Goodbye Jericho

I really did mean to post some picture for you last week, but as many of you know already, Walker and I experienced a bit of tragedy this week.  Our beloved bad kitty, Jericho, passed away very suddenly Thursday night.  The vet thinks he had an undetected heart condition and he slipped into a cardiac arrest.  It was very quick and the poor thing didn't really have time to suffer, but he's left an enormous hole in our lives.  Walker and I are utterly heart broken.  Jericho was an integral part of our family and without him, the house has a palpable loneliness.

Of course our sweet Branwen has been a great comfort, but she lacks the confidence and unapologetic friskiness to fill the void.  We can't decide if we should quickly try to replace him, giving Branwen a companion and filling the energy hole in our lives or if it's better to let the sting subside before asking another cat to fit into Jericho's very large shoes.  We will have to think on this some more.

So this weekend I did a great deal of knitting-as-therapy, which fortunately means I finally finished the Autumn Rose pullover!  It was a little snug when I first tried it on, so here is a picture of my attempt to wet block it.

The steeks worked out great and I really really loved that the only sewing I had to do was the zillion ends from all the color changes.  Plus it is a beautiful, beautiful design.  It was still wet this morning, so I haven't gotten to try it on yet, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it fits.

This one is especially emotional for me because this'll be the last sweater to have Jericho's fur knit into it.  I was working on it when he passed and I'm dedicating it to his memory, pouring all my happy thoughts of him into it.  Jericho, I'll think of you every time I wear it.  We love you.

Here is your giraffe, your partner in crime to see you out.

 Goodbye, dear friend.  Rest in peace.

-Allie