Kitten Update

Ok as some of you already know, we lost one of the kitties last night. This was kitten A, the solid grey one. He was a cutie, every time he eat he wiggled his little ears, I t was the darnedest thing to watch.

Now on to the updates on the others.

KITTEN B,

weighing in at a healthy 7.25 oz. she is a sweetie, we have taken to calling her Bella.

KITTEN C

weighing in at a grand total of 7.5 oz. he is growing and changing. He does like to cuddle. WE haven't given him a name yet just can't think of one.

KITTEN D

Weighing in at a whooping 8.5 oz. He is a healthy eater and still talks to his food. He has the loudest purr ever. DD calls him Chunk.

Now for my knitting update as it is. I can't believe I forgot to post it but I took 2nd place at our county fair for a knitted felted bag. This was the first time I had entered anything I had made so I am proud. Not only did I win my ribbon but I also won $4.50.

I found a couple skeins of Patons Classic Wool in Rosewood Colorway and feel in love with it. Bought, brought it home and started knitting up a handbag. Little did I know that it really wasn't stripes but more camo. I 'm not a big camo fan but I have to say that it looks good like this. This is pre felting I will post a picture of it after the felting and lining. This isn't all the knitting I have been doing just all the pictures I have remembered to take. I am terrible about taking pictures of my knitting.

We Have Eyes!!!

Let me start by giving weight updates. All the new measurements where taken on Sunday Aug 26 around noon, the measurements are about 48 hours from the previous. Kitten A 6.5 oz, Kitten B 5.5 oz, Kitten C 6.5 and Kitten D 6 oz. I was a bit worried about kitten C but last night and today I have found the secret to feeding him, you have to hold him flat on your lap and let him find the bottle, just like his momma's nipple. He really is fun to feed since he gets so excited about his food and talks to the bottle the during the entire feeding.

Now the exciting news, we have eyes!!! They started opening up this morning, I figure their eyes should be completely open by tomorrow. We now figure them to be anywhere from 9 to 12 days old, I really think that they are only 9 days.

We called the Emergency Vet Hospital over the weekend to double check on the babies progress. The staff there informed us that we are doing everything right and should end up with a healthy bunch of kitties. They told us that judging by the fact that some still had the cord attached and their eyes were closed that they were mostly likely only 2 or 3 days old when Scott found them. I am just so grateful that Scott found them.

They had a bath today. Since they are going potty on their own now, they tend to have "stuff" on them that just won't come off with a good wipe down. So I gave them a bath and then blow dried them, they are little fluff balls. They will have long hair.

It's feeding time, so I will update again in a couple of days.

kitten update

So below are some pictures and stats on each of the kittens. There is one female and 3 males, one solid dark grey, one darker grey and white, and 2 lighter grey and white. The solid grey one looks to have a smoochy face while the others have more normal faces. They are all eating very well and moving about, which yesterday afternoon they weren't doing.



Kitten A, male, weighing in at 5.5 oz. He is the only solid grey one.

Kitten B, female, she weighs in at 4.7 oz. She is a little eater, but we are noticing that her appetite is growing, good news there.

Kitten C, male, weighs in at a whooping 6 oz. he has part of the cord still attached. He has a voice and will be heard above everyone else!!!!

Kitten D, male weighing in at 4.75 oz as you can see he still has part of the cord attached. Quite the little porker when eating, hoping this means he will start growing.

Look what hubby brought home

I was at home minding my own business when my DH called me and said that he has a minor emergency and would be home shortly. When he got here he was carrying a box that contained 4 tiny kittens. These babies are no more than 2 weeks old. I think that they are most likely less than a week old. So I quickly went about getting them set up in my "Girlie Room". Hubby went back to work and I began feeding them.

This part I am writing top the subhuman who dumped the babies next to the dumpster. I truly hope I never met you, I have a whole lot to say to you and your kind. Don't worry the babies are in great hands, I have tended to babies before. I managed to get a litter of 5 hand raised because their mom was killed, so the babies are in good hands. Now for you, you do not deserve to be a pet owner, you could have taken them to the pound or a vet office. But no you left them next to a dumpster in a very busy parking lot to get ran over or eaten by the stray dogs. What did you think, that they could tend to themselves, well they can't.

Needless to say I will be busy for a bit.

shopping bag pattern

shopping bag pattern

sz 13 circular needles 29"
sz 10 1/2 circular needles 24"
I used Sugar n Cream jumbo skein and cone yarns

BASE
With 2 strands cast on 20 stitches
Row 1 - Knit
Row 2 - k1, kfb, k to last 2 sts, kfb,k1
repeat rows 1 & 2 until 40 sts
work even 3 rows
Dec row 1 - k1, k2tog,k to last 2 sts, k2tog, k1
Dec row 2 - knit
repeat dec rows 1& 2 until 20 sts remain
place marker, pick up 20 sts along rounded edge, place marker, pick up 20 sts along straight edge, place marker, pick up 20 sts along rounded edge, place marker (80 sts)
(use different color marker for first marker)

BODY
Row 1- *k1, kfb* rep around (120 sts)
Rows 2 -10 - k

BODY PATTERN
Row 1 - *yo,k2tog* rep around
Row 2 & 3 - k
Row 4 - * yo,k2tog* rep around
Rows 5 & 6 - k
Row 7 - p
Rows 8 & 9 - k

Do 3 pattern repeats
Then k 2 rounds
next round k1, k2tog around (80 sts)
switch to sz 10 1/2 needles
purl around
knit around
purl around
knit around
k11, bo 9, k11 (place on holder), bo 9, k11 (place on holder), bo 9, k11 (place on holder), bo 9

HANDLES
Row 1- k2tog, k to end (10 sts)
Row 2- k2tog, k to end (9 sts)
Row 3- k
Row 4- k2tog, k to end (8 sts)
Row 5- k2tog, k to end (7 sts)
Row 6- k
applied I-cord handle
k4, bring yarn to front, sl next 3 sts purlwise, turn
repeat for 9"
Row 1- k
Row 2-kfb, k (8sts)
Row 3-kfb,k (9 sts)
Row 4- k
Row 5 -kfb, k (10sts)
Row 6 -kfb, k (11 sts)
place the live stitches from the holder one the same side of bag on the other end of the circular needle, use a 10 1/2 straight needle to do 3 needle bind off (hold the 2 needles with live stitches with one in front of the other, insert the third needle into the first stitch on both needles knitwise, wrap yarn around needle and draw through both loops, dropping the 2 live stitches off the needles, do this again then slip the first st on the right needle over the second stitch, repeat until all stitches are worked)
Cut yarn.

For second handle pick up the live stitches from one of the holders, and repeat above.

Weave in ends.

My shopping bags

So here you see the first shopping bag I made. I used KnitPicks pattern "Mary's Summer Bag", I used Bernat Handicrafter in over the rainbow and Sugar n Cream in white.

It is a good bag. I really do use this when we go grocery shopping, I am always amazed at how much I can get in it. The clerks at the store are usually pretty surprised as well.

Now keeping all that in mind I knew that I could make it better. I don't really like the fact that it doesn't have handles, or that it has a draw string. I felt that it was to tall and not wide enough. So a decided to play around until I came up with something I love.

So this is what I came up with. I used the same basic pattern as before but I made the base bigger, increased the sides to a size I liked, used double strand for the whole bag, and added two small handles. I used Sugar n Cream in key lime pie and Sugar n Cream in white.

I have no idea how much yarn I actually used on either bag since I used the jumbo skeins, something like 12 or 14 oz each skein, and the white came from a cone.

I can't wait to go grocery shopping tomorrow night. I think I have a winner with this one. It has the same open weave as the other but with it being shorter and wider it should work better for us, just have to go shopping to find out.