Finished Socks and Sad Kitty News

I finished my neon colored welt fantastic socks last night!!!

Yarn: Regia Crazy Color Stretch Yarn (a little over one skein)

Needles: size 3 Clover bamboo

Pattern: "Welt Fantastic" from Knitting Sensational Socks

Started: October 22, 2006

Finished: November 3, 2006

I can't believe how fast I knit these! It didn't even take me two weeks! Of course, it is getting chilly out, and I'm spending more times indoors. Plus, they were so much fun to make that I didn't want to do much else.

I don't think they are going to be the warmest socks in the world, but they sure will be fun to wear.

Solvie got in on the picture as well.

This brings me to the sad part of my post. The vets are 95% certain that Solvie has lymphoma. I noticed over a month ago that she had lost a lot of weight, and I could feel her bones through her fur. We took her to our vet, who put her on Clavamox for a couple of weeks with a follow-up appointment scheduled. We took her there on Thursday, 10/26, and discovered that she had lost 3 more ounces, putting her at less than 5 and a half pounds. She's normally around a 7 lb kitty. Our doc took some blood from her, which showed some abnormality of the liver. She recommended an abdominal ultrasound. We made an appointment for early morning on Wednesday, November 1, and ZMrK -- bless him -- took the time off work to take her there. The ultrasound showed enlargement of the liver and spleen, and that's when the doc told ZMrK that it was most likely lymphoma, or a virus that mimics lymphoma. They scheduled a biopsy for the next morning.

Solvie was okay for the blood-drawing part of the biopsy, but when they went to give her anesthesia, she FLIPPED out and started attacking the vet and his staff, biting and scratching. Somehow during this she lost one of her teeth. She must have just decided that three vet visits in one week was quite enough, thank you, and please stop sticking needles into her.

We haven't received the results of the biopsy yet. The treatment required will depend upon the type of lymphoma she has; if it is small-cell lymphoma, we can treat her at home with medication; if it is large-cell lymphoma, treatment will include chemotherapy. Based upon what happened this past Thursday during her biopsy, I really hope that we can treat her at home, with as little trips to the vet as possible. She has always been a bit of a high-strung cat; she was never feral, but her kittenhood was mostly spent in a house with several other cats and very little hugs and pets. She never got used to being held; in fact, she hates it and has made a fuss at the vet office before. She's not a lap cat, but she loves to be petted and will come up to "make bread" on us when we are in bed.

I'm really hoping to make her life as comfortable as possible, no matter how much longer it is. She has been given as much food as she will eat (she loves the fishy canned food from Iams), and has been sleeping the past few days under my side of the bed. We put her on top of the bed today when we were watching TV and she stayed there, especially as long as ZMrK was petting her. She loves her daddy.

I'm trying hard not to get too freaked out about this. She's been in pretty good spirits (for her) the past couple of days, even prancing about the house a few times. It does make me sad to compare old pics of her when she looked healthy like this:

to see how old she looks now:

Yes, that is a great picture, but she really looks like a senior kitty, and she's only 7 years old.

Please keep Solvie (and ZMrK, Zelia, Sunny and me) in your thoughts. Thank you.

Now, let's lighten the mood with some yarn pr0n:

This is some of the yarn I purchased at Rhinebeck. I got these from Ellen's Half-Pint Farm. I think I will make very basic, ribbed-and-stockinette socks from the brown, peach and teal yarn, and something more fancy and lacy from the peach yarn. I have a feeling that I will love working with this.

There is also some incredibly good buys on double-knit cashmere on Colourmart UK's ebay page. I have never used their yarn, but have heard great things on the knittyboard about them.