Meeting Coleslaw

I got a puppy!

Meet Coleslaw! She's a two and a half month old terrier mix, and currently about four pounds. So far her favorite things appear to be climbing and chewing, although "jumping in the grass" seems to be moving up the ranks. She is so small—her entire head is smaller than my fist—and endlessly curious.

I sent an application in to the shelter last week, and on Friday her foster mom contacted me to set up a meeting, so yesterday I took a personal day to drive out, and she wriggled into my heart pretty quickly. (She actually wriggles a lot. It's the puppy energy.) (Yes, she picked out her own stuffed toy, and yes, she chose the octopus that's as big as she is.)

I wasn't really planning on a puppy—my mum had brought it up as a possibility, and I was initially hesitant about taking on all the work of training and socializing a puppy, but Coleslaw seemed like such a good fit. It's been so fun watching her explore so far, and I can't wait to see how she grows up. I'm already planning on enrolling us in puppy classes once she's gotten all her shots, and in the meantime we're working on name recognition (the shelter named her, so her foster mom has already been working on that with her) and getting used to the leash right now, as well as "come here." 

Coleslaw is such a tiny joy, and I'm so excited that we found each other. We got Mystic as a puppy when I was a teenager, and I'm really looking forward to sharing that lifelong relationship with Coleslaw as well.

A Sweater and Organization

I hinted at this sweater last week, and here's proof of life. I love these colors, and I'm really hoping I did the stripe math correctly—I have five skeins of the gold, two of the orange, and just one of the darker mustard-ish color. My plan is a very basic drop-shoulder crew neck. It's not going super quickly, but I am enjoying the process. I've been doing a few rows in the evenings while watching tv—I'm on a Star Wars kick right now—and it's been a nice routine to get back into.

I've also been working on some organization in my apartment. My front closet has been a disaster since I moved in, with things just thrown in there. I got some storage bins to hold old knitting samples, so those are put away nicely, and I got my Christmas and Hanukkah decorations put away in there as well. The closet shelf was missing, so I had Lowe's cut down some six inch planks for me to replace it, which makes the closet so much more functional. There's still plenty of room for other things that I'll need to store in there, so I'm taking my time to make sure I'm making the most effective use of the space. So far I've freed up some space in my bedroom closet, which was very cramped, and I'm glad my clothes have some breathing room now! 

Lake Time

Well, it has been a few weeks, hasn't it? I spent most of last week at a lake cottage with my family—I read five books, did a puzzle, and watched lots of waterfowl! 

It was a great getaway, and I was able to unplug and leave my phone in the other room a lot of the time, which was really nice. The cottage was perfect, and the lake was beautiful. It was a no-wake lake, so it stayed nice and quiet, and I saw lots of geese and ducks and even a few blue herons. 

I also started a new sweater with some vintage wool I picked up at a church bazaar (maybe last year??). I'm really loving it so far, but I don't have any proper pictures of it yet. I was hoping that starting something brand new and low-key would help me get my knitting mojo back, and I think it's helping. I'm certainly not knitting as much as I did three and four years ago, and I don't know if I'll get back to that level, but I'd like to knit a few times a week, at least. 

Hope August is treating you all well!

12 july 2023

So. It's been a rough week. I don't do well without something to take care of, and the truth is, my fish doesn't actually need very much. I keep expecting to see Lee Lee underfoot, and I know it's going to take some time to get used to her being gone. 

Lee Lee required a lot of attention and energy the last several months, and it's weird to turn all that back towards taking care of myself. I've been making burrito bowls and focusing on deep cleaning my apartment, which help some. 

I'm also trying to make myself pick up my knitting more—I started this My Little Secret Crop from Jessie Maed Designs (ravelry link) a year ago, and it just needs straps now (the worst part). I'm using the leftovers from my Rhys sample (ravelry link), although it looks like I'm still going to have a chunk of leftovers still. 

This week I'm planning to start a new sourdough starter—the one I started a couple weeks ago hadn't quite fully established and didn't survive the stress of the last couple weeks. In its early days, it was looking great, so hopefully as long as I can stay on top of feedings I'll have a solid new starter soon! 

Lee Lee

I first saw Lee Lee on the humane society website about two months after Mystic died. I wasn't quite ready for another dog, but I was so drawn to her. Her description said she liked sleeping on the couch and long walks to her food bowl. I was smitten. I kept an eye on her listing—something in me said I needed to meet her, that she was the one. A month after I first saw her online, I finally went in to meet her in person. I brough her home that day. 

Just a couple days after she came home, she climbed on top of a table and jumped off it, giving me a mild heart attack. Within her first couple months, she climbed on another table to eat a bowl of chocolates. She was fine, and chocolate remained her favorite food (I would sneak her tiny crumbs of it for her birthday and xmas). 

Lee Lee loved being outside. She was all nose, and would happily spend hours sniffing around the garden at our old apartment. She was a huge cuddlebug, too, frequently burying herself in piles of pillows and stuffed animals. She loved having her ears scratched, especially her left one. 

She hated baths. Once she jumped out of the sink while I was bathing her. Whenever I took a bath, she'd anxiously check on me, making sure I was okay. It was extremely concerning to her that I would willingly sit in the tub. I don't know how many baths I took while we were together, but it was a lot, and she never came around to the concept. 

She tolerated her sweatshirts and pajamas, but her winter coat was beyond the pale. As soon as I put it on her she'd lie on her side with her legs straightened out stiffly. Unfortunately for her, I remained unmoved by her protests, especially when it got down to twenty and thirty below zero. 

I often say that Mystic taught me how to love, but Lee Lee taught me that I could love again. I was constantly amazed at how deeply she embedded herself in my heart, and I feel so blessed that I was able to exist in the same spacetime as her for the past few years.

Last week her back legs started bothering her a lot. I thought it was her arthritis flaring up. On Thursday, she'd been pretty much stuck on the ground, unable to stand, and on Friday I took her to the emergency vet for some pain relief. The emergency vet said there was something wrong with her spine, that it could be something like a herniated disc or cancer pressing on her spinal cord. I declined imaging and surgery, taking home meds to keep her comfortable, hoping that whatever was pressing on her spine would resolve itself with rest and time. 

She declined very quickly over the weekend, and the last time I saw any hint of her personality was on Saturday morning. On Monday morning I called our regular vet, and they got us in just a couple hours later to say goodbye. We both knew it was time.

I'm so glad I got to hold her as she died. 

She was such a good dog.

I miss her. 

Catching Up

It has been a crazy couple of weeks, but hopefully (fingers crossed) we're on an upswing now. The flooding is now resolved (hopefully permanently—knock on wood!) after several visits from maintenance and some work in the pipes behind my dishwasher. It's been about a week and a half since "the big fix" and I haven't had any more problems yet.

At the beginning of last week I came down with some kind of bug—thankfully I caught it quickly enough that I was only down for a day and a half, and Nurse Lee Lee stepped up to offer cuddle therapy.

As soon as I was feeling better, the coolant leak in my car reached the point where I really oughtn't drive it anywhere but the mechanic, so the past week has been an adventure of learning the bus system and nervously waiting for my car's appointment at the shop this coming Friday. Hopefully it's a quick (and relatively inexpensive!) fix and I'll have my car back for the weekend. 

Obviously this has all been a little stressful, so I decided to unpack a few more boxes and get myself feeling a bit more settled in my apartment. I have a collection of large ceramic and plaster cats that hadn't been unpacked, and it's nice to have them out in my living room now.

 

I've also done some baking the past couple days, and finally started a new sourdough starter—I had decided to throw away my old one when I packed up my old apartment because I didn't want to worry about moving it and fitting it in my car with everything else that couldn't go in the moving containers, and I just hadn't gotten around to starting a new one yet. The new one is just a couple days old and nowhere near mature yet, but it is starting to smell yeasty!

Return of the Water

Good news: I am enjoying my weekend retail job and I am very excited to be having some extra money come in.

Bad news: My apartment has flooded twice in the past week.

 

It's the kitchen main again—still? I've got dirty water coming up into the sink and dishwasher and leaking out all over the apartment. I am so tired of this, and maintenance is so tired of it, and I don't know when it'll be fully fixed. All of the maintenance workers have been great, but this is still very stressful, and my apartment has been a disaster since last Wednesday night because I had to pick up everything from the floor and pile it on my furniture.

Did I mention that this has been very stressful?

I am, understandably, very tired of dealing with this. I'm hoping that I'll hear something definitive about a long-term solution this week, but until then I'm coping with romance novels, potatoes, and Lee Lee cuddles. 

A Numbers Week

1. Numbers today bc it has been a very busy week for me.

2. I picked up a weekend retail job to help pay off some medical and moving bills and build my savings back up, and this past weekend was my first weekend working. It went well, and I think I'm going to enjoy it. One thing I did learn during my first day on the floor—I definitely need more food when I'm working on my feet all day than I do when I'm working at my computer!

3. Since I don't have weekends off anymore, I've been trying to work out my routines so that I'm still getting enough rest and taking proper care of myself. Fortunately, I've had some time knowing this was coming, so I've been able to work out exactly what I need to stay healthy, and I think I'm in a good place. Right now I'm just focusing on listening to myself and taking things slowly, and being patient as I adjust.

4. There has not been much knitting this week, but I'm really hoping to get back to it this week, because...

5. Yu Ra is hosting the Quiet Queers Craft-Along again this year on Instagram, and I'm really looking forward to it! I'm a participating designer, and I've been looking through all the other participating designers' portfolios to pick out my project. 

6. Reading-wise, I have FINALLY gotten into the Murderbot Diaries, and yes, they are as good as everyone says, if you still haven't picked them up yet. I'm currently on the third, and I just got the fourth one delivered via Libby yesterday. 

Shasta

Shasta is a pair of lightweight, cabled leg warmers. Knit in the round from the bottom up, the narrow cables and ribbing are reminiscent of tall grasses and flower stems.

Ravelry Link    Payhip Link

I've also transitioned my Ravelry and Payhip shops to tiered pricing. This is something I've been thinking about for a while, especially as we're dealing with runaway inflation and descending into a recession. My new base prices are $9 for accessories and $12 for garments, with discounted tiers at 20% off, 35% off, and 50% off. The discount codes are listed on each pattern page.

Spring Cleaning

 

 

This week I've been on a little bit of a tidying spree—turns out that organizing the buffet really kicked me into cleaning and organization mode! Over the weekend I cleaned my bedroom and vacuumed and mopped all my floors, which felt amazing, and Monday after work I tidied my desk. It had gotten a bit overrun with knitting projects and trash, and I had never 100% set up the cubbies, so it feels good to have everything set up and cleaned off.

My current knitting project is a shawl sample, and almost 100 grams into it I decided that I wanted a slightly different shape and ripped it out to start over. I'm now almost halfway through the yarn that I ripped out, and I'm feeling much better about the finished project. 

Hope you're all having a great week!