Still feeling yucky

I spent most of Sunday in and out of bed, napping or drinking tea. I ended up working yesterday, but I'm really glad to be off today. I plan to spend the day drinking tea and probably more napping, interspersed with watching Lucy Neatby's intarsia DVDs. I've got Keith's sweater to work on as soon as Summer of Socks is over.

I haven't done any significant knitting since last Wednesday. I have no hope of finishing my Ravelympic socks. Boohoo! If I'm lucky, I may finish a 3rd pair for Summer of Socks. Oh well, at least I had some fun knitting socks in a hurry this summer, and I found if I'm monogamous to a project I can finish pretty quickly.

I haven't forgotten about India

I think I mentioned life getting in the way of digging through pictures. Sometimes I feel busy, then I look at people who are really busy. Like so much in life, busy-ness is relative.

The vet called yesterday. All of Scooter's bloodwork looks good. She's still waiting on one of the thyroid tests to come back, and I should hear from her maybe tomorrow.

I have discovered that if I take a Pill Pocket and squish Scooter's Pet Mobility into it so that the powder becomes part of the Pill Pocket, he eats it. Same goes for the glucosamine (which luckily has practically no taste at all). I'll start see what I can do with him and the fish oil supplements tomorrow.

As for me, I also had bloodwork done this week for my thyroid. The doc had reduced my medication earlier this summer, but after 8 weeks I need to go back up to the dosage I'd been taking all winter & spring. I actually thought I needed to increase my synthroid. I know it sounds silly, but my neck looked different to me. I'm glad to know that my hunch or intuition was correct.

I'm a bit bummed that I won't have a pair of socks finished for this week's Summer of Socks drawing, but if all goes well I should have 2 pairs for the next one. Reality check - maybe one pair, but I am ever hopeful.

Woohoo needles!

Yes, I now own my 4th pair of 2.5 mm circular needles. I am casting on my Spring Fling socks for the Ravelympics once again this evening. Pictures just as soon as I have anything worth showing.

Oooooh! Sock pictures

Here is a better photo of the Garter Rib Socks. As you can see in the upper right hand corner, I had help taking this picture. That is my Monster checking out the socks.

After all, teh hooman needs kitteh help.

This is the first sock of the second pair of Monkeys. This pattern is so easy to memorize. In fact, it wasn't any work to memorize it. You get to a repeat and realize that you're not checking the directions anymore. Gotta love patterns like that. This is Claudia's Hand Paint fingering weight in Urban Fever. The colors are very close to how they look in real life.

Hey, who are you calling a stray cat? Do I look like a stray? Does a stray sit in a human's lap and viciously attack the camera strap?

Excuse the blurriness of these two photos. Chubby was quite taken with the camera strap and would not hold still. I've let him back outside this morning for the first time in almost 2 weeks. He's taken all but the last dosage of his medicine. (I did give it to him this morning, but then I caught Scooter trying to eat it since it was in tuna. Chubby nibbled at it, so I figured I would just wait until he was hungry again.) He's not exactly comfortable being outside again. I definitely think he'll be back inside. Like I said before, why sleep under a bug-filled shrub when you can find a nice spot on the sofa or the rug?

Second pair for Summer of Socks finished...

under the wire.

I'll get a better picture of them over the weekend.

These are the Garter Rib socks worked toe up using the Magic cast on and PGR heel. I finished the second one mere moments ago.

I love Excel

It's leftover from my bookkeeping days. Microsoft Excel is just such a great program, even for little things. Like maybe a pet medicine schedule. Instead of wondering, "Did Keith give Sassy her antibiotic?", now I can look at my spreadsheet and see if it's been marked off.

I know, total OCD, but it's very helpful.

I'm nearly finished with my Garter Rib socks for this biweekly Summer of Socks contest drawing. I have to have them finished and photographed by 10 tonight. I think I have less than 20 rounds to knit, so hopefully I can find the time to get them finished and ends sewn in. You'll see pictures of them tonight.

In the meantime, Chubby went a bit crazy this morning. He really wanted to play, and he's surprisingly gentle. He'll put his teeth on you, but he doesn't bite down. However, the proper force for claws is something most kitties have trouble with, so after disintangling my hand from all four of his paws, I gave him a felted mouse. He is now crashed out, mousie by his side. Hand knitted cat toys rock!

It's Sunday, so it's time for yarn pictures!

I will admit, I've always used my birthday as an excuse for some shopping. This year I shopped for yarn when I probably should have shopped for some new clothes, but yarn's more fun.

From Needle Nook, I have Silk Garden sock yarn and Kureyon Sock yarn.


From Wollmeise, I have these three lovelies, another Lowenzahn, Maria's Deepest Purple and Dornroschen.


From the Loopy Ewe, I present to you Farmhouse Yarns, Hazel Knits and Spirit Trail Fiberworks.


Finally, from Knitch, I have some numma numma.

That's it for the yarn shopping for awhile (yeah, right.)

As for knitting, I'm about halfway up the foot of the second Garter Rib Sock. If I finish it by Friday, I can be in this biweekly drawing for Summer of Socks. You bet I'm going to knit like mad to finish up. I've already started another pair of Monkeys in the Claudia Hand Paint I got at Needle Nook, Urban Fever.

(If you're reading this post before 8:30 a.m., you can see I haven't taken my pictures yet. I feel a cup of coffee will help that immensely, and it's brewing while I sit here and type.)
Do you think Chubbs is adapting to houselife?


Here's Lily sleeping above my pillow. Sorry for the blurriness.

I think I'll just make myself at home

Well, you didn't say I couldn't get on the furniture. I saw the other cats doing it. In fact, there's one sleeping on your coffee table right now.

Yes, this is Chubby sleeping on the sofa. We let him out to roam in the house, and this is where I found him. Didn't take him long at all, did it?As you can see here, I've turned the heel on the first Garter Rib sock.

I've got the habit of tossing seeds out to the birds when we eat things like squash, watermelon, etc. Sometimes, like last summer's watermelon, we get surprises from doing this. This year I had a member of the squash family pop up, growing at the base of all those sunflowers. I've been trying to figure out just what it is, and I think it may be a delicata squash. This blurry picture is from me squatting down, pulling leaves aside and trying to get a shot of the squash. I know it's too early to be sure, but that is my current guess.

Hmmm, outside?

I've spent the evening with Chubby plastered against me. He was raising hell when I left him alone in my office earlier this evening. Keith was in here on the computer, but I was the one he wanted. So I picked him up and took him in with me to watch tv and knit. Chubbs isn't too sure about this being carried around bit, especially since that makes Sassy really want to sniff him. However, he spent 3 hours keeping me company while I watched Nature and Masterpiece Mystery. He didn't even want to chew on the yarn, but instead slept with his head buried into my leg most of the time.

He's sneezing less, but I still think he probably needs to go back in tomorrow. I hope he will not sit in the office and yowl too much tonight. We had some debate last night about letting him sleep with us since he did a lot of yowling and meowing when we tried to go to sleep last night. Scooter, who doesn't hear much of anything, still meows pretty loudly late at night, and he set Chubbs off. Keeping my fingers crossed I drift off before the kitty chorals begin.

In knitting news, I'm turning the heel of the first Garter Rib sock. I should be able to complete the heel and get started on the cuff tomorrow night.

Home again, home again

Turns out Chubbs had an absess at the base of his tail. No fever or anything, just an absess coming up. The vet said to keep him inside in a quiet place away from other kitties for a few days and make sure he heals ok. If not, he needs to go back on Monday. I have a list of things to watch out for.

I feel so bad for him. He's in my office right now, hiding under the dresser. He just let me start petting him the day before yesterday, and what do I do? Snatch him up, stuff him into a cat carrier, take him somewhere where they shave and clean his butt, then bring him into the house to top it all off. At least he's not where Sassy can sniff him. The other kitties think there's nothing worse that a big cold dog nose rudely sniffing.

As for socks, I'm casting on for a pair of Garter Rib socks from Sensational Knitted Socks. As usual, I'm changing things by knitting them toe up and probably using the PGR heel. I'll post pictures as soon as I have more that one or two rounds knitted up. I had planned to get some of the drudgery done today, but between running back & forth to the vet and having a very pleasant visit with Daphne, much less housework is getting done than planned. I know to be careful what you wish for, but sometimes wouldn't it be great to have a genie or friendly witch who could clean the house with the flick of a wand? Or maybe a few house elves?

Since I'm the closest thing we have to a house elf, I'm down to the basement to do laundry.

First pair for Summer of Socks 2008!

Here they are! I've even ripped out the toe of the first one and re-knit it so they both fit me.

Here are the details.

Wollmeise 100% Merino Superwash in Lowenzahn. I used Addi Turbos in size 1, Magic Loop.

These are the No Purl Monkeys, based on that infamous pattern on http://www.knitty.com/.

Second Monkey finished

and back to sock 1. I've undone the toe and started working on it again. I think I will get this finished and posted by Friday, the deadline for this session.

Thanks for the cheers, Kim!

Next for Summer of Socks 2008

Do you ever find yourself being called by a color? All of a sudden, I want to knit with pink. Not those muted, ashy, mauvy pinks you can find everywhere. I want to knit with screaming, roaring, in-your-face, girlie pink.

That said, here's what I'm using next. Socks That Rock Lightweight in Rhodonite. I tell you, I've been having a lot of trouble finding a good, clear, bright pink. So many of them are muted. Is there an anti-pink conspiracy? Or most likely, it's not the color that's "in" this year. Anyway, as soon as I finish my Monkeys, which will be today or tomorrow, I'm casting this on for the Spring Forward socks from Knitty Summer 2008. Amazingly, the STR is the yarn that she used in the pattern, so I'm being matchy-matchy this time without having to wonder if the yarn will work. (Honestly, not that I ever wonder that much. Thank goodness for gauge and some common sense.)

Here is the yarn I forgot to add to my Sunday post. It's Saucy from numma numma in Stella. Did I mention I'm having pink yearnings?

I did a little post birthday shopping at Needle Nook yesterday. I got some Claudia Hand Paint Fingering in Urban Jungle and some Wool in the Woods Cherub in Color Me Karen. I've had so much fun knitting the Monkeys that I think the Urban Jungle will become another pair of them. However, I've been really curious about the Cherub yarn. It's a little too heavy for fingering, and maybe a tiny bit too light for sportweight. I think I'm going to use it for some basic toe up socks so I can get a feel for how it knits up. I honestly think it would make a really excellent Baby Surprise Jacket too.

This is Sun-Dappled Pond by Dog Lover Yarns. She's an etsy seller who is retiring her business. That's really a shame as this is a lovely yarn. I wish I had found her sooner.

Anyway, Tuesdays have become grocery shopping/food prepping days. I've already run to Publix and found almost everything I needed, so I don't have to go to the Dekalb Farmers Market today. I decided to make a pot of veggie soup so we'd have a quick dinner for the next few nights. You should see all the blueberries we picked off our one lone bush yesterday. As we filled up the colander, Keith said that he saw a blueberry cobbler in his future. I can take a hint as well as the next person (when I want to), so a flaky crusted cobbler is on the menu. I usually get a fabulous foccacio bread from the market, and there's a sandwich in one of my Weight Watchers cookbooks that is wonderful. Roasted veggies, melty cheese, mmmmm. I'm going to try it tonight with the pizza shell, and we may do it as a pizza instead of a sandwich.

Now that you are all hungry, I'm off to start washing dishes. I swear, it seems like every day off lately has too much time washing all those darn pots and pans. I didn't think we'd been cooking as much as those pots and pans seem to indicate.

Gratuitous kitty picture. Here's Monster just days after her lion cut back in May. She's very happy to be bare.

More firsts

Keith and I had a couple more firsts on July 4, 2008.

We successfully got our first item listed on ebay. I had tried and tried to get it listed last weekend, but for some reason ebay just could not find the photos on my computer. I gave up, but Keith tackled it on Friday and finally got them to load. I'm very excited as we have 2 people watching it. We plan to get a few more listed today. This is a great way to earn a few dollars and clean out the house.

Second first. I planted 4 blueberry bushes many years ago. From several things like bad location, getting moved, having tree limbs fall on them, and possibly being mowed over, we ended up with only one bush. One poor little bush that has few berries, and the birds get them before we ever did. This year is different. We picked about a pint of berries off the bush on Friday, and we'll go get more ripe ones today. That is very exciting to know that we can have blueberry pancakes for our usual Sunday breakfast with berries we picked from our own backyard.

As for knitting, I had completed almost 2 lace repeats of my second Monkey when I compared it to the first. Major change in gauge. I had gone back to my stranglehold on the yarn. (I knit socks at a very tight gauge.) I ripped it all out and started over. I might finish 2 pairs, maybe 3 for Summer of Socks, and I'm okay with that.

One Monkey down

and one to go! I finished my first Monkey sock, which is also my first sock for Summer of Socks, this morning. Well, I do have one more end to weave in, but I'll get to that in just a minute.

For those of you here in the States, have a happy and safe 4th of July. As I mentioned at Knit Nite, it's a typical American holiday. You know, drinking, grilling, and explosives (fireworks.) At least we don't live in the part of metro Atlanta where they celebrate by shooting their guns up into the air. As for me, I think I'll stick to the drinking and knitting. I'll let Keith do the grilling, and let someone else handle the fireworks.

ETA Here are Keith's finished socks finally! I'm not sure how long I've been knitting these socks. It seems like forever! I am very happy to be finished with them today. They are knitted very densely with a gauge of 11 stitches per inch. They should wear like iron. The cuff is a 2x2 rib that stretches quite nicely. In fact, I've been using the 2x2 rib as my basic sock that I make for myself. I had almost finished the first Meanie sock I am making for myself. I had knitted a stockinette cuff, but when I tried it on, I didn't like it. I ripped out the cuff and reknitted it. I'll have it finished and posted in the next few days. However, I plan to cast on that second Monkey tonight so I can finish at least one pair for Summer of Socks.

Wollmeise Monkey #1

This is No Purl Monkey number 1. These are for me, and I'm knitting them as part of Summer of Socks 2008. If I can get some quality knitting time tonight, I'll have it finished by Saturday. Then I can cast on number 2.

Monster seems to really like her Diabetes Management catfood, but I do have to feed her away from Scooter as he wants to eat it also. I usually want to let my ancient kitty eat whatever he wants, but I need to make sure it's okay for him. Well, this also costs more than the holistic food they normally get, but then again, my Scooter is over 18, and I think he's worth it.

Just a quick note.

Yesterday the one thing I've been waiting for happened. Mr. Chubby came into the house on his own. He didn't come far, but his curiousity got the better of him. He got to just inside the door, stood on the doormat and sniffed for a minute or two. I know his little brain is thinking, hmm, this might be a better place to be when it rains like mad.

I've nearly finished the cuff on the first No Purl Monkey sock. I'm several rounds into the sixth repeat of the lace pattern. I'm wondering if I can get the cuff finished before breakfast this morning.

I'll post sock pictures later today or early tomorrow to show off the Monkey.

Today is a BIG day

Let me list the biggest event of the day. Scooter turns 18 today! I haven't quite decided what to get him. I'm really thinking of splurging and buying him (us) some salmon. He loves it when we eat it, and as we haven't had it for awhile, this is a great excuse to get some.

Today is Clue 2 of the Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery Shawl. I'm looking forward to it. I'm still not so sure I like the chart I used for clue 1, but I'm keeping it. I'll look for a more dynamic chart to do this week. I did like the symmetry of chart B on paper, but it's a little static once knitted up. I've started calling it the eye of the hurricane. A hurricane's eye is a calm, sunny spot in the middle of the worst winds. Mine will be a calm symmetrical spot in some whirling lace.

Today is also the Start of Summer of Socks 2008. For me, SOS08

won't officially start until I get finished with Keith's sock. I'm so close. I'll get the darn thing finished this weekend, maybe even tonight. Then I can start some Monkeys with the Wollmeise.

Oh the noise!

Yeeha! The basement is being waterproofed today! We've moved some stuff to storage, some to Goodwill, and some to the backyard. Before we go to bed tonight we've got to move the stuff in the yard back into the basement. I may be Southern, but I'm not that Southern.

Oh yes, I forgot we've got a big pile for recycling tomorrow too. This time instead of a cracked laundry basket we have a dog chewed holder for newspaper to keep it together for recycling. (It looks amazingly like a laundry basket, just without the smaller mesh.) Years ago, when he was a young pup, our dearly departed Ripper once again justified his name.

While I will admit that I'd much rather be knitting instead of framing in rooms, I'm kind of excited about making our basement into useable, liveable space instead of a scary, grimy, spider filled wasteland of unknown stuff. While we have come across things and said, "Oh, this is where that is!", we've also had quite of bit of "What in the world is that, and why do we have it?"

But where does the title of this post come in? Well, they have had to jackhammer away part of the floor all around the walls. Right now I'm hearing the whine of a saw going through cement. I'll be so glad when they are finished for several reasons, not the least of which is the banging and whining of equipment. The guys who are doing it are very nice. I peeked downstairs once, not really knowing what to expect since I had Keith take care of a lot of this. I'm not being a helpless female. I've found it's easier to let him talk directly to people than to try to relate it. The two of us rarely ask the same questions, and I've found what he thinks is important I haven't even thought about. Thus, he gets all the info he needs by handling it, and harmony is maintained in our relationship.

Best of all, I'm planning to move my office/fabric/yarn room to the basement. I'm an awful piler of things at home, and it drives Keith nuts. I'll be out of sight for him, which I think will actually relieve him of some stress. Every time he comes in here, he says we'll have to tackle cleaning and organizing my office. My answer? Stay out!

Summer of Socks 2008 starts this Saturday. Am I ready? Not at all. I still have 3 other socks in progress on the needles. I'll see what I can get knocked out over the summer. I want to use the Wollmeise Allen gave me soon, and if that's all I get done, I'll still be happy.

The other thing about having the waterproofing done today is that I can't do laundry! I gotta admit, it's kind of nice right now, but I'll be sorry later in the week. I think I'll go find a spot and work on Keith's heathery gray sock.