My Psychedelic Mittens and Sweeney Todd

I made a pair of psychedelic mittens.  Psychedelic, that's the colorway name for this Bernat Mosaic yarn that I used.  I reached a desperate need for mittens when I got gasoline on my gloves.  These were ordinary storebought ski gloves, not wool, not fancy.  I threw them in the wash thinking that was the best way to remove the gasoline from my gloves.  From the perspective of solely removing gasoline, that was a great idea.  From the perspective that I might like to wear my gloves ever again, that was a horrible idea.  The insides of my gloves shrunk so bad that I couldn't get my hands into them!  

That's not good.  I live in Wisconsin, and wearing something on your hands is a good way to prevent frostbite.  I took a look at the weather forecast and saw the impending cold front where we might see highs around -1.  Yes, that's a high temperature.  I needed gloves or mittens or something immediately, so I set out to make myself a pair of mittens yesterday.  I finished them this morning.  I picked a fairly simple crochet pattern, Mrs. Murdock's Mittens, so they'd go fast, and they did.  I was quite happy with the pattern.

Before starting my mittens, I peeked into my stash for a skein of washable yarn  because you never know.  You might get gas on your mittens and wish to wash them.  I found this skein of psychedelic yarn, and it matches both my blue coat and my red coat, so yay!  

I received this yarn in the Peace Love and Hippies swap that I participated in during the month of October.  Swaps in the fiber arts are much like those you find elsewhere.  You get a partner, and somebody else gets you as a partner.  You spoil your partner, and your partner, somebody else entirely spoils you.  I got yarn in my package.  I didn't think again of the Peace Love and Hippies swap until recently.  As a matter of fact, once it was done, I was in full "holiday mode" and forgot entirely about it.  My partner had received her package.  I received mine.  That was it. It was over.  It was done.  I forgot about it.

A month after the swap had ended, towards the end of November, I got an odd package in the mail.  It was shipped directly to me from Thailand, and it had my name and address hand written on it.  This thing was deliberately sent to me.  I opened it up and found a string doll, or otherwise known as a Thai Voodoo Doll!  It was shaped like Sweeney Todd.  I try very hard not to believe in superstition, but this doll creeped me out.  Why was it sent to me?  Who would send it?  I didn't even like the rendition of Sweeney Todd that I'd seen at the Overture Center a few years ago.  Really red cloth is not equivalent to blood.  Using red cloth to signify blood is just silly.  I puzzled over it and asked around, who sent it to me.  I asked the moderators of several swaps that I was participating in, and no.  Nobody had sent it to me.  I tried contacting Etsy sellers after finding the item on Etsy, but they were no help either.  I thought maybe somebody was being awfully mean.  

I resolved to forget about it.  I resolved to throw it away.  I even asked my husband to throw it away for me.  Then I got a message that changed everything:

Hey I sent you a package for the odd duck peace swap. I was in another swap too and I think that I may have had something sent to you instead of my other spoilee. Have you gotten a sweeney todd voodoo doll in the mail?

Why, yes I had!  The trash hadn't gone out yet, so my husband got it out of the trash. That sounds gross, but it was in a plastic bag inside of a shipping envelope.  I put it in a new shipping envelope and sent it to the proper recipient who was participating in a Creatures of the Night Swap.  Sweeney Todd fits that bill.

What a relief!  

Winter is Coming - Will You have Coffee?

It may only be November 7th, but winter is coming.  There's no stopping it.  Soon we'll be seeing winter storm warnings, blizzards, and ice storms.  If you follow me on Facebook, you'll see that I posted a tip from the National Weather Service about how to outfit your car to be winter ready.  However, in this blog post, I'd like to focus on something a little bit more mundane, coffee.

With any winter storm comes the threat of power outages.  Once you've got your firewood stocked, food stored up, and plenty of flashlights, there are the creature comforts to consider.  How will you have hot coffee when there's no power?

My parents ran into the coffee problem in the aftermath of Hurricane Charley back in 2004.  Dad grinds his coffee fresh every morning using an electric coffee grinder and makes a pot of coffee in the electric coffee pot.  After Charley though, there was no power. Mom and Dad ended up driving quite a ways inland to find a coffee shop to have coffee.  They were able to do this because Charley was a small hurricane, in terms of diameter.

However, if there's a blizzard with 24 inches of snow on the ground and roadways, you probably can't hop in the car and drive to where there wasn't a blizzard and get coffee.  Winter storms can cover entire states and more, and it could take days or longer for power crews to come out to restore power.

I propose that with proper prior planning and the ability to boil water, you can have your coffee and drink it too.  First of all, if a blizzard is coming, get some ground coffee, or grind up a whole bunch of coffee before it gets here.  I'd grind a whole pound of it.  You can store it in a sealed container in your freezer to keep it fresh.  Then, you can either use a French Press or a Single Cup Coffee Maker (pictured below) to make your coffee.

A French Press is pretty self-explanatory, but the single-cup coffee brewer is pretty cool.  You put a #2 coffee filter in it, set it atop your coffee cup, put in your desired amount of coffee, and then you pour boiling or hot water through it slowly until your cup is filled.

If we had a blizzard and no power, I'd clear off a portion of our back deck and set up an outdoor kitchen.  I have a Coleman camp stove, fuel, and camping pots/pans/etc. already for camping.  They'd be very useful in such a situation. We'd have no problem boiling water for coffee or cooking anything we desired.

Crochet Blanket Edgings

If you're in need of an easy gift idea, try crocheting an edging onto a blanket.  It's super-simple, and it took me about 3 hours total.  That's not a terrible amount of time from start of crafting to finished object.  Above, you can see the full blanket with edging and cat for scale.  Below is a closer shot of the edging around the blanket.

What you will need to make a similar blanket, which I think could be a great gift idea is the following:

• a fleece blanket with a sewn edging
• Red Heart Super Saver yarn or equivalent worsted weight acrylic yarn
• crochet hook - I used a size J - Pick a crochet hook that allows you to single crochet around the blanket without any tugging or puckering

I made a slipknot, stuck it on my hook, tightened it down, and inserted the hook under the sewn edging, then made a single crochet.  I continued in this manner, using the sewn edging as the basis for my single crochets around the entire blanket.  I started in one corner, and you will work left to right.  When I reached my first stitch, I made a slip stitch to join.

Then it was time to make shells.  You could make any border stitch pattern you'd like, but I chose shells.  For my border, I made 5 double crochets into that first single crochet where I had just slip stitched.  Then, I skipped 3 single crochets and made 5 double crochets into the 4th single crochet.  Skip 3, make 5 double crochets, skip 3, make 5 double crochets all the way around the blanket until you reach your very first stitch.  Then slip stitch to join, sew in ends, and viola you have a completed blanket.

I will be washing my blanket to remove the cat fur and donating it to Project Linus.

Crochet 1: Basic Stitches

I'm teaching Basic Crochet on Wednesdays, November 6, 13, & 20 at 6:00-8:00 pm

Join us for this introductory crochet class where we'll learn all the basic stitches - and leave class with a great, basic crochet booklet.  This class is great for those who have never crocheted, or for those who would like a refresher.  We'll cover basic stitches, pattern stitches, reading instructions, increasing and decreasing and some finishing techniques.

$45

At the Sow's Ear - Verona, WI

About a Sweater

Yesterday, I received a request to have a picture of my sweater featured on a pattern page.  Having your sweater featured is quite an honor, and I am suitably honored.

What's funny is that this turquoise sweater is more than a sweater to me.  It has matching socks too!

All kidding aside, I made the sweater and sock set for a special occasion, and the memory of that special occasion is linked to this sweater.  I made it to wear to my nephew's dedication ceremony at his church in April of 2011.

The pattern is "Jukebox Jingle" and can be found in the book, "The Ultimate Knitted Tee."

Crock Pot Chicken ala Renee

This is the perfect thing to make on a weekend because it takes 8 hours in the crock pot, and it's absurdly easy.

What you need:

• A whole chicken
• Salt
• Pepper
• Crock Pot
• 8 hours + chicken washing time

I thaw my chicken in a bowl to keep juices from escaping into the refrigerator, and then I take that very same bowl over to the kitchen sink and set it in there with the chicken inside of it. Saves me having to clean the sink before cleaning the chicken. The first thing I do is take out the bag of giblets, rinse them off, and stick them in the crock pot. I give them to the cats, and they help to flavor the juices for making yummy gravy. I rinse the chicken off in warm water and remove any feathers that were missed by the defeathering process that happened when the chicken was processed. I stick the chicken in the crock pot, skin and all, and then I wash my hands really, really, really well. Then I salt and pepper the chicken, stick the lid on, and put the crock pot on low heat for 8 hours.

Now I've got 8 hours to do whatever I want to do, but first things first. The bowl and all chicken processing equipment such as my scissors to open the bag go in the dishwasher, the sink gets cleaned, and my hands get washed thoroughly once again.

Forward ahead 8 hours. In that time, I've managed to:

• Take a walk with my cat
• Watch Season 5 of Doctor Who
• Catch up some on the Weather Channel
• Poke about on Facebook
• Finish 2 knitting projects for the contest I'm involved in

Say it with me, "slow cookers are awesome!"

I made a batch of biscuits using the Gluten Free Bisquick and substituting Ener-G egg substitute, rice milk, and vegan shortening.

Then, I pulled the chicken out of the slow cooker and placed it on a serving plate. Ok so it wasn't so much a serving plate but a 9x9 baking pan. But whatever, if the chicken fits, and it's dishwasher safe... I fished out the giblets and set them on a plate to cool for the cats. Then I poured out the juices into my Pyrex measuring cup and found out that I had a whole 2 cups of juices - perfect for gravy!

I know that a while ago, I posted about this absurdly easy gravy recipe. Seriously though anything involving making a roux is not easy, absurd or not. I found a much easier recipe online for Microwave Turkey Gravy, but it works just as well for chicken. It's a wheat-free, gluten-free recipe!

Here's what you need:

• 2 cups turkey OR chicken broth (The chicken made 2 cups of its own broth)
• tablespoons Argo® or Kingsford's® Corn Starch (I use Argo)
• tablespoons turkey fat drippings, skimmed from pan (The chicken also made fat drippings included in the broth - there is a method to my skin-leaving-on madness afterall!)

Here's what you do:

• Stir turkey broth and corn starch in a 1-1/2-quart microwaveable bowl until smooth. Season to taste.
• Microwave on HIGH (100%), 7 to 9 minutes, stirring twice, until mixture boils; boil 1 minute. (It never takes nearly this long, so be sure to watch the microwave. I average 3 minutes)
• Remove from microwave. Stir in fat drippings. (nope, I don't have to - included in the broth)

This was a super-easy chicken dinner! Thanks Renee! You rock!

BLT Sandwich!

Sometimes when you have as many multiple food allergies as I do, you can really get to missing foods that you used to love. Case in point: the BLT sandwich. I've no problem eating either bacon, lettuce, or tomatoes, and since I've learned of my allergies, I've developed an appreciation for bacon that I'd never had previously. Honestly, it's an easy protein, and when eaten in moderation, there's nothing wrong with bacon. Made in the microwave, it's not nearly as messy as making it on the stovetop. Being allergic to dairy and eggs means that meat is about the only protein I can eat.

All that said, however, the idea of bacon and tomato lettuce wraps isn't that thrilling to me. Then, Craig's friend, Chris, told him about an allergen free bread. So, Craig stopped at Whole Foods on his way home from work and picked up a loaf of this special bread, Ener-g's Yeast-free Brown Rice Loaf. It's free of gluten, wheat, casein, dairy, yeast, egg, soy, and nut.

Using my special, dedicated toaster, we toasted up some of this bread and made a BLT sandwich for me. I'm allergic to mayonnaise, so I used the Earth Balance buttery spread instead. The result was utter and wonderful deliciousness!

About my special toaster:
It is very easy to experience cross-contamination in the kitchen. Even a particle of an allergen can cause an allergic reaction! I'm not being hyperbolic either. I'm quite serious. I've reacted from even touching things that I'm allergic to. So, I bought a dedicated toaster. It's pink, so there's no mistaking my special toaster.

Crustless, Dairy-free, Egg-free Key Lime Pie ala Dad and Me

I was in Florida last week visiting my family, and one of Dad's friends had given him a bag of key limes. I love key limes. I'll even eat them straight! But Dad and I decided to challenge ourselves and figure out how to make a key lime pie that I would not be allergic to, and he would not be either. Dad and I both have food allergies.

When making the first pie, Dad attempted to modify a recipe he has for homemade oatmeal and fruit bars into an oatmeal-based crust. It didn't taste bad, but it didn't add anything to the pie. We ended up eating slices of pie and skipping the crust bit. So, I suggested that we make life easier and make crustless pie.

Here is our key lime pie recipe:

3/4 cups key lime juice
2 1/2 cups soy milk
1 cup sugar
5 TBSP cornstarch
2 tsp lime zest

Whisk all the ingredients together in a saucepan, then turn on medium heat and slowly bring to a boil, stirring constantly until thick and creamy. Allow to cool slightly and then either pour into a pie plate or individual ramekins. Refrigerate until firm.

Chicken Soup ala Renee

Renee makes an awesome chicken soup, probably the best I've ever had. I finally got around to asking her for the recipe, and I've been making it with good results. So, I thought I'd share the recipe. It's super-easy! Did I mention that it's gluten free and allergen free too? None of the big 8 allergens are in this soup!

Ingredients:
1 chicken carcass
1 TBSP Salt
Water
1 Onion
Veggies (carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, really whatever you've got is fine. The last batch I made, I used a package of frozen broccoli & cauliflower.)
2 Tsp black pepper
1 tsp parsley flakes

Instructions:
1. Put your chicken carcass in a big pot and cover with water. Add 1 TBSP salt and veggies. Put your pot on the stove and bring the contents to a boil.
2. Lower temp to a simmer and simmer for 2 hours uncovered.
3. Get out a plate, cutting board, or I use a cookie sheet. Pull out all of the chicken bones and set it on the plate. Walk away and let it cool for a while. Then put the meat back in the soup and discard the bones.
4. Add your parsley and black pepper. Taste the soup. Does it taste good? Too weak, simmer for longer. Too strong, add some water and simmer for longer.
5. Serve it up. Hooray, you've made chicken soup with no cans!

When I make it, the soup serves around 8, so I have lots of leftovers. I portion it up into containers that I freeze (you can only keep leftovers in the refrigerator for three days - that's it), and then when I want "fast food," I can heat up the leftovers in the microwave. If you don't have a microwave, it would be easy enough to heat up the leftovers on the stove too.

I served my soup for dinner with gluten free biscuits made from Gluten Free Bisquick. I substituted Ener-G egg substitute for eggs, rice milk for milk, and vegan shortening for butter. Yes, they still turned out good. Perhaps, if you didn't typically eat gluten free, you wouldn't like them, but I live with a fairly lengthy list of allergies. If you didn't want to deal with all that, you could serve it with a side of rice.

Chicken and Biscuits

Ever since learning about my numerous food allergies, I've had to start cooking a whole lot more. I'd always cooked some but had thus far avoided making a habit of it. Heating packaged foods up in the microwave or the oven came so easy to me. I also ate out at restaurants frequently before my discovery of allergies. Now, I just don't have as many easy to heat up meal or restaurant options available to me. Therefore, I'm cooking.

It's mid-November, and as Wisconsin Novembers are wont to be, it's cold, windy, and damp. In other words, it's the perfect kind of weather for a hot, hearty meal like chicken and biscuits. However, there are a few allergy obstacles to overcome: dairy, eggs, and wheat. I was determined to make it work, allergies notwithstanding!

For the chicken, and this was the easy part, we split a boneless, skinless chicken breast in half, butterfly style, seasoned it with some salt and pepper, and cooked it on the George Foreman grill.

The biscuits were also fairly easy thanks to Bisquick for making Gluten Free Bisquick. All of the dry ingredients contained within are safe for me to eat. However, the cooking directions asked for milk and 3 eggs, so I substituted rice milk and Ener-G Egg Replacer, respectively. For the shortening, I used a vegan vegetable shortening. Making biscuits in this manner produced tasty results. The last time I tried making them, however, I didn't have any shortening, so I used Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks. I do not recommend this substitution because it made yellow-colored biscuits that took forever to bake.

The next challenge was to make a gravy that I would not be allergic to. It couldn't have any flour or dairy products in it. I used Gluten-Free Girl's Absurdly Easy Gravy recipe. I had to modify the recipe some so that it was dairy-free, as her recipe calls for unsalted butter. I turned again to my Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks as a substitution. However, I had to use more rice flour than called for in the recipe because of my substitution. I just added rice flour until the consistency was right. Before this evening, I'd never actually made gravy. Instead, I used to purchase the stuff in a jar or ask my mom or my sister to do it. However, even though it was my first try, and I had to make substitutions, the gravy turned out nicely. It was smooth and tasty.

I served my allergen-free (at least for me) chicken and biscuits for dinner tonight, and both the husband and I agreed that dinner was a success!

Food Allergies

I have food allergies, and by that I don't mean to say that I'm allergic to one or two foods. As my friend Alene put it, I'm pretty much allergic to food and all of its components. I've always known that I have *some* food allergies. I even knew for sure what one of them was. For as long as I can remember, I've known that I am allergic to red food coloring, most probably Red #40. I avoid all red food colorings, however, just to be on the safe side. Intense stomach cramps, vomiting, anaphylaxis, etc. is just not how I prefer to spend my time.

I've also known for about as long as I can remember that I am allergic to other foods too, but I just didn't know what those were. None of them had such a dramatic effect as when the dentist put the red plaque build up detecting tablet in my mouth, and I had a seizure. Ibuprofen sent me to the hospital when I was in high school for a nice shot of antihistamine in the butt following breaking out into hives and nearly passing out in the school nurse's office. I also avoid Ibuprofen.

However, there's always been some lingering thought that I was allergic to something else, but I had no idea what that something else was. I'd been also living with severe asthma. On good days, I wheezed when climbing a flight of stairs. On bad days, well let's just say, the ER was involved. Following two bouts of pneumonia and bronchitis within twelve months, I decided to do whatever it took to get to the bottom of this asthma business and get it under control. Ultimately, I wound up at Allergy Associates of LaCrosse where I was tested for *both* airborn and food allergies. Up until that day, I'd never actually been tested for food allergies.

I had to wait few weeks for my food allergy blood tests results. When I got the letter, I cried. I found out that in addition to the things I already knew (tree nuts too - anaphylaxis again) that I was allergic to, I am allergic to the following:

• Wheat
• Dairy
• Eggs
• Yeast
• Peanuts

That eliminates an awful lot of foods, but I was not about to die of starvation. Instead, I've been adapting. I can eat veggies, fruits, meat, potatoes, corn, rice, and combinations thereof. While being allergic to so many foods is awful, I am seeing clear results in my asthma improvement. In a three month period, I needed my inhaler twice. Prior to the allergy results and allergy treatments that I am taking, I would need my inhaler up to four times a day.

Cat Shows - getting everything into the show hall!

I'm showing a lovely Turkish Angora in the CFA Premiership class. While I love showing him, and he enjoys it too, there are some challenges that come along with showing a cat. One of my biggest challenges was figuring out how to get everything into the show hall in one trip without breaking my back. Some people can happily make several trips to and from their cars, but I have severe asthma, so one trip is about all I can manage. Some people show their cats with their spouses or significant others, resulting in an extra set of hands for carrying items into the show hall. While my spouse supports my endeavor to show a cat, he'd really rather be left out of the excitement, so that leaves me. I needed some sort of system that would allow me to get it all into the show hall by myself and in one trip, oh and did I mention that I drive a compact car?

I put this challenge to my friend and fellow exhibitor, Wendy, who told me that wheels were the way to go. She uses a rolling grooming cart. Basically, it's a wheeled platform. The cat carrier goes on top of the platform, a top piece goes over the top, and the two are secured together with bungee cords. Your duffel bag of cat supplies can go right on top, and you can sling your sturdi-cage (that's a security cage for giving your cat his own comfy little home in the show hall) over your shoulder and walk right in. You leave the cart set up in the show hall, and it gives you a built-in grooming station, which is of great use if you are showing a longhaired cat who needs plenty of grooming. There are several vendors online who sell this setup. PK Pet Products is one vendor.

While I've seen many exhibitors with this exact setup, it is not what I chose for my showing needs. What I did choose is more based on the fact that my cat travels in a soft-sided dog crate. I picked it up at Bed Bath and Beyond (no longer available), and I like it because it's big and lightweight at the same time. I can fit a litter box and cat bed inside of it. The cat can stay in there while we are in the car, and he can even stay in there when he's unattended in the hotel room, such as when I'm sleeping. It's a nice, secure place for him. Squishing a soft-sided dog crate between two wooden platforms was not going to work without resulting in a squished cat.

Therefore, I opted for a rolling cart like those you see at office supply stores. I pile my flat items on the bottom, such as a small folding table and Sturdi-cage. I set the cat's soft cage atop that, and I sandwich his duffel bag between the cage and cart handle. I bungee cord it all together, and we are off to the cat show! The cart folds flat and fits nicely in the trunk of my car, and I have found several other, non-cat show, uses for the cart. It helps me wheel my scrapbooking supplies into the crops I attend, and I even used it at my church's garage sale to cart items into the building.

My system for getting everything into the show hall is not yet perfected, but I'm able to get it all into the hall in one trip, as long as I remember to bring my coffee with me, not leave it in the car.

Calling All Crafters

Calling All Crafters!

What? A craft fair in conjunction with our Fair Trade Fair
When? December 5th from 11:30 -4:00
Who? YOU!! We are renting out booths to crafters of all sorts and people who sell interesting things.
Where? St. John's Lutheran Church - 625 E. Netherwood - Oregon, WI - 608-835-3154

We have approximately 13; 10x10 foot spaces and 6; 10x12 foot spaces available. The 10x10 spaces are against walls, and the 10x12 spaces are free-standing. Both size booths are available for $50. If you require a table, it will be $5, and if you require more than one space, we can arrange a discount for you.


Contact me today to book your booth!!!

Fair Trade Fair and Craft Fair

Where: St. John’s Lutheran Church

625 E. Netherwood, Oregon WI

When: Saturday December 5th

Time: 11:30 AM to 4:00 PM

Handicrafts from around the world available to purchase for Christmas gift giving. All proceeds from Fair Trade Fair items sold go back to World Hunger Relief, so this is an incredibly worthwhile event to help people around the world in need.

Check out www.serrv.org/lwr to see a sample of what will be available for sale.

In conjunction with our Fair Trade Fair, we are also hosting a Craft Fair featuring our local artisans and people who sell interesting things. Proceeds will go to various mission activities throughout the year. Plan to join us for lunch as well! The Guatemala mission group will be selling a lunch of homemade soup, bread, and dessert for only $5.

Support local and worldwide missions by doing your holiday shopping at this one event! How awesome is that!

Useful knitting resouces

I have a number of sites that I consider to be good knitting resources, and here they are, in no particular order:
KnittingHelp.com
Knitty
Ravelry
KnitPicks Community
Learn to Knit at Lion Brand Yarn
Creative Knitting Magazine

Of course, I think the best resource is your Local Yarn Shop. There you will find knitting (and the occasional crocheting) enthusiasts who will gladly answer any questions you have. I have found my LYS, Off the Beaten Path, to be an amazing place. I've made friends with the owner and all the people who work there. They share in my joys as I complete a project and listen as I carp on about life or whatever. Of course, I'm not always as loyal as I could be. Sometimes I buy yarn at the other local yarn shops. This past weekend, I visited Lakeside Fibers and bought some yarn for making a tee shirt.

Caffeine can ease asthma symptoms

My friend, Chris, a fellow asthmatic, swears by drinking coffee when his asthma is acting up, in addition to his regular medicines, of course. Apparently Chris is onto something. A couple of scientists in the UK studied how caffeine affects asthma, and they concluded that, "Caffeine appears to improve airways function modestly in people with asthma for up to four hours." I need all the help I can get, bring on the coffee!

Caffeine for Asthma.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Refracted Moments.

Organized Yarn Closet

I organized my yarn closet this winter. I'm thinking I did this back in January, but I hadn't gotten around to posting the picture until now. Inspired by my local yarn shop's yarn displays, I bought a bunch of black metal cubes at Target. Although they have recommendations on the box, you cal really arrange the cubes in any way you see fit or in any way that will make them fit! The other part of the system is a black metal shelving unit that I think I bought at Menards. I'd used it to store plants at our previous home. I sorted the yarn mostly by color, and the projects are in bags on the black shelving unit. The two yellow suitcases are filled with afghan projects that I inherited. There are other non-yarn things in here too such as my jewelry-making supplies. I like this system because it makes it easy to find what I'm looking for and to see what I've got at a glance.


The second picture is of one of my new toys that I also bought this winter. It's a ball winder and yarn swift. I don't like umbrella swifts, so I got something a bit different. I ordered it on ETSY from a carpenter in IL, and I love it!

The rest of the crafting things you see on and around my drafting table are my scrapbooking/rubber stamping supplies.

Falcoon brushes his teeth

Maine Coon cats are particularly susceptible to gingivitis, so it's good to brush their teeth. I know that in humans, there is a connection between gingivitis and heart disease. My husband's dentist explained this to him when he was diagnosed with gingivitis. He had his special extra-painful deep cleanings and has been flossing 2x daily. He's almost entirely reversed his gingavitis. With the cat, though, I figured we'd just try to prevent it in the first place as much as possible.

I decided to train Falcoon to put up with having his teeth brushed, and I honestly anticipated bloodied hands from the attempt. However, the training went a lot easier than I anticipated, namely because Falcoon had already been brushing his teeth. I just didn't know about it until I caught him using my husband's soniccare toothbrush!!!

One day, I went to Walgreens for something else and saw that they were having a sale of buy one get one free on toothbrushes, so I bought Falcoon his very own toothbrush so he'd stop using my husband's! I did replace Craig's toothbrush btw. We don't use toothpaste, but Falcoon just loves brushing his teeth. He sits on the cat tree, and I hold the toothbrush for him while he brushes it around his mouth. He's a very oral (read bitey) cat anyway, so for him this is just great fun. It's his special game that he gets to play with me. And he gets cleaner teeth in the process!

I finally managed to snap a picture of Falcoon brushing his teeth this morning! At our last checkup, the vet said that his teeth and gums looked very nice.

Green Socks

This is my first pair of lace socks. I'm quite pleased with them. :) I made these from Lanette sock yarn. It's tough to find a good, solid color sock yarn, but this stuff is great, very soft. Also I have been wanting to make a pair of green socks for a long time now but had been having trouble finding a yarn that I liked. I used a pattern from the book, Socks, Socks, Socks that I reviewed over at Universal Book Reviews.

Fair Isle Socks

These are one of the pairs of socks that I am working on currently. My first Fair Isle socks was a pair of slipper socks that I made for my mom for Christmas. They have hearts on the heels. These are a lot tougher though because the pattern is more complex. I'm enjoying making these socks, but they are definitely challenging.