Yesterday morning I took Kidd to the specialist that my regular vet had referred him to. It was a busy and bustling office, but the staff were warm and friendly. A nice tech took Kidd’s history and then spirited him away for a few minutes for mundane things like temperature and weight while I knit rapidly and mindlessly. (Temp, normal / weight, way low)

When returned, Kidd cuddled up close to me and stuck his head up my sweater sleeve. He knows that if his head is hidden, nobody can see him and he’s safe. The original ostrich. I sat quietly holding Kidd and listening to the soothing sound of water running in this kitschy little Christmas village fountain. I’m not sure why it’s still Christmas here, but the sound was calming so maybe that’s the point. For all I know, it’s been Christmas here for years.

After a short wait, Dr. Specialist came in for the exam. He looked Kidd over from stem to stern and discussed his history with me. His suggestion was to start with x-rays to see if that would show anything, although most of the possible diagnoses would probably not be x-rayable.

The nice tech fetched Kidd again and whisked him away to parts unknown. I sat and again mindlessly and swiftly knit away on the basketweave socks. I hadn’t decided whether to go with a short-row heel (more “basket” looking) or a gusset-and-flap heel (more comfortable). At some point during the wait, I must have unconsciously decided to go with a short-row heel because I mindlessly and swiftly knit way past the point I should have started a gusset. I began to like the Christmas display.

Between the mindless knitting and the babbling Christmas fountain, I kept my cool pretty well, I think.

The x-rays were inconclusive. Except Kidd’s stomach appears distended for no visible reason. Certainly it’s not from eating. Dr. Specialist suggested as a next step an endoscopy, to see what’s really going on inside there. I have to drop Kidd off on Monday morning. The procedure will be done on Tuesday. The concern now, of course, is keeping Kidd alive until then.

Dr. Specialist handed me his card so I’d have his office number.

If you get in there and it’s really bad… I started to say, meaning to add please don’t let him wake up. But I couldn’t get that far.

Dr. Specialist said, In that case I’ll call you right away. I think he knew what I was trying to say. He took his card back from me, wrote on it, and then returned it. There’s my home number, he said. Call me directly if he gets into trouble over the weekend.

What a nice man, eh? I don’t think I’ve ever had a vet give me their home number before. Even my regular vet, who I love and who has taken care of my animals for 20 years, suggests Dove Lewis in an emergency.

I shook Dr. Specialist’s hand, thanked him sincerely, and said I’d have Kidd in first thing on Monday.

On the way home from work, I stopped at the store and stocked up on all of the Gerber baby meats I could find: Turkey, chicken, veal, beef, lamb… As far as I’m concerned, if that’s what Kidd wants to eat for the next two days, then that’s what he gets.

The pic is from happier times, last November. When I’m doing “computer stuff” at home, Kidd likes to either curl up under my desk at my feet or sit next to me on my bookshelf. Sometimes he lays on my desk, and runs his tail back and forth over the touch-pad I use instead of a mouse. The distance from the shelf he is sitting on to the shelf behind his head is 15″, so that gives you an idea of his size. He has to crouch to fit. He’s the tallest of my three cats, but not of course the heaviest. That distinction goes to Moo Cow.

As I mentioned earlier, my field trip to Woodland Woolworks was successful!

Oh, right, I hear you say. Like I would drive out there and not find something I wanted! Personally I feel blessed to be within striking distance. Anybody in the general Portland area who hasn’t been out there: you must go! Yarn! Tools! Wheels! Looms! A stash room of sale stuff! Go!

I went, and I was inspired by this: Knit One Crochet Too Ambrosia, a scrumptious blend of 70% baby alpaca, 20% silk and 10% cashmere, in color 713 – a yummy dark eggplant with the unassuming name of Plum. It’s hard to get a decent picture of this yarn in my dark little house, but hopefully you can get the idea.

Not your traditional sock yarn? Maybe not, but doesn’t it look cozy? And so soft! I made a pair of alpaca socks for a friend, and they’ve worn very well. I know my sockapaloooza pal loves soft things, and I suspect a little luxury would be a nice surprise!

Now I just have to find the perfect pattern! Suggestions welcome, if you know of something that would be really great with this yarn. I want a stitch pattern that just whispers understated elegance.

And, on the less-elegant side of things, these are my latest pair of socks, and another lousy picture. The yarn is Socks That Rock in the colorway called Falcon’s Eye. The needles are my trusty pair of Inox Gray US#2 (2.75mm) circs.

I decided first on the basket weave stitch pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. That’s a wonderful book for people like me. I have my own basic sock pattern, and I vary it by changing the stitch pattern or putting in a different heel or toe so no two pairs I make look the same. But it’s still a basic, basic, sock. Sensational Knitted Socks has whole sections of stitch patterns arranged by repeat size. So, if I know that my instep is going to be 32 stitches across, I can look for patterns with repeats that fit in 32 stitches, like 6 stitch repeats, or 12 stitch repeats, etc.

This book along with Barbara Walkers four Treasuries of Knitting Patterns are what I use most when looking for sock designs.

Once I had decided on the basket-weave stitch, I went with an octagonal pinwheel-style toe because I felt that fit in with the whole “basket” theme. This I made up by myself, but it’s a fairly standard pinwhee / tote bottom / hat top type increase pattern. I wish I had a better picture, but I think it was a happy choice. I haven’t used this style of toe before, but it makes a very nice, round toe. I think I’ll use it again.

In less happy news, one of my cats, Captain Kidd, is very ill. Poor Kidd. He’s been sick for most of his 11 years. He was sick even when I picked him up from the breeder. I probably shouldn’t have agreed to even take him. But I’m not one to throw something away just because it isn’t perfect. So I brought him home, poor skinny little kitten, and I’ve been nursing him along ever since. He has a raft of physical problems. The most serious has been IBS, which makes it very difficult for him to gain weight. He’s been on a special diet almost since day one, and every ounce he’s gained has been a tiny victory. On a frame that should carry about 16 lbs or more (he’s a Maine Coon), Kidd has never weighed more than 12 lbs. He’s always been a big, skinny, skinny cat. In the last week or so, what little padding he had on his bones has literally melted off. He now weighs less than 9 lbs. and doesn’t want to eat much of anything. I’ve been tempting him with Gerber Baby Turkey (his favorite treat) and a special high-calorie diet suggested by my vet, but it’s clear he’s not doing well. My vet has referred me to a specialist, and I have an appointment on Friday. But the prognosis doesn’t look very good. 😥 So think some good thoughts for him, poor baby.

I know that teenager’s aren’t supposed to always make sense. I know that. But, really! This is a conversation I had with #1 Son yesterday:

#1 Son: What are you doing today, Mom?

Mom: I’m going to watch the Superbowl later this afternoon.

#1 Son: Why? You don’t like football any more than I do.

Mom: I like to watch the ads. And the Seahawks are playing.

#1 Son: So just because a team from the Northwest it playing, you think you have to watch and root for them or something, even though you never care about football?

Mom: Mostly I like to watch the ads. I don’t much care about the game. But since the Seahawks are playing I’ll root for them. It will make it more interesting.

#1 Son: Superbowl ads are terrible! They’re usually the worst advertising all year. Why would you want to watch just for that?

Mom: Why not? I find it amusing. What are you doing today? Do you work?

#1 Son: No work today. I’m going to hang out at Alex’ house. There are a bunch of people coming.

Mom: What will you be doing? Anything special?

#1 Son: We’re going to watch the Superbowl.

How do you even respond to that? 🙄

This is a little snapshot that I like to call Big, burly guy with chainsaw cutting down tree before it falls on my house.

I mean, what’s not to like about this picture? I’ve been pretty much obsessing about these trees for 10 years. It was inevitable that they would fall. I’m happy about the following things:

• The trees didn’t fall on my house or damage my property in any way.
• Nobody was hurt.
• Nothing was damaged that can’t be repaired.
• MNTHD (my neighbor two houses down) has seen the light and is removing the remaining tree.
• I got to meet my neighbor three houses down (they are semi-new to the neighborhood).

If you click on the pick, you’ll see that PI boasts a new photo-popup script that lays the picture over the contents of the current window rather than popping it up in a new window. It’s not only cool because, well, it looks cool. It’s cool because it will re-size the popped-up picture so that it fits in your browser. It appears to be working pretty well in IE and Firefox. Opera… well… the two of you who are using Opera can at least see the little picture. Anyone out there on a Mac, let me know how if it works in your browser, please!

And, yes, I’m knitting, too. Yesterday I made little field trip to Woodland Woolworks in search of inspiration for my Sockapalooza pal’s socks. And I found it in the form of some wonderful yarn that I will tell you more about later, but here’s a hint. Now I just have to find the perfect pattern!

I also got started on the green Socks That Rock socks. I’ve decided on a pin-wheel toe, and I’m just about finished with that part. I have no pics yet, but I plan to get some serious knitting in during the Super Bowl.

I usually find the Super Bowl to be a bunch of really cool ads hung together by annoying little bits of football. But, this year… what can I say but GO SEAHAWKS!

A couple of months ago I wrote about the two large Douglas firs belonging to MNTHD (my neighbor two houses down), and the possibility that I would end up in bed with one of them some dark and blustery night.

I hate it when I’m proven semi-prophetic.

Last night when I got home, I thought that one of the trees looked like it was leaning at a slightly different angle. Now it’s at a really different angle! (click the pic for a bigger version in a pop-up)

I didn’t hear the crash, which I understand came about 4:30 AM. When I woke up at 7:30, given the high-wind-warning situation, the first thing I did was look out my bedroom window. I only saw one tree. Now, this isn’t entirely unexpected, given my eyesight. So I put on my glasses. I still only saw one tree standing. So I threw some clothes on and ran out the front door.

Only one came down. And it didn’t come near my house (thank goodness). It hit the house of MNTHD. It smooshed his roof a bit and tore off his gutters. The top 30′ or so broke off and hit the corner of the garage of the next house beyond MNTHD and also did some slight damage to their van. You can see from the pic that my direct neighbor’s fence was pretty well destroyed when the root ball pulled up.

I spoke with the neighbor three houses down, whose garage and van were hit. She had run to MNTHD to make sure that they were OK (they are) and asked about the remaining tree. He said he was

going to have a guy look at it

If you read my earlier entry, you will know that “having a guy look at it” was what he has been promising to do for the last 6 or 8 years while these two trees slowly died. I hope the “guy who looks at it” explains to him that the remaining tree will probably not be standing for long and needs to be removed.

I hope the wind isn’t as bad as predicted!

I finished the Wavy Raspberry (aka Vera) Socks last night! Yea!!! Bound off at Tangle Thursday knitting night and washed when I got home.

Aren’t they pretty? I’m so not a pink person, but I just love how the raspberry color sets off the browns and creams and little dabs of teal. I love how the colors sort of spiral up the ankles. I love how it ended up reminding me of grandma’s old afghan. Usually when I get finished with something, it’s sort of like… oh yeah, another pair of socks; oh yeah, another sweater; meh. But every now and there’s a finished object that makes me just want to stop people on the street and say, “Look at what I made! I made this!” And that’s what I want to do with these.

The particulars:

• Lorna’s Laces Shepherds Sock, colorway Vera
• Inox Gray needles, US#2 (2.75 mm)
• Cast-on: My own invention, which I will hopefully be able to share soon
• Bind-off: Tubular bind-off
• Sock Pattern: My own standard pattern that fits my feet
• Heel: Eye of Partridge
• Stitch Pattern: A standard wavy stitch pattern with every 6th row purled.

And all of you Thursday night Tangle knitsters… I saw you guys. You were were all looking at these socks and carefully not saying… so these aren’t going to fit…

Well, here’s the proof that they do, indeed fit my feet perfectly! And my feet are very happy.

so there! 😆

I’m wearing these today with clogs, and despite the wavy, purly nature of the stitch pattern, the ankles are not at all slouching. As always, clicking the pics will get you a bigger version in a pop-up. I wish I could get decent natural-light pics at my house in the winter, but the bottom picture colors are fairly close to real life, at least on my monitor.

Next up: Blue Moon Socks That Rock in colorway Falcon’s Eye, which is a mix of lovely soft greens. I’m currently thinking that I’ll do them in an all-over staggered ribbed cable. We’ll see if I still like that after I’ve knit a few inches.

I also need to find just the perfect yarn for my Sockapaloooza pal’s socks. I may need to do a field trip this weekend to Woodland Wool Works. They tend to have unusual yarns that the rest of the Portland metro area LYSs don’t carry.

I also need to find the perfect sock pattern for my pal, but I usually find that the yarn speaks to me and tells me what to knit with it. I want to make some really great socks, because my pal makes pretty great socks!