If you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll be quite familiar with our household kitties, Dany and Hana. We've had Dany for about 10 years now, and Hana for 8.
They've been great companions, and Andrew loves them, so we put up with their various quirks. Dany has a taste for chips and popcorn but generally behaves , while Hana wails like a banshee for food whenever he's hungry, and makes a play for whatever food we have out, no matter what it is.
However, lately, they've developed some habits that have been quite problematic. They are now occasional litter box users, preferring to use our basement floor instead. It's gotten to the point where there are "presents" waiting for us pretty much every time we go down there. Yuck. We're pretty sure Hana is pooping on the floor out of spite (when we make him wait for food, or when he feels we've let Andrew play with him too much, or whatever else he doesn't like), and Dany is peeing on the floor because Hana is stressing her out when he tackles her and fights with her all the time. We've taken them to the vet to make sure there's nothing medically wrong with their waste disposal systems, so now we're down to figure out how to make them stop doing it. I'm pretty sure if we went down to a one-cat household, the problems would stop, but I don't want to do that because I really like both of them. Still, this can't continue, especially since we've got young child in the house.
So, any advice out there? We need help!!
We're plugging along over here in our little corner of the world. Andrew is almost a year old now, always on the go, doing lots of babbling, and eats so much that we can barely keep up with making food for him. All in all, it's been a most awesome year.
What isn't so awesome is how long it took me to finish knitting my sweater for him. I guess I can take solace in the fact that I got it done before he turned one.
It's yet another Tulip Sweater, but using just two colours instead of the eight that it usually is. Haven't tried it out on Andrew yet, but I hope it fits.
In other news, we are still trying to get my craft room set up.
We got an Expedit from Ikea, and it does a fantastic job of holding my stash and other goodies. Now all we need to get is a work table for me, and I'm going to start moving things like my computer, and a small filing cabinet, and then I'll have a little craft room/office. I'm really looking forward to that. Eventually, we're going to change the floor, but we decided not to wait for that to be done before actually using the room.
Can someone please tell me where the spring weather is? I remember it being nice and warm last year; warm enough for the cherry blossoms to bloom, for us to take super long walks, and for me to eat ice cream without a jacket on. The only reason I remember that is because we were waiting for Andrew to make his appearance, and we went on lots of walks to see if we could get labour going. I also find it weird that there is still hockey being played, and considering how long playoffs go for, we will still be watching hockey well into May, perhaps even until June. That's just not right.
I'm usually not the kind of person who puts any stock in Valentine's Day, and it's mostly because of the commercialization associated with it. I personally don't like being told that I have to buy presents, or be extra affectionate towards my loved ones because it's Feb 14. Even moreso, I hate being told that what I want are diamonds, flowers, or chocolate. Kinda like my wedding anniversary; I don't really care for gifts or anything, though I do like to reflect on how we've managed to build a life together as the years go by. But still, no need for gifts or special treatment. So, today as I was looking at store window after store window of pink and red, I got to thinking about why I feel that way about V-day and our anniversary, and I've come to the following conclusion. I don't like big gestures on certain days because it's the little gestures every day that mean the most to me. So, in honour of Monday, I thought I'd write down a few of the small things that my hubs does for me that I totally love. Thanks Jamie, and love you!
+ He puts up with my constant attempts to make him eat more veggies, and get over his dislike of broccoli. Even if he puts that little green floret in his mouth grudgingly, he still eats it.
+ Cleaning the kitty litter is his job. So is the vacuuming, snow shoveling, lawn mowing, and putting out the garbage on garbage day. He actually gets upset when I usurp these duties from him. I've only had to do those duties a handful of times since moving into our house, and it's usually only because he's away on business.
+ Doesn't question me when I return home with yet another skein of yarn claiming that I absolutely needed it. Forget that I have a healthy stash growing in our sun room.
+ Does his own laundry, and leaves the seat down.
+ Is completely understanding when I say I can't have [insert occasion of choice here] dinner with him because I have a dance practice/show/meeting/anything dance related.
+ Is the stage manager for our Chinese dance shows even though he can't speak Chinese, and our teacher can't speak English very well.
+ Understands just how much an hour of sleep means to me. This was true even before the baby was born, and so much moreso now that we've got Andrew.
+ Is willing to take public transit to work if I ever wanted the car to visit friends, or go on a shopping trip with Andrew during the week. I've never taken him up on the offer because it's a pain for him (he has to transfer from the TTC to the Mississauga line), but it's nice to know that the option is there.
+ Does two sink-fulls of dishes while I'm at rehearsal, and doesn't mention it when I get home.
+ Is the most awesome dad to our son, and the greatest partner I could have in trying to raise a good human being. Okay, this seems like a big one, but is again a case of lots of little things adding up to a big thing. I'm gonna save that list for Father's Day :)
HAPPY MONDAY!!
I've finally finished putting all the squares together for my friend's blanket. Now, that doesn't mean it's done, not by a long shot. One look at the photos will tell you why.
See all those ends that I need to weave in? Yeah...there's a whole lotta them. Plus there's a dark blue border that's supposed to go around the whole thing. But good lord, the ends that need weaving in...It's my least favourite part of completing a project, so I'm really hoping that I don't procrastinate too much on it. I'm setting myself a goal to weave in 3 ends every day, so hopefully it won't take too long.
I've started a new project too: the Five-Way Cable Shrug by Lily Chin. I've decided to make it using some Malabrigo that I've had stashed originally intending to knit myself a February Lady sweater with it. I've obviously changed my mind about the sweater, and think that the shrug will be a nice versatile piece that will be great in the transition from winter to spring. I think I may even have enough yarn left over to make a hat, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see!
I'm a little late to wish everyone a Happy New Year. Whoops! So, instead I'll jump the gun and wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Year, and a great Year of the Rabbit. Haha!
Not a whole lot for me to report craft-wise. I've been busy getting some stuff ready that I'll hopefully get to talk about in another post once everything is officially settled. I do intend to get back to crafting very soon though. I've gotten back to that blanket that needs finishing, and I'm making it my goal to get it done before the end of Feb.
As I'm typing this, Jamie is resting on the couch re-watching Battlestar Galactica, and it's a bit distracting. He's getting over some sort of stomach bug, so I've been doing a little cooking. I made a potato soup thinking that it would be fine for him, but he didn't seem interested in the end. Oh well. More for me! I also made some really insane cookies.
They look pretty innocuous, but don't be fooled. They are actually 3 cookies in 1. Observe what happens when you cut it open.
Forgive the blurry photo, but you'll notice that nestled within the chocolate chip cookie dough is an Oreo cookie. I ate one after they were baked, and seriously don't think I could handle eating more than one or two a day, they are that rich and powerful. But man, are they yummy cookies!
Now I'm off to check up on the little man. I put him to bed a little while ago, but I know he wasn't asleep. Can you believe he's already 9 months old?! Here's a couple shots of him that we took fairly recently.
He actually enjoys banging at the piano quite a lot. We'll see if he actually wants to take piano lessons when he's older.
Feeding himself is not something he's very good at just yet.
Being a cutie while trying to look serious.
Can't wait to see what else he gets up to in the next little while!
So, how was everyone's holidays? Right now, we're in Ottawa, enjoying time with Jamie's family. Andrew's been having a ball with his grandparents, and uncles & aunties. Since he's nice and occupied most of the time, I'm going to use this opportunity to update the blog a little. I've got a few FOs to talk about, so let's get to it!
Pattern: Mary Jane Booties by Sublime Yarns
Yarn: Sublime Extra Fine Merino DK
Needles: US4
I made these for my friend Becky's new daughter. These were pretty fun to make, and I really wanted to make some cute baby booties at some point in time, but those aren't really on the menu for Andrew. Again, the pattern wasn't very well written, but worked out pretty well in the end.
Next up is a little something for myself.
Pattern: Angee Socks from Sock Innovation by Cookie A.
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM
Needles: US2
I've been working on these for a while - just over a whole year! I finished the first pretty quickly, and then fell victim to the dreaded Second Sock Syndrome. This pair was finished on the ride up to Ottawa. Cookie A. always seems to have fun patterns, and Angee was no exception. I made a mistake and increased the heel every row instead of every other row, but it actually made for a really good fit. The socks are SO comfortable, and really reminded me why I love hand-knit socks.
I also got some crafty stuff from Jamie's siblings for Christmas, and I can't wait to make some of the projects!
This trip to Ottawa has been really productive from a crafter's point of view. For Boxing Day, we popped into a Michaels, and I managed to procure some new yarn.
This was a real steal for less than $8.99 a skein. There's over 450m in one of those suckers! I originally picked up 3; the sticker price was $12.99 and didn't feel like much of a savings. But then we went to pay, and I was surprised to see what they rung up. I even got 25% off the whole thing. So, I went back for 2 more skeins. I'm thinking of making a nice, cable sweater; still debating if the sweater should be for me, or for the hubby.
Hope everyone had a great holidays, and here's looking forward to an awesome 2011!
Back in August, the three of us were in Picton attending Jamie's cousin's wedding. While there, I stumbled upon a wonderful little shop called the Rose Haven Farm Store. I could have easily spent a few hours in that store, but since we had a wedding to go to, I tried to keep my yarn ogling to a minimum. But that didn't mean I left empty handed. Knowing that winter would be hitting us before we could say 'in denial', it seemed like a good idea to make a hat for Andrew. We saw a cute little sample hat all knit up, and I decided that I'd make one for our little guy too. Fast forward to the end of November, and the hat was finally finished! I'm just slow at posting about stuff these days.
Pattern: Retro Flying Helmet by Sublime Yarns
Size: 6-12 months
Yarn: Sublime Extra Fine Merino DK (I forget the name of the colour now)
Needles: US6 for the stockinette, US4 for the seed stitch
This was a fun little knit. I kinda fiddled with the pattern a little though. The way it's written (and by the way, I have to say that I hated the way the pattern was written up - took a few read-through's in order to figure out just what they wanted me to do in certain sections), you knit each ear flap separately, knit the front flap, pile all the stitches from those sections on your needles and knit it all back and forth to make the body of the hat, then sew up the back seam. Well, I hate sewing seams, so I decided to knit the body of the hat in the round, and that seemed to work just fine. Seeing as I hate finishing, it bugged me a bit to have all sorts of ends to have to weave in, as well as sew the front flap down as it's purely decorative. Oh well.
I need to get over my dislike of finishing somehow - when it comes to knitting/crochet, it is truly the area where I am the least skilled. I've heard so many times that this is where your projects cross over from homemade to handmade, but I can't seem to make it over that hump. I often feel like everything I make still resides in the "homemade" category because of my lack of skill in finishing. Still, I know I've improved. Recently, I found the first pair of mittens I'd made; they were the Sacred & Profane mittens by Jillian Moreno. Oh boy, were those a mess in terms of finishing. You know that feeling you get where you stumble on an essay you wrote in, like, grade 6 that you thought was awesome at the time, but now realize had the same skill level as a monkey typing randomly at a typewriter? That's how I felt.
In any case, my model didn't seem to mind my lack of finishing skills.
The hat is still a touch too big for him, and the type of snowsuit we got him (which is so cute, I may have to post a photo of him in it here) already has a really nice hood built in. Still I may get him to use the hat a few times before the winter is through. It's not like he can say no yet anyway!
