Maneki Neko

One of my blogging motifs, I know, is the amount of time I spend vexing about how I knit pranks and gifts and end up feeling that in nine out of ten instances, my effort was expected, or not appreciated, or, hell, not even understood. Another motif I'm sure everyone easily recognizes is how I then belabor the point.

But -you don't have to hold your breath!- this is not one of those cases. This is a gift for someone I know I can knit for.

This doesn't mean he's easy to knit for, mind. Not a scarf guy. Not a hat man. Socks and sweaters? I'm too lazy. This leaves me two options: fingerless gloves and cat-themed miscellany. And they have been appreciated, by which I mean worn out and worn some more, and he gets the time, and the effort, and thinks that that I did it in the first place is worth compliments years later.

The look on his face when I handed him this was deeply cheering. He's waiting to find out whether he's gotten into grad school, and the results are coming in right around his birthday, so I figure it was a gift of necessity. I don't believe in luck as a force, but well wishes are well wishes.

The pattern, by the way, is by Justine Turner, and can be found here (pdf). I worked it on 10s with bulky Armytage, carried with Merino Stripes for the stripes along the back. The accents are done in some FrogTree Alpaca (ears), Sunday Best by Reynolds (collar), and a blue single ply (fish) I think was put out by Karabella yarns but lost the label since it was scrap for a hat for my mother a few years back. The face is embroidered with cotton crochet thread. I made a few changes to the pattern, knitting the crown of the head differently, and knitting the pink panels on the ears.