Wordless Wednesday

Summer Weather

Hey, there was knitting!

No Scent Hurdle this weekend so knitting was accomplished.

Had to frog Hazelnut back to the start of the body when I realized I'd made it too big and I was going to run out of yarn. Sigh. Hopefully this time it works. This one is also good TV watching knitting as it's mostly stockinette stitch.

Also started a vest with a stitch pattern in it. The pattern is called Pennents, I found it in "Knit Stitch Dictionary" by Debbie Tomkies. This will be a basic vest, well except for the stitch pattern that is. Love vests, they keep you warm but not too warm most of the year. Summer, not so much but it's only summer for a very short time here.

Current Weather
Mostly cloudy, 18C.

Had a substantial thunderstorm yesterday, lots of thunder, lightning, and hail. Typical for summer in this part of the world.

Canada

Well, I missed posting on Canada Day. But that's OK because The Yarn Harlot did such a lovely job there's just no way for me to compete anyway.

For myself, I spent Canada Day at an outdoor Scent Hurdle tournament getting sunburned. I wore a hat with a wide brim all around my head and still managed to sunburn my neck and face. We won't even talk about my poor forearms where my t-shirt ended. What can I say, I'm just a special kind of Pale.

Ahab didn't do well at this tournament. It was his first time running on grass, we haven't even practiced on grass, and he decided that the tree at the end of the yard was far more interesting than playing Scent Hurdle. I pulled him after that. The team has an outdoor practice coming up so he can work on his focus while on grass.

Soccer went with us to the tournament as otherwise he'd have been stuck at home alone for many, many hours. There was a pond at the site so there was no way I was going home with a dry dog, he was in and out of the pond every time I let him run around. At one point I saw Ahab climbing out of the pond too, he must have slipped and fallen in as he'd never voluntarily jump into a pond. He didn't look impressed with the situation.

Knitting

Everything continues, joined the final ball of yarn for Hazelnut last night and I'm in a slight panic that I won't have enough even though all the math says I should. Nothing for it but to soldier on. And hope. Maybe I should email KnitPicks and see if they have any left in that dye lot......

Gave my sister her birthday socks. She's not a big sock wearer but she does plan to take them with her on vacation to Scotland so I'm calling that a win.

Current Weather
Mostly cloudy, 22C.

Generally, it's been hot with a thunderstorm in the evening. Typical for summer in this part of the world.

Sock

I finished the first sock for my sister's birthday in July. I've only been working on it since March. Urgh, it's been a horrible year for socks; since I now have to drive to work every day I've lost almost 10 hours a week in knitting time. It sucks.

I am going to have to hustle a bit to get this second sock done.

Current Weather
Partly cloudy 18C.

Update on Squish

Squish is not well. He's eating a special kidney cat food. Fortunately, he seems to like it; so far at least. Unfortunately, Mouse also seems to like it. I was worried he would refuse to eat it.

All of this means I'm very afraid that Squish is not much longer for this world. Kidney failure is not a good thing; it is a fatal condition. Must make sure I get plenty of Squish love while I still can. Loosing him is going to be devastating. He was my first pet that was my pet not the family pet. I'm also not sure how well Mouse will do once he's gone.

Knitting

Did some math on the new cotton sweater and I came up short. So, I went on a yarn hunt and miracle, of miracles; I found some! Same dye lot and everything. Sweet!

Current Weather
Mostly cloudy, 24C.

Hot, hot, hot. Actually it cooled off a bit today. We passed 30C several times in the past week. In June no less.

Squish

Poor Squish isn't doing too well right now. His thyroid packed it in spring of 2015 and now he's having problems making it to the litterbox. Off to the vet we went and the urine test shows he's not concentrating his urine. This could mean renal failure; his kidneys are not working right.

Took him in again today to have blood taken to confirm if this is the case. The vet techs told me he was really good, right up until he'd had enough of being poked and prodded. Can't say I blame him for getting tired of being poked.

Here's hoping this is treatable.

One cute Squishy.

Knitting
Started a new cotton sweater, I need more indoor/summer sweaters. The fabric was coming out too stiff though so I had to frog the sleeves. Oh, well; starting with the sleeves means I can use them as a gauge swatch. This one is worsted weight so it'll go much faster than Hazelnut.

Hazelnut continues. Knitting fingering weight sweaters does take some time. I plan to do several over the next months/weeks/years so I have lots to choose from.

Current Weather
Partly cloudy, 15C.

Rained a bit early in the afternoon but then cleared up again. I was expecting more rain this evening but so far no signs.

Took the boys for a nice walk this afternoon. They enjoyed it for sure.

Sleeve

Today the plan was to finish knitting the sleeve for my Wee Niece's Seamless Purple sweater.

Which I did.

Figured it would be best to pick up the stitches for the second sleeve at the same time so I wouldn't do something silly like use the needle for another project when this one's not yet finished.

Then I just started knitting the second sleeve and before I knew it I was finished the sweater. I was reading a book at the same time, e-books are great for this, maybe that explains it. Made this one solid with no second colour. Other than that it's exactly as the pattern is written; ummm, perhaps a bit longer. Hope it fits.

Pattern: Seamless Blue by Felicia Semple
Yarn: Easy Knit Tricot Facile (Marotex) Bébé Luv Baby Georga in Grape
Needle: 3.0mm & 2.5mm
Gauge: 26 stitches X 35 rows = 10cm

This is one of the nicest acrylics I've ever worked with, nice and soft.

Squish
Squish has been sick. He's not using the litterbox which is very upsetting. Took him to the vet yesterday and he clearly has some pain in his abdomen. He's got some painkillers and Mom will take him back to the vet on Tuesday so they can collect a urine sample to see if he has an infection.

After doing some reading on-line I also decided to replace the litterboxes. Not just the litter but the actual litterboxes. They're almost 15 years old (both the litterboxes and the cats) and accumulated odors could be a problem. Just bought the cheapest pans I could find since that's what my old kitties seem to want, no covers or anything. The litterboxes are in a storage room with a cat door for them to come and go through (this is so Ahab won't snack on cat poo which is totally gross), it's lit by a night-light and unsurprisingly they're using the one closest to the light the most. Go figure. I actually replaced the light recently too in case the poor old things are having a hard time seeing in the dark. Age y'know.

Ahab
Ahab earned his second Scent Hurdle title on May 7. Total surprise, I though he was still 20 or more points away from earning it.

Current Weather
5C and raining.
It has been raining all day, except for a few hours this morning when it snowed. We desperately needed the moisture so it's not a bad rain. But did it have to happen on the long weekend?