Little One

is also being missed :(

I hope next year will see less loved ones departing although Gibber is now also coming up to that particular stage in her life but must say after her surgery and antics back in July she's doing pretty good!

Rats & Knitting

Things not going too well at the moment in Maison Fred. We've got a poorly rat again. This time it is Little One. He is the male (funny that with him being a he ;-)) we got last year just before Christmas. He's sitting in his cage and looking somewhat depressed and not eating. I've taken him to the vet twice this week after weighing him on Sunday. I found that he had lost 4 oz in weight. The last time I weighed him admittedly was in August but I think its all been recent weight loss. He is on antibiotics which I'm giving to him by syringe as he was refusing to let me put the spoon in his mouth. I'm also feeding him baby food as he is not eating his rat nuggets and only nibbling, as if making a show for me, of anything else he is being given. I am just hoping that I do not have to make THAT PARTICULAR DECISION given that its only 6 weeks since Ish.

On the knitting front. The unbloggable project that I have been working on has been put on hold. I've decided that I am not going to give it to the originally intended recipient as we have gone our separate ways but will keep it aside for someone else as soon as they become apparent.

I am working on another unbloggable project at the moment. It is taking me longer than I first anticipated but there is a lot of colour work involved in it as it is a jacquard project. I am so hoping that my lottery numbers come up so I can retire and then I can knit all day and know I'll have finished in time.

After I finish that I have another large project to do. I've volunteered my services to knit the field for the knitted picnic. This however is going to be a much simpler project than it sounds as it will also be commuter knitting as I can do it in bits and pieces so it will easily fit into my bag for my bus and train journey. I wonder if I could manage to do it while I walk between the train station and the office?

Missing In Action

The past week or so has been somewhat hectic to say the least. I will be posting an update on 27th because, as is the tradition in Maison Fred, there will be no mobiles or internet access on the festive days. See you on the other side and hope you have an enjoyable time whatever you do.

Secret Pal Reveal UPDATED

I've been having problems with blogger not accepting my pictures but just to confirm that I've received my final SP11 parcel and REALLY happy with it. My SP included a postcard in the box and I have to say that it very firmly reminds me of myself at the moment trying to cram my stash in at home ;-)

I arrived home and found this box waiting for me:

Opening up I found an optical feast of goodies:

First of all this Italian DK yarn. Four balls of green

Along with two balls of orange and two of yellow:

Next in the box were these two skeins of green and purple lace weight yarn:

My SP had mentioned to me in an e-mail that she was making something for me but had not made any mention of exactly what it was she was making. It turns out to be this adoreable felted green piece. I'm not sure whether she intends me to use it as a scarf or as a runner as some of the flowers have been beaded

Buried under this were these two bars of chooclate with adorable animal pictures. How I wish my rabbits were this small! Also tucked away was a felted die and a 2008 calendar with a cute little snuffly nosed animal. I think it is a mouse but as it bears a remarkable resemblance to Feddy I'm not 100% certain.

I am also going to have to a have a proper sit down and read through of these two mitten pattern books as there are some lovely patterns pictured. One of the books in both English and Estonian and the other is in purely Estonian. This isn't going to cause me any problems though as I can read pictures :-D

Finally, my SP wrote me a lovely message on the back of this postcard but she got the picture so right. You would not believe it but this (as I have mentioned) is so reminiscent of my trying to get my stash in available space at home. I think I'm going to have to e-bay again.

My upward SP revealed herself to be: Kuduv koeraomanik. I've enjoyed our correspondence in the past few months and hopefully we will be staying in touch now that SP11 is over.