A Little Yarn On The Side

The vet called at 10:00 last night to say the surgery had gone well and we could call today to see about picking up our new bionic kitty today. Thanks to everyone for your good wishes for Theo. We aren't sure how he got hurt, though falling, being attacked by a dog, or getting hit by a car are the most likely candidates. When we first took him in, it seemed like just an injured leg (which it was), but there must be an introductory class in vet school called "Scaring the Patient Means Greater Profits." After we had signed waiver after waiver stating that yes, we would want him resuscitated if he went into cardiac arrest and that no, we wouldn't hold the clinic responsible if they killed our pet, and explaining in enough detail to make me nauseous all the potential complications that could arise, we are so thrilled that he's fixed we will cheerfully pay darn near anything to get him back. Can't argue with a program that works, I guess. We expected him to ...

Either veterinarians live to scare people--which is entirely possible as I once took a cat in with a skin irritation & the vet called me with all these possibilities of diseases & did all sorts of expensive tests, then sent me home with a $500 bill, bottle of shampoo and instructions to give the cat weekly baths until the problem went away--or my little sidekick is much worse off than we first imagined. He's heading into surgery now to either repair ligaments or to fuse the bone. The vet also floated the idea of amputation, but neither of us could stand to do that to poor little Theo. We're not sure yet how much motion he'll get back, but we are supposed to be able to bring him home tomorrow. His days of being able to go outside without supervision are probably over, but we're probably quite lucky that we didn't lose him yesterday. I think I'll be able to take him out for walks on a leash because he generally trots along beside me wherever I go anyw...

The sewing kitty came home today with a broken leg, so the poor little guy is spending the night at the vet clinic--and his fleece is with him. Looks like he'll ultimately be fine, but there will have to be a little kitty physical therapy, and they suggested kitty water aerobics. Oh. My. God. They'll give me a little harness so I can put him in the bathtub and have him swim. If this occurs, I promise to film it.

It seems cats can hold grudges. Yesterday morning while I was unpacking, Theo watched but kept his distance--which is never his style. This is the "interested but aloof" pose-- complete with "alien eye syndrome." Did you know that "red eye" features can't fix green glowing eyes? After a couple hours of sulking, I got desperate and broke out the fleece, which made things a bit better. Today I promised Theo that there would be lots of sewing on Saturday and all seems to be forgiven-- And I'm not sure if you can tell from these pictures, but Theo got his winter coat while we were gone and is about twice as poofy as he was before we left. Maybe it was in reaction to our week without heat? The dem fischer sin fru shawl got a little more action today, but it basically still looks the same. It's a faroese-shaped shawl, so it starts at the top and gets wider as it goes along, so at clue 3 the rows are slowing down and we're entering that not-fo...

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...

After three attempts and much swearing, I am finally finally FINALLY putting the edging on Fleur in the right place, in the right way, and unless it spontaneously combusts--which I don't think cashmere generally does--I may actually get the darn thing done. I think in a small act of atonement, the edging is actually laying flat this time, so that has improved my knitting mood somewhat. The edging strip is a little longer (12 inches "little longer") than necessary, and I'm debating whether to rip it back, or simply cut the darned thing where I need it. This would be a VERY big thing for me, as I am not generally a cutting knitting sort of person. More of a cut-that-knitting-and-there-will-be-bloodshed sort of person, if truth be told, but I always hope that I'll experience Personal Growth while knitting. And then I wake up. I also finally admitted that I had gone a bit overboard on the back of this toddler sweater: being at least 3 inches PAST where I should ha...

But not so much knitting. I did finally buy myself a little reward for finishing 10 WIPs in a row: The Yarn Harlot's latest book, Free Range Knitter . Her writing is so witty and charming that I wish she could rake in the kind of money Danielle Steele or Stephen King does, but I don't suppose the movie rights are worth very much. Any knitter could, of course, appreciate the horror potential of a Hitchcock-esque "The Moths," but I just don't think the general public has that sort of fear of fiber-eating bugs. I did sit down to work on Fleur, and let's see if you can spot the problem: That's right--I started attaching the edging IN THE WRONG PLACE. I started here: thinking a join would be less noticeable at an existing seam. I ripped back the seam--chastising myself for having been so proud of myself for sewing the edging on while knitting it because then I wouldn't only have sewing left to do--then reattached it here: Which is the shoulder seam, whic...