A Little Yarn On The Side

I took Theo in for a checkup on Monday and to have his bandage changed. Yesterday I knew it was bothering him, but when we called the vet clinic they didn't seem too concerned or have any suggestions. This morning he was really cranky and angry--which is very unusual for him--so I put him back in the cage thinking maybe he had pulled some muscles trying to walk around on his bandaged leg. Shortly I heard a cat shrieking in pain and found Theo with his leg free and the cast laying on the other side of the cage. I have no idea how he did that, but with me pinning Theo (and trying not to faint as anything medical or involving blood makes me ill) and Andy driving like a maniac, we took off for the closest vet clinic. The one that could do surgery is across town, but they all have drugs, and all three of us could have used some. They gave Theo a shot of pain killer and put a splint on the leg, then sent us home with several doses of pain killers (which will knock him out), kitty V...

So I decided that even though I would be giving the stockings away & would rarely see them, I couldn't live with the errors. (I know--if you can't beat your neurosis, join them) So, I decided that since it was just an outline design, I would simply rip out the problematic design and do something else. Two hours later: To be fair, that did indeed work, and there's no guarantee that I would have found something better to do with those two hours of my life, but I didn't want to do that twice. I am curious to try free-hand machine embroidery, but I try to keep "learning opportunities" away from things I want other people to see. It works better that way. So, I took a deep breath and: hand stitched the missing bits. It isn't perfect or even perfectly symmetrical, but neither is the vertical one which was part of the original design. This I can live with. Before his vet appointment, Theo came in to help me and his poodle-do is now just looking ...

The 14th WIP in a row is finished, washed, and blocking: and does a pretty mean "little teapot" as well. And--drum roll please--I have now used 18,106 yards or just over 10 miles of yarn this year! Oh my! Now if that only made a sizable dent in the stash...... I haven't cast on anything new, nor have I worked on Fleur or dem fischer sin fru today. Instead, I worked on the five red stockings: and all the legs are now embroidered, but tonight I noticed this: Notice anything? Part of the design didn't transfer through to the embroidery card, so the holly leaves look a little funny. Two stockings have this problem--though I didn't notice until I did the second one. My options are to rip out the design & put something else there, try to fix it by hand (and this would be a good time to mention that I am not a good hand embroiderer--I tried doing a pillowcase a few years ago and it looks like it was done by a five year old with the shakes), or ignore it...

I was working so hard to have #14 done today, but the knitting is done and most of the sewing is as well: And of course I did have to spend some time working on Christmas gifts. I have 11 Christmas stocking to make this year, and so far I have: 6 legs embroidered. 5 to go & the sewing & names and all that. But at least I'm this far. Theo was feeling spunky enough to "help" but soon abandoned me for a more festive spot: so Callisto joined me with her best "Theo" pose: I don't think they'd have this sort of dedication if the sewing room didn't face south and have great afternoon sun. The "invalid" is doing fine and in a stunning show of independence, is refusing to join me in the sewing room tonight--I think because I won't let him go outside--and is instead curled up right outside the door. It's not much of a show of independence I'll grant you, but considering we've been almost inseparable for more than a week, I...

Last night Theo discovered the ultimate weapon in his bid for freedom: destroying the carpet. If he digs hard enough, he can pull up the towels, sheets, and garbage bags that had been the bottom of his makeshift cage. As he discovered this trick late last night when his humans were exhausted & in serious need of sleep, he has now achieved a limited amount of freedom. He's learned to crawl on & off of things instead of jumping, so I think he'll be okay, though we do keep a pretty close watch on him just in case. Right now he's snoozing in the downstairs window box in Andy's office and seems quite pleased with himself. He's still doing well, though I was having trouble getting him to drink water until I discovered he truly thinks he needs to have his water in a glass. I guess I should consider myself lucky he doesn't want ice cubes. And guess who has decided to forgive me for bringing Theo home? She's been growly and angry since Theo got hurt, tho...

We're having a few difficulties here at the Kitty Rehabilitation Center. It's just over a week since his surgery, he's totally off medications, and apparently he feels great and can't figure out why we won't let him roam freely. Do you know how fast a cat in a cast can really move when there's an open door? Much faster than you would imagine, I assure you. Most of his mornings are now spent in kitty time-out, but by afternoon it's time for a snooze in the sewing room. Doesn't he look traumatized? Today I finished Janet's bag and it's washed, ironed, and ready to go out in the mail tomorrow. And--drum roll please--that 1/4 of a yard of fabric put me just over 60 yards of fabric used up so far this year. I'm not even going to speculate about what percentage of the fabric stash that is, but it's fabric going out of the sewing room rather than in, which is a wonderful thing. I decided to separate the sleeves to do the sleeve caps on t...

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...