Wee makes

More little makes from me today. You know when your list (mental or otherwise) becomes clogged up with lots of wee things that won't take long but that just add to the length of the to-dos? That's where I've been at. So.

I made a drawstring sock knitting pouch from zombie hunter fabric from Dolores about a year ago and a recent(ish) parcel from her had the Valentine's Day version. Well I need another wee bag for my knitting. I like the pattern here at In Color Order. Sorted! As ever, thank you for my stash, Dee!

My mum asked for a bracelet for a birthday gift for a friend. I'm pretty sure most of these beads came from Archie - they were perfect, thanks buddy!

And I put the bottom on my kitchen curtain yesterday.  It was a boring, thankless task but it looks so much better now the curtain touches the floor again! And I do rather like the contrast piece. 

It's also a finish on my finish-along list! (proposal is here) That's my third finish - it feels so good to get stuff moving!

scrappy Chrimbo

Check me, I've scrapbooked this Christmas already! 

Simple, simple little clusters of stuff and a bunch of washi tape and as is customary there's a list of her gifts in that envelope. The fabulous is on the top of the journalling spot I used to write it.

I love that blue glittery Thickers alphabet. And I've had the tree cookie embellishment for about 12 years!

Yes, a nice wee distraction while keeping busy so as not to worry about that cat. He's home this evening (yay!) on meds that make him drunk wobbly and ravenous and with some interesting bald patches. The neurologist has given him a preliminary diagnosis of Idiopathic (primary) Epilepsy. Which means has fits for no reason - we have 3 blood/spinal fluid tests to come back but if they are clear then there's nothing wrong with him. *rollseyes* But I think he's happy to be home - Temple thinks his feet smell weird, though. *g*

welly socks (and a brief Jones update)

So, firstly, Jones had his MRI scan today and it all went splendidly. The neurologist said he took the anaesthetic beautifully and - crucially - didn't have a seizure during proceedings. And everything looks perfectly normal! No tumors, lesions or water where it shouldn't be. Just cat brain. Which is great news. Of course, we're no closer to understanding what is happening with him but there's only 3 more things to test for and then we're at the epilepsy diagnosis. Which is what happens when everything else has been ruled out. He's still fitting (one after his anaesthetic despite being under a powerful anti-seizure drug, which is a bit worrying) and he's staying in the hospital another night. And we will need to find a successful cat/drug combo. So we're not out of the woods yet, but at least there's a path. Thank you for all your cheerleading!

And back to the crafty stuff. I finished my Icelandic yarn boot socks!! Whoop!

This wool yarn was bought in Reykjavik in December 2014 when Spouse took me there for my 40th birthday. It's itchy and scratchy (I remember the Icelandic jumper I had as a girl. Torture!) so I thought boot socks to go over normal socks would be perfect. They are super cosy!

The pattern has k2ts and SSKs at different places every other row to give that pretty leaf-like pattern. Easy to do but quite pretty.

And that's another finish on my finish-along proposal. Go me!! 

Yarny deets:

Yarn: Lett Lopi in shade 1408- light red Heather. 2 x 50g balls

Needles: 4.5mm dpns

Pattern: Southwestern Socks

on Jones

My Instagram chums will know of the struggles poor Jones has been having lately but I have found this blog a helpful record of dates so I'm going to record it here, too. Skip ahead til tomorrow if you know the story!

Nearly a fortnight ago (on January 6th) Jones had what I thought was something caught in his throat or a furrball or something. He suddenly sat up and started shaking his head with his jaw working back and forth and drooling a lot. It lasted about 20 seconds and then stopped as suddenly as it had started.  I thought nothing more of it. And then he did exactly the same at almost exactly the same time the following night. And I thought perhaps I should be keeping a close eye on him. Then that night? Following a thump in the kitchen (where the cats sleep) we found him lying in a dazed fashion on the floor. And alarm bells started to ring. Was that a fit? He jumped up and started purring and asking for food and was perfectly normal. What the hell had happened? The following day we had a few of the "head bob" fits (my term) and that night when we heard the thump from the kitchen we both sprinted and caught him mid fit. Proper paddling, legs twitching convulsion stuff. The next morning I was at the vets.

They found a slightly raised temperature and hoped it might be a reaction to that - you know how kids can fit when they have a fever? So he was given a course of antibiotics and we were to keep a close eye on him and go back at the end of the week. He had one more middle of the night proper seizure and they stopped. And although his head bobs were still frequent (8 in 24 hours last Tuesday) then they started to lessen, too. He had only had 1 all day when we were back at the vet on Friday. His temperature was still slightly elevated though so they took blood to have a full spread of tests done to see if there was an underlying cause for the fits.

Over the weekend he got much worse. The full body convulsions came back with a vengeance - sometimes he is bouncing about like a fish out of water. I'm not kidding, that's what it looks like. He must be so sore, the wee guy. And this is with us running about trying to move kitchen tables and furniture so he isn't repeatedly hitting his head off of them. I digress. The blood tests came back yesterday all clear. Which was sort of good (no diabetes or kidney disease) but gave no reason for this sudden and aggressive onset of seizures. So this morning I took him to see the consultant neurologist at our local veterinary hospital. 

We are very lucky, he is top of his field and took a detailed history before doing a lot of very interesting tests on Jones. Brushing paws against the table top, checking how his whiskers react and looking in his eyes with a full on ophthalmoscope. *g* (I work in optics, that was interesting!) All to check his reactions and reflexes I'm assuming. And the outcome? Superficially he's a very healthy cat - which we knew. And tomorrow he is having an MRI scan which requires him being under general anaesthetic for an hour and a half as well as a lumbar puncture (virus checking for meningitis and the like) and more blood work. So he'll come back a bit patchy of fur and hopefully with some answers. Keep your fingers crossed he comes through it fine, okay? Thanks.

P.S. Yes, he's insured! This little lot tomorow? Could top out at £2400. Yikes.

A doggy wooly hat

So my mate, Sue, gifted me the Animal Hats book that my mum, brother and sis-in-law all got Christmas presents from. So, being a January birthday and it still being the depths of winter - we had snow last night, I thought Sue herself might like one. I let her choose what she would like before Christmas and she went for the dog. Awesome!

Here he is with his ears down. They are double layered garter stitch and thick and squishy and cosy. 

But he's a clever design and has buttons that you can hook his ears onto so he has a Deputy Dawg look, too. Cuteness!

He is fleecy lined and I changed the pattern slightly to give him different nose (this is the panda's pattern) as I didn't like the one I was supposed to do. And I added the little whisker pad buttons as well to make him more......well, more like a dog. So I'm a bit happier with him; he is my least favourite pattern in the book but do love how this turned out. And he's my first finish-along finish! (my first quarter proposal is here) so I'm off to a great start!

Yarny deets:

Yarn: Wendy Serenity Chunky in cream and limestone

Needles: 7mm straight

Pattern: from the book "Animal Hats" by Vanessa Mooncie

Chez Chookie

We struggled a bit this Christmas with gift buying for our fast-growing Chook. So when my mother-in-law asked what they could buy her? It was well into December before we came up with something (Chook, bless her, has simple tastes and the few things she had asked for were already bought!) And then I remembered she had mentioned earlier in the year fancying a dollhouse. Or, more correctly, a miniature house since it's not actually for playing with. So the internet was hit hard and with her input we picked a kit for her.

And here it is, Chez Chookie. (I wanted Chateau Chook or Chook Towers but she vetoed them. Spoilsport) It's cute, no?

Of course, it didn't come like that. It was flat packed MDF that we had to build. And when I say we, I obviously mean I. Here is my dry fit to check all the pieces, it went together like a wee dream! 

And then it all had to come to pieces again to be primed and glued. Spouse got in on the act to Dremel a channel in some of the floors for the ceiling lights.

And here we are post priming during glueing. It took an entire day of the Christmas holidays to paint all that lot - it's just emulsion we had lying about though so it was free!

Here we go, all stuck together and the hinges screwed on. It's looking more like a house now!

And then there was choosing the colour scheme. So I got Chook on the case (I'm doing all the stinky graft work but it's still her house!) and she picked this sort of style. She wanted a stone effect, not just paint, and since the kit came with shutters this sparked her interest.

So an order was made with the money she got from my mother-in-law along with the house and a week later we had a roll of stone and slate papers. it looks like a different house with the paper on, dunnit? I wallpaper pasted instead of PVAing them on to give me a bit more wiggle room but the paper stretches really easily and it wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done!

A quiet morning at work last week saw me giving a final coat of paint on the front door and shutters - Chook herself had done the initial painting on them. 

And on Saturday the last bits were being stuck on. I didn't paper right up to the windows to give a white frame of the primer underneath.

And we all debated long and hard about whether to put on window ledges or not. Spouse and I would have left them on (on the right here) but Chook wasn't fussed so off they came. 

And all that was left to do was paint the last fiddly bits of trim like the roof edge (that fence was murder!!!) and stick them on. That's a bit of a change, eh? The roof lifts up so there's 6 rooms in all - I'll show the internals as we do them. This is a photo heavy post as it is!!

The front garden is just undercoated with appropriate colours, she wants proper model grass and a paved path in the future but it helps it look finished not being white. And we're on to the inside! The living room is painted and papered and we're waiting for a transformer for the lights. It's a modern model, not Victorian or Edwardian or Tudor and it's much more difficult to get 21st century pieces! But she's loving browsing websites and making plans - apparently it's going to be a single parent family! 

Finish-along 2016 quarter 1 proposal

I managed to fail to join in last quarter with the finish along (lets blame foreign holidays for that lapse in memory!) but have such a huge list of partial makes and want-to makes that I need to be kept accountable this year. So I'm going to add the whole lot here with the proviso that I'm not expecting to get anything like all of these finished in the next 3 months! But over the year? Mebbes.

The Iceland socks

This yarn was bought in 2014 in Reykjavik and the boot socks started last summer. I've one done and half of the other is languishing. Which is ridiculous, just knit it already!!

The Abbey coat

Winter might be over before I get this started let alone finished! The muslin is made and the fabric is prewashed and looking at me accusingly from the bannister. A priority!

Steampunk Blooms

This is a new one. I saw Jo's Jungle Blooms quilt online and ran out to buy the mag it is in (Today's Quilter) - I loved the low contrast between those free-form Dresdens and the large pieced background. As luck would have it, around about the same time I got my lovely Christmas parcel from Dee and it was full of beautiful beige and blue vintage maps and olde worlde style fabrics. So a Steampunk/vintage quilt for the bed is the plan!

Sue's hat

My mate gifted me the Animal Hats book that my family's Christmas hats came from and I have promised her one for her birthday on the 15th. Of January. *blinks* Top Priority!!

The skirt refashion

I bought this skirt from Kerry last summer because I loved the fabric and, I admit, I wanted to see how an experienced dressmaker finished things. It is beautiful and it fits (just!) but it's really not my style. I was thinking I might refashion it into something more me. Dunno what,  though... do I need another Moss mini? *g* Probably something like a Brumby, I think.

Socks for Spouse

Aye. He loved his last-minute socks so much that he has asked for "lots more pairs"!! *harumph* So I've bought Knitcol yarn that he picked and will knit him another pair because I'm an awesome wife.

Chrimbo cushions

I know, I know! It's early January - but remember this is a full year endeavour! I remarked in December on a lack of nice Christmas cushions - I have 2 quilts and nothing to go with them. So I bought these lovelies in the sale from my Bearpaw. I have no patterns yet, I'll see what comes up over the months.

Tree skirt

I know!! More Christmas stuff. I hoped to get this done this year but yeah. Time and all that. Dee sent Chook a tree skirt for her little bedroom tree and I was quite envious and then the cats tipped over a box in my room and I found this! This quilt was started by Cindy who, for some inexplicable reason, decided halfway through that she hated it. I jokingly said she should send it to me and she did!! So I think I might tree skirt it, isn't it lovely? 

Green mittens

I finished my beautiful Sakura shawl in the autumn and I haven't worn it yet. Whereas my purple one I finished after? Has hardly been off. I think the difference is my purple one has matching fingerless mittens - I need to keep my hands warm. Or at least stop them from getting cold or they go all white and waxy and numb and useless (I suffer from a mild Reynaud's phenomenon - a harmless but annoying condition) So. I have a skein of that beautiful green yarn left - mittens it is!!!

Kitchen curtain

Yuk. But this is a necessary just-do-it repair. Spouse spilled milk all over this curtain just before Christmas and the hot wash needed has shrunk it mightily!! I have a contrast fabric for the bottom but need to unpick and resew the lining and things. And again, yuk.

Cord skirt 

Fabric from The Village Haberdashery weeks and weeks ago. Another Moss mini? Or something Else? I'm not sure.

Baby Love

I'm still so wary about quilting this baby clothes quilt. Much more fearty than I was over cutting up the clothes! But at some point I just need to suck it up and put my big girl knickers on. Yikes.

Strawberry Tee

And finally (phew!!) a length of Heather Ross strawberries knit to have a first go at a tee shirt. Lets see how that goes. 

Enough to be going on with? Holy hell.  And this doesn't include vague plans with Archie to knit another shawl together starting at Easter or anything else I spy on my travels that I absolutely must make. I'm gonna be a busy girl!!