Cats and the Daily Grind and Stitching too

The last week has been filled with work, work, and more work. Trying to wrap up major work deadlines before Christmas makes for a very busy Shell. My world has turned upside down upon discovering a bump on my big monster kitty's jaw.



Biopsy results are still pending, but the overall diagnosis is an extremely aggressive bone cancer. Outlook is not good, but for the moment, he continues to eat, sleep, and cuddle. For 13 and a half years, he has been my lapcat, my lump of love, my fibercat for which I have had to rearrange many aspects of my world. Someday, I will stop crying. But not today.

Today is a stitching day (and apparently bad picture day). I had an embroiderers' guild meeting this morning and then came home to crash with the kitties. I've spent the better part of the afternoon watching Gilmore Girls episodes courtesy of Netflix (including the Knitting episode!) and a combination of internet research and general crafty-type surfing. Then picked up Cat by the Hydrangea Bush from Rowandean Embroidery to tackle a hydrangea or two.




This is one of my many black cat stitching projects. Over the years of having black cats, I have established quite a collection of black cat projects - many finished, many not, many in between. Many are Kats by Kelly designs from Calico Crossroads, but I like the dimensional work from Rowandean. They have a lot of different stitches - french knots, detached chain stitches, and satin stitches.

Tomorrow is housework, laundry, weavers' guild, and then an Arbonne presentation at a friend's afterward. I want to go by the yarn shop as well, but I feel like the cat is all I can think or speak about. I just don't want to ruin everyone's holiday spirit.