Monday, November 28, 2011

Reduced to Bullet Points

Happy After-Thanksgiving!! And for the curious, I have managed to resist the very excellent sales that all of the various yarn companies and stores have been offering. It's very very difficult, let me tell you. 30% of here, free shipping there, and so on and so forth. 

Today is all about bullet points because a) I have no pictures and b) I need to write out lists to get my head on straight. 
  • Deadline Knitting: 
    • I agreed to knit a blanket strip for a cousin who is getting married. This is done in bulky wool so it really just requires an evening or two with a few movies or TV shows.  The Philosopher and I have started watching Warehouse 13. That deadline is coming up super fast so that should go on the needles very soon. 
  • What I really Should be Knitting: 
    • Philosopher's Belt. He's been waiting so patiently. 
    • One of the two afghans that are lurking half finished around the living room. I will gain a lot of yarn storage space by finishing them, though I'll have to find somewhere to put finished blankets. Might give one of them away just from defensive blanket storage. 
    • Rust and Stone Cardigan. All it needs is ribbing and sleeves. I've been actively avoiding it, mostly because knitting it requires thinking.  
    • Squish Cowl. If I'd just giving it one good evening of knitting it'd be done already. There was snow this morning, I'm going to need cowls very soon.  
  • Currently and actively on the needles
    • Hat and Mitts for Klock. We're swapping, he's getting woolly things, I'm getting mead. 
    • Socks for the Philosopher. I cast on some really beautiful BMFA in Coppertree and it's blending beautifully. Surprisingly it isn't striping.  I'm starting to run low on how much BMFA Medium Weight is in my stash. I'm trying to be strong and work through other sock yarn before going nuts on the Blue Moon site again but it's so hard. The yarn is so lovely. 
    • Pair #16--Black Socks knit in approximately the Incredibly Patient Mother size. First sock finally got finished (we'll discuss the disaster that was the first toe some other time) and I'll cast on sock 2 on my way to dinner tonight.  
  • I still owe you pictures of
    • The Glowing Mystery Shawl. It's done, blocked, and has been worn a couple of times. I still think triangular shawlettes are a little odd as scarves but since I can't figure out what else to do with them, I'll wear them.  
    • The Socks I knit in Hawaii. Nothing too exciting about them, my usual 2x2 rib pattern. But they're pretty....
    • Hawaii. Right, there was a vacation wasn't there. 
    • The Big Purple Shawl. I've been wearing it a fair amount and people love the color. I love how warm it is and the fact that it loops all the way around and I can tie it in the front of me. If I can figure out how to persuade myself through another one, it will be a good thing. 
  • New Stash
    • I did get a skein of the new Lorna's Laces Solemate, which is supposed to keep your feet both warm and cool, depending on the weather. It's very soft and I almost have the sense it will be drapey, which isn't the best for socks but we'll see how it knits up.  

Monday, November 14, 2011

Feline Update: Cuteness and Cones

My brain power over the past month has been limited pretty much to 2x2 rib, garter, and stockinette. Fortunately, those three things can pretty regularly turn into a pair of socks. Here's the only knitting picture I have for you at the moment.

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Monet Socks
Size: 8.5
Knitted on: Size 0 needles
From: Intentions Yarn, Clarity
Thoughts: The yarn was splitty and I was done with these socks long before I actually finished them.

Since that's all the knitting, you'll have to bear with me while I talk about my cats for the next couple hundred words. 

First the good news: I adopted a new kitten! A friend of mine has been on the lookout for me for about six months now, his mother often ends up with stray cats who need a good home and I indicated interest in a female, preferably no more than two years old. When she rounded up a batch of kittens (and the mama), and when those kittens came to Chicago while his mom was out of town, it was an opportunity not to be missed. 

There were four kittens: two mostly orange, white, and light brown tabbies and two orange and black handpaints. All were female and despite a polydactyl heritage, everyone had the normal number of toes. Apparently there's some new genes in the bloodline.  In visiting with the kittens the Philosopher and I identified "The Shy One," "The Starter Kitten," "The Worried One," and "Pumpkin." I tried to imagine which one would be the most appropriate with the gray princess who already has shed all over everything I own. 

Ultimately, I decided on "The Worried One."  She was the second biggest of the group.  Before we left her sisters behind, she was dubbed Pyewacket

Worried

We got a lift home and introduced her to Gypsy, who was nonplussed and some hissing ensued. 

IMG_5794

Pyewacket spent the first night in the bathroom, the first time she'd ever been alone. She also had to spend the next day in the bathroom while I was at work--mostly because I wasn't sure she was making the transition to pine litter and I really didn't want to come home to Crouching Gypsy, Hidden Pye AND kitten potty accidents on carpeting. The sound of pitiful meowing and a small black foot reaching under the bathroom door was one of the saddest things I've had to deal with in a long time. Gypsy sat outside the bathroom, keeping watch.

Fortunately, within about 72 hours the hissing had considerably decreased, Gypsy seemed rather more accepting of the bouncing black furball, and Pyewacket had figured out where the litter box was!

IMG_5812

Due to a death in the family, the Philosopher spent the weekend with the two of them and he texted pictures of cats snuggling, so I'm encouraged that everyone will do just fine. She's growing like a weed, I noticed already that she is bigger than when I took these photos.

But that brings us to last night and the bad news, when I flipped Gypsy over to rub her belly and found a rather large cut on her back inner thigh. It wasn't bleeding but it was raw, so at 9:30 p.m. it was off to the Emergency Vet, where she got three stitches and enough sedation to make her really loopy and snuggly. She also went nose first into my food when we got home; she's not usually quite that brazen.

Gypsy is doing just fine, she's not in pain from what I can tell, she's eating, moving around, not favoring the leg at all. Antibiotics this morning were no fun and we get to repeat that every day for the rest of the week but I'll take that over the fear that there's something wrong with my cat. I'm not sure where the cut came from, we can't find any blood in the apartment and it doesn't appear to be from tussling with Pye--they're still just fine. Gypsy had been cleaning it assiduously so hopefully we just need to wait for time to heal.

That, however, also means she's wearing a cone (or was when I left the house this morning, I assume she didn't figure out how to take it off yet).

IMG_5822

She's very put upon and really really wants her ears scratched.

**Cat Info cross posted to Hedgehog Librarian 

A Redo

 I started this pair of socks on New Years Eve just before 2020. I finished them in May 2020 , amidst a lot of optimism about what I'd a...