Goodbye Oscar

This morning we woke up to find Oscar had passed away. She had been in failing health lately however we made the decission not to take her to the vet feeling that since she was not in pain she should be able to live out her time in the home she loved.

Oscar came to us 18 1/2 yrs ago. My oldest brother was going home down a main road and watch as someone threw something out the passenger window from the pick up truck in front of him. He pulled over and this little grey cat came over to him. He's a dog person and I'm a cat person so she came to live with me. My youngest daughter picked her name (which is why you should never let a 2 yr old name anything).

I'd love to tell you that she was a wonderful pet full of kindness but to be honest she was a terrible pet. If she had gone to a shelter they would have put her down because she was aggressive and unadoptable. We offered Oscar love and kindness but in the end all she's accept from us was food, water, and shelter. She hated every other cat we've ever owned more than she hated us.

We'll miss her and her crabby self around the house. There'll be no one biting and scratching my foot as I try to eat dinner. She won't be nagging me for milk in the morning. Although she wasn't a warm cuddly she was a part of our life for a long time. I hope her spirit is now at rest.

Gifts form a friend

The interesting thing about the internet and blogging is that you get to 'meet' such interesting people from all over the world that you would never know otherwise. Such is the case with my friend Vivian in California.

Vivian is quite the knitter and an interesting person however one of the most interesting things about Vivian is the love and admiration she has for her mom, Lena. Her mom is also a knitter who has a passion for knitting for CIC.

Lena has some recent surgery right before her birthday so Vivian reached out into cyber world and asked if we could send a card to her mom. I decided to sent a card plus some yarn. It worked out better just to send an order from knitpicks directly to Lena once I figured out what it would end up costing to mail from CT to CA. The yarn and card arrived and I knew Lena would be happily knitting some wonderful vests for CIC.

Imagine my suprise to get a package that contained this
and these

Everything lovely made by Lena. I'll donate the vests in her name to CIC and throw in a couple pair of socks too. Isn't she just a treasure of a person. Vivian you are so lucky.

Knitting but no finishing

Knitting right along on anything that grabs my attention. Take for instance left over sock yarn. Instead of gathering it up and putting it away I decided just to knit some infant socks. Not that I know anyone who has an infant currently but I'll find somewhere to donate them. Please notice that Tanner is earning his keep my insuring all socks are done to the highest quality and coated with a layer of cream colored cat fur.

Socks without my cat helper.

Helena is moving right along for my granddaughter. I stopped when I finished the body so I could try it on her to make sure the length was ok. Looks great so now I just have to finish the sleeves and front/neck. D1 and I decided that they need to make this pattern in an adult size because it's so pretty.
The grandkids needed scarves so a little surfing on ravelry and I found alligator scarves. I ordered the pattern from Morehouse Farm a while back but just casted on the first on on Saturday.

Pretty cute. The yarn is red heart in a sports weight. The green camo is for N. W picked red and Missy A picked purple.

My friend's mom isn't doing well. I finished the knitting on the white shawl only to discover that the color for brain cancer is grey not white. The color is something that is very important to her mom so I knit up this smoke ring instead using opal sock yarn in a light grey color. I figured it would be easy to toss in the washer and dryer with no fuss leaving plenty of time for my friend to worry about other things while taking care of her mom.

I added more repeats to the width since sock yarn doesn't block out and the width as the pattern was written would have been 20". Easy pattern that was fun to do. My youngest daughter thought it looked pretty cool so I might have to make her one.

So that's about it for around here. Another storm is coming in later today. Anything but ice would be fine with me. I've had quite enough ice this winter, thank you very much.

End of the month already?

Where does the time go? The kids are all back to school. D3 made the dean's list complete with certificate mailed to the house. The school that the other 2 are in just publish the dean's list and both D2 and S1 were on it. Smart kids .... must take after their dad.

I've been working with the foster cats quite a bit. Lily is a peach and hopefully will be adopted tomorrow. Her new mom is an older woman who lives by herself, disables, and would love a nice lap cat. Lily will fit the bill perfectly.

Tanner has turned into a cheeky little boy. Playful and full of energy he doesn't run away as much anymore. I can pick him up and pet but no one else in the household can pick him up. There's a couple that adopted a persian (not one of the ones I fostered) and they are looking for a pal for him. Tanner might be a perfect fit so fingers crossed that he'll have a forever home soon.

I've done a little knitting. Still working on the shawl for my friend's mom. Almost done with it but had to set it aside until things settled down a bit so I could wash and block it.

I made a couple kitty wontons which seem to be a hit. They work up very quickly.

I decided to cast on a sweater for my granddaughter. The pattern is Helena from knitty.com and the yarn I decided to use is red heart sports weight. I finally got gauge on size 4's instead of the recommended size 6's and it's moving right along. If the sweater is a hit then I'll probably make another one is a nice cotton blend that can go in the washer/dryer. I don't care for the ties so I'll probably put on a couple buttons. We'll see.

I've been involved in a traveling scarf project with one of my on line groups at Ravelry and sat on some scarves for a long time. The person I mail to moved like 3 times in a month which is crazy!?!? Her hubby is in the military and they've been apart for a while so at least at the end of it all her family will all be together. I can't begin to thank the families of the armed services for everything they do.

So I finally mailed off these today and will wait patiently for some more to come. Fun project with beautiful results. My own scarf is MIA currently and I've got to say that if it comes up missing forever I won't be the least bit upset because I'm loving working on everyone else's scarves.

So snow, freezing rain, ice skating in the driveway, etc, that's been about it for me. Hope everyone is keeping nice and warm while they knit away.

It's all about the cats ........

Being a kitty mama is always interesting. You just never know what the next phone call will bring. My phone rang before new years and I was asked if I could take a 5-6 month old cat who looked to have been abandoned on a farm. Of course it was single digit cold at night so I said yes. Unfortunately when they went to get the little cat they couldn't find it but this one came running over.

I named her Lily and she's a friendly gal. According to the vet she's 2 yrs old and already had been neutered. She'll be up for adoption soon and deserves a great home.

When they finally got the little cat on new years day he was thin and had about 30 ticks on his little body. His name is now Tanner and he's 8 months old. Tanner was dropped off the same time as Lily because they seem to know each other. Unfortunately because Tanner was outside a little longer than Lily he's having a hard time trusting we humans.

I've been working very hard to get him to be a little braver but he still runs and hides the minute I walk in the room. It's he beautiful?

And there's been some knitting. I finished 2 pair for socks for grandson N who thought they were the greatest socks ever.

And I finished my brother's socks that weren't done in time for Christmas.

I'm currently knitting a shawl for my friend's mom who is currently undergoing treatment for brain cancer. They removed most of the tumor but it'll grow back quickly. I feel terrible for my friend because I know it's so hard to watch as things start to slip away and cancer wins.

Happy Holidays

Today is D2's 24th birthday. She was due on December 10th but even before she was born she was doing things on her own time table. We always joke that the only reason she came out at all was because she didn't want to miss Santa. 2 minutes before midnight. Talk about waiting until the last minute.

A while back I got a beautiful shawl in the mail from someone who didn't want to be known. Instead of doing detective work to track down the maker of the shawl I decided to play it forward. I did a shawl for a coworker and a hat scarf set for an internet friend (although she knew they were from me which is fine). This came yesterday again no name but it put such a smile on my face. The timing was great since Violet and Shadow, the last of the 8 persians I've been fostering, were placed in their forever home yesterday.

There's an icicle growing on the back deck today. Snapped a picture before it breaks off.

And I'll close this posting with a picture of the grandkids visiting with Santa. A and W decided Santa was ok but little Mr N wasn't so sure about sitting on his lap.

Happy holidays to you all.

Love, Diane

A little distraction .........

from the fact that I've been knitting 4 pair of socks and haven't completed one pair yet. I've got my nieces socks and her hubby's socks done but need to kitchener the toes on both. I've got the first sock for my sister in law half way through the foot and the first sock for my brother half way through the heel flap. Hope to finish both pair this week.

In the meanwhile, the grandkids came to visit the Saturday after halloween. W and N decided to be bats this year and little Missy A was Winnie the Pooh. The bats were all over the house and at one point we caught this one riding off down the hallway. How friggin' cute is this?

The last 2 persians are making themselves at home. They tend to hang around in my room all day since I'm usually the only one home. They play a little with some of the toys, watch me work, and nap. Shadow will always hang around with us downstairs in the evening. Violet (the silver one) is not that brave. They are both really sweet girls.

Last week I got up and when I went back to make the bed 5 minutes later I was greeted with this.

Talk about making yourself at home huh?

Long time no blog

Been a little busy around here with the holidays, grandkids, siblings, and of course more foster persians. The bathroom was clean for one day before the last 3 came.

This is Maggie. She's 6 yrs old and turned out to be very friendly. There was some talk about giving her back to the illegal breeder but based on the vet report there was no way that was going to happen. The owners should be grateful that they weren't arrested for animal neglect and cruelty.

Maggie was adopted last Saturday and seems to have settled into her new home and new life as an only cat.

Along with Maggie came 2 very frightened 6 month old babies named Shadow and Violet. They spent the first 2 weeks hiding behind the curtins in the bathroom even though the door was wide open and they could go anywhere.
Violet is a good little girl who reminds me of Jasper (another rescue persian). She is still skiddish but will let me pet her. Tiny little cat. The other day I guess I was taking too long to open the can of food and she cuffed me one on the leg. Little freshie!

Shadow is quite a bit bigger but the same age. She is now my buddy and will come to me when I call her. She and Violet spend their days sleeping on my bed while I work.

Hopefully they'll be placed for adoption soon. I requested they be placed together since they are very dependent on each other for support and comfort.

I've been knitting along on christmas socks so nothing has been finished recently except for these

A gal on ravelry sent out a request for mini stocking filled with gum and candy for the troops. The stockings were fun to make and my kids and grandkids helped fill and bag them. With everything the troops risk to insure our freedom it was a honor to work on this project.

Thanksgiving this year was interesting. I was born on Thanksgiving day and every so often my birthday falls on thanksgiving. This year was one of those years plus I turned 50. Yes 50. I remember when I thought 50 was old. Now I think 85 is old. Wonder what I'll think is old when I'm 85?

W was over and decided to draw some decorations around my house. I knew he did one on D3's slider but I was tickled to see this on the window at the top of the stairs.

It's about time

Oscar says: It's about time that this house is a foster kitten/cat free zone. You have wasted totally too much time on those creatures when you could have been catering to my every whim ... and I have many whims.

Yes Jasper and Rosie have been adopted by a warm and loving woman who lost her beloved persian last year. They will have a happy home life with Karen and her hubby. Unfortunately it's back to being far too quiet around here. The rescue group is taking the last 3 persians out of the breeder's house tonight so hopefully I won't be lonely for too long.

I started some christmas knitting. These will be for my 2nd brother. I've knit socks for his wife and she just raves about them so I think he might actually wear them. His favorite colors are grey, navy, and black but there's no way I'm knitting boring. I'll be making socks for his son in law too who's favorite colors are grey, navy, and black. No I won't be making him boring socks either. They've got some nice dark tones so it should be ok.

My niece's christmas socks have been started too. Her favorite color is orange so I went with this Opal blend of brown and orange. Kind of funky. Hopefully she'll like them. The nice thing about socks is you just have to make one pair for a person. If they like them then you hear about how hard it is for them to have to go without while the socks are in the wash. Then you know that hand knit socks will be appreciated every time.

I had some yarn left over so I whipped up a quick baby hat for a coworker's granddaughter. I love anything that ends in a knotted I-cord on little kids.

D2 was happy to come home from school and see this ....

clean bathroom free of cats and their mess. She needs to enjoy it while she can because I'm sure there will be more coming soon.

The persian update

Working on a casual hat for me. I love the colors of this yarn. I bought it at my last trip to Webs for $2.99 a skein. I'm thinking of mittens to match but I'll have to think about it.

If you haven't guessed already I tend to get obsessed with some types of knitting. I'll be lace knitting and working on 3 different lace things. Get into hat making and I'll make 4 or 5. We won't even speak about socks because that's waaaaay past an obsession. So when a woman on Ravelry said that they were trying to collect 850 mini stockings by November 30th for the troops I had to give it a try.

Cute? I have no idea when this yarn was bought or how exactly it ended up in my stash. I honestly don't remember buying it much less buying 6 skeins of it.

Anyways I can get 17 stockings out of this skein of super saver. Finished one skein and since I'm still obsessed with the project I'm working on a second skein.

My foster baby Jefferson was adopted yesterday. The poor baby was so upset about getting put in the car carrier. The last time he was in one he ended up at the vet, flea dipped, groomed, shots, neutered, and generally manhandled. Quite a change from living in a mattress box spring. The woman who adopted him was lovely and I'm sure he'll be very happy in his new house.

Rosie and Jasper are doing much better without Jefferson here. They seem to be coming out a little more and eating well. Jefferson use to run to the food and eat like he'd never eat again; a clear sign that food was in short supply before he came here.

I was grooming Rosie last night and she knocked the brush right out of my hand, hissed, and glared at me like "What the hell do you think you are doing!?!?!" I laughed. Last week when she came to my house for the first time she wouldn't even look at me. Now she thinks she's the boss.

Jasper has come a long way. He will actually let me sit him on my lap and pet him. He's lighter than Rosie in coloring and weight. Jasper is actually very thin under all that fur so hopefully he'll start to fatten up a little now that food is always there for him. He has a sweet personality and will make a wonderful friend for someone. He seems to like to be brushed and doesn't mind me too much after all.

It's heartbreaking to think of these cats being so neglected but I have to say they have all turned around to be very trusting and loving. I thought it would take weeks even months for them to trust again but these Persians seem to settle in fast. I know they'll do well no matter where they end up.

Some more persians

The persian cat rescue mission continues. Lewis and Clark were on tv Monday and were adopted to their new home Monday afternoon. I was like a proud mama watching them sit so nice and confident on the show. They are so loving that I'm sure they are living the pampered life being waited on by their humans.

Jefferson didn't have much time to be lonely because Rosie and Jasper came to live here Monday night.


It was a long day for Jasper and Rosie with a trip to the vet to be cleaned, dematted, flea dipped, groomed, shots, and neutering. Since they had been living inside the bottom of a box spring they were quite overwhelmed. They are very underweight and sick from not getting proper food and having fleas feeding off them for 6 months.

I was making progress with them until I had to give them pills for tape worms yesterday morning. Rosie spit her's out once before it finally went down. Poor Jasper spit it out 5 times before he finally swallowed it. He was so scared that he ended up scratching me and biting my sleeve. After that both of them decided I was the worst human in the world and went back to being in the corner facing the wall.

So I decided to start over and try to figure out how to get their trust. I decided that maybe if I didn't make direct eye contact with them they wouldn't be as afraid. So last night I went up to sit with them and pet them while talking and no looking at them. They both started to relax and purr. It was wonderful.

Jefferson is getting adopted by a wonderful family on Monday and it'll just be Rosie and Jasper for a while. They have 3 cats left to rescue (couldn't get them out of the box spring) so maybe I'll be getting those. It's so hard not to be sad when dealing with these little ones. I try to concentrate on how good their lives will be in the future instead of being overwhelmed on how awful their lives were in the past.

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.

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