A Little Yarn On The Side

Theo has finally figured out how to walk with the cast and thinks he's ready for the world--or at least the other parts of the house. He has gotten a couple field trips to the sewing room which really has nice afternoon sun for a snooze, and we're down to just one more dose of the last medicine, which is good as Theo has taken to sulking after medications. I can't say that I blame him. I don't think I'd enjoy someone shoving liquids down my throat either, though considering everything that's happened to him in the last week, medications really are the least of his problems. Between cat duties, I made some progress on Janet's WIP-contest knitting bag. About time, I know. I think she's up to 20 in a row now? Theo was feeling well enough to do the obligatory furring so I think he's feeling a bit more like his old self. I also managed to find the pattern for the alpaca cardigan!!! I haven't worked on it though, as I'm really pushing to get W...

Jill tagged me yesterday with the Six Things Meme. The rules: 1. Link to the person who tagged you. 2. Post the rules on your blog. 3. Write six random, arbitrary things about yourself. 4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them. 5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog. 6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up. My 6 random, arbitrary things: 1. The recording of the Muppets singing the "12 Days of Christmas" makes me laugh every time I hear it. Every single time. It's Beaker on the 9th day that really does me in. 2. I am not a huge sweets fan and can resist almost all sweets, but leave me unaccompanied in a room with Ruffles potato chips and Lipton onion soup mix dip and I am a lost woman. 3. My two favorite singers of all time are Ella Fitzgerald and George Strait. Go figure. 4. I grew up on a farm in Idaho and used to show horses and cattle in 4-H. 5. Though it is rarely--if ever--called for, I'm a p...

Today marks the end of my 11th month of knitting only from stash and the end of my 5th month of the WIP marathon, and I am experiencing SERIOUS yarn lust. The good news is, I'm lusting after my own yarn. I have either one more project or one more month to go before casting on something new--depending on when I crack. 13 down--13 to go. It would have been 14, but the lovely Hibiscus for Hope sock had an incident involving dropped stitches and needles pulled out by another project (proving my secret theory that WIPs really can get vicious if neglected long enough), and I wasn't far enough along to justify trying to pick the stitches versus just starting over--which I will indeed do at some point--but the delightful feeling of having one less WIP kept me from starting over immediately. I've done a lot of WIP Wrestling this year. The WIP pile in April: looking massive and frightening. There are actually 6 projects visible that have been finished by now, which is an amazi...

Thursday night Theo had to return to the vet with a bladder infection & kitty constipation. As if a kitty enema wasn't enough, this time he came home as a kitty satellite dish: This time his normal good humor had finally run out. I'd saved the blocking of WIP 13 for his return, but he was having none of it and I have finally blocked a sweater without any cat hair on it. Not that I blame him for being angry--I think the last round at the vet justified a seriously bad mood, but it also made him very restless, so he had to spend most of the day in kitty confinement: He has another appointment in 5 days to have the leg checked and get the cast replaced, and we're hoping to be able to give him a little more freedom soon. Today he's been in much better spirits, and enjoyed several long snoozes on our bed: while Andy & I took turns supervising him. He's not allowed to jump up or down, so someone has to be around to stop all jumping attempts. My supervisory tim...

The vet's instructions: Keep the cat confined and quiet Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Remember my brilliant cat-confinement idea? Well, it does keep Theo confined, but it stresses him out and he spent the night howling, pacing, and flinging himself around. I know he has a cast on, but I think the "quiet" part is probably the more important goal, so we finally let him out of the cage in sheer desperation & I spent the day keeping Theo from jumping onto the bed and the sink. The cast is quite festive: but in the relative scale of things, it stretches out his back leg entirely, making the leg just about the length of the rest of the body: He's a pretty sorry-looking camper all the way around, because he also has this horrible new poodle-do: where they attached his I.V.s. To add insult to injury, I have to saran-wrap his cast before he can use the litter box, and then I have to hold him up or else he just keeps turning somersaults in the litter box. I don't know--maybe I s...

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...