Sissy, Sand and Sage Advice

(But not in that order.) 

Many of you have great LYSs and/or a special person who can always bail you out when you’re stuck on a pattern, or when you want to substitute another yarn or…  I’ve not had that, not in the retail sense, so it makes Jeanne of Knitting Addiction such a treat.  I walked in with a pattern I’d ordered online and downloaded at home, mumbling and confused.  Didn’t bring my work in progress, but within seconds, Jeanne knew not only where my confusion came from, but she quickly cleared it up with a quick sketch and I was on my way.  (Note to all new lace/shawl knitters: Just because you start with five stitches doesn’t mean you’re *NOT* starting from the neck down.  Maybe that’s intuitively clear to most, but it wasn’t to me, and I felt so much better when Jeanne explained that she knew instantly how to “fix it” for me, because it hadn’t been clear to her either when she’d done a similar shawl, until she took it off the needles and manipulated it around.

Obviously, it needs to be blocked in a pin style, and that will happen this week.  Once it goes to its secret destination, I’ll share details.  And yes, you do see my patient and my faithful assistant there on the left.  I’ll be doing more lace and more shawls.  They’re as addictive as socks!

So, a Sissy status report.  We saw the third vet at our new clinic, who is actually the manager, owner, head honcho.  He’s incredible, and Sissy liked him too.  He gave her a shot of something to stop the vomiting, and it must be working.  So far, so good.  If this continues, she can have a few sips of water this evening, and some special “bad tummy” food in the morning…  He’s assuming that despite constant vigilance, she ate a bite of something that she shouldn’t have.  Sigh.  Life with a basset…

Sissy also wants y’all to know that while she loves the beach, especially the sand, the ocean is cold and pushy, cactus needles hurt the the lip and the pads of a girl’s feet, and one should never sleep too close to the edge on a sofa.  Dr. Chris (the vet) says it sounds as though tequila should be involved in there somewhere…  (I told you he was great!)  We didn’t know there was a tiny little cactus at the base of one of the piers under the house.  Sissy found it.  Twice.  She was asleep on the sofa with her ailing Dadaw, on her back, in his arm, and he moved.  She moved too, and hit her hip on the coffee table before landing on her feet like a cat.  Despite it all, she loved the sand and the way it would blow (or could be dug) out of the way to reveal another layer of smells and stuff to explore. 

 

Mugsy was tough, as usual, and didn’t mind the cold water. 

He even eyed this board thingee, but decided the neighbor kid wasn’t going to share too readily, so he moved on.

That’s the way those three spent Friday, Saturday and much of Sunday.  I don’t know if they sensed that the Knight wasn’t well, or whether the were annoyed by my rather large knitting project that made my lap a non-option.  And yes, the princess is well on her way to being the queen, because if you haven’t noticed, she’s quite often perched on a throne of some sort. 

Last, but hardly least, is my current work in progress.  It’s a neat little pattern - see my Ravelry notebook or wait until I’m done and I do the project review - perfect for watching a race and for riding for hour upon hour.  The yarn is another credit to Jeanne.  It isn’t something I would select normally, but the color is perfect, and it feels just like the name - Oh My!  I know my friend will love it, and now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to tend to an errand for the Knight and then head into town on my own errands, including picking up a book to help me select a pattern for the edge of this blankie.