Tuesday, October 7, 2008

New family member


My 14 year old cat, Nutmeg, died in early September, due to kidney failure. She was the most friendly cat you would have ever met. Exactly a week after Nutty was put down, a small black & white kitty came out of the bushes to greet me when I came home from work. It was a very busy time--I think I was on a 11 day stretch without any day off from any work commitments. I gave kitty a scratch & went in.

The next day, kitty said Hi again. I gave kitty a scratch & offered her some of Nutmeg's food that hadn't been dropped off at Little Guild or returned to the vet yet. Of course, I put out fresh water & a box with an old sweatshirt.

I asked everyone I knew & ran into that week, if anyone would like a friendly kitty. She's so friendly that the neighborhood kids could pick her up by the scruff & she wouldn't struggle. She played with the kids every day after school.

When talking to the neighbors about the cat, someone reported a car driving into our parking area late Saturday night, turning the lights off, then driving away. (The next day there was kitty). Kitty went to visit my hubby while he worked on his bike in the garage. He claims she jumped up on the workbench & curled up like she belonged there (he put food & water in the garage & we sheltered kitty for a night). I put kitty in the garage a second night. I later found out that everyone in the neighborhood was worried about kitty with the rain coming. Several people put out pet taxi's for kitty to hide in.

After a week outside, we allowed the kitty in with the intention of fostering the kitty (now called katkat) until a new home could be found. I made arrangements to take the katkat to the vet the following Friday. At the vet I learned that katkat is negative for leukemia, free of fleas & mites, is 4 years old or more, and has horrible teeth--so bad that they need to be cleaned & one possibly pulled.

We have decided to keep katkat. We are saving money to have her teeth cleaned & tooth pulled. During the saving period, we hope that she doesn't go into heat as that indicates that she is already spayed (no scar is felt on her belly). I guess this means that I'm on a yarn diet---just after Rhinebeck (we won't discuss those acquisitions yet).

"Jazzy" is doing much better after a week on antibiotics for her cold & it probably helps her tooth. She has become even more frisky. She is scheduled for her teeth to be taken care of within the next couple of weeks.


On a botanical note: MY ORCHID BLOOMED!!!!!!! It took 2 years, but isn't it pretty?


The photo on the left is Salta, my hubby, & Zappa taking a break on Bear Mt in Salisbury, CT in October. The leaves were at peak--sorry no pictures of those--we were hurrying to get away from all the tourists at the top of the mountain.



On the needles: I just finished my last pair of sock wars detonator socks, destined for WI. My socks from my assassin are on their way from Norway. There are only 3 of us left in the war--the postal service will determine the winner I suppose.

I'm working on a smoke ring scarf for a Christmas gift. I'm not sure if I like it.....I didn't buy enough yarn (I was planning on making 2 separate regular scarves) so using my knitterly genius......I changed colors after each pattern repeat (see picture below). I'll either give to it's intended recipient or keep for myself & get the appropriate amount of yarn for the smoke ring. It's make from E. Lavold Silky Cashmere. Your comments are appreciated.



Surviving September

September is a busy month for me normally--bike riding, birthdays, my anniversary, last chance to squeeze in vacations, and special events for my business. Then add to that the unexpected--someone resigned at my "day" job (this would be the job where I get my insurance benefit) & I've been filling in to cover, my practice has been busy, I was invited to be a guest speaker to talk about yoga, and my 14 year old cat, Nutmeg, went into kidney failure & had to be put down. After all that, this past weekend I finally got some "me" time playing with fiber.
This past Saturday Kris from The Painted Sheep spoke at my spinning guild meeting about dying fiber. I've been wanting to do this all year! To prepare for my own dye pot trials, I purchased a few books, some basic dyes, some bare yarn & fiber, cheap stock pots, etc. I was so glad that I had asked for the weekend off 'cause then I found out that there was a follow-up workshop on Sunday--I signed up right away. Below are my results:
BFL roving (candy corn colorway)

Alpaca/Merino/Silk blended roving (sherbert colorway)
Tencel Merino roving (try to match Kris's socks colorway)
Superwash Sock yarn (caribbean colorway)

The following are pictures of my hubby sewing!!! Now before you think how lucky I am...the material he prefers to use for this task is fishing line. He agreed to give sewing thread a shot in this photo op.



For knitting: I finished my 7th pair of sock wars socks. USPS confirmed delivery yesterday10/6. I'm not dead yet--then again, I haven't visited the mailbox yet either. I'll post my death socks as soon as I get them.
I cast on for the modern quilt wrap & a skull & cross bones dog sweater. Ogee lace skirt needs to be frogged to rescue line & work out the error in the last pattern repeat--will need some wine for that. All of this is being tempered by the strong urge to spin my freshly dyed rovings---Thanks Kris for the great workshop!