It's time to party!

Okay. So the Knitter's Frolic is in two days. Saturday, if you knit and you're in Toronto, you're likely going to be there. It ends at 4pm. What will you do with yourself afterwards?

Why, you're going to offload your new goodies, have a little dinner and then come down to Lettuce Knit to celebrate with us! [70 Nassau Street in Kensington Market]

Yes, the More Big Girl Knits book launch party is this Saturday at 7pm.

We will have cupcakes from Life Is Sweet [come early. they'll go fast.]
We will have a ton of door prizes.
We will have JILLIAN in person for the first time in Toronto in ages.
We will have a live Irish all-woman band playing us into the evening [we <3 the Polka Dots!]
We will have all the garments from the book for you to try on and feel great in!

And much more. Denny has promised, if we get her drunk enough, to do a nice jig.

Shannon Okey will be there. Oh, yeah -- I'll be there, too.

Please come!

And since we've spent nearly every penny of our advance actually producing the book and what was left on the cupcakes, we hope you will BYOB. Thank you.

Bring your knitting! Wear a sweater [it will get cool when the sun goes down and you won't want to go home that early]! Bring a folding chair if you feel like it!

See you Saturday!

p.s. Yup, I was on BT again this morning. When I can get my laptop to talk to the Tivo, I'll get the clip up. Wait till you see the kickass models I found for the sweaters this time!

my japanese sheepy likes the B-52s

Dangit, you guys left so many cool comments about the contest that I finally learned Blogger comments has a feature for multiple pages. To celebrate the celebrating about our celebration, I bring you a dancing sheepy!




I bought this little dancing sheepy from some place in Japan [online, of course]. I have no idea why anyone [but me] would want one of these, but it does make me giggle. The blue base? It's the same size as the top of a plastic soda bottle and it's threaded on the inside. Does that mean you're expected to take your dancing sheepy with you as you drink your Tab?

I love Japan. Maybe one day I'll get there.

a Friday gift

We get Project Runway in Canada a month [or more?] after you US guys get it. So I'm always a little behind, but still obsessed. Tivo also helped this season by missing a whole bunch of episodes that it's just now recording, and even though I know who won, I love the show enough to watch the missed stuff out of order. The main reason: this man. Tim Gunn. I adore him.

It occurred to me last night that someone somewhere must have a Tim Gunn ringtone, and so I went looking.

Nothing.

So I made my own. Except that all the true Tim sound bytes I found were fuzzy or indistinct because of all the production music. It's more than amusing, I think, that my final ringtone isn't Tim, but Santino-as-Tim. Feel free to pilfer and use at will.

Happy Friday!

um, wow.

This is Tracey. This picture pretty much sums up yesterday's launch party at Threadbear. People walked in as normal folks, tried on sweaters, and turned into coquettish vixens of Big Girl bounty and beauty. Click on Tracey's name above to read her account of the afternoon. She's not on our publisher's payroll, promise.

It really was a beautiful thing to see everyone stripping in the middle of a yarn store [down to t-shirts, people -- there was no nudity :-) ] and trying on all the sweaters from the book. Some were quiet. Some were squee-machines. All were smiling at one point during the day [for some, it was ALL DAY]. Here, look:



And here is Jillian, getting a huge, long hug from a knitter [I'm sorry I don't remember your name!] who tried on Cable Love, walked right over to J and thanked her for making her feel beautiful. We all welled up. It was a seriously beautiful moment, and she DID look super fabulous, too. So many smiles. So many women surprised at how they could look in a sweater that was designed to fit them and flatter their figure.

We laughed, we gave advice, we picked colors, and then picked new ones because the selection was so big it was hard to choose! We ate cupcakes without apology. We had an absolutely fabulous day.

Thank you to Rob and Matt, our beloved Threadbear boys. They give the best hugs, and the cupcakes were MORE than promised. We wanted to eat one of each flavor, but managed to top out at 2 or 3. We gave out new Big Girl and Knitty buttons and we mostly laughed until our sides were sore. More pictures can be found on my Flickr, but I leave you with this:



We're going to try to do it all again in two weeks at Lettuce Knit. Will you be there?

massimo, post-mod

wanna play that game we used to play in Highlights magazine? Spot the differences between these two pictures!





did you get them all?

last summer's mods:
- windshield
- rabbity magnet, via etsy seller skinnylaminx

this spring's mods:
- new top box [aka scooter trunk] found on ebay
- turn signal pods removed -- now turn signals are back inside the white lenses at the front where they were meant to be
- and the last one...you can't see that one. it looks like this:



[and it's actually LOUDER than the cheesy mic on my camera could capture. fun times.]

My tax dollars at work!

This is really cool. I was contacted by Karen at Library and Archives Canada [a government agency that keeps a record of all publications in the country]. When she first wrote, I wondered if I was in trouble, but it's just the opposite.

I am writing to you today on behalf of Library and Archives Canada with a request to archive and make accessible your online journal, Knitty, http://www.knitty.com/ . Library and Archives Canada's mandate is to ensure this country's printed and recorded heritage is acquired, preserved and made accessible for present and future generations. To that end, we would like to ensure that our collection includes your online journal, Knitty.

In January 2007, the Legal Deposit Act was extended to include electronic publications and web sites. As a Canadian publisher, you are required to send us your online publication so that we may archive it and make it available for future generations of Canadians...We would take a periodic snapshot of your website in order to have a copy of the current issue, store the files on our servers, make them available to the public in the Library's Electronic Collection and make information about the online journal available in AMICUS, our online database which is used by reasearchers, libraries, schools and book sellers.

How freaking cool is that?

Anyway, Karen wrote today and the archiving is complete. She'll be adding to it every year with our new issues. Wanna see? Here it is. Our advertisers might be amused that their ads will live on forever, too!

I never plan to take Knitty down, ever [!], but this is a nice thing.

Crazy go nuts day!

I can think of no better way to celebrate Harlot day in Toronto than by buying her book AND ours, which was just released this very day. Even.

Don't forget -- we're having launch parties in TWO CITIES for More Big Girl Knits, and everyone is invited.

More Big Girl Knits launch party, v 1.0
location: Threadbear Fiber Arts, East Lansing, MI
date: April 13th, 1pm
the boys know how to throw a big party and we can't wait!

More Big Girl Knits launch party v 1.1
location: Lettuce Knit, Toronto, ON
date: April 26th, 7pm [conveniently timed to let you finish up at the Knitter's Frolic and then come and join us in Kensington Market!]

Jillian and I will be at both parties, as well as
- samples from the book [possibly their only appearance en masse as we have to return them to the designers shortly]
- cupcakes
- the new Big Girls book in the flesh [both shops will have them for sale]
- DOOR PRIZES, people

what I did during Earth Hour

I was reading the latest issue of Spin Off by battery operated lantern light and realized that if I didn't pull out the wheel right then, I was clearly missing a strange anachronistic opportunity.

So this was me, spinning by candlelight [and a little battery-operated Coleman lantern], and it was very nice. I'm working on filling a bobbin with aqua-blue bamboo, and got quite a nice bit done tonight. Remarkable how much of spinning is touch-based, so not a lot of light was needed. Then again, I haven't really looked at what I spun in the dark. :-)

Have I mentioned recently how much I love my Schacht Ladybug? I do. I will elaborate in the next Knittyspin column.

p.s. in case you somehow missed it, Earth Hour details here. sure it's a gimmick, but anything that gets us to remember to turn off the lights is a good gimmick imo. our whole neighborhood is pretty much still dark and it's 10pm. really cool.

a winner!

it's damned good i didn't have to choose a winner based on why you wanted the discount, because so many of you told stories that made me all warm inside. you guys are good people.

instead, i did as i said, and went to the random number generator. plugged in 57 as the total (inclusive, of course) and the number it chose?



so the 12th comment gets it...and that's Sarah! [what's your e-mail address?]**

thanks to everyone who commented. i knew there were more lurkers hanging about. hi to you all!

**p.s. Sarah is currently unreachable. If I don't hear from her by Friday morning, I'll pick a new winner! Because dangit, this code needs to get in the hands of another bag ho. :-)

a contest!

Okay, so I recently entered the Moo cards Egg Hunt contest [multiple times] and got one of the prizes, but I just can't use it. So I'm throwing it up here for you guys!

It's a 20% discount on anything at the Timbuk2 shop, and the code is good till May 30 this year.

How can you win? Simple. Leave a comment with the name of the thing you'd buy if you got the discount code. I'll use a random number generator and pick a winner! Make sure you're contactable in your blogger link or with an e-mail address so I can get the code to you if you win!

Comments entered before midnight Pacific time today are eligible. Go to it!

perfect after 17.5 years

my husband's nickname for me is Mrs Fussy. because i am. honestly.

here's the story behind this gorgeousness and how it came to be.

in 1989, my beloved presented me with a lovely engagement ring. the setting was very nice, but i really wanted to wear the ring next to my wedding ring on the same finger, and the design wouldn't permit it. so we had the diamond put into a standard claw setting.

i am a bit of a klutz, and hit my hands hard on things. as a result, the claws kept coming loose from the setting, meaning the diamond might be lost at any moment. after having this ring fixed 3 times, i took it off my clumsy hand and put it where i thought it would be safe until we could afford to put it in a sturdier setting.

and then our house was burgled. only two things were taken: this ring and a computer my husband had been given for a work assignment.

it was bad, people. took a long time to feel like i could even leave the house again. but we did have insurance, and with the money, hub went and bought an even prettier diamond [if that could be possible]. this time, we were stubborn and chose what we thought would be the most durable, unbreakable setting. something a lot like this one. done by richard booth, a very posh jeweler in yorkdale.

when i went to have the ring re-appraised [our insurance company makes us do this every 3 years], a little surprise awaited me in the appraisal. "Diamond is chipped". WHUTTTT??? leave it to me to whack my hand so hard, exactly on the unprotected spot in the setting, that i chipped the diamond. unbelievable. i hadn't seen the chip [i don't see fine detail very well], but now that i knew it was there, i found easily it with a fingernail.

vainly, i'd also been bothered by the yellowness of the setting, since i don't wear any yellow gold any more. white metal, that's it. so now with the excuse of a damaged diamond, i started to dream of getting it reset, once and for all, after the diamond was recut.

then i took silversmithing classes from Sarah at The Devil's Workshop and began to admire her work with gemstones and gold. i signed up for her lost wax class next, hoping to remake the setting on my own under her expert guidance, and soon realized that i was in way over my head. instead, i asked Sarah if she would make the ring for me and she agreed.

sarah handled the recutting of the diamond for me, carved an exquisite wax model of the setting exactly as i wanted it, cast the wax in 18k palladium white gold [palladium is the alloy that makes it as white as possible] and had the diamond set magnificently.



it fits perfectly with my anniversary band and i absolutely adore it. possibly my favorite thing is how the diamond sits low in the setting and the bottom of the diamond shows in the little opening above my finger. if she'll have me, no one else will ever do any jewelery work for me besides Sarah Wan. go look at her gallery of finished objects. she is an extraordinary treasure and i'm so glad to have met her. she's also really good people.

---

p.s. feeling much better today. the cold seems to have vanished overnight [which is very weird] and i'm just a bit tired now.

blueberry love + flaaaaridaaaaah

way back when my gall bladder and i broke up, the Purlescence girls sent me a get-well love package. it worked! :-)

the sparkly stuff on the right is Blue Heron Rayon Metallic in the deliciously named color Blueberry. i've had it hanging in front of my desk since it arrived and last night, a little lost without a quick-knit sweater to work on, i cracked it open and cast on for the simplest thing ever: a triangular shawl in garter stitch based on the Tuscany silhouette. perfect travel knitting and so beautiful to look at.

---

travel knitting? why, yes. this is very odd to me, but i'm going to florida. this is something many people do every winter, but i've never gotten to be one of them. until this year, when my chicago-based parents got all, "winter is too cold! we must escape!" and rented a place on the gulf side for the whole month. the whole fam has been invited to visit sometime during the span, and my week starts tomorrow.

luckily for me, the house has wi-fi, because i'm full-on into spring Knitty mode and can't stop. but it will be mighty nice to take breaks and such by the pool in the backyard. wow.

so...i'm not into touristy stuff, but is there some amazing fibery thing i can't miss that's gulf-side, an hour or so south of Tampa?

---

hub's staying home to concentrate on programming, watch many boring documentaries and fuss over the bunnies.

---

psst:


yup, that's color accurate. can you stand it?

buns

time for rabbit photos, i think. Boeing first, Squeezle second.




that is all. have a good day!

Shazam! with extra pinkness at the end

When I visited Scout on her home turf last year, we had a massive dye party and the result was a new colorway we called ZuluKnitty -- a collaboration between the two of us. She offers it in her shop, and I've seen many skeins pass through her Flickr stream, so I know people are ordering it, and that makes me happy and proud. :-)

Well, someone special was having a birthday and I wanted her to have some Scoutness, so we put our heads together again and here's what Scout came up with: ZuluKnitty Shazam [it's the skein on the left]! The same basic color palette as the original ZuluKnitty, but with extra shazam, oomph and general joie de vivre.

You'll also notice that the yarns look different. That's because, when Scout painted the first skein of ZuluKnitty [on the right], she didn't yet offer silk in her shop, so we bought retail stuff. You can now get this gorgeous 2-ply cascade silk directly in her store, in whatever colorway you choose. And she has a lot of them. Power couple is my new favorite.

Thank you, Ms Scout! This skein will be the one I use to teach my special SeaSocks class with.

---

I didn't mean to fall in love, but I did. Apple released a new pink [peeeeeeeeeeenk!] version of the new Nano just in time for Valentine's Day. And I might have walked around, squeeing "peeeeeeeeeeenk!" for an entire day. Okay, I actually did.

So when a small box came from Apple today, addressed to hub, I should have known, but I didn't. This little pink jewel was inside. He spoils me, my boy, and I am very grateful.

The first thing I listened to was Cast On. It's fabulous, and now holds my favorite playlist, a few choice movies I've yet to watch and lots of Neil Gaiman.

Life, she good.

perl grey makes my head hurt

what kind of deranged mind comes up with sweater construction like this? why, Perl Grey, that's who!

i'm not saying it's not brilliant. it just makes my head hurt trying to envision this sort-of-closing-in cocoon turning into anything wearable. EXCEPT that, before i picked up the sts for the front section of the sweater, which is the part that makes my heart beat faster [not kidding, i love it that much], i tried it on and it fits. so i will trust in the Perl and in Jacquie B who told me, "just keep going. it'll work out." and i believe it will.

can you even tell what you're looking at? it's a side-to-side knitted cardigan with integrated sleeves. i'm just now knitting the fronts and the collar at once, with short rows. [for those who will ask, and i don't blame you, this is discontinued Artfibers Gypsy, colorway 11, which is knitting up at exactly pattern gauge, and doesn't that blow my mind? yes, it does. [Kira tells me that Artfibers Bambusa or Sumo would make good subs.]

i am also driven with the fire of a well-trained team of dragons to finish this baby and get it on me! finishing the duvet covers has reminded me of the pleasures of the FO, and though i do love a good knit as it goes along, i'm all about the FO.

all done.

folded vertically for pretty. each duvet is about the size of the top of the mattress, so we both have enough for ourselves and quite a bit to hang over the edge of the bed. yes, they're wrinkly. why bother ironing duvet covers when you'll just crinkle them as soon as you get into bed?

besides, i'm having trouble getting up in the morning. :-)

fabrics include Amy Butler's Belle, Lotus, Charm and maybe even Ginger Bliss, and some choice Kaffe Fassett Roman Glass. very glad they're done.

oh. oh. ohhhhhhhh.

i was as a house afire last night. the top was together, and all i had to do was [oh, how simple, right?] overlock the remaining raw seams, attach the top to the twin sheet i bought for the purpose and sew 'em together.

it was as i was struggling with the latter that i remembered why i don't quilt much any more. sewing anything large-scale isn't fun for me, not at all. BUT! this isn't a quilt. it doesn't have to lay perfectly flat front to back. it's simply a big pillowcase for a fluffy duvet. fluffy is forgiving.

so i forged on ahead. discovered some shortcuts to make it easier, and also discovered that they don't really cut sheets on grain [do they? except where else do you get a piece of super-soft 70" wide fabric without a seam, so i sucked it up and kept going].

unwashed, i slipped the cover on the duvet and admired my handiwork. but it wasn't enough. so i slept under it. and i haven't slept that well in ages. there's something about the puffiness of a good duvet [our last one WASN'T a good one] and the inticing crackle of the high-thread-count cotton the duvet is made out of as you move in the night.

it's all mighty, mighty fine. and very, very pretty.

in order to keep motivated, i post no pictures and will not until the second is made and the bed is dressed properly. you want to talk about second-sock syndrome? how's second-duvet-cover syndrome sound??

going! bye!

i ran out of thread!

the duvets arrived earlier this week, so i finished all the rotary cutting of the strips and sat at the bernina for the first time in years. it still purrs like keety.

single duvet top #1 is assembled and most of the seams are faux-serged at the back so they don't fray all over the place. however, i have run out of sewing-weight thread and must go out and replenish if work is to continue.

i am obsessed. must go.

w00t!

More Big Girl Knits is here!

Look at that. Jillian and I made a book! [With the help of a lot -- a LOT -- of fine people.] Our first promo copy arrived at each of our houses this morning and we had a Skype chat to go over every page. We're thrilled. It looks better than we could have imagined. They made the hardcover [under the paper jacket] all stripy! We love stripy!

We hope you'll like it, too. Amazon will have it April 1 -- your LYS might get it sooner. Never hurts to ask. :-)

you wanna see progress?

i'll give you some progress, baby.



that's about 2-2.5 hours of knitting. see? not so bad at all. i am past the danger zone [aka dropped stitches running right to the cast on and causing me to shave my head], so i just keep a small crochet hook nearby for the occasional stitch that slips off the needle and keep on trucking. it's a great KIP project, and as my imogen sweater gets bigger [i'm at the first sleeve already!], it's much more portable, too.

are you knitting along with me? i've made a button for us that you may feel free to poach and use at will.



free a laceweight prisoner from your stash!
choose one, wind it into a ball and cast on!
just because it's tiny and delicate doesn't mean it won't be fun to knit!

Liberate Your Laceweight!

come. join us. what? my eyes are not all spirally swirls. what are you talking about?

Tivo's been available [the service] in Canada for a while. I went on and on about the convoluted process to obtain the magical Tivo box here.

Well, now you can get the box in Canada without any hoopla or rigamarole. Join us. You know you want to.

the complete look

[i snork at myself. that sounds so silly.]

but seriously. you saw the new hair. you heard about the new glasses, bought at my eye doctor's office [which i had to return when their lab did such a horrible job of filling my rx -- and I got a full refund on those because it was so badly screwed up]. well, these are my NEW new glasses, extra special because Denny helped me choose them.




instead of rimless, these are half-rimmed, which are great for progressives. for anyone in Toronto who's a tough, fussy fit like i am, i can highly recommend Crystal Beach Optical @ 416-698-3937. Ted has a fully equipped shop and is a really detail-oriented professional. patient, thorough. nice guy. good selection of frames.

that is all. off to the Yarn Roundtable!

happy new year

beachnewyear08
Originally uploaded by amysinger

from my part of the world.


p.s. see twin duvets Norwegian style, courtesy the lovely Theresa, here.

2007 recap in pictures and short phrases...

...because why not, really?

I'm a little stunned at all that's gone on this year, now that I'm looking back. It certainly explains the current state of my house.


No Sheep for You was published [and I got my preview copy + chocolate early in the year.]


I got to hang, briefly, with the Purlesence girls while at the big knitting trade show, TNNA.


I bought my first Habu kit, which is still in this exact state [though Henry has grown] because my brain can't process the pattern.


Cupcakes came to the beach. I have visited Life is Sweet many times since then.


I finished a sweater and started a new one.



Jillian and I had the final photoshoot for More Big Girl Knits...at the cupcake shop, of course!


The year of speaking engagements/travel began at the DKC!


I got to do Breakfast Television again with the sexiest models ever!


I finally got to visit The Fold and my head exploded.


I re-visited the KW Knitters' Guild and managed not to faint in front of Sally Melville and Debbie New this time. Progress!


Loopy Yarn love in Chicago!


Jillian and I made a pilgrimage to the homeland of her heart...Hill Country Weavers in Austin, TX. I fell in love with the place, despite the shvitz factor.


I knit with steel.


I crocheted. And liked it. Haven't done it since, though.


I discovered Zulugrass and met the kickass Scout on her home turf [Albuquerque] where she dyed me some matching yarn.


I bent sterling silver.


Hub put the dead cedar hedge out of its misery.


Massimo the Vespa joined our family, a gift from Grandma.

The next three sort of blur together in a delicious happy memory:

Bainbridge Island, Washington

Portland, Oregon

The Purlescence girls of Sunnyvale, CA, show me San Francisco and, most importantly...


No picture here. My gallbladder and I broke up, permanently.


While I was healing, Hub had a fence put in our backyard to replace the hedge.


I healed quickly enough to visit Loop in Philadelphia!


I went to SOAR and so did Denny! I can now spin yarn that I'm proud to show off!


Hub and I went to Oslo, Norway, and finally met Theresa!


Hub and I went to London, England!

And then it got nice and quiet. It's been, as you can see, an incredible year. Actually, rather more mind-blowing in retrospect. I have Flickr albums full of memories, many more blogs to follow of new friends met all over the world, and now, one last thing.

One of my favorite things about Norway was...the bedding. Really. Everyone gets their own duvet, even in a shared bed. And in the morning, you get up and fold it in half [the long way] and it looks so very Scandinavian and insanely tidy with zero effort. I loved it. No trying to fluff a huge king-sized duvet. No fighting for covers. Then Theresa made new duvet covers and that was it. I was lost:


I ordered us a pair of basic twin duvets [no, not the Icelandic Eiderdown at $2900/ea -- try the Anniversary]. We didn't get each other presents for whatever holiday it is we're celebrating this time of year, so dang it, we could have them. I have enough Amy Butler fabric and vintage linen put aside to make two perfect covers. And sewing two twin covers well seems much more achievable than sewing one huge king-sized cover, though I could probably have done it...badly.

Guess what I'll be doing this week?

Happy new year, everyone!

whew

ripped.
reknit.
fixed. all better now.

i'm going to have to talk Tina into carrying this colorway [again? did she ever or was it ust an experiment?]. it's amazing.

---

off to the MIL's house to eat the traditional xmas party feast. they're Guyanese-Canadian, so it's a bit of a mishmosh of black-eyed peas [yum], meat-based stuffing, [i don't touch the stuff. the idea of it scares me], black pudding [see previous, times a thousand], probably something macaroni-ish with cheese [yum] and the staple of the meal: KFC. i eat KFC about once a year now, and this is the time. gimme somadat crispy stuff with extra transfat, baby!

meanwhile, i got my jewish holiday fix when i was home with my fam for dad's party/chanukah. i even had a side order of latkes with my breakfast when we went to Max's deli in Highland Park.

so all is right with the world.

----

it's quiet here in bloggy land, but i'm not going anywhere and am thrilled. some of the local knitfolk are having parties to take advantage of their weekday freedom, and the Purple Purl is having a pajama party/knit in on New Year's day that you'd have to chain me to my bed to miss.

oh, and it's pouring rain and 8c outside. and i just don't care. i'm off to eat the Colonel.

catchup

So we're back. Hub and I returned last night from a week at my folks' place. We celebrated dad's 70th [THAT was a party, let me tell you...no one can organize a shindig better than my mama], ate a lot of really good food and I rediscovered Mr Pibb.

Did you know? They're making it again, except it's now Pibb, and the diet version is Pibb Zero. Whatever.

My sister and I loved this stuff when it was just Mr back when we were kids. This new Pibb incarnation seems to be only available in a portion of the US. It's like Dr Pepper, but more subtle. I love it.

---

So for this trip to Chicago, we drove. We've got a little Subaru [it's a 4wd car], so travel on possibly slippery roads is less scary to us than it might have been. However, we managed to drive on the two driest December days ever, and that was nice.

Because we drove [we usually fly because you just can't count on December weather to behave], we were also able to stay an extra day and avoid the ice storms threatening our travel route home. And hang with the fam and sample my sister's delicious cooking -- a mexican feast this time.

Oh, and we ordered this with our Amazon gift certificates from my sister and her hub. I do not like reading maps and am, therefore, bad at it. Hub hates getting lost. I hate backtracking. This device is a marriage saver. We call it the lady in the box, and the lady in the box got us home stress free. [sidenote: I'd used this exact model when I visited Scout in an Avis rental car in ABQ last June and marvelled at how easy it was to use, had super-quick recalculation when I decided to take an alternate route and never steered me wrong. The Amazon price was significantly lower now than when I last checked in June. Love this thing.]

---

The buns [both of them] are in great shape. They were fawned over at the bunny spa and came home totally relaxed and happy. We're lucky to have such a great vet's office so close to our home.

We'll be keeping an eye on Boeing, of course. But if she doesn't show further symptoms of the bladder stone, there's no reason to remove it. [If she were a boy bunny, that wouldn't be the case.] We also brought home timothy-based pellets, but confusingly, they have the same calcium content [0.8%] as the alfalfa-based ones we'd been using. I'm going to have to look into this.

---

So that's all for now. I've got new tea to sample, lots of catchup work to do on Knitty, and a serious machete needs to be taken to the clutter in our house. But before I go, this:

via Neil Gaiman's Journal, this delicious set of reviews at Amazon.co.uk. Savor them.

ah.

that's better.

- new Knitty is up [clear your cache, folks].

- Boeing is acting more like herself...enough so that we feel comfortable going on a family trip that really couldn't be cancelled [dad's big birthday party]. she'll be staying, with little Squeezle, at the bunny spa, so they'll be able to watch her in case she gets wiggly again. but she won't. because i told her not to.

- and now I can get back to my last-minute knitting. :-)

happy sigh.

lucky me :-)

remember this?

look where it lives now:


my parents bought the original for me for my birthday [next month -- oct 27, in case anyone is keeping track. :-)]

actually, i'd e-mailed ray to see if this piece was for sale at just the same time as my mom wrote him to see if he had anything for sale. mom mentioned her search to me, i told her what i'd done, and poof -- the cool original artwork is now on my wall. you'll notice it's a little different. this is the original piece with the non-repro blue pencil lines in place and none of the woodgrain. i guess ray adds that stuff after? anyway, i love it. thank you mom and dad! and thank you, ray!