A Little Yarn On The Side

I am a HUGE fan of New Year's Resolutions. Not the sort most people make--lose weight, eat healthy, quit smoking--but of realistic ones (trying a new recipe every week, a year without processed foods, making 6 new desserts, etc.). I'm running a bit late this year, but I finally have mine: 1. Read or listen to 100 books (tally on the main blog) 2. Use up 150 skeins of yarn 3. Use up 150 yards of fabric 4. Complete the 12 "Project of the Month" projects 5. The Year of No Processed Foods (see the main blog for that one) 6. Finish the bridesmaid's quilts (there's a long story) 7. Buy no new yarn or fabric 8. Have Christmas gifts completed by the end of October. (OK, only sort of realistic) The yarn and fabric goals are significantly higher than I accomplished last year, but since I'm taking some time off, I should be able to do more sewing & knitting--right? Provided full time kitty-tending comes to a stop in the near future. (Incidentally--Th...

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...