knitmeister

Chip's Self Portrait

Chip's honey-do list for today...

I dig this.

Stuff

What's been going on?  I'm knitting less, spinning more, making some hooks...(perhaps I will have to change the name of my blog to Spinmeister).  Sometimes after even just a couple hours of knitting my wrist just kills so I have been avoiding it more and more.  It's a bummer because there are still many things I really want to make.  I just have to dole out the knitting time a little at a time.

I started a weight loss program not long ago and am already seeing good results.  So it is very encouraging.  I have cut alcohol completely out and not only has it made a huge impact in my ability to drop pounds, but wow has my mood improved!  I guess it is to be expected since it is a depressant....and to think all that time I thought it was making me feel better!  Anyway, today I met my first "mile marker" goal and celebrated by treating myself to one of those cute Pandora charm necklaces and one bead.  I plan to add another each time I pass a mile marker in my weight loss journey.

We found out Monday that our oldest Jack Russell, Barkley, has cancer.  He has been losing weight and it finally became apparent that something was terribly wrong.  It wasn't leveling off.  I thought maybe he was just thinning down due to his advancing age, but no.  I arranged for a long lunch from work and took him to the doctor who kept him for the rest of the afternoon for x-rays and blood tests, etc.  When I came back after work I was met by a veterinarian with a long sad face and an ugly picture on the x-ray viewer.  You could see the spots all over his lungs.  We have been battling nausea and vomiting but(fingers crossed)the last 24 hours have been puke-free.  Here's to hoping that a weekend in the country will do him some good.

More Crafting

Seems like I'm inspired by the bitter cold we're having.  I keep thinking of polar subjects! I made these two little spinner's hooks this weekend.  The bear was made for my friend, Ginny, who I buy most of my spinning wool from.  The Emperor Penguin is listed in my Etsy shop.

Cozy in the cold.

It's so friggin' cold.  If I stand close to an exterior wall I can feel the cold radiating into the house.  As you can see here, the fur bearing creatures in the house don't seem to be affected.  :o)  Hobo has his AND Sammy's bones in the bed on the floor, Petey has my spot in the comfy chair.  I'm sitting here freezing my tush off at the computer by the front window.  Brrrrr!!!

I swallowed my pride and went to the doctor this week about my neck.  It was feeling better for a couple days then I woke up earlier this week in excrutiating pain.  I couldn't find any position that didn't cause stabbing jabs that went from my neck to my shoulder blade deep down inside on the right.  My family doc prescribed some muscle relaxers and steroids and recommended a chiropractic treatment.  I was lucky to find one near home who would take me in that afternoon.  By bedtime I'd say I was at least 50% improved, and now 24 hours-plus later I'm at 90%.  I don't know if it's the meds or the chiro, but I'm not waiting two weeks next time this happens!

Making stuff

I hurt my neck last week getting dressed of all things....I flipped my head back to put on my head band and WHAMMO!  instead neck trauma.  I felt like I'd been in a car accident.  I went to work Monday holding my head funny, and here it is Thursday night and it still isn't 100%.  No reason not to knit, but I really haven't knit much this week.  Instead I've been making spinner's hooks.

All are for sale in my ETSY shop!

Humanity

I'm at the cabin without a pc so this my first attempt at a post from my iPhone.

I finished these mitts in just a couple days sitting here on the sofa waiting for it to warm up. I'm supposed to be laying the stone on the foundation of the cottage but I can't do it if the temp is too low. I found the free mitt pattern on Ravelry. It's called Humanity. They are for my boss at the pet boutique and our Christmas gathering is this weekend so they are ready just in the nick of time.

I'm secretly hoping for more cold weather. I have more knitting to do!

Absolute Creeps

Who would rob a homeless pet shelter?  This just breaks my heart...

It's been a really crappy couple of weeks in regard to my faith in humanity.  Times are tough, and it's not easy to let go of those dollars.  I've made a couple sales in the past week on Etsy and decided to donate my proceeds to the shelter to try to help them recover their losses.  Won't you let go of a few dollars to help them?  Donate Here

Person, I love you!

I came home this afternoon with a car full of groceries, toiletries, dog supplies, etc. after an afternoon of errand shopping.  I discovered when I got into the kitchen that my phone was missing and started to freak out immediately.  It's my only phone since we no longer have a landline.  I couldn't even call it to see if it was hiding in my car!  I dropped off the dog and made a beeline back to Target since that was my first stop on the outing.  No luck at the Customer Service counter...so I headed back to the dressing rooms, no dice there either.  So, I went back up to the front of the store to see if they'd let me use the phone to call my next try, which is the pet store I work at.... I had them(the pet store) call my phone to see if it was anywhere in their store and voila!!! I hear it ringing AT TARGET!  It had been turned in by some nice nice person (person, I LOVE YOU!).  And dudes, it had tire tracks on the glass and the damn thing still works.  Come to find out later, this saviour had called my neighbor (my last phone call) and notified her that he was turning the phone in at Target for me.  I have no way to find him and express my gratitude because he called her from my phone and neither the folks at Target, or my neighor got his name for me.  I've posted on Craigslist locally hoping he'll read it.  If  you know a guy in Kansas City who picked up an iPhone at the Ward Parkway Target today and turned it in tell him to get ahold of me.  I want to reward him for his honesty and integrity.

I finished another knit!

It's a Jigamathingaroundyourneck.  I received six balls of Rowan Denim recently for renewing my subscription to the magazine and decided to try this pattern out with it.  I only used two of the six balls to complete this neck warmer.  I omitted the baubles at the points and am going to sew some little round silver beads on instead.  I didn't want to crochet them in because I wanted to try the dip bleaching and I was afraid the bleach would ruin the beads.

It really only took me the weekend to whip this puppy out.  I spent a good part of the day Saturday on it, and by Sunday morning my left wrist was in agony.  I couldn't even pick up a coffee cup.  I think I've pretty much come to the conclusion that it only hurts when I knit...so I don't think I'm going to be knitting as much in my future and there is no hope that I will make it through my yarn in my lifetime.  As a result I'm unloading a good portion of my stash.  I'm sorting through the sock yarn first and am leaning towards keeping the solids because I like to use them to do small standed projects like mittens and hats.  I'm going to list everything on Destashforcash first and then I will probably post them to the Destash group on Ravelry if they don't sell the first time around.