Busy busy busy!

Happy Monday! (As if there is such a thing, even with copious amounts of coffee). Hopefully everyone had a good and safe weekend.

Mine was busy! I got a lot done: exercising (I'm working on interval training now), submitting a dress design to Burdastyle.com, cleaning, crocheting (a lot), knitting, etc.

I finished up these socks about a week ago and have just admired and gawked at them as if they were the first socks ever made. I ADORE this yarn!


Embarrassingly enough, I actually showed the off to everyone at work. Including the lady who sells us corporate branding stuff, and an interview panel for a job promotion. Yeah, I'm kinda dorky. But! They're so pretty! I love them.

Even Loki had to be in on the exciting sock action! He's my quality tester.

"Is that a twisted stitch? I'd better sniff it to be sure."

Can you see how HUGE this little guy has gotten? He's not fat, just massive! I think he's going to be well over 14 lbs when he finishes growing. I have to take them for checkups on Sunday, so we'll find out then (if I can wrangle them into the carrier). Poe is about the same size, but just much lighter. Strange.

Oh, and in case you were wondering (and I know how riveted you all were by last week's litterbox post), the kitties are doing fine with 2 boxes (both uncovered). They actually prefer the 2nd one now, as it's more private (oh geez), so now I get to rock 2 catboxes every night. But the boys are happy and spoiled, and I wouldn't have it any other way. :)

We also watched The Craft this weekend. What a fun, guilty little pleasure that movie is. hee hee. So cheeseball.

OH! And speaking of cheeseball, there's a new Sy Fy (I hate that name change) movie coming on next week, called something like Mega Shark vs. Monster Octopus (or something equally inane) and it features....Deborah Gibson! Not Debbie - she outgrew that, and apparently the side ponytail. She's now A Serious Actress who must battle a massive shark that attacks airplanes. Sersely. I HAVE to watch this.

Territory Wars - Kitty Style!

Oh yesterday evening was fun. Oh yes. Let me set the scene:

We had just eaten dinner (one of those TGIFriday's frozen pasta dinner things - very tasty) and had some ice cream. I was working on Rachel's sweater, Noel was reading. I noticed a lot of pacing by the kitties, particularly Poe, who seemed to be engaged in running toward the litter box and then running away from it.

Let me put in here that over the weekend, we made a decision to go with one of the covered litter boxes, not because of smell issues, but because we have some Olympic-worthy litter flingers in the house. These guys can get litter EVERYWHERE and often do. So! We got a nice new litter box with a top on it, and the cats had seemed to take to it. I thought. I decided to play National Geographic and observe, because something was obviously up. Here's a sample of what was happening:

Poe goes into the box.

Loki follows him to the door of the box, and thwacks at Poe's tail with his paw.

Poe jumps out of the box and runs away.

2 minutes later, Poe reapproaches the box.

Loki, sprawling in front of said box like Mufasa, King of the Lions, glares at him.

Poe runs away.

3 minutes later, Poe gingerly approaches the box yet again.

Loki ambushes him as soon as he tries to get in the door.

Kelli swats Loki with a magazine.

Poe, thinking he's somehow in trouble (he's very skittish!), runs away.

Poe poops in the bedroom.

Because Loki won't let him in the litterbox, because apparently it's the center of the universe now and is up there with the Playboy Mansion in real estate desirability, but HELLO it's full of cat poop.

I went online for cat help forums and Noel and I discussed at length what measures could be taken to topple Loki's Reign of Litterbox Terror.

We are very scientific and intellectual and smarty-smart about this whole thing. After all, just getting these guys to use the litterbox in the first place was a major ordeal, requiring careful observation of kitten behaviors, having a controlled environment in which to make one change at a time til we figured out the issue (namely, they preferred peeing on paper and so we put mostly paper in the litterbox, slowly changing to more litter/less paper until they got used to the litter.) See? Very sciency! Very hypothesisy! Even the vet commented on it, and said we could be Cat Whisperers! (Except Poe claws my face every time I try).

Anyway. So we debated and discussed and tried to figure out what to do. We came up with a solution of sorts:

(1) Take the lid off the box, since Loki and Poe both love enclosed spaces. This will make said litterbox less attractive as a Fortress of Solitude (although we will be subjected to more litter flicking).

(2) Put out another litterbox in a different location, because Loki, as all-powerful as he seems to think he is, can't be in 2 places at once. I really wish we didn't have to resort to this, since they were just fine using the same box before. Perhaps if they don't use Box Deux I can take it away.

(3) Buy Poe a taser.

Isn't my life exciting? Don't be jealous! There's enough cat poop to go around.

Cranking and Coughing

Hello all.

Much going on here lately in the craftiness world! But alas I have no photos. I'm planning on taking some tonight!

Here's a quick rundown:

(1) First, and most exciting, I finished my Textured Circle Shrug on the Lion Brand knit-along. Very lovely pattern and it turned out quite well, if not a little big. I think I'll take in the arms a bit, since they're a bit bell-ish for my taste.

(2) Entry into a hat competition for a knitted hats book. Need some nice photos of the hat. Funny, to take pics of a winter hat when it's hotter than Dante's oven out there, but hey.

(3) I started last night on a crocheted wrap for my darling Grandmother. It's a nice sage green color and is open and airy, so she can wear it now if she feels like it, or throughout cooler weather. I love crochet because it goes SO FAST. Mom's wrap took 2 months or so to finish. This wrap might be done by tomorrow. Depending on how much I do tonight. But I already have about 2 feet of it done. Wow!

(4) Mystery Project X, which I want to keep secret for now because I don't know how it will turn out! It's a freeform crochet garment for myself. Check out what freeform crochet is at: http://www.freeformcrochet.com/

(No, I'm not making a wearable coral reef, but that would be an AWESOME halloween costume for Neptune? SCHWEET.)

(5) Slipcovers for the living room furniture, which are in stylin' fabrics. Woo hoo, let's here it for purple!

(6) Sundresses for myself. I still have the 6' 3" dress that needs to be shortened dramatically. I also have enough fabric for about 5 more dresses, and want to get going on those.

(7) Amigurumi project for the kitties - a family of crocheted octopi. Fun stuff!

Speaking of the kitties, I had to take Loki to the vet this morning because he's been sniffling a lot lately and has runny eyes and nose and sneezing fits. So apparently he has a respiratory infection (and a fever) but they hopped him up on antibiotics, so he'll be back to his playful self soon.

Interesting note though - we thought Loki was either trying to throw up or cough up a hairball. You know, that sorta painful looking neck-out body spasm thing that cats do? Except nothing ever came up and he was making kind of a weird sound with it. Apparently that's how cats cough as well. Huh.

Anyway, after his trip to the vet, I got him some new toys (since that's exactly what the cats need) and some Greenie treats, which he loves. Recovery is assured!

(2)

Kittens Ok!

First off, let me happily report that the kittens are fine and playing joyfully and seem totally unphased that they're missing 2 little body parts each. They also ate like horses, despite the vet's comment that they might not feel like eating. Yeah right. She obviously hasn't seen these guys in action.

Loki has some gum swelling, which is odd, and had worms again (Aren't you thrilled to hear this? And shouldn't I have warned you because you might be eating? Sorry). Anyway, they're taking care of that, but it may explain his weight. He actually weighed a half pound LESS than he did about a month ago. So I'm giving him some new kitty treats that are supposed to help his teeth and gums to be healthy, and hopefully he'll get all healed up. Not that you could tell anything was wrong with him, the way he attacked his toys as soon as he got home.

I crocheted them another little yarn ball with a bell in it, and I tell you: it took about 20 minutes to make (at most) and they loved it. It's easy for them to pick up with their claws and throw, and then they can chase it like the jungle jaguars that they are, stalking an innocent springbok or other assorted 4-legged deer-like mammal. Grr!!! They're tough! Until it's naptime, then they want to be petted. :)

So! For all of you crocheters/cat owners/bored people, here is my basic recipe for a toy ball:

What you need:
- Regular old acrylic yarn (worsted weight - like Red Heart)
- Size G crochet hook
- polyfill stuffing
- jingle bell (1/2 inch size is good)
- scissors
- yarn needle

Chain 2.

Make 6 single crochets (sc) in the 1st chain stitch. This will turn it into a circle. Take a piece of scrap yarn to mark the beginning of the round (put the piece of scrap yarn right next to your last stitch and crochet over it when you start the next round. Then you can just pull it out and place it at the beginning of the next round).

First round: *2 sc in each stitch* repeat til the end of the round- 12 stitches

Second round: *2 sc in next stitch, 1 sc in next stitch* repeat til the end of the round - 18 stitches

Third round: *2 sc in next stitch, 1 sc in next 2 stitches* repeat til end of round - 24 stitches

Rounds 4-8: *1 sc in each stitch* repeat til end of round - 24 stitches (this is the part that starts to make your little circle into a cup shape)

Round 9: *dec next 2 stitches to 1 stitch, 1 sc in next 2 stitches* repeat til end of round - 18 stitches

At this point, you can start stuffing the filling into your ball. I like to wrap some of the filling around the bell and stuff it in, so that the bell is pretty much in the middle of the ball.

Round 10: *dc next 2 stitches into 1 stitch, 1 sc in next stitch* repeat til end of round - 12 stitches

Round 11: *dc next 2 stitches into 1 stitch* repeat til end of round - 6 stitches

Stuff any more filling you want into the ball to make it round and fairly full.

Cut working yarn about 5 inches away from your last stitch and thread it into your yarn needle. Stitch the needle through each of the remaining 6 stitches in order, and pull tight. This will tighten up the hole in the top. Tie a little knot and weave the end into the middle of the ball. Trim ends.

Throw at kitten and watch the fun!

So! I expect to see photos of the beautiful kitty play balls that you create! :)

It's another lovely day here again. Although the bugs are BAD. But it's a bit cooler, and the rain is supposed to arrive tomorrow. Just in time for the weekend! Hurrah!

Truck repair and so on.

Good morning everyone. Sorry I haven't posted in a week! Wow. Time is flying by lately.


First off, let me say that the weather here has been gorgeous. Today it's supposed to get up to 84. It's sunny and bright out, and yes I'm stuck inside. But. At least I have a window. I can enjoy it from afar!


This weekend is the start of the St. Patrick's Day festivities here in the SAV. As per usual, I will be fastidiously avoiding downtown like the plague. It can be a mob scene down there, with too many drunk people weaving around and trying to give away their $1 beads to equally drunk exhibitionists. So! Yeah. Not going to that. Been there before, was designated driver. Boy is that fun, being DD in a crowd of 100,000 really drunk people. Don't bother to sign me up for that one again this year, thanks.


However! We will be attending the rugby tournament again this year, at least for a while. Noel wants to see what all the fuss is about (and probably to imagine little ole me being a rugby bruiser back in the day before my spine and knees told me NO! Bad Kelli!). Apparently this year there will be 2 teams of Irish prison guards flying in to play. HA! That should be fun! hee hee. I love me some rugby. It's such a gentle sport, a delicate ballet of strategy and grace. See?

HA! Just kidding.

Sersely though, the rugby tournament will be the only festivities I plan on attending. St. Patrick's Day is just getting out of hand here, and Noel said blithely the other day that he thinks it's only a matter of time before someone gets shot downtown during all the partying. I fear he's right. But. I might have some corned beef or a reuben or something, in honor of the Irish.

On a side note, I think I may have brought this up previously, but I have a dear friend who doesn't celebrate St. Patrick's Day at all, because it represents the stamping out of traditional pagan religion in Ireland and the dominance of the Catholic church. What's to celebrate? Good point. (I still might have a reuben though. Nothing personal).

On to other things now! Now some of you may know of (some of) my childhood career aspirations:

1. Long-haul truck driver with a pink truck and a kitten (I still think this would be fun)
2. Ballerina
3. Skating waitress
4. Sex symbol (at age 8. CREEPY)
5. Shoe salesperson (except the whole touching other people's feet thing dissuaded me of this)
6. Mechanic


Well, this past weekend I FINALLY got my first chance at #6. Noel wanted to do some work on his truck and offered to teach me some stuff about mechanic-ing. Cool! I jumped in and we replaced the shocks and the head valve gaskets (I think that's what they're called - obviously I didn't quite absorb EVERYTHING). Anyway. I helped! And we have photographic evidence!

Replacing the shocks on the front of the truck:






One must remember eye safety. And also safety glasses help with the whole Bono look:





(Also please note that the above photograph was a retake after the first photo showed a severe case of what I affectionately call Mechanic's Butt. It's like plumbers butt, but involves slightly more motor oil in a desperate attempt at keeping one's waistband pulled up with very dirty hands. Aren't you glad I shared that?)


Next up, replacing the gasket thingies (industry term). They're made of cork and form a seal around the heads (ahem, pretend I know what I'm talking about here). Anyway, the cork was old. This truck is old. 1971. So! Old cork. It had fused onto the metal on the head valve thing. So my job was to sit in the engine and take a scraper and get up the old cork so the new cork could be put on.





It was at this point that Noel commented that it's a good thing I'm small and agile, because most people couldn't work in this position. Or if they could they wouldn't be able to extract themselves out of the truck afterwards.


My hands got very dirty! I still have some residual grease stains on my cuticles, but I feel it makes me look utilitarian and tough and somehow sorta Mad Max. I like it. It was really fun working on the truck. I enjoyed the hands-on of it all, and the truck is running better and smoother now, which is very satisfying. This weekend we may be replacing the spark plugs or some wires or something. I dunno. But it'll also be fun!


I might not wear that shirt again for a while though. I never realized how bad my hair and that shirt clash. It's like Pretty in Pink. But not pretty. More like Colorblind Fashion No-No. But who cares. I was a mechanic for the day!


Also, (yet another) side note: Noel realized after we finished all this work that I hadn't taken a picture of him doing anything. He did. He really did work, I swear. He isn't forcing me into indentured mechanicship! :) Next time I'll try to get a pic of him in action.


In other (kitten-related) news, the boys are not having a good day today. Today is the day that they get their little special surgery that turns them from little boy kittens into....little kittens. If you catch my drift. They were NOT happy about seeing the crate this morning, and Poe decided to make like lightning and sprint every time I got near him. I cornered him under a chair and he hissed at me! ME! The one who gives him yummy tuna snacks and brushes his fur and scoops his box! And he didn't even know what was coming yet. It took me a solid 20 minutes to catch him. Meanwhile poor Loki was already in the crate and mewing pitifully because he was alone. Poor little guys.


Anyway, I dropped them off at the vet's this morning and will pick them up this afternoon. Loki weighed in at 3.9 lbs, which seems small to me considering he weighed about that last time we took him in. Poe, on the other hand, is HUGE. He was 6.9 lbs, and he's only about 8 months old. He's going to be a big kitty. I think they both will, but maybe Loki hasn't hit a big growing streak in a while yet. Poe just feels solid now, a clawing hissing little pile of muscle. Loki is still a love sponge and loves to sit on me and purrs so loud I have to turn up the tv. So cute.

In my attempts at making up to them for their imminent de-boying, I crocheted them a kitty bed out of my birthday yarn. Here's Loki posing for the camera (sorry it's so dark!):

I made it in a vaguely triangular shape, then knit the sides high. They were so floppy I went with Plan B, which was to make them even higher, fold them over, make a tube, and stuff it with some pillow fill. It makes a nice squishy pillow edge to the thing. I haven't actually seen them in it since this photo was taken, but I take comfort in the fact that they understand the hours of work that went into it and appreciate more than they can ever express to me. I am perhaps living in a state of denial.

I also knit them a kitten toy, but forgot to take a picture of it. Whoops! Maybe later. They seem to enjoy that thing a lot. It's a cute little bouncy toy ball on a spiral that hangs from a doorknob. Big hit. Might have to make a few more of those.

In honor of their impending surgery, I wrote a haiku:

Kittens getting snipped
What was there will now be gone -
licking not as fun.

I am, perhaps, not quite right.

The Kittens Are So Stoic!

Good news on the kitten front:

They're free of tapeworms (eew), their respiratory & eye infections are cleared up, and they've started receiving their vaccinations. They were such champs last night! They sat in their carrier without whining (which is a small miracle in and of itself) and didn't claw or pitch a fit. I was so proud!

Also, Loki has gained half a pound. In a week. Which seemed like a lot, until they weighed Poe, who gained almost a full pound. They're growing like little furry clawing weeds!

Other than that, I am SO glad it's Friday. This weekend will be the Start On Reupholstering The Goodwill Furniture Extravaganza, starting tonight with 3 hours of making piping for the wingback chair that's scheduled to go from old-Floridian-retiree-pastel-upholstery to pimpy-burgundy-crushed-velvet-upholstery. Sweet. The piping is a gold stripe with blue & red in it. Should look fantastic. I'm making the piping myself though, which generally takes a few hours to get the yardage I need (15 yards for this chair, I believe). I did it for the other chair I did, and it turned out nicely. I only slipcovered that chair though, I didn't upholster it, even though upholstery would've been easier probably!

Just to remind you, here are some pictures of the old chair before and after the slipcovering:

The new chair is a wingback chair with wooden legs - even the legs need to be sanded and refinished! But it was only $10 at the goodwill. You can't pass that up! And yes, I promise I will take photos of the upholstery projects as they move along. I take photos if for no other reason than to remind me of what it looks like so I can put it back together!

I'm excited about learning upholstery techniques - I know a little, but don't really feel like I know enough to tackle just about anything yet. It's one of my new year's resolutions to learn upholstery (as well as lose back down to 140 lbs, even though I sit here eating a Snickers - sigh).

Time to finish up a few things here and then head out for the weekend!

Perhaps a little birthday splurge is in order.

So...my birthday is coming up in a few weeks and I've been feeling horribly unfashionable lately. There's a fantastic Goodwill about 20 minutes from Savannah, and I found some great clothes there. I love me some vintage weirdness. Anyway! I've spent a whopping $15 on clothes for myself from various thrift shops, and have been enjoying my new wardrobe additions.

However.

I have some boots that I LOOOOVE that I've had for going on 10 years at best guess. These are some of my favorite boots - knee-high motorcycle boots with a few buckles thrown on for good measure. They were cheap - maybe $30? from a catalog, and I've worn them literally OUT. They're falling apart - the sole is detaching, the pleather they're made from is all cracked and in some spots just...gone, leaving the fabric stuff behind to try to hold it all together. I've retouched them with polish, I've doctored them with Sharpies, but the time has come to send them to that great boot closet in the sky. It is, in my opinion, an unnecessary stress to wear shoes that make you wonder if they're actually going to hold together the whole time you're wearing them.

And we all know how I can trip on things. So it's critically important for the safety of my nose to wear shoes that will NOT fall apart on me, or crack open revealing my frozen little piggies to the unrelenting elements (sidebar: it's COLD here).

So! In the spirit of "I make enough money to splurge sometimes" and "it's practically my birthday already" and "the kittens don't eat THAT much," I bought some new boots online yesterday. Check these out:

http://www.onlineshoes.com/productpage.asp?gen=w&pcid=117260

I have never in my life owned a pair of Doc Martens, but they're apparently super-comfortable and extremely long-lasting. Also? I COVET these boots. I've wanted a pair of pirate boots with buckles for so long, and when I saw these I couldn't stop thinking about them. Desire, my friends. Unmitigated desire. I had to have them. So I ordered them yesterday and will fastidiously track them to my doorstep, at which point I will probably leave work and go home and put them on and prance around my house and then come back to work and everyone here will say "you don't even have a bike, Kelli" and I'll say "Arrrr!" with my best pirate voice and requisite finger-hook. And then they'll leave me alone because they'll think I'm borderline insane. But with really stylin boots.

So this evening we get to take another trip to the vet's office! Exciting. At least the vet is in PetSmart, so there's stuff to look at there (did you know that cats can apparently be walked on leashes? Because they sell them. Also, cats apparently love bedazzled sweaters). I'm not really looking forward to the trip, since my responsibilities will probably be (1) holding down kittens a la some wild animal wrangler while they get their vaccinations, and (2) serving as a scratching post when said kittens freak the hell out and start their Houdini routine. Should be fun stuff!

Hopefully they can get all their vaccines though - they couldn't get them last time because they were sick. They've done well with their antibiotics and seem to be healthy now. So I hope to get them on the wellness plan that this hospital has, so that they can also get neutered (shhhh - don't tell them I said that).

On another note, the weather has been very cold lately. And this caused me to realize a funny truth this morning on the drive to work in my frost-covered car: I have knit TWELVE hats in the past month, and yet the only knitted hat I have is bulky sky-blue with big tassels hanging off of it. It's warm, but not exactly...professional. Unless you're a 12-year-old professional snowboarder. Why have I never knit myself a hat? I find this amusing. Also, it gives me a project to work on! Which is good, since I have no other projects going (that was sarcastic, for those of you who haven't seen my knitting basket/sewing room/writing desk).

Time to grab something to eat!