Mail

Unpacking of the box Camille sent has begun.  Man, are you going to love this stuff!  I'm taking one item out at a time, without looking inside, so it's all a surprise to me, too.  She sent one thing that may be the most on-the-nose prize this little contest has ever seen.

The Travelling Scarf is on the move again!  Look how pretty:

If memory serves, it has two more stops to make.  Great big thanks to those who volunteered to knit;  next is deciding what to do with it.  And whether we should have another travelling project. . .

Starting Point

Today, I put together the top four seeds for both Knitters' Hunk and Knitters' Chick.  Don't worry;  I'll let you know what they are.  Just not today.  Since they are automatically entered, none of you have to nominate them.  

Have you started thinking about your nominees?  Hmmmmmmmmmm?

This box arrived about 15 minutes ago.  It is 1 foot tall, 1 foot wide, and 1 foot deep.  And it is filled --- filled, I say --- with prizes for KH and KC.  The magnificent Camille donated everything, and I am floored by her generosity.  (Which I shouldn't be, because she is always awesome and helpful.)  Obviously, the contents can't be shown here, because some of you might be receiving them.  But I would like to say that if any of you have any little trinkets or supplies or Generally Cute Things about that you wouldn't mind sending me, it would be a great help.  Yarn and patterns and needles are obvious prizes, but there are now enough non-knitters getting involved that I need gifts I can send to them, if they win.  Just asking.  No pressure.

Thank you, Camille.  

Nominations open a week from Friday!

Taste

I hate heat.  Give me a cold, cold day and you've given me Bliss.  Klunk, with no hair, is, of course, chilly all the time.  He will wrap himself in a thick fleece blanket thusly:

We are on opposite sides of the couch --- he is under his TMNTurtles blanket, and I am under the ceiling fan.  It's working for us.

I can't remember where I found this tattoo, but I think it is stunning.  I won't be getting it (there are only 2 more I want to get), but isn't it beautiful?  And in colors I love.

Me and Mine

So, I'm cat-sitting for the next couple of weeks, as my daughter and her housemates move.  They are going to an interim place, as the house that they are going to go to won't be ready until August 9th.  No one wanted the cats to have to go through two moves, so, Hi, Mom!

Wooper (a housemate's) is spending her time here in Hannah's room.  She is, I have been told, fast, hide-y, and potentially aggressive.  She is no fan of mine, it would seem, as the hisses and claws come out when I go to check on her.  Yep, another animal in the house with the potential to do me harm.  Whee.  Klunk, Hannah's boy, has lived here before, of course, and is a fairly chill little guy, so there isn't too much work to be done with him.  Of course, Time is still the Big Ingredient for him with Lily and Erin and Madeleine and Riley.  Still, there are occasional glimpses of hope:

My fingers have really been bothering me the last couple of days.  There is no way to describe the sensation;  I hope it means that the nerves are healing.  Cuts and other wounds often itch as they heal --- maybe what I'm feeling is the nerve equivalent of that.  In a lot of ways. I'm having more difficulty doing things now than right after this whole thing happened.  

I had to go out this morning and buy extra cat litter.  When I got home and out of the car, I realized that, honestly, anyone who knows me would be able to identify it as mine, just by looking at the back:

That's all so very me, wouldn't you say?

This Has Never Happened Before

Going through a box of yarn this morning, looking for something to make a shawl from, I came across a sort of surprise.  It was something on needles, about 10 1/2 inches' worth of knitting, stitch marker included.  I have NO idea what it was.  I looked through my patterns, trying to match it up, but to no avail.  This is why I always either finish a project or rip it all back.  

Interestingly, I had been thinking about doing some knitting for Christmas at Sea.  The specific request is for machine-washable yarns, which this Unknown Yarn is.  So, it all actually worked out.

Knitters' Hunk and Knitters' Chick nominations are two weeks away!  Time to find The Fedora of Fate.  I've come up with my 3 nominees for Chick, but can't quite decide on my Hunks.  Oh --- by the way --- a few of you asked me to keep a list of your potential nominees;  if you want to know whom you asked me to save for you, let me know.

That's right --- drink him in.  Maybe he will get your mind on Hunkiness.  Or, he will warn you away from Googling "vintage mens knitwear."

Funny thing, though;  I kind of like that sweater.

Let's See

I know who two of my Knitters' Hunk nominees are going to be.

I know who two of my Knitters' Chick nominees are going to be.

I've decided that being able to knit, but only for a little bit at a time, is almost as bad as not being able to knit at all.

I can only knit from pre-wound balls of yarn, as I can't use a swift or hand-wind any.

I wonder what adventures the Travelling Scarf is having. . .

Do you remember my Hershel?


Delightfully, the woman who makes them has given one to Scott Wilson.

This is beyond way cool.

Evidence

Thank you all for your very kind words about Finn.  Briton and Hannah don't want to talk about it, so I've only got you to discuss it with.  So many of you are pet owners, and understand exactly what's going on.  Thank you.

Briton has moved into a house with a friend of his, and yesterday, I was tasked with getting him to U-Haul to pick up his truck.  While I was waiting, I took pictures of my hand:

You can see that the worst bites are on the wrist, just where tendons/nerves/muscles/etc. are.  My thumb and index finger are minimally better, but the middle finger isn't improving at all.  It's also sort of bent at rest:

I try to straighten it, but it's painful to hold it that way for very long.

I am managing to knit some, but only about one row at a time.  The problem, as you all know, is that knitters are hardly ever satisfied with a single row.  "Just one more. . ."

Bye, Finn

2009 - 2015

When Your Dominant Hand Is Useless

Some things are annoying, but you can live with them:

1) Typing

2)  Turning pages in a book

3)  Cleaning your glasses
4)  Showering;  especially washing your hair

5)  Using any type of utensil

Some things are quite difficult:

1)  Putting your keys in your car's ignition

2)  Turning the keys in your car's ignition

3)  Putting your car into gear

4)  Unscrewing any bottle top

Some things are impossibly hard and painful

1) Unscrewing your car's gas cap

2)  Putting gas in your car

3)  Writing

4)  Opening mail

5)  Using the computer mouse
6)  Knitting

Distract, Distract

Finn's ten days are just about up.  Which means. . .  Well, you know.  I'm trying not to think about it, but horrifying flashes keep going through my mind.  I'm doing everything I can to stay busy.

I've tried knitting today.  It's going to take a while.  The worst bites are on my wrist, so flexing for any length of time hurts.  And since my thumb, index and middle fingers are numb, grabbing and holding on to yarn is its own little adventure.  Sort of funny in a way.

Tooling around on the Internet, I came across this picture.  I'd never really thought about the Great Wall having to end at some point, but of course it does.  Right here, it would seem.

As of right now, these are the dates for Knitters' Hunk and Knitters' Chick.  Yep, it's coming up on that time again!

Nominations will be taken August 7th through August 9th.

Voting will begin --- ideally --- on August 12th.

Start coming up with your picks. . .

Regrets

Today has been almost unbearable.  The physical pain has been the worst yet.  I am sad, and lonely, and still consumed with knowing that Finn is still alive, and I could just go pick him up and bring him back home.  And then his claws would be clicking on the floors, and he'd be barking at every little sound, and putting his face up to mine when he knows I'm cryng.  Like right now.

There have been a lot of animals in my life, but I've never had one's story go this way.  If it's torture for me, how must he be feeling?

And yet, I have to have him euthanized when his 10 days are up.    He was biting me more regularly, and with increasing anger.  He didn't bite me Monday --- he attacked me.  The wounds are deep and painful.  The nerve damage to my hand and fingers is most likely temporary;  still, I can't do anything with my right hand right now.  Which means s lot of time that I would be knitting, or doing just about anything, is spent staring out the window and obsessing over everything.

And you get to read about it.

I'm sorry.

Hurting

Most of you know that Finn will, on occasion, nip at me.  Some have been kind of serious, some just plain ol' nips.

When we all got up Monday morning, he seemed to not be feeling well.  He was hesitant to jump, which is not like him at all.   I reached down to pet him, and he bit into and shook my right hand so badly, I wound up in the Emergency Room.

I have no feeling in my index and middle fingers, and only a little bit in my thumb.  Obviously, you can't see the punctures --- there are about 10 of them altogether.

By law, I was made to fill out a form to let the County Health Department know that I had been bitten by a dog, and that that dog was not up-to-date on his rabies shots.  I've been out of work 4 1/2 years --- of course he wasn't up-to-date.  Neither are the other animals who live here.  Inside, 24 hours a day.

I called our vet, to see if there were some way to get him looked at.  Back injury?  Something with the hips?  She told me that she, also by law, had to report the bite to Animal Control.  He would have to be quarantined for 10 days, to see if there were any signs of rabies.  They could do it at the vets' offices, but she didn't feel comfortable putting her employees in a situation where they might be in danger.  I understood, and continue to understand, completely.  Animal Control had the equipment and training to deal with him.

I surrendered Finn to AC yesterday.  The officer had to use a rabies pole to get him in the truck.  Horrible, horrible sight --- I'll never get it out of my head.  And now he's sitting in Quarantine, which makes the heartbreak even worse.  Having him put down yesterday would have been so much easier than living with knowing he's still here, at the shelter, all by himself.