Are you a vegan?

So off my blog, on most of the crafty lists I've gotten lots of questions about my list of favorite links.

Several of them are for vegan cooking blogs and so the inevitable round of "are you a vegan?" questions began.

The answer? No, I'm not a vegan. I've been against it since I attended Ithaca College back in 1999. The people there are crazy obsessed.

Now, does that mean I hate animals? No.

Does that mean I devour meat only like a carnivore? No, not really. I'm a big fan of turkey and chicken, but I don't eat pork, lamb, veal, most pieces of the cow, etc.

Does that mean I'm a closeted vegetarian? Nah, not really. Its more of a budget thing - my husband and I are just starting out in the world - we can't afford it and we've grown accustomed to it.

Do I eat a lot of vegetables? Yes, yes I do! I love almost all of them except okra. And tomatoes. But tomatos cross over the list into the "I hate almost all fruit" category.

Do I eat fish? Absolutely! Its my favorite food that's not a dessert item :-D

Am I adamant about not eating so much meat? No - I eat it when I like. Like last night, DH and I had steaks for a once in a while treat. And the occasional Arbys enters my diet. I feel its better for the environment that way - if we all ate a little less meat, there would be more resources for the animals that should be living in peace here -- and instead who are living in hotel parking lots and darting across freeways.

Hopefully that makes sense to most of you. I don't feel I need to fit into a particular category dietetically. Plus, those vegans are crafty people - check out Hannah's Bittersweet blog - she's not only a vegan but also has tons of Little Visitors she's made. And she's a great writer :-) = something I aspire to be someday.

The Kitty Kat Hat

The Kitty Cat Hat!

Someone asked if it was doable on the loom, and here it is!

Base Pattern: Ro's Earflap Hat

Modifications:
-Used maybe 1/4 skein of Mainstays yarn and 1.5 skeins of "knitting" fun fur in tan.
-Added ears.

New Pattern:

Ears:
Cast 6 pegs onto a green Knifty Knitter. Do 4 rows back and forth.

Here's where it gets a bit tricky:
E-wrap peg 6 (go from left to right, leftmost peg is 1 and rightmost is peg 6) and knit off. Move the loop on peg 6 to peg 5. Ewrap and knit off all pegs back to peg 1. Do another row of e-wrap (pegs 1-5).

Continue this process until you have two pegs left with loops on them. E-wrap two rows, move the loop on peg 2 to peg 1, knit off. E-wrap peg one again and knit off. Send the yarn through the loop and knot off.

Repeat this process 4 times to make 4 "ears".

Take a pair of ears and whipstitch together the sides NOT the bottom. Repeat for the other pair of ears.

Lastly, whipstitch the bottoms of the ears to the hat. I recommend doing it on each side so the ears remain stiffly out.
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The ears are way customizable: for a rounder ear, halve the amount of ewrap rows at the beginning and end. for a more even triangular ear, do continuous decreasing rows instead of an e-wrap row in between. do an inside and an outside ear pair - pink on the inside first ear, fur on the outside second ear.

This hat fit me even with a large head, so feel free to customize it!

Oh, and I mustn't forget to credit my model, Siam the cat.