Spring Shawl - Clue 2

Clue 2 to LUL's Spring Shawl Surprise is finished and has been finished for over a week. Here is a picture. I can't believe it took me to a few rows into Clue 2 to realize that the shawl isn't symmetric. There is one fewer row next to the right side border. (That may be why I kept having trouble with the borders. I was using the left and right pattern sheets interchangeably.)

The shawl is not blocked. And so the pulling from the k3tog's toward the center of the picture is visible. (The brown threads show the dividing line between pattern sheets. The green marks the center.) I really like the little birds' eyes. I'm not sure I'm doing them right, but at least they look ok. -- When reading a pattern from left to right, I naturally switch a k2tog to a ssk and vice versa.

The move to north of Chicago went well. We got the cable tv, internet, and phone hooked up this past weekend. We got the printer hooked up yesterday. It is interesting trying to knit a pattern like this (ie Clue 3 of the pattern) off of a laptop screen -- but doable.

Spring Shawl - Clue 1

Clue 1 for the Spring Shawl Surprise is done -- and Clue 2 doesn't even come out until Monday. I'm using KP Essential Vineyard and size 4 needles. It's easier to knit than I thought it would be -- at least, so far. I like the edging -- and actually all of the design elements. Though, when I make a mistake, it's more than likely to be at the edging. I guess that my concentration isn't as great there as elsewhere.

added Sunday: LUL, the designer of the shawl, just sent a note out that the next section will be more difficult. She's posted a picture of the shawl to Clue 1, on her blog. You've got to like a person who can leave out a couple of rows and still have something that looks nice.

fyi. Sign-ups end on the 8th.

Happy New Year

Here are a couple of Christmas pictures that I thought I'd post. The first is of our 2 cats just after they opened the catnip presents we got them. Clearly, they didn't want to share. But, at least, it wasn't like last year in which both of them got so zonked out on catnip that they didn't even want to eat.

The second if of some of the presents we got. (I like the fireman with the cat. There's a bottle of glögg under his hat.)

I finished one sweater before New Year's and so have a total of 11 for the year. I'm about half done with another. So, I guess it will be my January sweater.

The first clue to the Yahoo! group Spring Shawl Surprise came out just after midnight Central European Time. And so I have a lace shawl to work on.

Purplish Socks

The socks that I started at O'Hare are now done. They're in Essential Meteor Twist with size 1 needles. The pattern is from the Yahoo! Sockamaniac Sockalong group and is called Fire on the Mountain. (A second picture of the socks is at SaM KAL4.) I really like how the feather and fan design changes how the shape of the top of the sock.

As to the color: Shortly after knitpicks.com came out with their Essential Twist colors, I decided to try them out. This is the first of the colors that I've knit up. (It looked loud while still on the skein.) I'm pleasantly surprised at how relatively muted the color knit up. The dappling is really nice.

My next sock project is Errant Lace Socks using Shoreline Twist.

I'm also taking the time between lace shawl KALs to work on sweaters. Until I made a list of the sweaters I finished this year, I didn't realize how close I was to finishing the goal of 12 sweaters in a year. So, I decided to work on a couple of quick sweaters. I've almost finished OJ, a drop-sleeve boatneck -- and, in doing so, discovered changes that needed to be made to my pattern. I also discovered that seaming isn't terrible after all. In fact, after getting over a reluctance to thread a needle, I had fun weaving the side seams together. Then, I used the crosswise bars in determining where to pick up sts for the sleeves.

I've started working on a short-sleeve v-neck raglan in CotLin with size 5 needles. I don't know whether or not I'll get it done by the end of the year. But, it's quick and something I'd been wanting to do.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and will have the Happiest of New Years!

Blackout

We had a power outage last night. It lasted from about 5 minutes before midnight to 5:38am. (DS2 was up with the kitties when the lights came back on.)

I was surprised that the house stayed fairly warm during that time. Of course, I did put a couple extra quilts on the bed.

The kitties didn't like the power outage. They were ok as long as one of us (DS2) was up with them and had a candle lit. But, the one that gets in most of my knitting pictures and helps me knit a lot of the time especially didn't like the house without electricity -- which is sort of surprising since cats are nocturnal. Maybe she likes having at least one light on in the house.

The picture at the right is a circular dishcloth made from a pattern Ruth gave out (with size 6 needles). I started it while waiting to leave from Newark about a week ago. I finished it in Chicago. It's the first circular one that I've made.

A Year of Sweaters

At the beginning of the year, I joined a sweater KAL with an aim of making 12 sweaters this year.

Here's my progress:
1. a smocked raglan sweater in a wool/alpaca blend and on size 3 needles. The pattern I used is here.
2. T-squared, a square-neck sweater knit sideways across the top -- similar to Tubey (in acrylic and size 7 needles). The pattern I used is here.
3. another T-squared. This one was knit from yarn I frogged from the Tubey I'd made the previous year (in acrylic and size 7 needles).
4. a basket-weave raglan -- in acrylic from the local post office to our previous home in Broadstairs and size 3 needles
-----May was the month that I started my first shawl (in Homespun Prairie and size 10 needles). It turned out more like a throw than a shawl, and so I frogged it this month.
5. a short-sleeved raglan, ribbed at the top. This was the first time I'd tried Paton's Wool Merino. I love the yarn. (I used size 7 needles.) I also really like the pattern.
July was the month when I discovered lace stoles, namely MS3.
6. Summer square, a ultra-short-sleeved wide-boatneck raglan (my own pattern)-- in KP Shine Worsted and size 7 needles
7. Tomato (in KP Swish Superwash and size 6 needles)-- and I see that I can't count. (Well, I never claimed that I could.) This was the first colorwork that I'd ever tried. It was fun. The pattern is from Knitting Daily.
8. Festive -- a yoked sweater with a wide neck and ultra-short sleeves, a pattern of my own creation (in acrylic and size 7 needles) -- which is not written up yet.
-----I tried to make Festive with KP Swish Superwash, but it didn't turn out. The pattern may work with cotton, though. It definitely didn't work with wool.
-----October was the month that I discovered that I really like knitting lace shawls. I finished knitting MS3 in September. I started Chrysopolis just before the beginning of the month and finished it in December -- just in time for my DD to take both shawls back with her. The second was made with KP Shadow; the first with KP lace-weight bare.
-----I also knit my first capelet (from the Bits and Bobs Yahoo group) and my first Faroese shawl (from Knitting Daily). Both were made with Wool-Ease -- another of my new favorites.
9. test knitting -- a short-sleeve scoop neck raglan (for which I'll post pics when the pattern comes out)
10. test knitting -- a short-set-in-sleeve v-neck (for which I'll post pics when the pattern comes out)

So, I guess I could conceivably finish 12 sweaters this year. I've got yarn to make a couple simple long-sleeve sweaters. ..... And the Spring Shawl Surprise doesn't start until New Year's Day. ......

The baby blanket for charity is finished. Some pics are at my crochet tutorial. (I used a crochet edging.) Other pics are at my Ravelry page.

Then, while waiting for a plane at O'Hare, I started a sock from the Sockamaniac Socknitters Yahoo group. I'm doing the Fire on the Mountain sock in KP Essential Meteor Twist.

Fudge

For the knitting guild December party this past Tuesday I was going to make some fudge. So, on Tuesday morning, I got out my old recipe and mentioned to whomever that when making candy one has to follow the recipe exactly and that the only time it turns out for me is when I make it around 10:00 pm.

The first thing I did was to say I might as well substitute 1% milk for the evaporated milk -- which would mean I wouldn't be following the recipe exactly. I was asked whether there was a can of evaporated milk in the pantry, and I answered in the affirmative. So, I used the evaporated milk. Well, I cooked it to too high a final temperature, and it turned out hard and crumbly.

The next afternoon, I decided to try again. I used the rest of the evaporated milk plus some 1% milk. I didn't cook it to a high enough temperature, and it turned out syrupy. So, I brought Oreo cookies to the get-together.

When I got home, the fudge was still syrupy. So, I poured it back into the pan and added the first batch to the pan as well. I cooked it just as I would have if I had been starting from scratch -- except there was almost twice as much in the pot (another no-no when making candy). The other bad part about this is that the nuts and butter were already added. (They're supposed to be added at the end.) This time I did cook it to the right temperature, the soft ball stage. The soft ball stage is determined by dropping some of the candy (while still hot) onto a surface (like a pan lid). If it forms a soft ball, it's at the soft ball stage.

The fudge turned out perfectly.

So, I guess the morals of the story are: First, I can only make candy late in the evening. Second, candy making rules can be broken -- but only some of them.

A couple more comments. I use terms like "soft ball stage" instead of a temperature since I've lived in places that water doesn't boil at 212F. In Colorado Springs, it boils at a temp just under 200F. In Stockholm, it boils at a temp just above 212F. Because of the way the earth is shaped, sea level isn't always the same.

Second, if one pours the fudge mixture over popcorn without doing the last steps of adding butter and letting it cool (and then lightly mixes to coat the popcorn), one gets chocolate covered popcorn. My grandmother used to make it, and many family members still do. It's good.

Chrysopolis

My Chrysopolis stole is finally finished -- just in time for my DD to take it back with her to London. It turned out a little bigger than it was supposed to. I probably should have used a size 3 instead of a size 4 needle. KP Shadow seems to have different springy-ness from color to color. Size 4 worked well with Vineyard, but size 3 might have been better with Redwood Forest. I used size 5 with KP Laceweight Bare. But, I'm very happy with how it turned out. And the extra length is nice.

I finished a lot of knitting while she was here. I finished a top in her size which I was test knitting. Then I also finished a scarf -- another of Chrissy's creations. (As far as I know these haven't been added to her website yet.) I had knit a foot or so of the scarf as test knitting -- with Wool-Ease Dark Rose Heather. My DD liked it so well that she asked me whether I'd be so kind as to make the whole scarf for her.

My DD also loved the Swan Lake stole. So, I gave her both Chrysopolis and Swan Lake.

It's not as though I'll run out of stoles. Besides Bad Nauheim, dem-Fisher-sin-Fru, and Secret II, I've also joined the Spring Surprise shawl KAL. I think I'm going overboard with knitting shawls. It is addicting.

I've decided that I do like the KP chart keeper. I can put one half of a shawl pattern on one side of the chart and the other half on the other and not have to worry about losing my place. The charts are also kept at a nice angle for viewing. The magnets are also strong enough that I can put dishcloth directions (for example) on top of a shawl chart and use one of the smaller magnets to keep track of where I am on there as well.

The flowers next to the chart are from my DS1's girlfriend and her mother as a Thanksgiving present. They are such nice people.

The cats and the rest of us miss DD a lot. The cats were so sad to see her leave that they didn't eat their evening meal. They did join us at the table for some left-over turkey, though.

Finally, the charity baby blanket is going along well. I really like how it is turning out.

Blanket

Here's a perfect example of "Don't keep knitting, hoping it will look better eventually" and also "You can't expect a 7-color pattern to look good in only 2 colors". I finally decided to frog the blanket and start with a true 2-color geometric pattern.

Chrysopolis - 6.Teil

I can't believe that I'm 3/4 of the way through knitting the Chrysopolis shawl. I hope to finish it by the time my DD comes to visit. I'm going to give her a choice between the dramatic MS3 and the warm and comfy Chrysopolis.

I got a chart keeper from KnitPicks but haven't decided whether or not I like it. I should have read the dimensions more carefully -- or at all. It's half the size I assumed it would be. But, I am able to put one side of the Chrysopolis chart on one side of the chart keeper and the other on the other. The only problem is that the paper is bigger than the chart keeper.

I'm almost finished with my current test knitting for Chrissy -- just in time for my DD to try the garment on -- since it's in her size.

Please take a look at my crocheting tutorial on Bits and Bobs the Blog. It's the first tutorial I've written, and I would love some feedback.

I haven't started the Monthly Dishcloth mid-November KAL yet. But, I do have the yarn picked out. Instead I've just been working on the shawl, the test knitting, and a baby blanket for charity. I haven't started the Sockamaniac sock-a-long yet either -- though I have picked out the yarn for that also -- as well as for another sock from the Sockamaniac Yahoo group.

Happy birthday to my mom who lives with us and who turns 91 today.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Chrysopolis - 5.Teil

Here is a picture of Chrysopolis through Week 5 of the instructions.

Moni, the creator of the pattern, has just announced 2, yes 2, new stole KALs. The Yahoo groups are dem-fischer-sin-fru (aka, the fisherman's wife) and the Secret of Bad Nauheim. Both are based in German, but there are English translation of all the important information. (The German Yahoo info pages are in the same format as similar English-based Yahoo pages.)

The Nautical Knitter has also announced a new shawl KAL on Yahoo. It's simply named Secret of the Stole II. The name of the group has changed. Now it has a "-" in the name.

My viewpoint is that one can never belong to too many shawl KALs.

On another subject, I've posted the second in a series on crocheting -- at Bits and Bobs the Blog. This new post is on the chain stitch. (I'm starting out with the very basics.)

Here is a picture of our "new" car, a 2005 Hyundai. We bought it as a small commuter car. It's a pleasure to drive. It's the first red car we've ever owned. But, there are quite a few red cars around here (because of Rutgers being in the state), and so it won't stand out too much. (When we think red, we think either Ohio State or NC State.)

Chrysopolis - 4.Teil

I'm still working on Chrysopolis, and I still really like the design. It's over half way done now. The shawl isn't the kind that immediately makes you take notice. It's the kind that you subconsciously think that that's a lovely, stylish, comfortable shawl.

I still haven't gotten time to work on socks again. Though, I hope to shortly. I'm still working on the charity blanket. (Entrelac is fun.) And I'm still working on some test knitting for Chrissy. This time it's a sweater with a complicated lace pattern (which takes more concentration than the shawl does).

I've made my first post to the Bits and Bobs blog. It's a first post of several on crocheting. I haven't crocheted for quite a while. But, like riding a bike, one doesn't forget how. I'm even learning some new stitches (for me) which I'll be posting on in a month or so. This week is an introduction. Next week will be the chain stitch and maybe the single crochet and maybe the start to a pattern.

Chrysopolis -- 3. Teil

I've finally finished Week 3 for Chrysopolis and have decided that trying to work on 2 shawls at a time is not going to work. I've decided to concentrate on the more traditional one -- Chrysopolis. What really cemented my decision was my suddenly realization that one of the designs on the Secret of the Stole looks like a dung beetle (aka scarab). It's appropriate for New Year's because it represents rebirth. But, I'd rather have hearts and stylized flowers. (The white crochet thread in the middle is to mark the middle of the pattern.)

I've finished the fingerless gloves for my DD. They're Wool-Ease and size 8 needles. I used a pattern from Bits and Bobs except I made a gusset instead of just a thumb opening. I also misread the ruffle directions. For the ruffle, I did *k1, kfb* across, followed by k across, followed by a bind off.

I also finished a summer top that Chrissy Gardiner is designing. (It's not for sale yet and so no pictures.) I made it in CotLin -- which was nice to work with. It does bleed a bit in the wash (It's red.) and also shed in the dryer, though.

I'm knitting a baby blanket for a charity project (via a lady in the Wednesday night knitting group). They provided the yarn. I could choose a pattern. Having not looked closely at a baby blanket for quite a few years, I decided to look online to see first of all what size baby blankets come in. I found this one, a Tetris blanket, which looked fun. Entrelac is on my mental list of things to try out. I had only 2 different colors (a solid color and a variegated one) and so used different stitch patterns to differentiate between the shapes.

Finally, I'm not sure why I didn't do this before. Our Roomba hadn't been working for a few months. So, I finally emailed customer support. They replied quickly and sent out OSMO to reprogram the Roomba so that it works properly now. OSMO is the tiny blue object connected to the Roomba.

When the kids were young, I would wash the curtains and wash all the walls in the house twice a year (every spring and autumn). Now I have a robot vacuuming for me. -- Well, ... I do have a regular vacuum cleaner also. But, this is more fun.

Chrysopolis -- 2. Teil

I'm going to have to work faster (and more often on Chrysopolis). Here is the stole through Clue 2. However, Clue 4 just came out. So, half the clues are out now, and I'm only 1/4th of the way through.

It's turning out to be a lovely shawl -- if I do say so myself. It would look even better if it were blocked correctly. Moni has created quite a design. (The red crochet thread was to help me keep track of where I was in the pattern.)

Secret Stole - Week 2

The Week 2 clue for the Secret of the Stole Yahoo! group is now done. I'm beginning to see how this would be a nice shawl for New Year's Eve. It reminds me of fireworks -- at least so far. We're getting clues to the theme each week also. I'm debating whether the answer to the first clue is nobility, royalty, peers, or peerage. There could be a lot of answers to the second clue: lady, duchess, countess, queen, princess, etc., but I'm leaning toward lady. (One takes the first letters of the answers to the clues and then rearranges them.)

The questions are: What is a class of people holding hereditary titles called? What is a title bestowed upon a female who belongs to the class of people in last week’s hint? Where, on earth, would you find the class of people in hint #1 residing?

As an aside -- It's nice to have someone who understands computers around. I asked DS2 to change my start menu so I could play Spider Solitaire while every thing was loading. He did that easily. Then I asked him to remove RealPlayer from the start menu. (I have no idea why it was there. But, it was annoying. It gave me a chance to play a short video of whatever I'd played last -- usually something from the digital camera when I had taken a movie instead of a still picture, by accident.) He went to the menu and removed not only RealPlayer (from the start menu) but also quite a few other programs that didn't need to start up right away. Now, I don't even need to play Solitaire while waiting for everything to finish loading.

Chrysopolis -- 1. Teil

After the first several pattern rows, Chrysopolis is now moving along nicely. Here is it being blocked with help from one of our kitties. (I don't know why the cats like wet yarn, but they do. -- But, maybe they like it just because it's there.)

I worked on it for a few minutes this morning. But, then midmorning I went outside to work in the garden a little and got stung by a wasp. It stung me first next to the bridge of my nose less than an inch below my tear duct. I brushed it off, and then it stung me on my left little finger. Despite putting analgesic cream and antihistamine cream on (and also taking some aspirin and an antihistamine and putting ice on the spots), both still hurt. And my finger is swollen. My finger hurts so much and is so stiff from the swelling that I can't knit. Hopefully, it will be better tomorrow. I'd never known a wasp to be so aggressive. But, at least, it was only one.

Secret Stole - Week 1

Week 1 for the Yahoo! Secret of the Stole is finished and blocked. I'm making it in KP Shadow Vineyard Heather and size 4 needles. This one is completely different from the first one I made (MS3). It has many more plain stockinette areas. However, I'm also doing the Yahoo! Secret of Chrysopolis Stole -- which is lacier than MS3. So, it evens out.... I'm hoping to have Week 1 of the Chrysopolis stole finished before Week 3 comes out on Friday. The first few pattern rows for Chrysopolis were difficult in that it was hard for me to keep track of where I was in the row. I'm glad I kept at it, though. It's turning out lovely.

I've also finished the Comfort Shawl in Wool-Ease Rose Heather (with size 10 needles). It didn't block too well. But, that's more an effect of where I chose to block it than the yarn. It started out looking really good (as you can see from the picture -- if Blogger ever allows me to add pics today -- I was able to add them the next day.). However, when I got up the next morning, it was pretty crumpled up. That may have something to do with our 2 cats and the fact that I was blocking it on the floor -- and also that our cats love to lie on top of damp yarn.

This past Sunday, we went out to Sandy Hook. It was a beautiful day, and there were quite a few people on the beach. It turned colder, more fall-like today.

I've put my second Festive on hold. I still can't figure out what to do with the sleeves. My best plan is to frog to under the armholes to make the armhole opening bigger. (One needs a deeper armhole opening with sleeves than without.) Then I'll probably make long-ish sleeves.

However, I just started knitting a sweater that Chrissy plans to add to her line. I'm knitting it just for the fun of it and since I really like the looks of it and since I have some yarn that I think will be perfect for it.

Picking apples, etc

Yesterday afternoon, we went to a local farm near the Great Swamp to pick apples. My DHs family had a few apple trees in the yard (and so had picked apples before). When I was much, much younger, my family and I made an annual trip to the Western Slope to pick apples, peaches, etc. But, this was the first time our DS2 had ever picked apples from a tree.
-- When we lived in Lidingö, we had several apple trees in the front yard. The trees were large, and so we generally picked apples off the ground daily. Those were good apples!

It was fun. We rode out on a wagon pulled by a tractor to where the apples were. However, when we were finished, we went to the drop-off spot to get picked up and waited and waited. We finally walked back.
They had forgotten about us!!!
We got about 30 pounds of apples. So, I'll have to get busy getting them ready to freeze. Fresh apples are so much better than the ones in the store.

The day before was also fun. DS2 went to a Magic the Gathering tournament at Rutgers. I went on a yarn shop "drive" with some members of the local knitting guild. I hadn't realized that there were so many nice yarn shops in the area. Then that evening, my family and I went to probably the only Damon's in NJ. It was well worth the drive.

I've started on my Chrysopolis stole. I had to restart it. Even though size 5 needles worked well with KP bare laceweight yarn, they were too big for KP Shadow. I switched to size 4. I also used a new cast on (for me), the lace cast on from Eunny's blog (about halfway down the page). It's a really nice cast on for lace.

Finally, I tried my hand at designing a dishcloth. It ended up the right size, but .... Here is a picture. Can anyone guess what it's supposed to be? Hint: Whenever I mentioned within ear-shot of the cats what I was trying to knit, they walked away.

My DS2 helped in the design process. He helped me get a chart started with the right dimensions (a spreadsheet with a cell width of .21" and a row height of .14" -- so that the chart size was approximately the size of my finished project) He also helped with the look, the placement of purl sts on the chart. If it hadn't been for him, the design wouldn't look as good as it does.

One more thing: Is Sugar 'n Cream changing its yarn size? I use size 7 needles on my older Sugar 'n Cream yarn (except for the illusion dishcloth, which needed to be knitted on smaller needles in order for the pattern to show up). However, I've needed to switch to size 6 needles for the last couple of projects I've made -- including this one.

MS3 finished again

My MS3 is finished again -- just in time for the next stole KAL to begin this Friday. I blocked it to 87" total length and an average width of 14". -- I think I'll probably reblock it to make it a bit wider.

The pattern for MS3, the Swan Lake stole, is now for sale on the Pink-Lemon Twist blog. It's a 3 for 1. Included are three versions of the stole: an asymmetrical one (one wing, the original pattern) and two symmetrical ones (one with two wings and one with none, which came about through requests from members of the Yahoo MS3 KAL).

The version I made is the one-wing one. But I made it with a different join. I was planning to reblock my MS3 to make it a little longer when I saw a new ending to Clue 4 in the Yahoo group files. It provided solutions to 3 things that I didn't like about my original stole -- though, I would have been happy with it as it was. It had a nice ending to the scroll work on the sides; the join was less noticeable; and it provided a little more length. The join is still visible but doesn't stand out that much. But, most of all, I like how the scroll work ends. (That part is me. So, this is really an alteration of an alteration.)

I had knit most of the stole with size 5 needles. I switched to size 4 needles to work the yarn that had been frogged. Then I switched to size 5 needles again when I joined unworked yarn to the project. Coincidentally, that was where the large feathers start (the top edge of the shawl in the picture). I don't know whether it's just me, but the feathers look bigger in this version (even though I did knit those last feathers with the same needle size, I think, that I did the first time around). Even with the added length, I still had a yarn left over from the 880 yd skein of KP bare fingerweight that I bought for the project.

Here's a picture of the latest dishcloth from the Yahoo Monthly Dishcloth KAL. This is probably one I won't use. But, it's so cute.

I'm basically stuck on my newest version of Festive. I can't figure out how long to make the sleeves. But, while the back of my brain is working on that, I've started a Comfort Shawl for my mom from Knitting Daily in Wool-Ease in Rose Heather. She needs a lighter weight sweater to wear around the house, and I hope this will fit the bill.

Illusion Dish Cloth

The New Jersey knitters recently had a talk about illusion knitting -- which was very well done and made me think that maybe I could do it. Then a couple of weeks later, the Yahoo Monthly dishcloth group had a post for info on where to find a Candy Corn Illusion Dishcloth. Well, it was in the files section for 2006. Here are 2 views of the final product. The first pic is taken head on. The second is taken at an angle.

As for my other knitting, I'm almost done with MS3 again. I'm also on the sleeves on my second try at Festive. My first version is here. I'm making it in wool this time with long enough sleeves to finish off the yarn I bought. :) The first was in acrylic -- which looked really well in cap sleeves. Cap sleeves just didn't make it for the wool I was using the second time around. So, I'm at least knitting short sleeves and maybe 3/4 length sleeves this time around.

In other news, the outside of the house is painted, and we have new garage doors. The painters did a wonderful job. However, the garage doors were scheduled to arrive and be installed Monday afternoon between 2 and 5. The installer called about 12:30 and said he was behind schedule and would it be ok for him to get there around 4:30. He finally arrived around 6 and was alone. He finally got hold of someone to help out. They worked until past 10:30. We weren't able to get the second of the 2 doors to open until yesterday when it suddenly started working.

(This is the second time in the last couple of months that something mechanical has suddenly started working. The first was a Pur water filter on the kitchen sink. It kept leaking around the attachment to the sink until one morning when it suddenly started not leaking. My husband was away on business. And, I doubt that the cats had anything to do with it suddenly working.)