The Haps in the Household

What is happening in your world?  Mine, not so much.  Mainly the Mr. and I have been involved in taking care of our wounded pet.  Wounded neither by man nor beast, but by her own exhuberance and increasing age.

Libby Sweetpea, therapy dog and healer of the mind, had a torn ACL.  At six years of age, this is not too uncommon.  She took a flying leap off the back step, as usual, but that one leap ten days ago left her in pain with the liklihood of permanent disability if she did not have surgery to repair the tear.

So she underwent a tightrope procedure and spent one night at the animal hospital.  She probably did not miss us near as much as we missed her.  This was her little shaved leg a few days ago; she was recuperating on the lap of the Mr.

This is how Libby's dad remembers what to do for her and when to do it.  I thought it was cute that he wrote it all out.  She does not mind doing her range of motion exercises too much, and just whimpers a bit when it hurts.

Libby this morning:

I am feeling much better, thank you.

This is a pair of Faceted Rib Socks in progress:

linking to Tami at Works in Progress Wednesday

Tomorrow I am heading out to Las Vegas to play in a Scrabble tournament at the Riviera Casino and Hotel. There will be 56 competitors.  Can you find me in this listing?  Please wish me lotsa luck!

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Take at look at 313 five letter J words here that I will be studying today to prepare for the tournament.

Nancy Pearl: Book Lust Rediscoveries

Nancy Pearl is a writer, a literary critic, a personage of the literati.  She is a regular commentator on NPR (Morning Edition).

And I write about her now because she has brought attention to books which are real finds, but are older and perhaps out of print.  Pearl has made a listing of  these books and calls it "Book Lust Rediscoveries."

Amazon says

Book Lust Rediscoveries is a series devoted to reprinting some of the best (and now out of print) novels originally published between 1960-2000. Each book is personally selected by Nancy Pearl and includes an introduction by her, as well as discussion questions for book groups and a list of recommended further reading.

If you are looking for a new read, Nancy Pearl might direct you to a treasure you have overlooked.

I first found her through the book The Last Night at the Ritz in an Amazon review capturing the essence of the story here:

Readers of Joanna Trollope or Anne Tyler may enjoy this intelligent, captivating, and not entirely trustworthy (unnamed) narrator. She invites three close friends to lunch with her at the Ritz Hotel, in Boston, for her birthday. Two of them are a long married couple she has known since college days. The third was once her lover. The lunch quickly takes an unexpected turn.

Check out her Book Lust Shop here.  She even has an action figure if you are a girl fan for Pearl.  And you can see and hear her on the Seattle cable channel 21 found here.

I am currently reading The Cowboy and the Cossack, another Pearl Book Lust Rediscovery.

So many books, so little time.

(Camilo Mori)

Linking up with Pamela at OurShelteringTree.

Leg Warmers to Crochet or Knit

Now that it is winter, maybe you need some leg warmers. Aren't these the cutest?

(photo courtesy of vanillabeanknits) on Flickr.

Here are crochet directions from the webpage: Legwear:

...leg warmers will be most appreciated in the dead of winter when temperatures plummet and winds wail, but be sure to have them crocheted and ready to wear.

Directions are given for size 9-11. You will need two 4 ounce, skeins of 4 ply yarn and sizes I and K crochet hooks.

Gauge: 3 hdc equal 1 inch

Starting at lower edge with smaller hook, ch 30, join with sl st to form ring, ch 2, do not turn.
Row 1: Sc in each ch, join with sl st in top of ch-2, ch 2, do not turn.
Rows 2 through 8: Repeat Row 1.
Row 9: With larger hook, ch 2, hdc in each sc across, join with sl st in top of ch-, ch 2, turn.
Repeat Row 9 to length desired, after last sl st, fasten off

And here is how you would knit these legwarmers: Measure your leg at the thickest part and determine your gauge according to the size yarn you are using. Two skeins of yarn should be adequate for two legwarmers.  Of course, larger needles will make the project go faster.  Marissa Huber on Flickr used Noro yarn.  Any self striping yarn would work well.

I didn't really use a pattern, I just used a little math and knit a 1 x 1 rib. I kept knitting until they were long enough to stretch up to my thighs if cold weather required. (Courtesy of VanillabeanKnits)