A blog post about cats, knitting, and body mods

I have become a cat-sitter. A woman of two cats, as different as can be, in one house, which is somewhat covered in cat hair.

Strange for the girl who, at the onset of puberty (oh what a horrible word), became horribly allergic to cats.
It seems to have passed now, or maybe I am just used them.
I may have also become allergic to cats because of spending most of my time at the incredibly dirty and cat-filled house of my highschool sweetheart. I was 15 when we got together and we were allowed (by my parents, who were the ones that cared) to spend the night together at his house, but not at MY parent's house. Being 15 and in love, I was at his house OFTEN.

He lived with his mom and two brothers and one sister in an OLD falling-apart house in Aptos. One of those houses where the outside is in, and children have taken over. Broken windows were never repaired, dirt and old food coated every surface, cats roamed in and out, had kittens which grew to be cats which had more kittens. All the kids were sick all the time, there was no heat so everyone walked around in layers and layers of clothes, it was a strange and nevertheless home environment for me. It's a kind of California poverty that I'm not sure if most people have experience with. Decaying hippiedom. Cats and feral children. Anway, my eyes swelled up and I couldn't breath when I was there. It may have been because I was coming from a middle-class hippie home of sparkling cleanliness and double-paned windows. Who knows?
I am only glad to be able to bury my face in the furry tummy of a stretching purring cat. That's bliss.

So, Barnabas and Axl are my feline companions. Axl looks like a grey california mountain-lion. He can jump extremely high. Barnabus looks like a furry shrub with a face. They do a very ferocious version of greco-roman wrestling (with the cat-approved addition of biting) and tackling that is incredibly amusing to watch. I should probably sell tickets. They get momentum going before they attack so that both are carried at quite clip as then roll down the hall.


Molly visited from Vermont and made Luica and I crocheted medival earflap-hats. I requested an elfin point on mine, and she complied.It's brilliant green and very cool (um, to me and my personal sense of style that is..) I was so pleased that I got out of her what she wanted a tattoo of, drew it at around 3 in the morning on Tuesday and tattooed the whole thing on Wednesday, as an earlier appointment of mine cancelled. It took about 3 hours, and was very fun. Challenging, as the flowers (queen anne's lace) that she wanted were white and each single blossom was too small to be tattooed.


This may be the only time that I trade a large leg tattoo for a hat, but I'd like to think not. Hats are my favorite item of clothing and as far as I see it, my collection should only grow. I am still searching for the perfect cloche, so if you know any mad hatters who would like tattoos, let me know. I could also be a advertisement for said hatter, as I would wear their creation while I tattooed. A large part of the fun of this job is having something awesome to trade.