Thursday, May 26, 2011

More shorties!


(Ravelry details here.)

These are why I didn't play along with the Yarn Along yesterday. I was too busy knitting to stop and take a picture! Whew! These medium/large shorties are now listed in my Etsy shop. I love the colors in this yarn. It reminds me of mossy stones and mushroom forests. I have just enough left for another pair.

Next up.. well, I'm not sure yet. I need to figure out how to adjust the Shalom Cardigan pattern so that I can possibly join in with a Knit Along. I also have enough of my lovely silk yarn for a sweater/top for myself.

Can you imagine? Me knitting for myself? Crazy, I know.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Operation Opossum Rescue!



It's Wednesday and I'm in the bedroom nursing the Beast to sleep (it works for us, don't judge) for a nap in the middle of the afternoon. The Elf comes running in (which is strictly against the "rules" when babies are trying to sleep). He informs me that there is a baby opossum outside eating the food I put out for Constantine (a neighborhood cat - the litter mate of one of our rescues). Now, we're used to opossums and raccoons eating leftover cat food. But in the middle of the day? That's weird. So I think to myself that clearly there is something wrong, but that the Elf is probably exaggerating - we get smallish opossums sometimes, but not *baby* ones.

Eventually I give up on trying to get the Beast to sleep. Cynddl, our lab mutt, is whining in the hallway, the older kids are excitedly exclaiming about the opossum. I get up, instructing the Elf to watch his brother. The Imp and I venture outside. And there, next to our front door, is the tiniest opossum I've ever seen. Small enough to cup in one hand. It was obviously terrified - opening it's little mouth and making these not-growling noises at me. After trying to climb the side of the house, it crawled along the edge of the house and disappeared around the corner.

I love opossums. They are sweet, beautiful creatures. They get a bad reputation for all manner of reasons. Some can be justified. Others are just.. stereotypes and misinformation. Either way, we welcome wild animals into our yard. But we don't touch them, we don't interfere with them. However, this little guy was clearly much too young to be on his own. But I couldn't go running off after him. He was scared and I had kids to take care of.

That night, it came back. Perched on our front window ledge it seemed to be trying to cuddle up to one of our cats through the glass. The older two boys were already in bed and the youngest was working his way there. B did some quick research online and we decided it would be best to try and catch it so that we could take it to a wildlife rehabilitation center. While I nursed the Beast to sleep while sitting on the couch, B readied the cat carrier and went outside armed with some towels. Apparently, the teeny, terrified opossum just let B pick him up (in a towel, of course). Opossums are extremely docile. They look terrifying with their pointy jaws and tiny, sharp teeth. But they're so calm. We got it settled in the carrier, gave it food and water (B even fed it water from a dropper) and put it (and the Beast) to bed in our room (on the dresser where the kids can't reach).



I woke up a great many times during the night to the sound of scratching and bar rattling. In the morning we checked on it and it had wrapped itself into a teeny ball inside of an old shirt. It had eaten and defecated, so we knew it was at least relatively healthy. After the center opened, B drove to St. Francis Wildlife Association with the opossum and the Imp. The people there confirmed that it was indeed too young to be on it's own - needing at least five more weeks of care before it could really survive on it's own.

That's our opossum story. Thanks to my lovely and compassionate husband we were able to help an orphaned baby have a better chance of survival. B is an amazing person. He rescues mice from our cats, stops in the middle of streets to move turtles from the road to the grass. He let me adopt and rescue nine cats (okay, seven - two I had before I met him) and two dogs (one of which, sadly, does not live with us anymore). He generally catches bugs to move them outside rather than kill them. He helps corral birds and butterflies off of our dilapidated "screened" porch (that is *covered* in spider webs). I love this man - he is my hero.

Friday, May 20, 2011

{this moment} - baby rescue!

A Friday ritual inspired by Soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor and remember.



(Yes, there will be a follow-up post with the story behind this. I cheat, move on.)

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Yarn Along - Headband failure!

I decided to participate in the Yarn Along I've read about on several blogs. You can be a part, too. Stop by Small Things to read about it.



Blergh. I worked so hard on this thing. I wanted a headband thingy because the one I bought about three years ago from a trendy store in the mall keeps getting misplaced. I took this picture this morning - fingers tired and aching. All those yarn overs and knit-two-togethers. And the stupid thing is too big now that I've finished it. It's lovely and I'm thrilled with the way it looks. But I'd need a giant-sized head. Literally. It'd make a great neck warmer/cowl/whatever. But I live in Florida - home of the hot. I don't do neck warmers. Boo. So now I've cast on this and if we're being honest, I think it's going to be too small. No, I can't win, why do you ask?

I'm reading The Jefferson Key by Steve Berry. It's an advanced reader copy I got through LibraryThing. I've been a bit slow reading it and getting it reviewed, though - it was officially available in stores yesterday. Oops.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Swaps!

I've been knitting like crazy lately. First I finished up a doll for Belle + Bee.









I used this hair tutorial for her hair. I suspect it takes practice, because I don't think I did it very well. It looks okay, but it's just not the sort of coverage I was going for. So I made her a headband - which spurred me to start one for myself, too (which I'll try to post about for tomorrow's Yarn Along).

And then, I finished up my items for the Wings of Spring Bird Swap. I started out with some owls (pattern here). Then I added some lovebirds (pattern here). While helping the Elf learn to fold paper cranes, I decided to throw in a few of those. And then the whole thing looked like it really needed a nest. So I made some (pattern here).





And here are the Elf's cranes for the kids' bird swap. We've had to ship them flat (and folded in half!).

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Life, the Universe, and Yarn.

The past two weeks have been craziness. The Beast's birthday, B's birthday, free comic book day, Mother's Day - not to mention that B was home from work for more than a week! Whew. Craziness. Now B has gone back to work (unfortunately) and things are slowly sliding back to normal paces. Except that the Imp woke up vomitting at 6:30 this morning.

A few good things:









- B made a kite with the older boys out of slick paper, bamboo, hemp twine, and a can tab. And tape. Lots of tape. It didn't fly, but they had fun trying.

- Yesterday, while getting the mail, the younger boys and I discovered hydrangea blooms in our yard (from a neighbor's bush that has grown wildly out of control). We decided to pick a few (we knew she wouldn't mind - especially since she hasn't lived in the house for nearly a year and her yard is going crazy). The Imp kept wanting "more! more!" He even requested that I take a few steps over the property line for the oh-so-beautiful blue ones. Amazingly, the cats haven't tried to eat these (as they usually do with anything remotely green that I bring in the house).

- Sonya gave me some yarn once upon a time. It's been sitting on my shelf, waiting for a project. I decided to dye it (with easter egg dye - safe for kidlets) for doll hair. The orange was supposed to be more of a variegated yellow/brown - oops. The blue should have been more blue and less green. But I like it.

- The doll I'm making for Bell + Bee is finally coming along. I'm trying out a new (to me) way to add the hair. I'm using this tutorial, though I don't think I'm doing a very good job of it. It looks okay (I've added more hair since this photograph), but I think I'll keep looking for another way to do it.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Yarn Along!

I decided to participate in the Yarn Along I've read about on several blogs. You can be a part, too. Stop by Small Things to read about it.

I didn't get around to taking a picture for the Yarn Along until this evening. And then, within an hour, I'd completed my knitting project. So here are the images.






Ravelry notes are here. I didn't block them (because I don't know how) and my arms are a bit too big for them. They were made for the lovely We Bloom Here in return for a catapulting pixie game she made for my boys (and some aromatherapy oil and an adorable peg faerie).

I'm reading Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison. Again, my book was elsewhere when I was photographing things. Oops.

I'll leave you with one of the very few pictures ever taken of me that I don't mind. B took it from the top of a staircase at Wakulla Springs on the Beast's birthday (we're both loving our new camera - can you tell?.