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February Cats – Day 14, 15, & 16, Catflu vs. the Stomach Bug! Wait, what?

By Cynical Woman February 16, 2016 February 16, 2016 Cats, Challenges, Crafts, Creative Challenges, Crochet, Family, Girl Scouts, Kids

Well, when last we chatted, I was recovering from the flu, and I had done NOTHING on any cat-themed projects because I was too busy either watching my feet come out my mouth or sleeping like a dead woman. I started to feel better on Valentine’s Day, and Hubster and the kids and I met with some friends at the local hibachi place for a lovely dinner. Shortly after we got home, Princess complained of heartburn, only her symptoms didn’t sound like heartburn. Hubster laughed, but I made Princess put a bucket beside her bed that evening. Sure enough, by 1AM she was puking her guts up. I ended up sleeping on the floor in her room the rest of the night. She spent the next day on the couch, slowly recovering, and I. Spent that time trying to clean and recover my house as well as my brain.

So today is the first day since the stomach flu hit this household that I’ve been able to do any work on the Catbug pillow. While I’m still not completely satisfied with the last big spot I made, I decided to move on to another spot and try a slightly different method of making it. This time, I feel like I’m getting the results I want. Here’s a peek at the spot in progress.

This spot I like!

As you can see, I drew a lopsided oval on some graph paper and used that to plan my stitches. Each square on the graph paper represents one single crochet stitch. I have to get a little fiddly at the bottom because this oval starts narrow but expands very quickly, but I think this looks okay.

I have no idea how many more posts I’m going to be able to make this week. Troops pick up their order of Girl Scout cookies this weekend, and then we start delivering to customers. Booth sales start then, too. So I’m going to be very busy with Girl Scouts for the next few weeks. I will keep working on this project though. I have a feeling that aside from Catbug, the only other project I’m going to get done this month is another cat bolster pillow for Princess’ birthday this month. It’s one thing I know she really wants. Other than that, things are pretty much up in the air. Maybe I’ll do another cat month in the spring. Pixie really wants a Franken-kitty, and her birthday is coming early June.

I’m going to bed now. Hopefully, I’ll see you tomorrow!

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February Cats – Day 12 & 13, Catbug vs. the Stomach Flu

By Cynical Woman February 13, 2016 February 13, 2016 Cats, Challenges, Crafts, Creative Challenges, Crochet, In Sickness and In Hell

I’m too tired to fight with this anymore.

I am soooooooooooooooooooooo wiped out. I spent last night on the bathroom floor, a victim of a very virulent stomach flu. I wretched so hard, I think I pulled some muscles in my back.

I’ve spent most of the day asleep. I can finally eat again, but I’m taking it slowly. I spent a little time on the big spot for Catbug’s back. It’s not perfect, but since it looks more like an egg than an eggplant, I’m going with it.

Going to rest some more now. I’m restless but exhausted. Hopefully I can do more tomorrow.

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February Cats – Day 9, 10, & 11, I haz a cold

By Cynical Woman February 11, 2016 February 11, 2016 Cats, Challenges, Crafts, Creative Challenges, Crochet, Family, In Sickness and In Hell

No, it’s not a cape for a super hero cat.

I have a cold. Pixie has a cold. Hubster suspects he has a cold. Princess needs an outfit for her NJHS induction tomorrow. So none of us is exactly happy right now.

I’ve been doing more work on the main spot on Catbug’s back. I think I may have figured a couple things out, but we’ll have to wait and see.

I’ll try to post again tomorrow, but it’s going to be a loooong weekend. Oy.

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February Cats – Day 08, Frogging Catbug’s Spots

By Cynical Woman February 8, 2016 February 8, 2016 Cats, Challenges, Crafts, Creative Challenges, Crochet

What the hell is this?! Did I make this?!

Lovely, isn’t it? Looks like a purple turd to me. Five seconds after I took a picture of this “spot” for the Catbug pillow I’m making, I tore the whole damn thing out and started over. I told you. These spots are what brought me to a screeching halt the last time I worked on this project.

But I have started again, and I will continue to work on it. I may map it out in a grid tomorrow before I go any further with it, to save myself from heading down yet another wrong path. But for now, I’m tired of working on spots, so I’m going to bed. Good night!

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February Cats – Day 07, Cats and Yarn

By Cynical Woman February 7, 2016 February 7, 2016 Cats, Challenges, Crafts, Creative Challenges, Crochet, Pets

Dear cat whose house I am visiting…

You are gorgeous, but get the fuck out of my yarn.

Yours truly,

Cynical Woman

(Seriously, this cat thought I had brought several skeins of yarn just for HIM. Obviously, he does not understand middle-aged women and their craft obsessions.)

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February Cats – Busy Day, Sleepy Cats

By Cynical Woman February 6, 2016 February 6, 2016 Cats, Challenges, Crafts, Creative Challenges, Crochet, Family, Pets, Princess

I got up early this morning, spent 2 hours at karate class, did a bunch of crafting stuff with the kids, worked on a painting for the school auction, and then squeezed in a little time for the Catbug pillow. I didn’t get enough done to bother posting a picture of the work in progress. However, Princess managed to record a quick video of one of our real live cats taking a snooze. Turn up the volume (I promise, this is not a trick) and listen carefully…

Yes, that’s Mister Big, and he is snoring! Which is what I’m about to do right now. Good night!

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February Cats – Day 05, 3 Spots Down, 3 to Go

By Cynical Woman February 5, 2016 February 5, 2016 Cats, Challenges, Crafts, Creative Challenges, Crochet, Girl Scouts

Technically, it’s really 3 and a HALF spots down.

So today, I was able to scale down the egg pattern to make a smaller spot, and now I’m working on scaling it up to make the really big spot in the middle of his shell. Hopefully, I’ll get the big spot done tomorrow or Sunday.

On a completely unrelated note, I spent this afternoon with Girl Scouts who volunteered to make bag lunches for a local homeless shelter. These girls put together about 200 lunches in under an hour! Way to go!

And now I’m tired, so I’m going to bed. Good night!

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February Cats – Day 04, More Than One Way to Crack an Egg

By Cynical Woman February 4, 2016 February 4, 2016 Cats, Challenges, Crafts, Creative Challenges, Crochet, In Sickness and In Hell

Marmalade models Catbug’s shell in-progress

If at first you don’t succeed, find another way to do it. I did a search online this afternoon and found a pattern for Easter Egg coasters that gave me a big enough egg shape for at least 3 of Catbug’s spots. I should be able to scale the pattern up without much trouble to make the larger spots as well. So thank you to the Whiskers and Wool blog for the egg pattern! It’s just what I needed!

In other news, I took another sick dy today. That’s my third in two weeks, and each one has been for the same reason – joint and muscle pain plus fatigue. I hurt badly last night, especially along my triceps, back, and thighs, and my joints weren’t giving me any happiness either. I (sort of) know what caused it – the water aerobics class I took yesterday morning. I’m still getting back into the routine of hitting the pool a couple times a week, and the change in exercise leads to muscle soreness. However, it shouldn’t lead to crippling muscle soreness like I had last night and twice last week. But it did, and there lies the problem. I need to exercise to maintain my weight and keep the normal arthritis at bay, but a little over-exertion can leave me in agony for the next 24 hours or so. This seems to only happen in the cooler months (I can’t recall it ever happening during the summer), which leads me to believe the problem is either related to weather or to stress, since the months of January, February, and March are the most stressful time of the year for me. I don’t know though, and in spite of multiple tets, I have no diagnosis for whatever it is that ails me.

However, I do at least have the liberty of taking a sick day when I need to, and that does seem so help. We’ll see how I do tomorrow, and maybe, if we’re really lucky, I’ll have another spot or two finished for Catbug!

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February Cats – Day 02 & 03, Seeing Spots with Catbug!

By Cynical Woman February 3, 2016 February 3, 2016 Bitching & Moaning, Cats, Challenges, Crafts, Creative Challenges, Crochet

Oh Catbug! Why do you have so many spots?!

So, yesterday I went digging through my yarn stash (which right now really just looks like a huge mountain of yarn strewn all over the bedroom) and I dug out the Catbug pillow I had started last spring. I had managed to get the red part of the back done, as well as his light blue tummy. Then I started working on his purple spots and that’s pretty much where I stopped because I COULD NOT FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE THOSE BLOODY SPOTS!!!

I mean, seriously! Look at the spots on Catbug’s back! They are lopsided ovals! And lopsided ovals are actually not easy to make when you’ve spent a couple years learning how to crochet perfect ovals! Ovals with stitch increases at regular intervals! Ovals that grow equally in all directions while you work! I tried so hard, but I could not make the stupid bloody lopsided ovals!

Look at the big dark purple blobby shape on the left-hand side of the picture above. Do you see that? It looks more like an eggplant, or maybe even a mutated pear stricken with the bubonic plague. It does NOT look like an oval. But that’s the only shape I could come up with after several attempts! And do you see the pointy little purplish egg-shape next to it? That’s what I spent all yesterday and today struggling to make. It looks a little better, but still, NOT A LOPSIDED OVAL!!

Ugh. I’m tired. I don’t feel well today. And thus I am easily frustrated. I am sure (yes, I’m lying to myself right now) that with a little time, I will be able to figure out how to make Catbug’s spots and not tear out my hair in the process. I will continue to post my results as I work. But right now, I’m going to take a long hot soak in the tub and go to bed. I’m declaring tomorrow a sick day, since I don’t feel well and I know I’m going to be busy all this weekend with Girl Scouts and school stuff. I’ll see you later. Good night!

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Cats Theme – Day 01, Let’s Start with a Plan

By Cynical Woman February 1, 2016 February 1, 2016 Cats, Challenges, Crafts, Creative Challenges, Crochet, Needlefelting, Sewing

Her Majesty Queen Marmalade is too busy napping to bother with a plan.

I started doing creative themes back in October, and none of them have had a plan yet beyond “make something related to a theme!” This month, I want to see what happens if I have a plan. I have a few projects in mind that I would like to make for the “Cats” theme, and they are…

A crochet Catbug pillow
Another cat bolster, this one for Princess’ birthday
A cat hat with built-in scarf and pockets
Crochet a Franken-kitty for Pixie
Maybe make a needle-felted Mitchiri Neko

That’s four projects for the next four weeks. The Catbug pillow is actually already started. I’ve finished two big parts, but need to get the rest done. So I’m thinking that tomorrow I will clean up my yarn stash and unfinished projects and pull that project out and get back to it!

Beyond that, I’m keeping expectations low. February is a busy month for Girl Scouts, with cookies being delivered this month. So we’ll see how I do.