Sad news

This week has been rough on my family. Sunday morning (Easter, of all days), I woke up before dawn to catch my flight to Orlando. The space shuttle, Discovery, was due to launch first thing Monday morning, and I was looking forward to being there to see it go.

I almost stepped on Midnight, our female kitten. She was laying in the middle of the bedroom floor, and she wasn't moving. I picked her up and immediately knew that something was horribly wrong with her, because she was incredibly limp. She was still alive, but when I moved her from the dark bedroom into the lighted hallway, her pupils didn't contract in response to the light. Sweetie took over and tried to comfort her, but we both knew that she wasn't going to survive whatever happened to her.

Sweetie practically had to shove me out of the house that morning. I couldn't stand the thought of going on vacation while my kitten was dying. However, launch tickets sell out within minutes now that the shuttle program is being retired, and Sweetie worked so hard to allow me to see my first and only shuttle launch. I didn't want to hurt his feelings by missing the launch, especially since we both knew that there wasn't much that I could do for Midnight at that point.

He took her to the animal emergency room as soon as they opened Sunday morning, but Midnight died in the car before he arrived.

We are all heartbroken. We worked so hard to bring that kitten back to health after her early setbacks, and it seemed like we finally had her back on the road to health and vitality. She was finally gaining weight, she was playing with Lucky and the kids, and she drove us nuts by pestering us whenever we sat down to eat.

The vets think that she had a stroke. I guess it's common for cats to develop blood clots that travel from their hind legs to their brains. The only thing I am thankful for was the fact that she didn't suffer for very long.

I miss my kitten.

My first pattern!

I am very close to publishing my first knitting pattern.  I'm really excited about it!  I just need to create the nicely formatted pattern sheet, rather than the working chart I've been using up to this point.  Considering the fact that this shawl has 609 stitches worked over dozens of rows, it's important to make everything as neat and tidy and easy-to-read as possible.

I did run into a bit of a problem with my chosen yarn, though.  It's so incredibly fine that I can't stand working with it for very long.  It literally sticks to my fingers, and it falls off of my needles too easily.  I'm disappointed, since that yarn is very pretty and so incredibly soft that it feels wonderful.  It would have made a beautiful (and soft!) shawl, but I can't bring myself to keep using it.  I certainly can't recommend it to my pattern customers, since a difficult yarn will reflect poorly upon me and my design skills, and I don't need to earn a bad reputation with my very first pattern.

I guess I'm going to be forced to buy more yarn.  I have my eye on another skein of Laci, by Blue Moon Fiber Arts.  I just need to choose a color.  :)

Kittens and Knitting

Well, I joined a Black Cat owners' group on Ravelry, so I needed to post pictures of my kittens. I don't use the major photo places online (Flickr, etc.), so I'll take advantage of my blog to show off my newest babies.

Both pictures were taken of the cats when all they wanted to do was play. It's hard to use an iPhone to capture a moving animal, in case you didn't already know that. :)

This is Lucky, who is our male kitten. I wanted to name him Domino, but my seven-year-old son overruled me. Lucky has three white patches on his chest and belly, but it's hard to see them unless he's on his back or facing you directly.

This is Midnight, our female kitten.  We suspect that she and Lucky are siblings, since they were found in the same location and are approximately the same age.  Midnight had some health issues when we first adopted the kittens, so she is almost two pounds lighter than her brother right now.  Thankfully, she's gaining weight and will probably catch up soon.

So now you know who likes to interfere with my knitting at bedtime.  :)

Not enough knitting time

I miss being able to knit without guilt! Unfortunately, my college classes are calling to me, so I need to do my homework. This is final week, so after Thursday, I'll be done for over a week.

Just in time for my second Rockin' Sock Club package to arrive from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. :)

Lots of projects in progress

I've been alternating between several different projects this week. Thank goodness for multiple needle sizes!

When I'm not able to concentrate very well but can sit in one place, I'll work on my pink mystery socks. When I can't concentrate and need to be mobile, I'll work on a simple garter stitch shawl. At those times when I actually have peace and quiet, I'll work on my daughter's lace shawl. Finally, when I can't knit at all, I'll work on my shawl pattern at the computer.

Believe it or not, I'm getting quite a bit accomplished, even if the work is spread out among several different projects. I'm certainly not bored!

Sixth time's the charm

I am working on my oldest daughter's mystery shawl right now. It's my first lace shawl, and I kept making the mistake of trying to knit lace while little kids were running in and out of my bedroom. It's very easy to mess up a lace pattern! One little bit of distraction, and my place is lost and the wrong stitches knitted.

This is the sixth time I've started this pattern. So far, it's going well. I'm only knitting when I have a reasonable chance of not being interrupted. And when I do get interrupted, I go back and check my work to make sure I'm on the correct part of the pattern. I just hope that I can finally get this shawl knitted. Spring is going to be here eventually, and I know my daughter will love having something pretty to keep her warm in the mornings.

I visited another local yarn shop yesterday. They had a huge selection of sock yarns, and I bought a couple of skeins of bright variegated sock yarn to make some spring socks for myself. As much as I enjoy shopping at the local stores, I still prefer to shop online as much as possible. I know that there are a lot of other stay-at-home moms who are supplementing their income by dyeing and selling yarn on the internet, and I want to support them as much as I can.

Last night, I dreamed about buying beads for a knitted lace shawl that I was making. I think I'm getting a little too obsessed here, but I'm having too much fun to care. :)

Starlight Mystery Shawl #1

I've finished my creative designing for this mystery, and now I just need to create the chart and figure out exactly how many stitches will need to be cast onto the needles to start the shawl.

It is going to be really pretty, I think. I can't wait to start knitting it!

Tonight is a quilt guild meeting that I need to attend, if only for a few minutes. I don't have anything finished for show and tell, and I have too much to do at home to stay for the whole program, but I did promise one of my customers that I would be there tonight. I'll drop in to see her, then I'll head home.

It's been a long day already. While I was in my loft, trying to finish a customer's quilt, my two little girls stole a loaf of bread from the kitchen. My loft is directly above their bedroom, but they were sneaky and didn't slam the door when they returned from their caper. I grew suspicious when I heard giggling and discussions about making a cake. I walked into their room to see most of a large loaf of bread broken into tiny pieces and crumbs all over the bedroom floor. Thankfully, they didn't add water to their "cake!" It took me much too long to get that mess cleaned up as it was. Water and bread crumbs would have been a horrendous mess.

Tonight will be a good night for a relaxing bath and some knitting time. I need some peace and quiet.