Oh the Shame of it All...

Don't worry too much about the title of this - it's actually my view of Spud's thoughts - well the ones that can be published.  You see she was spayed on Friday - and all went well until we were told she needed an E-collar (cone of shame) to keep her from licking the incision site.  OK, not a big deal except the store was out of the plastic traditional cones.  So it was suggested we get one of the inflatables.  They look a bit like a horse collar; blow it up and velcro it around the neck.  $20.00 plus tax.  One (the last one in the store in that size) purchased and applied as directed as soon as we got home.  Spud is stumbling around like a drunken sailor on Friday.  She goes into her room and I rush to Fiber in the 'Boro to get the Spinner's Circle aka Fiber Circle going and start spinning.  (more on that later)

Saturday I was gone all day - and apparently Ms Spud slept most of the day.

Sunday she slept near me all day.  If she tried to lick the site, I'd just put my hand in the way; she'd slurp on that and go back to sleep.

Today:  It.is.alive!  Overnight that cat learned how to roll up to lick the site and opened the skin layer, removing some/a stitch(es).  So we made a trip back to the vet, got superglued and got a real cone of shame.  All instructions, from the vet and on the cone, said to make sure there was 2 fingers of space between the cone and the cat.  Done:  proof is in the photos:

 She's headed in reverse trying to back out of the cone.  Didn't seem to work.  I did some things then looked to see how she was doing.  She was in her cat box with the cone in place.  I sat down and ate lunch.

After lunch, looked for cat.  Ms Spud emerged from behind the couch... without the cone.  I began a cone search and can't find the $#@%^ thing anywhere.  I looked in and under and behind both couches.  I looked under chairs.  I looked in her room to see if I could see it in there.  It is gone.  I don't know what she did or how she did it but that stupid cone is gone.

OK back to the inflatable.  Since she can roll herself up to lick the site, I had to jury-rig something to try to keep her tongue away from the superglued incision.  Here's the result and the reason for the title.  The shaved part on her front leg is where her IV went.  She could care less about it.

So on to other things: 

Quilting:  Making progress: This one was taken 10/8
This one taken today:  It may not look like much but it is hand stitched at about 12 stitches to the inch.  That's twice as many as most garments you purchase today are sewn at.  When I worked at Levi Strauss, the jackets were sewn at 6 to the inch and I guess they still are.

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When I finish this block (some diagonal lines to fill the white background of the feathered wreath, I'll move to the next star point that you can see on the right.  The upper half is done, but the lower half of diamonds need to be quilted with 1/4" seams.  There are 100 diamonds in each large diamond.  That means 800 diamonds, 4 triangular spaces and 4 square spaces each with feathered wreaths or portions of and stitched lines creating the background stitched from the seams between diamond patches.  OK clear as mud and sorry 'bout that.  Let me see if I can find a better photo to show what I mean.  Looking at the photo below, the left side is done except for the border.  The top white triangle and the white blocks on the right need to be done along with the outer halves of the big diamonds.  I'll take a photo of the reverse for the next entry as that fabric is the same as the border so the quilting will show up better.  

Knitting and spinning also continue.  Fiber in the 'Boro was last weekend and was the 2nd annual.  We were in a bigger barn at the Ag Center in Murfreesboro, TN.  We were also on cement rather than wood shavings which makes spinning much less of a challenge.  There seemed to be about the same or slightly more people then last year and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.     This young man is learning how to feed spoil an alpaca.  The lady alpacas seemed to love the attention.  The one being fed is named Emmy if I remember correctly and her home is Cedar Rock Ranch in Lebanon, TN.  

I was good and only made one purchase.  I'd been spinning white Corriedale fleece and just needed some color.  So I bought some silk hankies and started playing with them.

The unspun hankies are draped over the tension device for the wheel.  I'm different in that I just start at a corner and draft as I spin.  Most spinners prefer to draft the fiber first then spin.  That's too much invitation to snarl and make a huge mess in my world.  I'll ply this back on itself a few times - maybe a six-ply - to make a bow for granddaughter #2 who wants a hedgehog and a cow for Christmas.  I have a pattern for the hedgehog and her favorite color is pink...One down, 5 more to go.  I think all the boys will get hats and the other girl will get an Irish crocheted mask.  She's into costumes right now.  Hope she is still interested at Christmas.

Knitting continues with socks and more socks in process and a finished object - also for Christmas for someone.  Since they don't read this blog I'm safe to post photos.

 

From the top we have 2 measures of Joy.  I have to embroider the notes, clef and time signature then line it and it's done.

Next are a pair of socks in merino with some cashmere.  They will be bed socks for my mom as I think they are too big to wear with shoes.

Finally Spring Wings, my version of Wingspan.  This is knit with a Zauberball and I lucked out as to the way the colors fell.  Much better than I hoped.  Again, a present for someone.  

That's all for now and I go back to the salt mines and get some other work done.

Enjoy!