What Good Is a Clean Floor, Really?

So, my craft room, or chick room, as I like to call it, has long been a place that brought to mind images of me gingerly picking out a path to wherever I wanted to go trying to avoid deadly obstacles. Of teetering towers of boxes that stood as nifty little reminders of the great "combining of the assets" from when my husband moved in with me. We never got around to organizing, and it was really starting to get on my nerves. So, I spent the last, oh, month or so, slowly reclaiming my haven. Don't get me wrong, it still has boxes, but they are on shelves now and everything is out of my way. More importantly, everything it out of my table's way. You know, so I can like, sit at it, and stuff.
Anywho, so I reached the final stage of the cleaning process today. The floor. I used my Spot Bot to clean up the spot where my fingernail polish remover spilled (Spot Bots are awesome, by the way, anyone with carpet should get one), and vacuumed up the last reminders of what the room once was. When all was said and done, I made myself a pot of tea and stared at my floor for a bit. Not the room as a whole, but the floor. Finally I realized that the carpet was trying to tell me. This is how that convo went:
Me: Why am I staring at the carpet?
Carpet: Because I'm so clean and nice looking and you haven't seen this much of me in a year and a half.
Me: Holy crap, my carpet is talking to me. What did I put in my tea?
Carpet: Would you just listen to me?
Me: Sorry, you were saying?
Carpet: I was simply going to remind you about that wire blocking kit you bought a month ago with the intention of fixing that lace scarf you knit two years ago. I would be perfect for that. Plus, my room has a door, so you know what that means...
Me and Carpet: NO CATS!!!
Me: Good idea carpet. Thanks!
So, I busted out the kit, and got to blocking. I gotta say, I like using the wire MUCH better than thousands of t-pins. Waaaaaay less of a pain. I think it'll turn out nicely.
Pics will be posted later.

All Monsters Go To Heaven, Cats Don't

UPDATE to "RAR! *thunk*"
The other day, my sister called me and said that my nephew re-discovered the monster that I made him for Christmas.  It seems that he was his new favorite companion.  He was even included in the bedtime prayers.  Go Me!
So, that's the good news.  Here's the bad news.  I almost paid the $135 relinquishment fee to take my three cats to the Humane Society.  Really.  I've been working on some nice fingerless gloves for my mother.  Using fingering weight yarn, Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift in Merry Dancer (purdy!) and some size 2 needles, progress has been slow-ish, but steady.  It was my first time knitting in the round on needles smaller than 7.  I quickly learned how to NOT man-handle the needles and warp them beyond recognition.  During an Indiana Jones marathon (YES!!!) I put about two and a half inches on the first glove.  The weekend ends, and on Monday, I went to work like a good little worker bee.  I came home, after 10+ hours of my heels KILLING me, just wanting to relax.  I just wanted to curl up with the kitties and some needles in some frumpy house clothes.  Did that happen? NO.  I walk in, set my things down, and look at my coffee table.  WHERE IS THE GLOVE?  I was on the phone with my mom, and immediately stopped listening to her, sorry Mom, but it's true.  I was having a moment of inner panic.  Please forgive me (you're my mom, you're contractually obligated to forgive me, FYI.).  The ball was on the table, but the glove was not.  Following the trail of yarn, I found the now cat hair filled glove in the kitchen.  I'm not gonna lie to you, there were curse words, and threats of shiny new tennis rackets strung with cat gut.  Sorry again Mom.  The total damage count was as follows:
2 missing double-pointed needles
4 missing stitch markers
10 dropped stitches(the worst was three rows down)
Elevendy-Billion cat hairs permanently fused into my knitting
3 grounded kitties
I was really mad.  I mean, if they had EVER messed with my yarn before, I would have taken measures to protect my work in progress.  I eventually found the needles, the stitch markers are still MIA.  Those buggers are going to be impossible to locate.  And, I haven't mustered the will to repair the damage to the knitting. But it's ok, because I fight back.  And I fight dirty.  Behold, embarrassing photos of the cats.  Enjoy.

Zombie Kitty Rises!!!

As a nod to my recent addiction to knitting small creatures, I found an amazingly cute pattern for a Zombie Kitty on Etsy.com.  Cheesombie.Etsy.com is a delightful little place where you can find everything from Slugs, to Birds, to, well, Zombie Kitties!  I had a bit of yarn left over from a scarf I knit myself a while back from some yarn that I bought from rpmfiberworks over at rpmfiberworks.etsy.com.  I'm kind of an Etsy-oholic. 
Anywho, so I had my yarn, and I had my pattern, and I was ready to go.  I read over the pattern and everything was looking good, until I saw words like 'crochet' and 'chain 3.' PANIC!  I had only used hooks for fixing my knitting errors.  I'd never actually tried to make something with them!  Through some quick googling and youtubing, I found several videos that saved me.  I have found that if I don't understand the directions, especially with something that I am completely clueless about, I need pictures.  Pictures that move and talk to me are my favorite.  Using my new knowledge, I was able to quickly knit/crochet up a little Un-Dead Kitty.  Some of the body parts might not be that pretty, but I figured, it's a Zombie Kitty, it should be a little raggedy, right?  I'm glad you agree with me.
As my co-worker, who was peering over my shoulder when I purchased the pattern, immediately claimed dibs on her own Zombie Kitty, she was the first to get one.  My mom placed her order the second I told her about it, because Mayhem (the monster I knit her that she loves and doesn't throw across the room) "needs a friend."  My co-worker loves Ralph. 

RAR! *thunk*

This past Christmas, I bought almost everyone's gifts months in advance.  I'm a 'get gifts as soon as possible so I don't get an ulcer worrying about when I'll be able to make it to the store' kinda person.  I received a huge shipment of things that I had gotten several family members including my nephew.  Being the good aunt that I am, I diligently opened all his electronic toys, put in the required batteries, and tried them all out.  Most of them worked.  There was one, a monkey that 'allegedly' laughs and rolls around on the floor, that did not work.  Time to panic.  I had no idea what to get him.  Later that week, I was looking through patterns at www.knit-purl.com and noticed an interesting company name.  Danger Crafts.  Clicking on it led me to the most awesome collection of simple knitted creatures I've come across before.  I swear to you, I will eventually own an entire Danger Creature Collection.  They're THAT cute.  Anywho, I was immediately taken by Frances the Charismatic Monster.  Suddenly... LIGHTBULB!  I had just found the perfect replacement for my nephew's lazy monkey.  I immediately purchased the pattern, and a bunch of other stuff that maybe I didn't REALLY need.  Don't judge me.  The pattern came in the mail, was super easy to understand and follow, even for a n00b like me.  I quickly knitted up a little monster, and all anxiety was gone.  Christmas came and went.  My husband and I were back home, and life went on.  A phone call from my mom revealed an as yet unspoken desire for a monster of her own, so I agreed.  On a whim, I called my sister to see how my nephew was liking his monster.  The labor of love.  The fruit of my devotion.  The thing that I made him with my own two hands and some leftover, but not undesirable, yarn.  She said, and I quote: "Oh, well the other day I handed it to him, and he said 'RAR' and threw it across the room. But at least he knows what it is, right?"  Yes, dear sister, at least he knows what it is that he is mercilessly hurling to far, dark corners unknown.  At least we have that.  Hopefully my mom will react differently.
P.S. In my nephew's defense, he is just about to be 2. So he is just now being able to appreciate toys that make sounds and things like that. Eventually, he will regain a desire for toys that are more for imagination than entertainment.

Yarn and Chewing Gum

Ok, so I've been working on a simple stockinette stitch scarf with Noro's Sekku yarn.  The yarn is super gorgeous and I'm loving it.  However, I keep throwing it down in disgust and punish it for my misdeeds.  Here's my problem: I'm stupid.  Honestly, that's the reason.  Anytime I put the darn thing down, the next time I pick it up, I start working the wrong kind of row. I think I'm on a kint, but I'm really on a purl.  And, I know what you're saying... look at how the stitches for the last worked row are laying.  I AM! I SWEAR!  I honestly just mess it up.  Of course, in the interest of full disclosure, it is entirely possible that I am not actually looking at my previous row as well as I could.  Case in point: Today, I was chewing a piece of gum for a few hours at work.  On my way home, I realized that I wasn't chewing gum anymore.  I don't remember what I did with it.  I really don't remember if I threw it out, or if I swallowed it.  Seriously.  I'm legitimately concerned that I have gum hanging out in my gut and I don't know about it.  So, what's the moral of this post?  I really need to pay more attention to what I'm doing with my yarn and my chewing gum.