A Little Yarn On The Side

So, I was pretty much trying to ignore the whole Pajama Incident (first having been 1/2 a yard short of material to finish the top of Andy's 2007 Christmas pajamas, then losing the in-progress pajama top because I "hid" it somewhere), but since you asked...... I still can't find that darn pajama top!!!!!!! Oh, and it gets better. I recently bought some brown flannel to make him a coordinating shirt to go with the pants. I've been "cleaning" the sewing room and, you guessed it......I CAN'T FIND THE BROWN FLANNEL NOW, EITHER!!!! I don't have a sewing room. I have a sewing black hole......

Even though Theo is feeling better and the therapy (they have promised to take pictures for me this week) is working, he's not supposed to be running, jumping, pouncing or twisting his leg. What Theo wants to be doing is running, jumping, pouncing, and twisting his leg as much as possible. I am really looking forward to him going to therapy on Thursday. The additional kitty watching has given me a chance to get a few more rows in on EZ's January aran: and on Ice Queen : and while Theo took a nap today, I finished the edging on two more blankets for Christmas 09 . I would tell you that I'm astounding myself, but that would be tempting the gods and my sewing machine would probably blow up. Theo didn't really help much, but...... he's putting weight on the leg, he can bend it, and he has finally been able to scratch his ear! We have small victories around here lately.....

The vet seemed to think that getting Theo to use his leg was going to be the problem. 5 days after the cast was removed, I can assure you that this is not the problem. Trying to get him to proceed gently--that is the problem. We haven't been doing the kitty therapy exercises we were assigned--he's way past the "try to get him to put weight on the leg." We're into the Toni-needs-the-therapy-phase of "trying to keep him from running, pouncing, and jumping using his leg. Overachiever pets are frightening. I really, REALLY am glad Theo is doing so well, and the vet was worried that the staph infection would come back and said to keep a close watch on Theo in case he was listless and ill. What to do if he was hyper, feeling great, and ready to jump on everything they forgot to cover. Not only is he trying to walk on the leg, he is going to shock them tomorrow with his ability to bend his ankle. Of course, to Theo the big excitement is he can finally lick hi...

After all the hassles of Joann.com and the extra yarn for this I decided to run to Michaels yesterday afternoon to pick up the 2 skeins I need to finish the blanket. I'm using Bernat Baby Coordinates, which is the sort of widely-available acrylic yarn one finds almost everywhere. Except at Michaels. I don't know if Boise has recently experienced a knitting stampede or if Michael's is discontinuing yarn, but they had very little yarn and certainly not the one I was looking for. No problem, I thought, I'll check at Hancock Fabrics just a mile or two away. Nothing--I don't think they even carry Bernat. Not that I think they deserve my business, but there is a Joann Fabrics next to the Hancock Fabrics store and frustration often overrides peevishness, so I did stop in, but they didn't have any yarn of any sort. All my peevishness was restored and then some. The point of true desperation had arrived: I went to Walmart. I loathe everything about Walmart. Trade...

After a year of not buying any yarn, I allowed myself certain purchases on January 1: 1. A reward sweater from me for the whole cat ordeal 2. A birthday sweater for Andy 3. a shawl for my mother as her retirement present 4. yarn to finish a pink blanket for one of my nieces. That was the plan. To achieve this was going to take 4 different online orders. 1. WEBS . The yarn I wanted was on back order, but I placed the order anyway. I also ordered a #9 circular needle because I really dislike the one I have. The same day, I received a confirmation from them, then the following day I received a personal email from them telling me the yarn was on back order, but they would process the rest of my order ASAP, then I received another email shortly after saying it had shipped, and I am currently in possession of my new circular needle, and looking forward to the yarn whenever it arrives. Great service as usual, but no yarn yet. 2. Elann.com . The yarn I wanted for Andy's sweater is...

So, I actually thought that life would get a little bit easier around here with Theo's cast off, didn't you? He was moving around so well that I thought they'd take the cast off and he'd be thrilled and would start using the leg immediately. Obviously, it's been years since I broke a bone and have never had an injury this serious. The cast is indeed off, and his leg muscles are atrophied and sore, and there is so much scar tissue built up around the ankle joint that he can't bend it right now. With a little coaxing, he will lower it to the ground but without any weight: Through all the frustrations of the casts, his leg didn't really hurt (except when he ripped casts off repeatedly). Now, it does hurt when he uses his leg, which scares him, which makes it worse. So, today he's confined to the bedroom (we moved the mattress to the floor several weeks ago), and I spray the room with kitty pheromones every 8 hours to calm him down. The vet gave me som...

As I embark on the second year of knitting (and sewing) only from stash--and take others with me this time--I thought it appropriate to reflect on what (if anything) I learned last year: 1. I do not need to buy all clearance yarn. Sharing with other knitters makes me a better person. And saves me money. And might grow their stashes to be as big as mine. 2. No matter how large it is, a yarn stash really doesn't keep the house warmer 3. When buying fabric for the first time in almost a year, it would have been wiser to not attend a fabric sale unsupervised. 4. If it's been in the stash long enough, it can be hard to use up a really nice yarn. You have a history together--often longer than most marriages. 5. Once you stop being a buy-as-you-need-it knitter, there's no going back. 6. Freud was wrong. I have never met a woman who suffers from penis envy, but a lot of us do experience stash envy 7. Knitting up bulky weight yarn frees up a lot more space than lace yarn....