They Grow Up So Fast!

Spinning, Spinning, and More Spinning!

After finishing up the sock yarn I talked about in my last post, I went hunting in the cabinet to see what I should work on next. I found some merino/bamboo (also by FatCatKnits, in the Roger Caruso colorway) that I'd started spinning up laceweight, so I popped that back on the wheel and got going. Today has been a lovely day of old Star Trek reruns, cat petting, and spinning. Life is good.

In other news, Ripley has decided to help me spin.

Boring, Boring Person

I am the queen of all boring people, ever. This past week my little brother came to stay with me, and our days have been filled with Warcraft, petting kittens (still working on taming Ripley properly), and watching bad monster movies. I got some spinning done for Tour de Fleece, but honestly, I'm not even close to spinning every day, much less for a set time every day. The roving I'm spinning up is Monica by FatCatKnits, a one-off roving used to pick up the last of the colors from the dyepot. It's pale and colorful and interesting, and I'm hoping it'll spin up nicely into some sock yarn.

One thing I did do this past week, was find a spinning wheel for a friend of mine! I have my google reader set to let me know when anyone in Aggieland, Houston or Austin puts up a wheel for sale on Craigslist, and this week I found an Ashford Traditional for $200! I emailed the seller to see if it was still available (it was), and my friend Megan to see if she was still looking for a wheel (she was), and since she's out of the state right now, if she wanted me to drive up to Austin and pick it up for her (she did). So, long story short, she deposited the money into my paypal account, and I drove and got my friend a wheel :) It came with a lazy kate and 4 bobbins, so I'm pretty excited about it. She's a fairly new spinner, but she's definitely got the touch, her singles are already fine and even and lovely, and I'm so happy that she's going to have her first wheel.

So yeah, aside from that, my week has been pretty uneventful. Me and Ripley napped in the sunshine by the windows, with Heed sleeping on my knees as per usual, and it was nice. But for now, I think I'll get back to spinning, and see if I can't finish up that sock yarn!

Keep On Keeping On

Well, not a whole lot going on in Case del PenName. Ripley is adorable, she is putting on weight nicely and may almost be up to 2 pounds now, which means soon she'll be able to actually get her vaccines, and I found out that microchipping is $10 at the local shelter, so I'm definitely going to get that done as soon as she gets her rabies shot and county tags.

I'm in a new D&D game, it's 4th ed, which I had resisted for a long time. It's a very mini-centric system, to the point where it feels more like a minis combat game that had RP tacked on, rather than an RP game that worked out a system for combat. It doesn't feel like those old games I played in school, me and my friend and a hastily-drawn notebook of maps that were to be used only when I was figuring out a puzzle or getting lost in a maze. I still remember when my second character ever, an elven thief, died because she pushed a statue over that caused a chain-reaction of collapsing stonework. I was SO upset, because my friend told me that unfortunately, I could never use that character again, because now she was dead. It didn't matter that I had written up a lovely backstory. It didn't matter that she was the character I had wanted to play from the beginning, she had died, and that was that. (yeah, it was middle school, okay? Drama happens)

But this new game seems fun. I'm playing a rogue, again, though a halfling this time. She's not your typical merry agile trickster type thief, she's your slightly dim burly thug :) A halfling so butch, she's sometimes mistaken for a dwarf!

So, yeah. I'm having fun. I've been watching the original seasons of Star Trek, and it's really interesting to see how the gender dynamics play out. I'm pretty sure none of the ladies on the Enterprise could possibly be in Engineering, not because of lack of ability, but because honey, those uniforms were NOT built for bending over, much less climbing machinery. It really makes me want to start a Star Trek campaign, if only to play a Kaylee-esqe grease monkey... in space!

Introducing: Ripley

The kitten from the last post's name is Ripley. This was decided (after some debate - she was provisionally named Seek for a while, because Heed and Seek is hilarious) after she snuggled into my shirt, and then popped her head out chestburster-style multiple times over the same evening.

I got her via one of the shadier methods of kitten acquisition - a dude on the side of the road holding up a sign that said "Free Kittens". I had already been looking at kittens from local rescues, one in particular who was very sweet and reminded me a lot of Cricket, but I just didn't feel that instant connection with her, so I decided to wait. When I saw the free kittens dude, I pulled over, thought I'd go check it out (it never hurts to look, right?) and this was the last one left.

According to the Kitten Dude, she was the runt of the litter, as well as the one with the shortest hair (she will likely be a medium-hair), and is 8 weeks old. According to the vet (and yes, I took her to the vet right away, I am a responsible pet mom) she's closer to 6 weeks old, but since she's eating solid food and using the litter box, I don't have to worry about her being so young. She does not have any kind of Crazy Death Plague, which I will admit I worried about A LOT, and has been cleared to interact with Heed.

Heed, of course, loves her. He loves everyone, especially small things that he can bat at and groom. He swishes his tail for her to pounce on, sniffs the litter box when she's done using it, and makes sure everything is properly covered. He's a very paternal cat. He doesn't even chase her off the bed at night, though sometimes I do, because she's very active right around the time that I like to be sleeping. Hopefully that will settle down once she's older.

Someone Needs a Name

Total impulse kitten-getting. Driving down the road, saw a dude with a 'Free Kittens' sign, she was the last one left. Runt of the litter. Snuggled into my shirt, and I felt that jolt of yes, this is my kitten.

She's got a vet visit this afternoon, and will be fixed next time I'm in Austin.