Part II: Adopt a kitten or two!

I now have photos of this little beauties - still looking for a loving home or homes.

Felting Oops

So I spent the last few weeks knitting this gorgeous sweater in Berroco Comfort yarn in color Grape Jelly.  Totally gorgeous.  I finished it, blocked it, and realized it was about 2 sizes too big. Whoops!  But I didn't care, I was going to keep it as is.

I decided today that it was done being blocked, so I took it off the blocking board and threw it on my bed...unfortunately very close to my 'dirty laundry' pile ready for the washer.  About an hour later I swiped all clothing items off of my bed and put them in the washer.  Awesome!  Except when I inadvertently felted this sweater to a point of no return :(.  $90 down the drain, unless I could find use for baby body armor made of wool.  The good news is that it felted beautifully.  I'll keep that in mind for projects that I WANT to have felted.

Luckily I had already started my next knitting project, so I'm well on the way to recovery and wiping my memory of my stupid sweater that I ruined.  Check out the pattern: http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2009/01/owls_sweater_pattern.html

Mad Men

Thank you to Jocelyn and Tim for telling me (long ago) to watch Mad Men.  I just finished that which is available to me via Netflix instant (Seasons 1 to 4) and I am so very happy that I did.  I am now depressed that I have exhausted the Mad Men resources on Netflix Instant, and I think on the entire internet.  I do not have a TV.  What do I do now?

Despair.

...oh, what's that now? Knit more?  And watch more Dexter?  I suppose.

Is there any other TV-on-the-internet that anyone recommends?

Adopt a cat or kitten!

A coworker of mine has been fostering a stray cat and her three kittens.  They are all ready for a new home.  (They don't have to be adopted together).

Momma cat, Chloe, is probably about a year old and was recently 'fixed'.  She is very affectionate and "does not have a bad bone in her body".  She's probably one of the friendliest cats in the world, and she's healthy!

The kittens are also healthy and wonderful and they like to play and purr (awww how cuuuute).

I believe Chloe is a tabby, and the kitties are all black/white/fawn colored.

If you are interested, please please let me know!  She cannot keep them much longer.

She is also entertaining the thought of sending the kitties to be barn cats.  ...do you know anyone with a barn?  See if they're interested.

Spaghetti squash!

Spaghetti squash is in season! As are brussels sprouts! (Although I haven't seen any good fresh brussels sprouts at the Shrewsbury Shaw's yet).  That's bull.  Anyway, I bought a Spaghetti Squash on Friday and had some for dinner tonight.  I can't remember what (fantastic) recipe I used last year, but for this year I just winged it.  "Winging it" includes forgetting how long to bake the squash and at what temperature, and whether to slice and seed before baking or after.  I also learned how to use the apartment oven. I've probably used it more than 15 times so far, but I didn't KNOW how to use it until tonight.  Nothing got hurt.  Huge relief.

Anyway, I don't know if I've ever mentioned it before on here but I love to cook.  I cook a fairly elaborate meal (risotto, for example) at least once a week, and I cook meals 'from scratch' probably 5 days out of 7.  It used to be 7 days out of 7 before I started grad school.  Grumble.  So tonight!  I think my recipe was a hit.  A hit with myself, since nobody else was here to shower me with praise on my abilities.  I basically made a version of a tomato sauce recipe that I make when I don't have a lot of time, and added pinot grigio to it (mostly by accident, as I spilled my glass into the pot while tripping over Betty) but it worked out great so I'll have to do that more often.  Add wine, not trip over my dog.  Anyway, I then put the squash in the sauce, mixed it up, turned off the heat under the saucepan, and added some Pecorino.  Mix, serve, eat.  It was great.  That wasn't really a recipe.  Shrug.  Do whatever you want, people.

If you've never had Spaghetti squash in your life I suggest that you try it this winter - it's pretty easy and pretty versatile.  My only advisement is that it has an inherently sweet flavor to it (it's subtle, but there).  THUS, you should either play into the sweetness and recognize ingredients that will suit it well, or your can play against the sweetness (as I did by adding Pecorino).  I also used Pecorino over Parmesan because the consistency when it melts is more likely to mix in the sauce and become almost creamy whereas Parmesan can get stringy.

The end.  Make some food and eat it.

Have I really not posted Betty pictures yet?

Apparently I only put them on Google+.  Shame on me.  Here we go:

Puppies don't speak human. Argh!

1.  So, Betty is occasionally a hysterical barker.  This started this evening during an encounter on the stairwell with a larger dog.  The other dog couldn't have cared less about Betty, but Betty was in super anxious protective crazy dog mode and she decided to 'throw her weight around' which consists of acting like a doberman despite being SMALLER THAN A BREAD BOX. GET OVER YOURSELF, BETTY.  I was also strictly told NOT to pick her up, but she started slipping out of her harness (I've since bought a new one) and I had to snag her to keep her away from the dog because she's stupid and despite the dog's docile manner, he could have easily made her his dinner.

Apparently puppies have to be trained when to bark and when not to bark.  During training you are supposed to be patient and not frustrated.  I am learning how to do this.  So far I'm failing, and she's barking.  This isn't me throwing my hands up in vain, this is just simple venting.  I'm sure anyone that's adopted a puppy in an apartment building can sympathize with some permutation of this.  In the meantime I hope my neighbors can be patient when they walk down the hall and my big bad pipsqueak is sticking her little paw under the door trying to 'protect' her territory.  Despite the barking, she's still excellent. Today I took her to a birthday party for my 7 year old niece and she was great with the kids and the adults.  She clearly favors the adults, but she didn't growl.  There was only one child that made her nervous, and he was definitely too young to know proper handling with a pet.  Regardless, I can't wait for doggy training on Saturday afternoon!  I say doggy training, but really he's just going to tell me how to be patient and give me some tips.  She just gets to think we're playing for an hour.

Also, I should mention that Betty likes wearing shirts.  She also chases her tail and catches it.  And barks at shadows and mirrors.  She's learning.

2. Graduate school is a lot of work.  (Yes, obviously).  Vent vent vent.

3. I got a new laptop!  It's a Dell something or other.  It works and does everything I need it to and it's fast and wonderful.  It also feels sturdy and starts and shuts down quickly.  I'm enamored with it.  This also means I gave my new iPad2 to my mother.  I've gotten plenty of flack for the surrendering of such a 'beautiful machine' for basically 'no reason' to my mother for free, but I feel like it's the right choice.  First, my mother is obviously happy with this arrangement.  2. Most of the times that I used my iPad2 I reflected on how I'd rather be using a PC/Laptop or my Android phone depending on what I was trying to do.  Sure, the interface of the iPad2 is lovely and most of the setup is straightforward and fast - but I'm just not an iPad2 enthusiast. 3. I wouldn't dissuade any interested parties from purchasing one, it just wasn't the product for me.  I rarely traveled with it - and when I did, I rarely used it.  I was more prone to use a loaner laptop or my phone.  I also get to teach my mother how to set it up in the coming days.  Very exciting.