Not just cat petting around here

Since I claim this to be a knitting blog maybe I'll post some knitting. Yes I've been finishing up some stuff lately. My niece and her hubby bought their first home so a house warming gift was required. My niece fell in love with my foster kittens and was begging her hubby to adopt one to keep their current cat company. He's not much of a cat guy so none of my babies went to live in Massachusetts. But it did give me the idea of making Kate the cat dish cloths. I did some more grandchild socks. Oscar decided to inspect the lay out before the picture was taken. She's so helpful.
I'm working on a hat scarf set for a buddy of mine. The hat is a cable hat from Stitch Bitch Nation and the scarf is the Irish Hiking Scarf. They really match well. The yarn is some super wash stuff I picked up from ebay; pink with a light grey strand twisted around. Really nice.

When you make dishcloths you don't use up the whole skein but there's really not enough left to do anything meaningful with. I used the leftovers to make a kitty blanket to throw in the cat carrier. Useful, washable, and great use of leftovers.

I did a lot of stuff and just needed to block everything. Why I was putting of blocking escapes me since it's the magic of knitting lace. Everything looks like a blob until you block it. This is a feather and fans shawl I started for D3 back in December of last year. Yarn is Knitivity.com down home fingering weight in spring green. Love it.

This is a Forrest Canopy Shawl done is Knitivity.com lace yarn in the color honey dew. The colors range from off white to deep green and everything in between. Love it.

And this is a different feather and fans pattern I made for myself. My scarf is from knitivity.com lace weight in graffiti. The entire time I was knitting I wasn't sure if the pattern was too busy for the yarn but after a while I just decided that I loved the yarn so much that I didn't care.

So now I've just got to finish the sleeves on my 5 hr baby sweater (the baby was born Saturday) and whip up a couple pair of baby socks. Then I can start the mountain of socks I plan to knit for Christmas. Already figuring that I'll need to cut back to 7 hrs of sleep a night to finish everything.

Remember to get out and vote!

I've been a little busy

The rescue group I work with usually gives me an endless supply of kittens to love for several weeks while I teach them manners and send them off to live with a new loving family. I just love kittens. However when they called to ask if I could take some of the cats they took from an illegal breeder I just couldn't say no. This is Lewis who is 6 months old. Pure persian with a sweet little personality.

This is Clark who is 9 weeks old and ran the house from day one.

And this last guy is Jefferson who is the prettiest fellow.

They along with 29 others were taken from an illegal cat breeder who couldn't understand why no one would pay $350 for pure persians without papers, vet care, infected with fleas, tape worms, and who's fur was so terrible matted that they had to be professionally groomed to get them looking this good. For the first couple days they were so frightened that they all sat in a corner facing the wall trembling in fear when I entered the room. Now they come running and fall over each other to be pet. What a difference a week makes. Although I'd like to keep them all (actually I'd have liked to keep all the kittens I've had) I know in my heart that they'll only be with me a short time before they find a forever family to cater to their ever whim.

Moving on

My house is currently a kitten free zone. Little Coal was adopted yesterday by a wonderful family. I sent him on with his favorite stuffed mouse toy. So 8 foster kittens since May and all 8 in new homes hopefully living happily after.

But it's a little sad to be able to sit and work on my scarf without kitten help. Not that biting the yarn and laying on the scarf was all that much help but he was only doing the best he could without thumbs.
My own 3 cats are indoor/outdoor cats. I live on 1 acre which backs to many acres of woods, fields, and a pond so the cats have lots of room to wander. And wander they do. My deck is filled on a daily basis with dead field mice, squirrels, chipmunks, and birds. It's a wonderful life for them.

This is Charlie. Charlie came to me 4 yrs ago after being rescued by my oldest daughter from a dumpster in her apartment complex. He was a friendly feral who loved my oldest grandson and would follow him everywhere. His ear was damaged by ear mites so he only really had one ear. We got him checked out by the vet, neutered, and he came to live as a country cat. He was about 5 lbs when we got him and plumped out to 16 lbs with regular feedings. Not a fat cat, just a big guy with broad shoulders and a swagger that showed he was happy.

Unfortunately being a feral Charlie didn't take to the litter box at all so he peed and pooped everywhere. Thankfully we've got hard wood floors or tile everywhere. After a couple months we had to admit that he couldn't be retrained to be inside all the time so his time in the house was only a couple hours followed by a couple hours outside. In the winter on really cold nights we kept him in a large dog crate with food, water, and a litter box placed right by the furnace. Snugly warm. On other nights when it wasn't so cold he'd be sleeping on one of the chairs on the front porch snuggled in a nest of wool blankets.
Charlie was devoted to my husband ... his person .... and would follow him around the house and yard like a dog. He was kind to everyone and since he was mostly white he was particularly drawn to anyone wearing dark pants.

Being a combination cat does carry risk factors and early this morning between 4 am and 6 am one of those risk factors came true for Charlie as he was hit by a car and killed. He had 4 wonderful years living the country life that replaced an awful existence of being a dumpster cat. And he has humans how will miss him very much. Thanks you, Charlie, for being a part of our family for the past 4 yrs.

This and that

Foster kitten Coal is having a grand time now that he's the only kitten around. His favorite thing to do every evening is to watch the fire in the fireplace. He's so cute.

I'm involved in a ravelry group traveling scarf thing and this is my part for my scarf. I kind of remember buying the yarn but don't remember what I was going to use it for. How did I decide on knitpick eggplant? I reached into a box of yarn and pulled it out without looking.
Coal says: Your cell phone? I thought it was my cell phone. Don't you know that everything in the house is mine? When you're a kitten everything is a kitten toy.
And while I know I should probably be actually finishing some of the projects I've got going on I find myself starting other stuff anyways. Like this feather and fan scarf I started on Sunday using Ray's wonderful lace yarn. The colorways is graffiti which I thought might be a little busy for feather and fan but as Rachel Zoe would say, It's bananas.
I've got at least 5 hrs on this 5 hr baby sweater and as you can see all I'm missing is sleeves. What a wild color. Not traditional baby stuff but I love how babies look in vivid colors.
Gotta go see what Coal is knocking over now.

Thanks

Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers you've all sent my way. I've been grieving for my father as he slipped from the man I knew into God's hands for a while so his death was a relief. He is no longer in terrible pain and doesn't have to think about everything he use to do but couldn't any longer. My grandchildren attending the service which I'm sure made my Dad smile. He was so family oriented that he would have been upset if they hadn't attended. One of my Mom's friends thought they were a little distracting but we all loved having them with us.

Anyways, life has a way of moving forward even when you don't want it to happen so Monday I received this package. UPS express box. Must be important stuff. Dusty and Ashley were all excited.

Dusty says: I don't see any kitten toys anywhere.

Now mind you that I work on a computer and never write down a single thing due to patient privacy so I have no need to paper, pencils, markers, files, note cards, etc. The only thing I'll be using out of this entire package is that 2009 calendar.

I have a coworkers who has been under treatment for breast cancer. She's been having a difficult time due to infections. I decided to knit her a shawl and was just hiding the last ends when my father passed away. It gave me a lot of comfort knitting this and I hope it gives Pat a lot of comfort using it.
I should be working on this stuff ............
but instead I casted on a 5 hr baby sweater for another coworker out of this red heart yarn. The colorways is lipstick and it's really pretty. Rose is going to be a grandmother for the first time so I thought hey you can't go wrong with a 5 hr baby sweater .... not that I can actually do one in 5 hrs but that's another story for another posting.
Yesterday afternoon a woman and her 3 sons came over to look at my foster kittens and ended up adopting Dusty and Ashley (my package assistants). The only one left right now is Coal and he's a little lonely. He'll have a new family soon enough.

Hope everyone has a good week. Fall is in the air in New England and it's my favorite time of year.

Bye Dad

About 3 weeks ago the doctors told my father that there was nothing more they could do. He signed the paperwork to go into the hospice program and they were assigned a wonderful case worker named Ginni. I can't say enough about hospice or the caring and consideration they've given to my family through a difficult time. I don't know how they can deal with death on a daily basis and still be upbeat and caring.

Last night my brothers and I watched as Ginni pronounced our father and assisted my mother by making a couple calls. While it's not easy to say good bye to someone who has shaped you into the person you've become, I'm glad that he's no longer in pain.

Good bye, Dad. Thanks for everything.

Out of the mouths of babes

My oldest daughter lives a little over an hour away and since my dad is sick she's been coming down every week so the kids can play at papa's and great grams to cheer them up. Friday they all came down for a visit. After playing at the great grandparent's house for a while they ended up at my house.

I live right by a town park so D1, D2 and I took the kids over for a walk and to play on the playset before dinner. It was a nice day and we basically had the playset to ourselves. There was a guy with an older woman and 3 girls who looked to be ages 2, 4, and 6 on the beach area. After a while they moved off the beach and the older two girls came to play on the playset too.

The boys were at the top of an enclosed slide and the girls were climbing up some netting so W said something like, "Look there are spiders on the spider web." The 6 yr old was offended and told him "We're not spiders we're girls." Meanwhile Missy A walked up the stairs and was hanging around watching everyone.

I was watching what was going on and saw the 6 yr old look around to see if anyone was watching her. Then she took 2 steps sideways and threw her hip against Missy A which knocked the little 2 yr old right down the steps on her back. By the time I ran around to get to the steps D2 was there picking her up and trying to calm her. "What happened?" D2 asked. "That girl knocked against her and pushed her down the stairs." I answered.

All of a sudden the little girl stammers "It was an accident. I didn't do it on purpose." I answered, "I saw you do it and it wasn't an accident."Of course the adults are across the park leaving the 6 yr old in charge of her 4 yr old sister so there’s no other adult to jump in. We decided it was time to walk back to my house anyways so I said, “I bet you cause a lot of accidents. The bad part is that you also tell lies when you do bad things.”

As we were walking down the stairs to leave the playset my 3 yr old grandson N said in a very serious tone to the girl “God saw that.” Then his 5 yr old brother chimes in with “And Santa saw it too.” It was all we could do not to burst out laughing.

Hopefully the Easter Bunny and The Tooth Fairey weren't watching or that little girl is just screwed.

Finally off my lazy butt ...

to do a little update. Moe was adopted by a wonderful young woman and is happy in his new home. She's a non knitter so it's a perfect pair. It was a good thing because I already had taken in these guys and they were all sick so Moe couldn't play with them. These two are Coal and Dusty. They are both males and extremely friendly.

This is Ashley. She was so scared when I first picked her up but now she's the first one to come running and sit in my lap to be pet.


There's been some knitting going on. I bought some yarn off ebay a while back. It was cheap because it was poorly koolaid dyed. So I ended up using both balls working two rows from each ball in order to get it to blend better. So far so good.

Working on a green hat in the same design just in the round.

And finished a pink hat from the same pattern.

Worked on some dishcloths for my neice who just bought her first home with her hubby.

And I'm using the left overs to do a blanket for the kittens to snuggle in. I wanted something totally washable.

Finished another pair of socks for W

Just a little more to go on Missy A's jumper

And plugging along on a shawl for a work friend who is out recovering from breast cancer. Usually I'd use a nice wool but since she's by herself I decided to use Herrschners 2 ply afghan yarn because it's washable.

And since one can never have enought sock yarn I bought these from Ray. I couldn't decide on a color so I ordered 3 skeins with the instructions of do anything you want as long as the colors include blues and greens. I think he did a wonderful job and I was so please when I opened the package. These will all be socks for me, me, me.


All the kids are back in college. D2 started a 2 yr radiology program at Naugatuck Valley Community College. S1 is there too finishing his 2 yr engineering degree. D3 is at Eastern Connecticut State University working on her 4 yr degree in social work.

W started kindergarden and is having a wonderful time. N started preschool and he's having a blast. A is home with mommy asking where everyone is when they are at school.

My dad was getting small dosages of chemo trying to shrink the tumers in his liver to give him some comfort. Unfortunately the chemo was doing more harm than good so last Tuesday they decided to stop all treatment. He signed the paperwork needed to go into the hospice program on Wednesday. Mom's freaking out, dad's resigned to the fact that it'll all be over sooner rather than later, and as usual I'm not dealing with anything other than supporting both of them and pitching in as much as I can. Since stopping the chemo he's been eatting better and has more strength so it's in God's hands now.

I finally finished stuff!!!!!

Finally some finished stuff!!! First up is a Hot Tranney Mess of a dishcloth that I knit for giggles in the Ravelrylmpics. Totally not usable but I have to admit that I did get a laugh out of posting it on the finished thread topic. Everyone else had beautifully, useful dishcloths and I posted this.

As part of the Ravelrylmpics I also decided to finish all the socks hanging out in the bottom of my knitting bag. Was soooo glad to get them all done.



And I also knit some socks for the grandkids too. 2 pr for Miss A for her 2nd birthday and one pair each for N and W to wear on their first day of preschool and kindergarden.



I still have my assistand kitten Moe to help me out on a daily bases. Here he is making sure I'm not typing bad things.



And here he is checking the lighting on my photo shoot for my socks yesterday.



Or at least I thought he was checking the lighting until he picked up one of the socks and ran off with it. PLEASE SOMEONE ADOPT THIS KITTEN!!!!

Moe isn't a knitter's cat

I've come to the conclusion that Moe needs to find his forever home really, really fast before I do something .... like duct tape his mouth shut when he's not eatting. Sounds a bit extreme but I'm about at the end of my rope. We're up to 4 ruined double points and 2 ruined circular needle. I wouldn't mind except he's now knocking over things to get to the needles. Obviously he's not a knitter's cat.

Moe says: Maybe I'll just hang out a little out of reach for a while. Is it my fault that those bamboo sticks are tasty?
In spite of the fact that I'm running out of needles I've been finishing up on some socks that were languishing in the bottom of the knitting bag.
And casting on more.
Of course I'm drowning my sorrows in my blog contest prize from leaving a comment on Julie's blog. She's got a cute little granddaughter who is featured on her blog all the time. Isn't that what grams are supose to do?
Hubby and I went on a little vacation to Rhode Island last week. I love Rhode Island. We went to the Nordic Lodge for dinner and ate lobsters and king crab legs until we waddled out the door.

We went to the Roger Williams Zoo in Providence. Nice little zoo where you can actually see the animals. We also went on the Providence River Walk. Really nice way to see the city while strolling along. The have fire holders in the water which they fill with wood and light every so often. It must look really nice.

Made sure I was home in time to spend Sunday with Dad. We've got a new routine since he really can't get out much. I go over and bring along a movie that I know he'll like. Last week it was Casino (I told my mom that I was paying dad a quarter every time they said fuck and that I was up to $4,000 before the movie was half over). This week I brought along Master and Commander. He's kind of in and out of it because of some heavy duty pain medication but at least he's not in discomfort.

Gotta go find some more double points and finish some knitting. W and N need new socks for starting school and I have to finish up a couple pair for A for her birthday.

Kittens don't know how to knit

Oscar says: It's so wet outside. I can't believe Diane actually forgot to bring me inside. My fur is wet and my dainty little paws had to walk on wet grass.

Moe says: num num num this kitten food is yummy.

And then this happened. Oscar aka the evil one started sharing a bowl of food with little Moe. The cat who hates everyone and everything actually eatting peacefully with a little feral kitten. No one would believe it without pictures.
Lately when I'm knitting you'll hear me say intelligent things like .... Moe, stop chewing on that needle. Moe, kittens don't knit. Moe, enough with the chewing on the yarn. Moe, get your claws out of that. Come on Moe go play with your kitten toys.

Moe is obsessed with my knitting. Last week he chewed my brand new knitpicks 24" size 3 circulars into brand new knitpicks size 3 12" non circular needles. Last night I was working on a sock for little Missy A for her birthday. I put the finished leg in my knitting bag and covered it over to hid the needles. This morning I came downstairs to this sitting right on my usual knitting spot on the loveseat. My sock with one needles removed from the stitches and sitting right next to the sock.

And just when I was about to celebrate that more damage hadn't been done I noticed that Moe chewed the crap out of one of the needles still in the sock. Of course Moe was sitting on the back of the loveseat looking a cute as ever. I held up the sock and said, "Moe this is why kittens don't knit. They don't know how." D2 came around the corner laughing at me.

70 rows done on the 2nd dress with 18 more to go before I decrease and start the top. Dress #1 has the front done but I pulled the needles to work on this dress so I'll be finishing them both around the same time.

Gotta go check to make sure my knitting is tucked away for the night.

And then there was one

Moe says: Hi everyone. I'm going to be the last kitten in the house after today. Larry left yesterday with his new mommy and Grey is leaving today with his new family. I'm going to have to put up with all the hugs, smooches, and pets all my myself. Better rest up.

But somehow napping takes second place the minute I get out my wip to grab a pic or two. Please note that no cats were even in the room. They must have heard the sound of yarn being pulled and ran over.
Dress #2 take 2. I really wasn't feeling the pattern too much so Sunday when Moe decided to gnaw on brand new knitpicks 24" circular size 3 needles into 12" non circular size 3 needles I decided just to rip it out and start over. I changed the bottom to a couple rows of ridges and eyelets before changing over to ss. Love it. Ordered another 24" circulars today. Can't be mad when kittens ruin your stuff.

Moe says: When you're a kitten everything becomes a kitten toy.
Grey says: I hope my next family doesn't put that shiney thing in my face to take pictures all the time. It's annoying .... especially when I'm trying to get in a couple more nips before I leave today.