Ghost Knitters in the Sky

Well, OK, maybe not technically in the sky, unless you count that I knit upstairs a lot, or that the items in question are hung up. Since being laid up/out of work due to chronic illness issues, I've been having problems with feeling a bit useless. I can't work, can't do a lot of the things I used to enjoy doing due to physical limitations, and some days can't even manage basic household cleaning and cooking.

Fortunately for me, the life of a sole owner LYS is hectic, so I've been helping out my LYS owner a bit by doing a few small items that are put on loan for display. She gets items up that she doesn't have time to do, I get to do something and feel productive, so it's a win-win all the way around. Three of the 10 in 10 shawls are up there, and most recently I've done the pictured scarf and bag.

Hey, it keeps me happy and off the street and out of bars, as they say!

Catching up

A while back I posted about the felted bangles that were a fairly successful experiment with felt club, so here they are (finally).

Still working on the 10 in 10 shawl challenge - I'm actually up to 8 done (only 7 photographed, but here are the ones I have up so far)

Traveling Woman shawl (my version is the Traveling Artist) done in Art Walk sock yarn Le Pont Japonais a Giverny by Claude Monet.

Kartoffelfeuer- another Windsbraut out of Zauberball sock yarn.

Lots more to add, but that's all I'm up to for one day. Stay tuned!

Angel Meets Doc

As I've mentioned before, I'm lucky enough to live in a town with access to the vet who literally wrote the book on ferrets. Angel had her first visit with Dr. Rossi today. She's been proclaimed healthy, except for a bit of anemia, a few ear mites and being terribly thin. Dr. Rossi agreed that this, along with the hair loss are the result of fleas, stress and malnutrition rather than any disease. All her organs are good, no internal parasites, swollen lymph nodes or other problems. She was sent home with some drops for her ears and an iron supplement to help boost her up faster.

The big surprise however - turns out that she is NOT a baby! Based on her teeth, Dr. Rossi estimates she's about 3! (He said she could possibly be a bit younger and just have some excessive wear due to her conditions, but still no younger than 2 or 2 1/2!) She only weighed in at 1 pound 7 ounces - and while she'll gain weight, it seems she is just an extremely petite little flower of ferret femininity!

I'm still willing to bet that once she's gained a bit more weight and energy she's going to give the boys what-for!

Do You Believe in Miracles?

Since losing my little Finn Tuesday, I've been forcing myself to try to maintain some semblance of normalcy - going to knit night, going to the quilt show, etc. Saturday, after sleeping in a bit (quilt show did me in) I straggled up to the knit shop where the usual group was in and out. Nothing out of the ordinary unless you count that I'm sitting there feeling rather blah. Until Mary left.

Now there was nothing extraordinary about Mary's departure, she was going home, I think she said she had plans with her husband. A short while later, however, the shop phone rang. I wasn't paying much attention until Kathe was standing next to me saying "Here, I'll let you talk to her". Mary was on the phone. "I know it may be too soon, but I wanted to call you..." Her neighbor across the street had a stray ferret in their yard!

I rushed home, grabbed the crate, a baggie of ferret food and some treats and headed over. Mary led me across the street to where her neighbor was waiting. There, next to the bowl of cat food, was a thin, weak, dehydrated baby girl ferret! The poor thing had fleas, and had lost a good bit of the fur from her back, so she had been on her own for a while. From the way she shakes when she's first picked up, I suspect maybe she fled from a not-so-good home life.

She's been named Angel, and everyone seems to agree that somehow Finn had a paw in bringing us together. Right now Angel (and her remaining fleas which we're working on getting rid of!) is quarantined upstairs until she gets a bit stronger. Food is disappearing at a rapid rate, and she's already made tremendous progress - her eyes are brighter and she can make almost a full circuit of the bathroom without falling over.

Do you believe in miracles? I do.

And then there were three

At 12:33 this morning, my little Finn, my Finny McFinnweezul, my well-behaved gentleman ferret scampered across the Rainbow Bridge to freedom. May you have a neverending supply of places to stash snacks little buddy. There's an empty ferret house in my living room and an empty place in my heart.

Drive-by Update

Well my computer is still not wanting to upload photos. In fact, it wouldn't even recognize my camera yesterday, so no photos with the update, but here's what's been happening in Weasel Land.

Finished shawl number six for the 10 in 10 challenge. This one is Traveling Woman in a lovely blue/green mix sock yarn. Lots more on the needles - and the original list has been completely thrown out the window. Too many new and shiny things grabbing my attention!

Forgot to mention in the last update that I made some really neat felted bangle bracelets at Felt Club. I used upholstery cording as the base, then wrapped in wool and embellished with novelty fibers and wool shapes.

AND (drumroll please) I'm working on an original requested piece. I'm not calling it a commission, since this is for a friend, but it's a step in that direction! Woohoo!

When/if the computer decides to cooperate, I'll come back and load pictures of everything!

Please Stand By

No, I haven't dropped off the face of the Earth, but my computer is Not Well At All. I can only sporadically access the internet, with varying success at different pages. Pictures are even worse. Tonight is the first time in a little over a month I have been able to access and upload pics. Hopefully that will last long enough to get some up with this!

Still plugging along on lots of mixed media, still on track with the 10 in 10 challenge. I haven't finished the shawl I wanted to use for this month, but theoretically still could.

In the meantime, I have finished one (which is on display at my LYS, along with my Abendwind shawl!)

I also finished the first set of socks from the sock club my LYS is doing this year. The second are on the needles, the third are not released yet.

More updates as things are finished, or as the cranky, ancient, computer allows. (Yes, that old. My son was traumatized when he realized how little RAM it had while he was trying to work on it for me. Then he realized it still had a serial port. I think he's still twitching over that one!)

P.S. Looks like the computer has locked up trying to add the picture of the shawl. Sigh. Hopefully can edit it in soon.

P.P.S. Fixed. Scary that the computer is working this well tonight. It must be plotting...