ANNOUNCEMENT!

Have I got your attention yet? smile

I'm moving my email over to this domain. If you have a "galacticlore" address for me, just replace it with "annekaelber" and you're all set. I've been wanting to do this for several months now and I'm finally getting it done. Yay!

I'll be sending an email out to my entire addressbook (fortunately, it's not that big!) with this same news. If you don't get an email, it's because (1) your address is easy enough to type in that I don't use an alias and/or (2) I just haven't gotten around to putting an alias in for you.

I've spent the last few days trying to get more of my yarn stash photographed and entered into Ravelry. As I spend more time knitting, I've learned to recognize yarns I won't want to knit socks with (yes, there are a few) and I added them to my Stash-->trade page on Ravelry. Now I can start connecting the yarns to the projects I have in mind.

In the midst of all this photography, I've been taking pictures of the pets doing fun things and even some pictures of knitting. I use the term "photography" at it's most amateur level, despite some little trade tricks I picked up growing up with a photographer. I'd love to create one of these:

That would make taking pictures of my knitting so much easier. For now, you get pictures like this:

That's my work on GoddessKnits' Spring Mystery Shawl (Rav link). You can click on the pictures to see them larger, if you'd like. I'm using Jaggerspun Zephyr Wool-Silk 2/8 in "Bottle Green" (I bought a whole cone!) with a Czech glass 6/0 seed bead mix called "Oceanic Mix" from Beadaholique.

When I'm not actually knitting these days, I'm being entertained by my zoo:

Click on any of those images to see the flickr page for them. I'm trying to add descriptions as I go---but there's been a lot of uploading lately! I'm up to 90-some odd yarns in my stash now. Wow! I'm debating whether I should put my roving in there as well. I mean....it is stash, right?

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it here or now, but Randy's boss from the Racket is coming to ASU to work with him at the Mars Space Flight Facility! I'm totally excited about that: we'll get to hang out with Chris and his wife! (Note: I know her name, you might know her name, but on her blog, she posts as "excruciatingly" and on her husband's blog, he always calls her some variant of "the wife". Despite her being a big blogger in Savannah, I sure don't want to be the one who puts her name out there for the world to write down! *grin*)

Privacy is an interesting concept in this day and age, isn't it? I always think about it when some news program is running "stock footage" of certain people-types for health or social topics. Like the videos of overweight/obese people when new findings regarding weight come in. They always show these really heavy people minus their heads. Do the video guys who go out and film this have to get permission to use the footage or does it fall under some "freedom of expression"?

If I know you in real life and I want to blog about something you and I did together, am I intruding on your right to privacy? Here on my blog, I use real names for everyone I do name, so I try to stand in the shoes of anyone I might be talking about and see if I'd mind that kind of information going on someone's blog. Perhaps my father wouldn't like what I said in bad news and good news, but I spoke to him and told him what I'd written--just told him, 'cause I'm not expecting miracles and progress here.

Anyway, chime in in the comments with your thoughts on privacy and blogging (I'm sure that topic's already been done to death by others.... now it's my turn!).

I have taken to lace like a duck to water. I love working it. I'm working on two shawls right now. One is from a KAL that I started late and has already finished, but I'm not done yet. Part of the reason I'm not done is that I set it aside when the KAL I joined "on time" has a new clue up.

The first one ended up becoming Imbolc (Rav-link). I'm working it on US5 needles, with Malabrigo Lace in "Alpine Pearl" (I think).

The second one is still going on, so is currently listed in Ravelery as Spring Mystery Shawl. I'm working this one on US5 needles as well. This time, I'm using Jaggerspun Zephyr Wool/Silk 2/18 (which I bought a whole cone of! This is a beaded, rectangular shawl, so I'm using "Oceanic Mix", which I really like.

But, I've learned something already in this new shawl. Heavy dangly stitchmarkers don't mix with light, complex lace. They get caught in the YOs and when you've got ten or fifteen of them on your circular cable...they get heavy. So, I went searching for something nice, non-rubber (remember the ferrets like rubbery things?) and found a wonderful little shop on Etsy. (Of course!) This is the result of a couple of messages back and forth with Kate, of Spindle Cat Studios:

Those are sized for my US5 lace needles. And they are just right! (Don't let my crappy camera skills detract from her amazing work. They're way more beautiful in person!

Take a look at some of her other work:

Kate's really awesome about custom orders, as you could see from my wonderful set above. Go shop and tell me what you end up buying!

I expected to spend Tuesday morning running errands, starting with a visit to the veterinarian. Octavia wasn't looking too good over the weekend and we called first thing this morning for an appointment with our old vet, Dr. Wells in Tempe. This evening, Octavia died in her cage. I wish I knew more.

On Friday, she was up on my desk a number of times, trying to steal my dinner. I remember picking her up and putting her down and not noticing a thing wrong with her. Saturday, she crawled out from their hidey-hole under the dishwasher and looked so....I can't put my finger on it, but "normal" is definitely not the word. She hid again right away, before I could grab her. Later that evening, I saw that her bum was pretty nasty---she's always had a little "prolapsed rectum", which tends to make her messy---so I gave her a really good bath. She was so quiet and calm!

Now, Octavia and I have come to terms with her need for the occasional "bum bath", so we've got "an understanding". But this calmness went beyond her usual acceptance of necessity. And then her fur got fully soaked and I saw she was thin. Her pelvis bones were poking harshly. I could feel her spine, her ribs. When did this happen? Am I reacting more to how thin she looks 'cause she's wet or is she really, dangerously thin?

Randy agreed with me and we watched her on Sunday. Sunday afternoon, she needed another bum bath and was again docile. I felt she was dehydrated. We keep a bowl and a bottle in the cage and two bowls on the floor, plus the fountain urn they like to drink from. No shortage of water, so what's going on? I noticed she was grinding her teeth some too. That was too reminiscent of Maya's poor health prior to her death.

This afternoon, I saw her run from my closet to another spot in my room and there was spunk in that run. I thought she might be doing better and had Nicky bring her to me. She let me hold her. Closer inspection revealed severe dehydration. She lay in my arms, apparently asleep...but I could see she wasn't doing well.

In a moment alone with her, I spoke to her. "If you want us to fight, we'll fight for you. But if you want to let go, it's okay. You don't need to stay for us." There was no change. Later, I learned Randy told her the same thing around 7pm.

At 8:41, Nicky was putting another ferret in the cage and discovered Octavia was gone. She'd been gone long enough already for rigor to set in and her body was cold.

As I write this, we've already taken her little body to the crematorium we use. We'll get her ashes back in a week or so. And shortly, another rainbow will appear at the top of the page.

Good-bye, sweet little hellion-girl. Say hi to Max for me.

I have been so worried about my pal's package not showing up until this week (a postal note got missed), I totally forgot about the contest.

I had a number of entries---you guys really know how to spoil your Pals! But there was a very clear winner who went way above and beyond for her pal.

Robyn, you won!

That's Robyn, of Knit Purl Mama. Would you like to tell everyone exactly how much you spent? *grin* Ladies and gentlemen, she went over by more than I spent totally---and, ahem, I hit three digits.... Yes, Robyn, you are one excellent Secret Spoiler!

Email me and let's chat about a good prize that fits with your crafty interests.

I missed posting March's reading log---probably 'cause it's embarrassingly short!

1. The Outlaw Demon Wails by Kim Harrison
2. Beyond the Pale by Savannah Russe
3. No Rest for the Witches (anthology of short stories)
4. Deep Storm by Lincoln Child (audio)

April's isn't much better.

1. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (audio)
2. White Knight by Jim Butcher (re-read)
3. Spin by Robert Charles Wilson (audio)
4. Eifelheim by Michael Flynn (audio)
5. Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx (audio)
6. The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

I'm currently working on "Small Favor" by Jim Butcher and my audio is "Divergence" by Charles Sheffield. But, since I haven't finished them yet, I can really count them as April's reading. *sigh*

I should make a list of all the books I want to get through this year. There's so many coming out and so many I already own I haven't read yet! I'm trying to tag my books in LibraryThing for reading, so I can find them when I finish a book, but that's not going so well.