How time flies

Suddenly it's the end of February already and I'm not 100% sure how that happened. Update on the husband would be that he's feeling pretty fine and had a relatively quick recovery. He hated being on the pain meds as they made him feel zombie-like, but at least let him sleep. Once he was off those, everything went nice and smoothly. The cat on the other hand seems to have got rid of his tapeworm, is back to eating normally and...the best part...has finally caught on to the fact that we don't like being woken up 30+ minutes before the alarm! He will now happily snooze at the end of the bed and when the alarm goes off, he's ready for breakfast.

In more crafty news, I have been making a decision on what to do with my online shop. I very much like selling my wares but with the sample knitting taking up so much of my time, I don't feel like I've had much time to dedicate to maintaining my Etsy store. I think I've reached a decision to let all my listings expire for now and to take my time on a complete revamp. I want to add new things from my photographic portfolio and really want to come up with a good game plan for inventory - knit, crochet, woven or otherwise. I'd also like to dedicate more time to knitwear design. I've been finding myself sketching a lot recently (which is fun considering half the time I'm only capable of drawing stick people). Next thing is to figure out how to get those designs onto paper and into your hands.

Once I've decided exactly how to handle everything, I'll put up more info, but don't be surprised if all the destashing that I'm planning this year ends up being a store full of stuff later on!

Well, this should be fun

Today is the beginning of what will be a very busy week. This morning, the cat had a vet appointment to get his final round of shots and a general check up. Husband calls me to inform me that he has tape worms (gross) but no evidence of fleas (which is usually how tape worms come about in felines). The doc treated him and all should be well in a couple of days. However, I now have to switch out the litter tray, clean all the bed linens, and keep an eye on his behind (literally) over the next few days to make sure everything looks good. The appeal of checking the cat poop for worm remains is far from appealing, but that's love I suppose. As a side note, the doctor was impressed that he was such a good boy while in the exam room. She also confirmed that he is teething, which explains why he'll so lovingly bite everything in reach.Tomorrow, husband is having a septoplasty to fix his deviated septum/wonderfully congested nasal passages. The poor guy has had chronic sinusitis for a long time, and with his allergies, things get pretty miserable. Over the weekend, we were dog-sitting for a friend and turns out that I'm highly allergic to Boxer's, cute as they may be. I was in the apartment for an hour trying to get some knitting done when next thing I know, I'm sneezing up a storm and have lost all ability to breath normally. The worst part being that I ended up with the sinus pressure behind my eye balls complete with an itching nasal passage that made me want to stick a toothpick up there to scratch! All the times I never understood how bad it felt when my husband was having a bad sinus day. I had the problem for 3 hours and it was already driving me crazy. So, here's hoping his surgery goes smoothly tomorrow and that he will have a good recovery without too much discomfort. I'm already trying to figure out what meals I can make this week that will be easy for him to eat with who knows what packed in his nose post surgery!

This week is all about my two boys - the small one and the bigger (slightly) less furry one! Wishing both of you a speedy recovery.

Long overdue

I am feeling like a total slacker right now when it comes to blogging. It seems like I've been on the go since before the holidays and things really haven't slowed down that much.

In the crafty world, more of my knit samples have been popping up on the Plymouth Yarn website, which is proving to be something I'm increasingly proud of. The sample knitting has been quite time consuming as essentially, it is my second job, but I've been very happy with it and seeing the end result really gives me the encouragement to carry on. If you see these in your local yarn store, perhaps you'll think of me!In the meantime, my parents have been out visiting from England. They got some crazy snow out there before they left, and then came out here to some highly uncharacteristic Southern California storms. Considering it's 70 degrees and sunny most of the time, Californians are really quite useless when heavy storms hit, meaning we've spent quite a good amount of time sequestered in the house while the rest of the country probably points, laughs, and says we're all "weak" at our inability to handle weather changes! I am lucky that my parents visit often enough that they don't need to go see the sights, which have mostly been encompassed by a layer of fog, mist and rain.

Around the house, while trying to stay dry, we've also been lucky to have our little Deuce kitty to entertain us. He's quite the character and based on the number of toys around the house, anybody would think we've got a toddler living with us. Given that he's coming up on 5 months old and will play with anything put in front of him, we practically do! I have pages and pages of stories that I could share and may have to start the Daily Deuce. For now, enjoy his attempts at DJing - just like his father.

A year in review

As 2009 comes to a close, I thought I should look back over the goals that I'd set for myself in January and see what I've accomplished.

- Try dying yarn with Kool-aid (perhaps move on to roving if that works out ok) Check!
- Do the cross stitch pattern that I bought (see picture) Psuedo check (I started it but it's got a long way to go for sure)
- Figure out if I really do want to buy that darn weaving loom! Check!
- Finish the sweater that I've been working on for a year now that's been hiding...crazy cable patterns lead to long time knitting! Total fail on this one. It hasn't come out of the bag all year.
- Sew the curtains for our bedroom Check!
- Learn to sew zippers properly Admittedly, I haven't done as much sewing this year as I was planning. Going to have to push this one to 2010.
- Go on a couple of field trips with my camera (definitely need some new portfolio shots) Also a fail. Will need to work on this one too.
- Thrift more yarn (I had fun with my first sweater so will try to find more!) Check!
- Attempt to felt something in the washer Fail. I've got a couple things knit up to do this to at least.
- Write down a couple more of my knitting/crochet patterns. I have them in my head but not yet on paper. Well, I managed the Harpa socks on this and have 2 sweater patterns in the works for next year.

My plan for 2010 is basically one gigantic stash bust - yarn, fiber, jewelry supplies, etc. It occurs to me that if I ever plan on putting a child in our second bedroom, I should probably make some room. :)

2009 was a difficult year in various ways, especially with my husband being laid off and then losing mine (although I was instantly rehired so more fortunate than I can truly express). Having said that, I feel that I also accomplished a lot. I would say my biggest accomplishment this year is probably my health. I wasn't an unhealthy person before but on my 30th birthday in May, I decided to kick my own ass into shape and end this year having lost about 5% body fat, around 7 inches in total measurement and one pant size smaller. I still have a way to go with that but I'm in fighting shape so to speak and I foresee a lot of time in the swimming pool for next year as well.

So, whatever dreams you may have for the upcoming year, I wish you all the best in achieving your goals. It's a wonderful thing to wish, but remember you're the only one that can make your wishes come true.

Sample knits are up!

I was just sent pictures from the sample knitting that I've been working on diligently, with designer Vanessa Ewing for Plymouth Yarns, and I'm excited to share them! There are several other knits that I've done but the patterns aren't finalized and in production yet, so no go with sharing those yet. However, I'll be sure to provide all the info once I have it so that you can buy the patterns if you want too.


This one is the very first sample knit that I did for Plymouth - a hat/mitten set in Trabajos del Peru yarn. The yarn is yummy and reminds me a little bit of Manos for those that are interested. The colors are great too and I would put this on my suggested yarn list for sure.










This other pattern is a mother/daughter sweater set that just looks so cute together! The yarn is Jeannee DK (cotton/acrylic blend) and also very nice to work with - super soft. The biggest problem I had with this pattern was time! I had both sweaters knit in a month, which was tough going considering the yarn weight. It just might be my biggest achievement in the world of serious speed knitting...the kind that gives you small callouses on your pinky fingers!



I've got 3 more things in the works right now so there'll be lots coming too.

Kitteh obsessed

Adopting Deuce might have made me realize my potential as a future parent to an actual child. I might become one of those "cat people" who talks about what accomplishments their cat managed that day. In a strange way, it's not dissimilar to the parents I know that don't blink an eye when discussing how many times their baby has pooped that day. (I should like to let you all know that my kitten has been successfully litter trained in less than 72 hours and even covers up his business ok?)

The last couple of days, we've had a very quick introduction to Deuce's personality. Even funnier is the new side of my husband that seems to have popped out - starting with the post it note stuck to the bathroom mirror with instructions on how much kitty medicine to put in his food, and how long to stick the food in the microwave. The kitten on the other hand has stopped hiding behind toilets/books/vases/boxes and is now happily sleeping/playing/running in the upstairs hallway.

Last night we were both playing with him and left the room for a moment when he started up the little squeaking that he does. I pretended like I wasn't hearing it and went to the computer while my husband continued making his famous teriyaki bowls for dinner. Next thing you know, the squeaking has stopped and I turn to wonder why when suddenly a little ball of fur is seen jumping the hallway barricade and landing (rather ungracefully because he hasn't quite figured out hardwood flooring yet) in the living room. Little smart ass. Having said that, when I put him back in his designated area, there was no attempt to replicate his escape. As a reward, husband dutifully let him into the living room today so he could explore space #2 of his new home where he promptly discovered his reflection in a mirror and has apparently been engaged in ninja kitteh activity, pouncing at his own reflection, ever since.

Since he tried to lick me to death this morning before I left for work (the cat, not the husband), I've actually been sitting here wondering what the cat's been doing today and looking forward to going home just those few minutes quicker so we can play with the balled up paper and I can trim his claws. I've fallen madly in love with the ball of fluff and I get it - this just might be my first foray into motherhood!

What the Deuce?

December/January is always a crazy time in our household. In the space of 3 weeks we have Hanukkah, wedding anniversary, Christmas, New Year's, then my husband's birthday. It gets a little whacky and the hunt for the perfect gifts for the husband in particular can get a little stressful. This year, in that he's unemployed, we decided not to go crazy on the gift exchanges and when contemplating anniversary gifts for each other, we decided that we should add to our family and adopt a kitteh!

Being the prepared parents that we are, we did a trip to Target last weekend and bought food, litter, bowls etc. Then Tuesday on my lunch break, took a trip over to the local shelter where they had lots of little kittens as well as older cats. Husband always claimed to not be much of a cat person (something to do with cats lacking personality....ha!) Having said that, when we walked into the cattery at the shelter, he spotted one in the litter who was later to come home with us. He had an identical twin brother in there with him but his brother was a little too much to handle - lots of tail chasing, hopping around on his hind legs and smacking the other kittens to try and get them to react. Our little guy just sat there looking at him with the contemptuous "what the hell are you doing dude?" look on his face. We tried looking for markings to distinguish them from each other and found none - it was all in the personality with these two. As much as I would have loved to take both, there was also some concern that we'd come home to find the more boisterous one swinging from a ceiling fan or 5 feet up the bedroom drapes.

His name is Deuce in honor of being our second anniversary cat. He's about 3 months old and the sweetest little bundle of joy. Husband picked him up from the vet yesterday and brought him home where he cowered in the corner of his crate for several hours before coming out and cowering behind the toilet (which is where he was when I came home). I can't blame him after what must have been an incredibly traumatizing 24 hours - being separated from the litter, traveling to the vet, losing his manhood, then waking up and not knowing where he (or his balls) are. A little love and cuddles helped though and by later last night he was exploring the staircase and finding new spots to hide in the bookcase.

Husband seems to be adapting well, leaving me a post-it note on the bathroom mirror this morning with instructions on how to heat up his food with his post-op antibiotics into it. I have a feeling his "I'm not really a cat person" days have come to an end after catching him late last night playing with the cat and a balled-up piece of paper. I had a very proud parent moment this morning when I discovered he used the litter tray last night while we were asleep and I caught him cleaning his paws too.The one thing we do need to teach Deuce is how to retract his claws. He's got a tendency to get stuck on clothing/carpeting because he can't figure out how to pull his claws out! He also doesn't know why he can't pick up his toy when he's standing on the other side of it with his back paws. He's a smart one though and I'm quite sure he'll figure it out! ;)