Die Socken sind fertig!

Thanks to World Cup soccer and the unbelievably winny Edmonton Oilers, I was able to finish the lace socks this weekend. Your feline model for today is Packet (she's in the Elegant Window Seat), which means that she won't make eye contact (or lens contact, as it were). Packet would like you to just look at the socks, please.

Straining to pretend that stuff isn't touching her because she knows I'll take a picture if she turns around to look, she stares intensely at the driveway. I adore her now-skinny neck - it's comical, but it makes it easier to scratch under her ears and all around the scruff.

I tried so hard to get her face, but she is a smart, smart girl and kept turning her head just half an inch away from the camera every time I moved it. Notice the expression on her face: she's going for distraction here, but it's just barely containing her self-satisfied grin. Another photo without Packet's eyes.

Just for kicks, here's my favorite picture of Packet-girl besides the very first one (which is on a CD somewhere and I can't find it right now):
Doesn't she just look like one of those fuzzy dusters on a stick? She spent so long just being a puffball with teeth when we first got her. Then she grew into her fur for a while, and then it just turned into a cat-fro. That's the point at which it matted and required shaving. I tried to snip out the mats at first, but lost too much blood.

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Speaking of World Cup (I was, you can go back and check), I'm sort of disappointed with the games I've seen. I can't really narrow it down to one team or reason, and maybe it's because I've gotten used to the fast pace of hockey games. I should be taking notes while I'm watching the games if I'm actually going to comment on them, because right now the only tidbits I remember are:

• USA vs Czech Republic: Uh-duhrrr, hello? I thought people said the US team was ready for this tournament.
• USA vs Italy: You looked a little better, but you only tied because Italy kicked the ball into their own goal.
• Italy: see above.
  
• Togo: Score more goals. I like your dance.
• England: Sitting around for an hour and a half waiting for the Greatest Football Players Ever to work their "magic" is not entertaining. I got a lot of knitting done, though. Thanks for not distracting me.
• Netherlands: Not specific to soccer, but how come you own Orange? It's not even on your flag. Do you cheer for traffic cones, too? Just wondering.
• The referee in the US vs Italy game: You get a red card, you freak. Yellow and red cards aren't greetings; they actually mean something. Were you aware of that? Sheesh.

I haven't decided which team I want to win. I like the whole Orangeness of the Netherlands, and they're pretty good. I also like the Czechs, because they have Nedved and that's fun to say. Brazil? Meh, they're always winning.

So it's back to HOCKEH on Monday. The last game of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Remember the heartbreak when Roloson couldn't play, and then Markonnen allowed that horrid 5-0 shutout? Yeah, well, Markonnen has redeemed himself completely, and the rest of the Oilers are working harder than anyone (outside of Edmonton) expected them to. It's too bad they have to go all the way to Raleigh to pick up the cup.