That they are, that's for sure. Lovely photos, he's gorgeous. I disagree go to http://www.apartments.waw.pl

That they are, that's for sure. Lovely photos, he's gorgeous.

oh my god your cat is a cutie! I love orange and white cats :)

LaurieM-

Thanks for the nice response - I'm glad we could work this out. I'm sure you're a fine mother, and I hope that you know I wasn't implying otherwise, and wouldn't.

I didn't mean to sound sanctimonious at all. But now that I re-read it, I can see why "bad cat mommy" would be seen as a judgement.

I'll take it as a caution not to comment if judgement is compromised because I'm tired.

And yep, my kids don't sound as disciplined as your pets. But I'm doing my best and I hope it's good enough.

pretty funny!

For whatever it's worth, having spun with Mr. Townes before, I can tell you that he does sit and look for a cue that he can or cannot play with said object. Additionally, I don't think Julia said, at any point, that she later repremanded him for the same behavoir and I can assure you, there are few people as loving and caring of their animals, yet still providing clear boundries, as Julia and Moxie.

I think LaurieM's point that you should be consistent with animals is valid, I just don't think the presumption that Julia has not been consistent is fair.

I'll butt out now

LaurieM - Apparently we're writing at the same time. I accept your apology, and I hope that you accept mine, while understanding my position and my comments policy.

All of our animals are exceptionally well-trained. My cat actually does understand the difference between play toys, which he is offered, and yarn, which is he is not. He doesn't attack yarn without asking permission, and you can rest assured that no yarn was harmed in the making of this post. I value my hanspun as well!

I know that many people don't train their animals well, but M and I are not those people. Our dog, Caia, is voice command, and our cats also respond to verbal cues. If you take time with animals, you really can train them to respond to a variety of situations, and to discern between different types of similar behaviour (like play time with yarn and non-playing time).

I realize you don't know this about me, but that's really my point. This is a knitting blog, not an animal-training blog. The post is mostly pictures, with very little text. You are responding to very little information, and I think it's important to remember that.

When I saw your comment, I checked out your blog and read the post on the vole, and initially thought "Why is this person who lets doritos on the floor for rodents to eat judging me?" But I didn't comment, because it's likely that your kids forgot to pick up a single bag of doritos in one instance, and voles aren't that scary to me, and kids, well, no matter how great a mother you are, kids are just messy. I just don't have the information, and if I think about it, I know that.

As I said, you are still welcome to comment on this blog, and you don't have to be supportive all the time. I actually appreciate constructive criticism and I agree that we don't always get enough of it.

Best, J.

LaurieM - I agree with you about the cheerleaders and the ra-ra-ra, and I think that on an intelligent blog (mine, I hope), there is room for difference and discussion. If you had resectfully expressed concern that the yarn might be destroyed or that perhaps this might not be the best way to teach our animals not to play with fiber if unattended, I wouldn't have any problems with your comment. What I didn't appreciate was the judgement and the sanctimonious tone on my blog.

I have definitely had moments where something I read on a blog irritates me and I consider leaving a less than sweet comment, but if I can't bring myself to say something constructive, I ask myself why I am reading that blog at all. It's usually an indication that I shouldn't be. Why waste my time on something that I find irritating?

Please don't waste your time or mine. If you have something constructive to say, even if it isn't in a ra-ra-ra vein, I'm happy to hear it. Sincerely. But if you're going to be nasty and judgemental, I ask that you not do it in my space. I'm sorry if I snapped at you in my last comment, but you kinda got my ire up.

Okay, sorry about the snipy comment just below. I'd withdraw it if I could. Mostly because it's not constructive critcism.

But I do stand by my first comment. Cats and children need clear guidelines from those who have control over their lives. It's not fair to laugh or encourage them one moment and then to discourage or discipline them the next moment for the same behaviour. You can't tell me that the cat knew that the photo was staged.

I don't think it's a judgement, but common sense. And I do believe that some constructive criticism would be a good thing for knit-blog-land.

Yep. I actually wrote that. I respect the handspun and the skill and effort that went into it. It's painful to me to watch it being destroyed. Also, I personally get tired of cheerleaders and nothing but rah, rah comments.

Sorry if I offended anyone. I'll be sure to censor my comments to nothing but positive drivel.

Too funny. Dakota hasn't gotten into any of my yarn yet (knock on wook) - although he does love to sniff baby alpaca. He's no dummy! ;)

I have a daughter that has done that to some skeins. They seem so happy while they're doing it, it's almost hard to stop them :)

aw cuteness!! not to beg or anything, but when you get around to giving us the tutorial on how to take the awesome self-portraits you post, you could probably also do a pet-photography tutorial.

your website, f.o.s and designs are super inspiring!

LaurieM-

Ow! You actually wrote that? You remind me of those leche leaguers who stand in judgment. It's a staged photo, silly girl! I'm not sure what made you react so strongly to a cat playing with string, but keep it off my blog, please! Thanks!

gorgeously sweet pics - yay for townie!

such a great great day today, *just* what the doctor ordered. thanks ;)

I love kitties. Those are hilarious pics. One of mine just ate though yarn I was knitting with. The knitting was NO longer attached to the ball. Cute bastard!

Hm, I'd haveta kill the cat (and my four cats know that already). Were you mad at the yarn??

Ow! And you let him do that while you took pictures? Bad cat mommy!

It reminds me of watching AFV and the parents are laughing while their kid is dumping water all over the floor.

I'm sure he's thinking "why must you tempt me with all of this wooly wonderfulness????".

Amy

NOOOOO NOOOOOOO! Townie, we need to have a talk when I'm back in town.

Some nice eye candy all around, though ;)

He's so adorable, it's hard to be angry at him. If I had a face like that, imagine what I could get away with!

He`s so sweet, the little stinker *gg*!! Thanks for the beautiful pictures!

He's lucky he's so cute.