hand eye crafts

I finished the knitting I had laid aside when Madeleine was so sick.  First is the  Laver shawl , which wound up smaller than desired: This was one of those times that the amount of sock yarn in the skein looked like much, much more than it was.  Still, it's a nice little bandana size. The other finish was the  Balsam cowl , which is currently on the blocking board (also known as the ironing board.)  I have no idea in the world whether or how it's going to fit.  If there's a photo here soon, you'll know I was pleased.

  I can't tell;  can you?

 In my dotage, I have come to appreciate craft kits.  There is still enough yarn in boxes around here that a knitting kit seems excessive, but I'm not averse to buying one. Since Briton has begun cross-stitching, as I've said before, that bug has bitten me.  Kits are so  much easier than buying the 7000* colors of DMC floss to have on hand.  That's one reason I've been doing single-color designs.   BUT , I found this kit online. I do love my irises (i-rie?)  If you look at the color guide, though, you see that there are no numbers for the colors.  So, when a couple of the colors ran out, a trip to Joann was necessary. I should say that also in my dotage, my vision is compromised.  Distance requires glasses, up close means taking off said glasses or changing to another  pair.  So, there I am in Joann, glasses and keys on a shelf, trying to hand-match colors.  (Man, there are a lot of shades of yellow.) Miss Kim's lesson her...

Be careful where you put things and pay attention when you reach for them.   I almost glued my lips together this afternoon.

For some reason, I found it easy to cross-stitch during Madeleine's ordeal last week.  My two knitting projects were both at shaping points, and concentrating on stuff like that was out of the question.  Ergo:   White on light blue fabric was not the best choice.  The snow and the sampler-ness, though, called to me.  I'm sure I'll make another one someday. Then there's  Another samplery one.  I tend to get very Christmas-inspired after Christmas, and can see many more of these in the future, in lots of colors. Now, I'm sorry to do this to you, but hopefully you are better at unseeing things than me.  I glanced down at the pattern one day, and, even though I knew those were reindeer, I saw donkeys.  They will, therefore, always be donkeys in my eyes.  Not Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, though.  I tried to watch that once, and couldn't bear the meanness and sadness.  These are As Yet Unnamed Christmas Donkeys.

So many of you have pets, and when they're sick, you suffer, too.  Reading  Dee's  post about Giroux (a very handsome lad) and a trip to an emergency vet, and  Twinnie's  response to it, I realize that living in Athens has one big plus.  UGA has a top-notch vet school, and emergency services are always available.  I gripe about so much here, but that is a godsend.

Sleep is better now that Madeleine is better.  Almost all of last week, I'd stay awake to keep an eye on her.  Now, things are a bit back to normal. Take crafting: the dickie/cowl/sort of vest that I've been working on is finally at the join-the-front-and-back-together-and-start-the-neck point. In the upper left you can see this stitch marker: It's from a little store I found on etsy.  Isn't it cute? From yarn colors to DMC colors;  look at the sparkly floss: Like knitting with two strands of yarn can give surprising depth and tone, the same with regular floss mixed with metallic.  When I use it, I'll show you. Wishing you a good week. . .

 . . . on wood. Madeleine is back to her usual self.  Even eating some dry food, though still preferring bisques and other lickable things.

Maddie has been herself today;  the first time I can say that since last Friday.  If I hadn't known what went on these past days, and saw her like this, I'd never have guessed what kind of week she'd had. Still, keep your fingers crossed for her.

Madeleine doesn't seem to be any worse today, but can I honestly say she's better?  I did get the appetite stimulant into her today --- that was a disaster yesterday.  She's eating those  lil soups  and some lickable treats, but still isn't going for the dry food. On "normal" days, I feed the cats dry food in the morning.  At dinner time, dry and wet food.  They'll get treats during the day usually.  That struck me today: maybe she doesn't eat as much as I'm thinking each day, so what she's taking in right now isn't all that different? Still doing the half-dose insulin.  She's alert, she's moving around the house, she can jump onto the bed and chairs.  Maybe she's better than I'm giving her credit for?

Maddie back to the vet this morning, after not eating much at all over the weekend.  I did get half a tube of a lickable treat into her at 5 this morning. We were put in the purple room, so I had pretty walls to look at. She wasn't happy with any of it. She has lost weight, her blood sugar was high (duh --- no insulin.)  Plus, she had a very ugly, loose tooth.  This may partially explain her not eating and her general unhappiness. Pulled the tooth, gave her antibiotics for that, gave her fluids, an appetite stimulant, and told me that if she eats to give her half her regular dose of insulin. I got her to lick some lickable tuna off my fingers, she gave dry food a little try, but I can't tell that the appetite stimulant is powerful enough.  Or maybe not powerful yet?  I'm to give some of it to her the next three days. Another phone consult tomorrow.

And waiting to get Maddie to the vet in the morning.  She's  not feeling great, but nothing like Friday. 

Madeleine is doing well.  She's purring and moving around.  The vet called to check on her this morning, and wants to see her Monday to check her blood sugar.  In the meantime, no insulin.  She'd rather Maddie's level go high than bottom out like it did yesterday.  Oh, and let her have "as much of anything that she wants." Cats, the vet said, can reach insulin independence (non-insulin-dependence?  I don't recall the precise term).  Humans can't, dogs can't, but cats can.  Hoping that's where Madeleine is, for all kinds of reasons.  First, so much easier on her.  Yesterday and today, when I put out her food, you could see she was a little hesitant, thinking she was due an injection. Second, easier on me.  Insulin is expensive, especially the kind she's been on.  It might at one time have been  the most expensive?  Syringes aren't terribly costly, but it's a little bit of gas in the car.* So, things are on an even keel...

This one  gave me quite a scare today.   There's a distinct sound that she makes when she's about to throw up, and she was making it almost constantly this morning.  Her pupils were dilated, she was limp --- I flew to the vet with her.  She was cold, not moving, her breathing was erratic, and it turns out her blood sugar was low. They triaged her, gave her dextrose, took x-rays, but couldn't figure out what was going on.  Everything was clear diagnostically, and they couldn't put everything that was happening to her down to the blood sugar level. Within half an hour of me getting her there, discussing possible brain issues and whether or not I should let her go, the vet came in, threw up her hands and said, "She's acting like a cat!  Come see." I went back to see her, and she was.  She was Maddie!  The doctor, the vet tech, and I couldn't believe it.  We were so close to losing her. We decided to let her stay at the vet's until the end o...

Pretty much anything I eat now is okay, though I'm still steering clear of super-spicy stuff. This  does not qualify as super-spicy: It is an oatmeal creme pie bought through a Market Wagon vendor.  First, note the size (as opposed to the sad Moon Pie once discussed here.)  Second, imagine the flavor. If you've had a Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pie  (and it's hard to fathom that this isn't a universal food), don't worry.  They're as good as they ever were. But the Market Wagon ones are a step beyond.  You can taste the real butter in the oatmeal parts, the creme is smooth and rich;  I've never been able to finish one in a single go. If anyone ever comes up with a custom honey bun, I'm done for.

So, what did you do while watching the CFB National Football Championship (Sponsored by Dr Pepper) last night? Me, I got this done: Not in the little frame yet, but it's finished. I also worked on this: I'm liking how it's going.

Something you learn fairly early in your career as a parent is that if your child has an urpy tummy, go to the BRAT diet: B ananas, R ice, A pplesauce, T oast.  I've had rice and toast today, and they've both stayed down and in.  I've no bananas or applesauce in the house, and hopefully come tomorrow I won't need them.

 Yeah, this is a photo that shows up* when you Google "stomach flu."  I have not  been this cute today. *I almost typed "comes up," but that was a bit on the nose.

Look at this.  I still have some of the yarn I made my latest Wingspan with, and have combined it with some leftover purple: I am trying to turn them into this: "Balsam" by Pam Allen, which I have in a book, but you can find it on Ravelry.  It's fun so far (I'm less than 20 rows in, as you can see.)

I came across a website called  Cotton Prompt  the other day, and decided to give it a try.  Long-time readers can probably guess what I offered up as possibilities for a shirt.  This afternoon, I received an e-mail from someone at Cotton Prompt with this question: "What do you mean by 'Secretariat'?  Could you send a picture?" An opening to spread the Secretariat word!  I just had  to look through photos!  No other choice!  Specifically asked for this! I won't disclose how long I looked at pictures and sites and watched videos.  Let's just say I understood the assignment.

This is the left knee. Just where that arrow is pointing?  That ligament connecting the femur and the fibula?  Imagine finding out that that spot is precisely at the height of the corner of your coffee table, and slamming that spot forcibly into that corner. That pain will be so agonizing you feel like you are going to faint.  You have to lie down for several minutes to catch your breath and for the pain to subside. Happened to me today.  I don't recommend you try this particular adventure.

Two finished cross-stiches to show you.  You've seen them before, but in different states.  Please ignore the non-ironed-ness of them. Peeking up from the lower left corner is what I'm working on right now.  That's all I'll show you, because the person for whom it is destined might read the blog. It shouldn't have surprised me that Briton taking up cross-stitch would get me back into it.  I am leaning toward fairly simple patterns, though. Briton sent me this photo this afternoon: This is the little one I knit all those bibs for a while back.  Briton pointed out to me that he looks like Dave Bautista, and now I cannot unsee that.

 I've no photos from the day, as it's been mostly sitting on the couch crafting and, well, watching football.  There should be pictures tomorrow.  Tomorrow is Tuesday, right?  Holidays sort of jumble up the days.