I have the most awesome Mum!

My mum just gave me an early birthday present tonight!  She gave me Lion Brand stress relief gloves and the Early Fall 2012 Vogue Knitting Magazine!  Isn't she the best?  I love you Mom!

Side project

So yesterday, I mentioned beginning a side project while I waited for my hand to heal and for my new needles to arrive.  Well, here it is...

It seems to be turning out ok.  We'll have to see how it goes.

Bubba

Occasionally, I give Thor (AKA Bubba) some scrap yarn to play with to keep him out of my stash.

He does like to play with the yarn.  It's one of the few things, aside from food, that will get him excited. 

Poor fat Bubba, a few minutes of play and he's out for the count.

Snoring away...any minute now, his tongue will fall out...

If it isn't one thing, it's another

Two weeks ago I started to have a little bit of random pain in my left (non-dominant) hand.  I had no idea what was causing it, but I thought it might be the fact that I had been working on this latest project for so long-and it is starting to get heavy and a bit hard to move along on my circulars-so I set it down for most of that week, not picking it up again until last Saturday.  I don't even get two and a half rows in when my cord breaks.  WTF!  I mean, really, I was hoping to get it done by this weekend so that I could get it washed, blocked and ready to go.  I still have plenty of time, but I didn't what to have to wait until the last minute like I did with my brother's scarf. If that wasn't enough, by that evening, I couldn't put any weight on my left hand.  It hurt so much that I could not do anything with it.  I couldn't knit, wash dishes (big loss there, right?), I even had trouble typing, and I have an office job.  I decided it might be a good idea to immobilize it for a few days with an old brace we had and switch knitting projects.  Well, it's not like I could work on my "secret" project anyway, my circulars broke.  Anyway, the reason I'm sharing this with you I figured out how I hurt myself and I want to post it as a sort of warning.  My stitches never did move easily along on my circulars and as the project got bigger and heavier, it became more and more difficult to move them along as I knit.  The force I was having to use to move the stitches caused me to strain either a muscle or tendon in my hand.  Then add in the repetitive motion, and it became a much bigger problem than it needed to be.  So please, to anyone who reads this, be careful.  Pay attention to your body language, if it hurts, stop.  This applies to most everything we do.  Even exercise, though yes, there is supposed to be a certain amount of pain with that, but always, always, always, pay attention to what your body is telling you.

Oh, and as a side note, this is the project I switched to while waiting for my new circulars to be delivered.  It is from Staci at verypink.com.  As it is so small, it hasn't added to any of the pain in my hand and I think it is helping me to work my left hand without causing any new damage.

The Pup-Pup

On a totally unrelated note, I just have to rave about Pumpkin Dog Treats for dogs with sensitive stomachs.  I found this recipe on Pinterest and my Sierra, pictured above, loves them.  The treats recipe is incredibly simple.  The only thing my local store didn't carry was the brown rice flour, but it can easily be found at stores like Whole Foods and Central Market.  They make the kitchen smell wonderful, if you like pumpkin that is.  My precious likes to get into things like the cats' litter box and after it's been raining, she likes to "hunt" for toads in the back yard.  These things really irritate her stomach and her hips stiffen up so that she has trouble walking.  We haven't had any toads yet, but it has helped with her "litter raiding parties" that she engages in on occasion. She has also had more energy and is moving better in general.  I highly recommend these if you have some of the same issues with your pups that I have with mine.

Lost in Lace Update

After working on this as yet unnamed lace project, I have found that I am making fewer mistakes, and none so bad as the 1st couple of times I had to frog it.  I must say, I am very thankful for that.  It is turning out well, and I can't wait to finish it and post a picture of it.  Of course, that's going to have to wait until after the recipient's birthday. :-)

Knitting with Cats...

I used to have a cat, but I didn't start knitting until after she had "left" us.  For years now, I have only had a dog and she generally leaves my knitting alone, though sometimes, she will lay on it if it's long enough.  Recently, we acquired a roommate and her 2 cats.  I was concerned at first because I had heard some "horror" stories about cats and knitting, but for the most part, they leave my projects alone.  I can even leave my knitting on the couch unattended and they will not bother it at all.  But boy, if you are knitting while they are on the couch and they see that yarn move, watch out!  You can see their eyes get huge as they intently stare at the moving yarn, then suddenly BAM!  You've got a cat tangled up in your yarn.  It is kind of funny, but definitely a new experience for me.