knitting. It really is so easy and creates such a stunning effect. I used Ann Budd’s The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns for the gauge cast on numbers and the thumb gusset.

 

Gloves with Latvian Braid knit to match jacket

 

Toupie had a fit of litter rejection this week. How do I explain that his normal litter was not in stock and the litter I bought was the only one available in a size I could carry from the store. After scooping it out of the box a few times only to see it swept up and returned, he got the message.

Deaths and Taxes

A great many words will be written and spoken about the “march” today in Washington, Not much about last night’s powerful and poignant silent protest. A little background. Since the grand jury verdicts on police involved deaths, there have been daily peaceful protests in Washington. Some organized with large numbers of participants. Some with just a handful people. I happen to see these because they are occurring near where I work.

 

Friday night during rush hour, a silent vigil with candles and signs the length of 16^th street (which runs some 8 miles from Lafayette Square at the back of the White House to the Maryland DC line and beyond.) There were no speeches or chanting. Just people standing singly or in groups, some with signs, most with candles, torches, or oil lamps. Luminarias lined the pavements north of where I live. It belied the cheer of the holiday season lights twinkling from windows, balconies and house fronts and accompanied by drivers honking their support and the ringing of bells from supporting houses of worship.

On January 1^st, a new EU VAT regulation will go into effect from small digital service and content providers. This law will require them to collect, pay, and retain transaction records for all sales to EU countries regardless of local sales or VAT regulation. For example, if I sell to an EU country, I would be required to collect and pay the tax required in that country. This will affect all small traders selling digital products like patterns, e-books and e-courses as well as small web hosting businesses.

Here are some links for more information:
http://techcrunch.com/2014/11/25/eus-new-vatmoss-rules-could-create-a-vatmess-for-startups/
http://euvataction.org/2014/12/12/vat-a-mess-new-eu-tax-rules-set-to-close-small-businesses/

Please sign the petition:

https://www.change.org/p/pierre-moscovici-a-unilateral-suspension-of-the-introduction-of-the-new-eu-vat-laws-for-micro-businesses-and-sole-traders

 

Quiet Week

It’s been a quiet week as I worked on the second Gansey Leg Warmer. This and the She’s Electric skirt are the first projects where I really understand the rhythm or music of the knitting. 

My goal is to finish the legwarmers this week and to start knitting the second glove. Speaking of goals, I’m way behind on my yardage knit goal for the year. 

Toupie has recovered from the excitement of the new neighbors moving in. But the barking jags of various dogs in the building keep him intrigued when he’s not escaping into the hallway to see people.

Grazing and Knitting

Thanksgiving has thankfully come and didn’t get a chance to properly go before the start of the Black Friday and the holiday shopping madness.

This is really one of my favorite times of year. Yes, it gets dark earlier, and the weather can be from brisk to freezing. That makes it all the easier to cuddle up with a mug of something hot to read a good book, get lost in the complexity of symphony, or knit something. Gone is the allure of sunset at 9pm or a sunlight-bathed world to seduce us to forget ourselves and go outside.

I had to recognize that although I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving—as in getting together with family or friends to have meal—I do have a Thanksgiving tradition. About 25 years ago, I discovered a prepared food shop had several different kinds of stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy and traditional vegetables available. Since then I treat myself to a cornucopia of whatever stuffings are on offer cranberry sauce and gravy. Over the years, I started preparing the veg myself. This means I can graze all day without a mountain of leftovers and hours of preparation.

I used to drive my mother mad in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. I never liked turkey, but could/can eat stuffing forever. My mother would do a mix of commercially bought stuffing and bread ends that she froze, thawed, baked until they were toast and mixed with the commercial stuffing and spices. The problem was I would eat those cubes of commercial stuffing (she usually bought what she was going to cook before Halloween). Often the Saturday before she when she was checking ingredients before the final holiday shop, I would have gone through most if not all of the stuffing. Total exasperation and a lecture was the result.

Therefore, this Thanksgiving, I spent the day grazing and knitting the Gansey Leg Warmers in between a few naps and a few chores.

Return of the Fox

Three of my favorite knitting newsletters hit my inbox today. Knitter’s Review by Clara Parkes, Patternfish Newsletter and the Schoolhouse Press newsletter. These are must-reads as the content is always interesting and useful. I have somehow been unable to receive the Wendy’s Knits newsletters since October 19. They aren’t in my spam folder and the newsletter email address is not in my junk list. Sigh. I miss piccy’s of Loki.

The fox is back; truly a sign the Fall has arrived. He screamed for longer on Wednesday night than Thursday; but each Fall after the clocks change, I wait to hear that he/she is back. There was unusual howling Friday night. Couldn’t identify the critter from the sound. It’s so nice in a brick and concrete city, to know that just beyond the fence that separates my building from the park, there are foxes, coyotes, deer and very rarely a cougar or bear. 

On the needles, the September Fingerless, the She’s Electric skirt, and the Gansey Legwarmers.

Gansey Legwarmers; Knit Picks Palette; Cornmeal colorway

 

I WAS napping.

 

 

 

 

Glove Love

Knitting has made me a mitten maven. Mittens, even flip-top mittens, keep fingers and hands warmer. Flip-top mittens allow you to free your fingers when needed. Moreover, fingerless gloves can keep off the chill and be a fashion statement at the same time.

A couple of weeks ago, I reread Deborah Newton’s article the December 1987/January 1988 issue of Threads on knitting gloves. That inspired me to knit another pair of gloves. Applying the KISS principle, I went to Ann Budd’s The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns and her basic glove pattern. No, I didn’t swatch (shame, shame). Using a skein of Knit Picks overspun Wool of the Andes and size 2.5mm needles I cast on 56 stitches. I paid very close attention to the thumb increases, marking each one with a coiless pin. In knitting the fingers, I switched to 4” dpns leaving the waiting stitches on the six-inch dpns and only moved the stitches in waiting to thread now that I’m knitting the last two fingers.

 

 

Baby, It's Cold Outside

This is just funny, especially in a week where the local football franchise’s tickets are reselling for as low as $11.00. I had a convo with a co-worker who is going to tomorrow’s game (she’s not happy about the cold weather). The antipathy towards the local NFL franchise has two loci: the owner and the consistently poor performance of the team in recent decades. I can remember the days—before the Super Bowl rich 1980’s—when we may not have been winners, but we were contenders. In the last 20 years, we only seem slowly to descend the ladder of also-rans.

Knitting has been fun this week. I’ve finished the first glove of the September Fingerless Gloves using Knit Picks Telemark in the Cork colorway. What a fun, well-written pattern. My only despair is that it is too cold outside to go fingerless.

Yes, we have freezing temps. The outlook for the coming week doesn’t bode well for those who don’t like the cold. I wore the Little Things hat yesterday and it was toasty.

On the needles are the second September Fingerless, the She’s Electric Skirt and a pair of gloves from Ann Budd’s The Knitter’s Book of Patterns in Knit Picks Wool of the Andes overspun yarn sport-weight yarn in the Forest Heather colorway.

Another mad Friday night with Toupie. I really should try to capture on video the look of wild determination on his face when he sprints from one end of the apartment to the other. There was lots of that last night and some wild playing with a ball by the front door. When I made up the bed and turned on the electric blanket, he curled up, head on pillow and didn’t budge till this morning.

Too cold for the tweet tweets

 

When the Ordinary Becomes the Extraordinary

Romo

Now that I no longer work in Adams Morgan, I only see Romo once or twice a week. I was surprised to see this BBC article a couple of months ago. Unaware of his fame, Romo was just the doggie in the window by the bus stop. What I’ve always liked about him is attitude. Traffic, passersby, people waiting at the bus stop, Romo ignores them all most times and focuses on whatever he chooses. He’s in the window because that’s where he wants to be.

Speaking of pets with attitude, Toupie had a spate of mischief of Friday night that has left enervated most of yesterday and this morning. Near midnight Friday, after playing with toys, repeatedly running the length of the apartment, furious play with a stack of post-it arrows, we got into over the trash bin near the computer table. Several times, he knocked it over and dived in with head and paws looking for something he could turn into a toy. I finally solved the problem by removing the trash bag. In between his hijinks, I made progress on the She’s Electric Skirt. The rounds are long, but it is an enjoyable knit.

 

Finished: OdessII in Blackstone Tweed's Ancient Mariner colorway

Mischief

Time to Workout

Action Shot: Clawing Mummy's housecoat when she's in it 

 

Errata

You know those corrections in printed knitting pattern instructions. I’ve learned. I’ve been checking for errata before knitting.

Was told in the automatic checkout line—with the concurrence (both verbal and non-verbal) of others behind me—that I was the fastest person they’d ever seen use the checkout. I thanked the speaker and told him that I hate the automatic check out. For starters, they are too loud and too impersonal. They seem to break or get cranky leaving you waiting for store personnel to help or move you to another machine. People are dreadfully slow using them—even the ones that aren’t on their mobiles. I won’t post how I feel about people on mobiles in grocery stores. They are actually worse than people walking, pacing or coming to a dead stop in the middle of the pavement to make a point to the person on the other end of the line. GRRR

Actually going grocery shopping at most stores is a cross between and three-ring circus and being a lab rat in a maze with a trolley or basket. You barely get in the door before you are confronted with a wall of whatever is on special. The Giant in Silver Spring is notorious for its 10 foot high displays near the Starbucks outlet. These hog the main aisle from the veg to the checkout lanes creating bottlenecks even when the store isn’t crowded.

I’m making good progress on my second Odessa. I a knitting it with Blackstone Tweed which is a denser yarn than the Rowan Felted Tweed. The yarn doesn’t have much give and feels slightly artificial. It will be interesting to see how it responds after a good soaking.

November Starting More Like March

November has come in like a lion. Yesterday was wet, windy and closer to cold than cool. This morning there is a wind advisory. At least there is sunshine, so later today I can take and add piccy's of my completed Little Things hat knit in Knit Picks Palette in the Fairy Tale colorway.

Little Things Hat

Also on the needles is a pair of convertible fingerless knit in Knit Picks Gloss and another Knit Picks yarn whose ball band I've misplaced. Another Odessa hat in Blackstone Tweed in the Ancient Mariner colorway and work continues on the She's Electric skirt.

The best Halloween costume at work this week was a sword wielding bear. No luck in persuading Toupie to go roam the corridors and do the black cat thing Halloween night.

Cheesed Off and some knitting

I’ve neglected blogging. In the past couple of weeks I’ve been a’ swatching. Mostly in the round to get gauge for garments, I want to knit. 

It is frustrating and relaxing at the same time. Frustrating because I’d rather be knitting the garment. Relaxing…well it is knitting after all.

I’ve been a bit cheesed off, lately. I’ve been keeping a tally of the number of emails I receive from Interweaves Knitting Daily, Knitting Traditions. It averages between three to five emails a day. More when there is a sale or special on. Almost all our shilling magazines, patterns, kits, classes or offerings from their “sister” whatever. When Sandi was producing the Knitting Daily emails I actually looked forward to them because at least once a week there was tip or trick that I found helpful and educational. What I really enjoyed was emails where members of the staff all modeled the same sweater sometimes with notes about modifications made. In the past year and half most of these emails just get their boxes ticked and deleted.

What put me over the edge was an email announcing the release of a book of 30 patterns by an author I’d never heard of and can’t find on the web. Worse, the book’s web page only shows four patterns. Four!! I’m used to going to Ravelry to look up all the patterns in an Interweave magazine or book because their previews are so stingy. Unlike Vogue, that not only shows you pictures but for the magazine, you get video of each garment on a live model. So on the strength of four measly photos, Interweave expects that I and thousands of others will plunk down $16.99…not!

I’ve also gotten in touch with the fact that I haven’t nearly knitted down as much stash as I set out to this year. Hence the swatching. I have started knitting the She’s Electric skirt. I used Ysolda’s provisional cast on. I frogged and restarted twice and then went to Mon Tricot knitting patterns book and discovered what I was doing wrong. Third time the charm on size 10 needles. I did a k1p1 instead of the k2p2 ribbing, but I now know how to do a k2p2 with this cast on. It makes a lovely edge for the skirt. Not fears of rolling or curling. I repeated the garter squares chart twice to lengthen the skirt from 16” to 20”. I am using Knit Picks Telemark in the Carnation colorway. I bought 10 skeins when KP discontinued this lovely to knit with yarn.

 

 

Dignity and Serenity....not

Don't be fooled

If there is one area in which I am a bad pet parent, it is in remembering Toupie's age. I remember is birthday, October 27. Just can't ever remember if the year is 2005 or 2006.

In honor of his upcoming date of birth, I purchased some organic catnip (or nip as it is known around here) last night.

What constantly amazes me is that Toupie recognizes shopping bags (totes, plastic or paper) as containing items which he can either try to retrieve or rearrange for a bed. Most amazing is that he immediately recognizes the pet store plastic bag. So last night when I put down the tote containing the bag from the pet store, the usual welcoming trills, purring and leg rubbing came to an immediate halt and his entire attention was given to getting the bag out of the tote. I intervened securing the bag and it's contents. The sample box of pet food (which I use for treats) I put on the floor near his food bowls. A period of total ecstasy followed. He trilled and pawed the box. Then rolled back an forth on the floor his eyes glazed with pleasure. I opened a can of wet food, but there was not response from him to the sound. Nip secured briefly in the fruit stand, I stepped over his prone form to put the bowl down. A few minutes later he went over to check the bowl and its contents. Then he marched into the dining room and began to meow. I was going that way to start my dinner. When I emerged from the kitchen he was sitting by the small three draw plastic cabinet. Then he was on his hind legs. Paws on the cabinet. Next he tried to jump up. That didn't work. Then he tried climbing, but fell before reaching the top. I quickly removed the nip from the fruit stand (which is on a table next to the cabinet). I quickly walked through the living and into the closet leading to the bathroom (closing the closet door behind me) and put the nip in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom.

After dinner I took the plastic jar (used for marinating toys in nip) to the bathroom and put a little nip in, shook the toys and emerged. At my feet, Toupie cavorted, jumped, circumnavigated, rubbed against my ankles alternating vocalizations. Finally I put a nip encrusted white fluffy toy on the crocheted rug. Twenty minutes of heaven ensued. A nap, some dinner and he was back pawing my ankles as I sat at the computer. Two nip marinated toys later, he was finally ready for bed.