My New "Invention"

As we all know I’m rather easily pleased with myself sometimes and can be made disproportionately happy about little things. Sometimes this is good, sometimes, well, I go a little overboard, like now.

I made it my mission this weekend to come up with the material for a chart board, which I did. It cost more than I wanted to spend, but it is exactly what I had in mind, excepting one small detail, but I didn’t/don’t have time to hunt all over the country for one. Anyway, here it is:




Basically it’s just a flat magnetic board with a cut to fit strip magnet on it. Exciting isn’t it? I told you I was easily pleased. It does have the added advantage of having holes at the top and bottom, which, if used in conjunction with two straight knitting needles, allow me to prop it up so that I could sit it on a table, or on the couch next to me should I desire to do so. I had also recently ordered some magnets (reason below for coherency’s sake) and was “given” about 20 really tiny magnets, which I couldn’t bring myself to throw out, but had no idea what I would ever use them for. Now I know. See them around the edge of the paper? Handy no? Then see the cluster of the leftovers near the top right hand corner? I use those to put my darning needles, options cable keys and crochet hooks on. That way I don’t lose them and always have them when I need them. YAY! No more searching for random knitting paraphernalia on the couch, between cushions, hidden in my clothes etc. I am lovin this. See? Easily pleased. The only thing missing is the magnifying thingy for over the chart line you're doing, but like I said, I don't have time to hunt all over the country for one.

Now to the magnets. This was another one of my better ideas. My neighbour has cats. Three to be exact. These cats are not allowed in the house and she often forgets to feed them. These cats are also not stupid. They know that I have a warm apartment with self-service cat food. I had no problem with them living with me until I started going through cat food by the ton. Then when they started chasing my cats out of my apartment, it had to stop. I got a cat door with a “key”. The key is a magnet in the shape of a mouse’s head. They cost $15 a pop. If you own a cat, you will know that all cat collars, with good reason, have an elastic band or a clip that will open under pressure so that the cat can get it off if it gets caught on something. This is a good thing for the cat, but bad for the owner if there is a $15 magnet attached to the collar. Up until this point, I had been labouring under the assumption that the “key” is somehow special, after all, it is in the shape of a mouse’s head. I began to wonder what that “special” thing could be and decided to see if I could find out. It looked normal, reacted normally (for a magnet) and didn’t seem to have any other special features. So, I decided to try and see if a normal magnet would work. I checked, it worked, I Googled and several days later was the owner of 20 ring magnets – cost: $20 including shipping and small order charges. They work like a dream. Now when my cat loses its collar, all I have to do is replace the collar itself and attach said ring magnet to the collar. yay. Granted, these magnets don’t look like a mouse’s head, but somehow I think I’m fairly safe in the assumption that the cats do not care.

In knitting news: I finished my phone socks on Sunday and CO another pair, CO what were supposed to be the TBGA socks for my aunt, but have since decided I want softer wool for her and will CO another pair for her tonight. That won’t stop me from doing the others for myself. No work on the Stole this weekend as I want to the TGBA socks done as soon as possible, before the guilt over the telephone bill is totally alleviated and I no longer feel the need to make reparations, however symbolic they might be.