The Cat Who Went Home

Houseguest no longer, the orange kitty went home today.  I put a "found cat" ad on our local news blog and the cat's mother, who had been away on vacation and came home last night to find her cat missing, called me this morning.  She lives a block away and came right over with a carrier to pick her up.

Turns out the cat sitter, her neighbor's teenage daughter, had left the door open on her first night and the cat had gotten out then.  By the time she chose my patio umbrella to camp on, she'd been out for two days!

Marigold's real name, by the way, is "Anthem," for the fact that she never, ever stops talking.

So that's the end of our tale.  All's well that ends well - the kitty's home, her mom's happy and I don't have ten cats anymore.

Knit Critters

So, a safer stuffed animal.  It took a little while, because most of my ideas grow in complexity as they evolve, and this one had to go in reverse.  Simple shape, no moving parts, nothing small that could be pulled off.  Soft, squishy, friendly-feeling.  Washable -- very important.

As I've said before, I've become the way station between several friends and the thrift store, and a good friend recently called and asked if I wanted to go through her things before she donated.  One of the many pieces I came home with that day was a long, clingy dress in gray sweater knit.  It sounds a little strange, but I'm sure it looked fabulous on her.  On me, I'd have looked pretty much like what I turned that gray dress into -- a knit critter.

Critters are 7" high, 10" in total length, 6" across.  Poly/rayon sweater knit, stuffed with new polyfill stuffing.  Eyes and noses are made from felt, fused on.  Okay, the ears are separate and sewed on, but I did them by hand and I think the head would separate from the body before a baby could get those ears off.  Ribbon collars are made from my own childhood hair ribbons.  Please don't ask how or why I still had them; I can't answer that myself.  I think it goes along with the "can't get rid of anything" problem.

Anyways, Knit Critters.  Soon to be available in more colors as I unearth the others sweaters I had tucked away.  I figure I'll do them in both wool and non-wool fabrics because of wool sensitivities in both babies and their parents.

Available here.

And then the rains came

So, Bang!Boom!Craft! started out well, but by mid-afternoon (3:30 or so), it turned into Bang!Boom!Thunder! and the skies opened.  Not a nice, gentle rain, but a pounding monsoon that produced so much water so quickly that the storm drains couldn't handle it.  I was literally in water up to my ankles as we speedily broke down and packed up our tables.

Before the rains came, things were pretty good -- it was a nice enough day, warm and overcast, so no craft show sunburn for me this time.  Every once in a while it would sprinkle, but no one seemed to mind.  The little park at Passyunk and Tasker was surrounded by tents on all sides; the crowd was interested; there were antique and vintage cars parked down Passyunk for 2 blocks; and there was a rumor of a pen of baby pot-bellied pigs, but I didn't see them. 

Sales were okay, not the best I've seen but a lot of attention and plenty of business cards being taken.  Fingers and toes are crossed for the holiday season.  

Much interest was shown in my newest pieces, soft "knit critters" for babies who are too tiny for the bigger, articulated bears with button eyes. They got some pretty rough handling (and survived it) and a few sold.  I'll put the rest up on Etsy later today.

I had a fun and talented partner for the day -- Jennifer Sweda of Jerica's Jewelry (Etsy shop here), who makes lovely and fun pieces.  I've worked with her before at the local holiday craft show, and I have a few pieces of her jewelry.  She had a few pair of "retro" earrings with mini tape cassettes and TVs with test patterns that made everyone smile.  I also have to give Jen kudos for patience and good humor when the rains came, and special thanks for standing her ground with the tent while we took the first load of stuff back home, dropped it off and came back for her.  (Packing in reverse doesn't work; the tent has to go in first for it all to successfully fit in the Subaru.)

Next show is September 7th; here's hoping there's better weather!

Edited to add: I just found out that Sunday's rain actually set a City record for the most rain in a one day period since they started keeping records in 1872!  Especially impressive considering it didn't start until around 3:45 p.m.

The Cat Who Came to Stay

or, as Britney might say, "Oops, I did it again!"

I went out back the other morning to feed the chicken.  I was temping this past week so I was in a rush, trying to remember how to deal with 9:00 - 5:00, and the last thing I wanted was to find the chicken coop in a mess, the food and water containers turned upside down and Bonnie herself in an uproar.  A visit from a raccoon, maybe?  I straightened everything up, lectured her about staying calm, and stood up.

Then I heard a meow.  I thought it was one of mine, calling from the kitchen window, reminding me that they hadn't had their food yet.  Then I heard it again, and it was definitely outside, and closer.  I looked around - no cat in the yard, none in the alleyway.  Where?  I moved away from the coop and found out.

During the heatwave last week, I had set up the patio umbrella over the chicken coop to keep the sun from cooking her, and we hadn't gotten around to taking it down yet.  Lying on the pale green umbrella like it was a hammock, there was a long-haired, pale orange cat.  Who apparently had scared the crap out of my chicken and was now yelling at me in that demanding "where's the food?" tone.

So I went in, grabbed a can of Lily's food and opened it.  Which Lily did not appreciate.  When I went back outside, I couldn't find the cat.  Turns out, when I came out, she went in, and she was sitting patiently in the shed, waiting for food.  I brought back out, and went in to get some water.  She followed.  I put her out again, and when I opened the door with the water . . . well, you get the picture.

To top it off, I thought she was my neighbor's cat who had gotten their screen open before and tried to climb down two stories of brick wall.  I brought that cat in until her person got home, and I was pretty sure that this was the same cat - big, fluffy, light orange and very vocal.  I wasn't sure, but just in case, I thought I should bring the cat in.

Of course I hear from my neighbor later that her cat is sleeping in the living room.  Our housemate reminds me that neighbor cat is a polydactyl and this cat, while having very large, fluffy feet, has only the standard number of toes.

Toes which are now residing in the guest bathroom while I figure out what to do with her.  This is the first time our cat numbers have been in single digits in probably 8 years, and I was okay with that.  Now what?  I thought I had a friend who could take her, her cat had just died and she wasn't going to get a new one until she got home from vacation.  I reached her on her trip and it turns out her daughter had just brought home a new cat for her, so that option is out.

I'll keep you updated, but I get the feeling that the fair Marigold may have found her new home, whether or not we agree with her.

This Coming Sunday

I'll be at the Bang!Boom!Craft! event in South Philadelphia from 12:00 - 5:00 p.m.  Craft vendors, antique cars, food trucks, homemade ice cream . . . what more could you need?

Here's the link to the event for directions, etc.

This coming Saturday

I'll be at the Bang! Boom! Craft! event in South Philadelphia.  Craft vendors, antique cars, food trucks and homemade ice cream . . . what else could you possibly need?

Here's the link to the event for location, etc.   Hope to see you there!

So. Tired.

It's only been 3 months since I stopped "working, " but apparently that was long enough that my first two days back in an office have seriously wiped me out.

I feel like a toddler -- I'm trapped in a cubicle, doing busy work that just doesn't feel valid.  I want to get up and move around when I get antsy; I want to go outside and catch some sun when the air conditioning gets oppressive; I'm appreciative of the endless free coffee, but I'd rather be at home making my own.  I forget to eat lunch when I'm working at home, but by noon the past two days I've been ready to start gnawing on the edge of my desk.  Apparently boredom makes me hungry.

I get it, it's money.  I need that, and my savings will be nicely replenished after a week, but I've come home two days in a row and just crashed on the couch.  A thunderstorm woke me up near 2:00 a.m. and I wandered into the workroom and tidied up a bit and lined up some work for tonight, but again, I came home and the couch called to me.

Hump day tomorrow.  I'm hoping I can make it over, and not trip over it and fall flat on my face.