A Little Yarn On The Side

Well, we're back to this: Theo now knows that casts can be removed--though he's managed to not draw any useful lessons from the severe pain that results from pulling casts off--so we've had to resort to kitty satellite as well as the drugs. We have 2 days of kitty pain medication--which knocks him out nicely but has to be applied to his gums rather than just forcing him to swallow it. I had never noticed before, but cats really have very small gums and they're not generally fond of exposing them--except to bite someone who is really irritating them. After that, we have kitty Valium, which thank heavens is in pill form. Not as easy as the liquid oral medicines, but too many more days of the gums sort of medication and Theo would not be the one getting the valium. Full-time kitty patrol has at least allowed me to make some progress on dem fischer sin fru: and I'm just about to finish with clue 3. I don't know if I'll be able to get back to Fleur. The cuf...

Yes--I do still exist and there has been some knitting, if no blogging. We have been on a marathon trip of visiting friends on the east coast, and I thought about trying to do a few updates while traveling, but we still have the psycho ex-wife stalker (5 YEARS after the divorce, mind you, and 2 years after Andy remarried--talk about pathetic) and we find it best not to announce any plans on the blog as she seems to be a few pom-poms short of a hat. The only good thing about long flights is the uninterrupted knitting time. At home, I could be doing other things--laundry, cleaning, taking care of the garden, painting the dining room, cleaning out that back room--but in a plane, there is NOTHING else I could be doing except sitting. In fact, those cheerful airline attendants would get quite cranky if I really did try to be up cleaning something, so this is the ultimate guilt-free knitting time. Which is perfect, as Theo chose to inspire some last-minute guilt as we were leaving: Could...

I keep trying to count my remaining WIPs, and keep coming up with a different number. After the Finish-itis contest, we will be embarking on a "learn to count" campaign. So, let's see if I can list them: 1. Magikal Earth Shawl (photo to come when the camera battery is recharged) - more than halfway through the mind-numbing edging (what is it with edging?????) 2. Plum baby aran: front in progress: 3. Poodle mohair: body done to sleeeve join, one sleeve in progress 4. Blue toddler sweater - back not quite done. Nothing else finished 5. dem fischer sin fru - still not quite halfway through the first clue. Out of 6. 6. Fleur - just missing the edging and the right front 7. Toddler sweater: needs seams, edging, and one piece knit 8. sleeveless sweater - back mostly done 9. Alpaca cardigan: back, one side, and most of the second side done 10. Glitterspun sweater - back finished, front half finished 11. Pi chemo cap - no picture yet. 12. Fir cone shawl - 40% d...

The plan was to knit a yellow cotton cardigan this month since spring is coming and a nice cotton cardigan would be very useful. What I am actually doing is dividing my time between the cheap thrills knitting: which will be a pullover, and will take all of this out of my stash, and dem fischer sin fru which has progressed but is still on clue 1. I think number 6 comes out this week--or perhaps the fashion show where the speed-knitters model their shawls made from handspun wool from sheep they have sheared themselves. I'm honestly not that competitive--I just want to know their secret. Do they knit in their sleep?

MS3 has a mistake! I have to rip back 3 rows. While I know it could have been much worse, this may move the stole back to the Time Out Bin For Bad Projects. It was SO close! Dem fischer sin fru is still on clue one, but in my defense, it's a long clue one. Ah well, at least being this far behind I can see how the shawl is turning out and can be assured that I don't have another MS3 on my hands. I started the poncho's second side and have 1/6th of the new side done. The Pi Shawl is almost done!!!!! I COULD STAY ON SCHEDULE!!! Which really makes no sense--why am I working this hard to try to finish one project every month? Should hobbies really have deadlines? Obviously, this is what happens when Type A personalities knit. I cast on another sock. Besides needing a portable project (5 rows at stoplights every day can really add up), I have a lone sock sitting on my desk and if I finish it's mate it can be put back in the Gift Bin rather than continuing to sit on my...