When life throws you lemons stab them with your knitting needles!!

Adara Rainbow Shawl

So I've been knitting more lately, and well when I say more I mean a lot more. Somewhere along the past few months of researching ms, taking medications, switching insurance plans, and losing a pet I lost the desire for crafting. Sure I'd pick up something here or there and think oh this is the project that will get me crafting again. Sooner than later I would lose interest and spend my time trying to figure out what was missing. Crafts were missing, consistent crafting was definitely missing.

One of the sad and sometimes funny aspects of multiple sclerosis is my forgetfulness at times. There are days when this is scary and there are days when it makes me laugh. For instance, I love Ravelry and yet if I'm not consistently on it searching new projects I totally forget about its existence. I know how could anyone addicted to Ravelry forget about it (that's the not so fun part of ms). Then when a good friend of mine mentions something she saw on Ravelry I get all excited and the light bulb goes off in my head remembering how much I love searching around that site. It makes me laugh because its like rediscovering something you love all over again.

I love knitting, I love it. I love reading about it, I love doing it, I love yarn, needles, stitch markers, row counters, charts, darning needles, blogs, Ravelry, patterns...etc....I forgot how much I loved it and how much I need it in my life. Thanks to Ravelry I can track projects that I'm working on and set goals for myself of new projects I would like to try. So that's the plan for now. I've currently got a few projects that I'm working on and a few projects that I've got the yarn picked out for. My ultimate goal is this! I know its a little scary but there are a lot of things in life that are a little scary, or a lot scary and I have to constantly remind myself when the self doubt creeps in that all knitting is just made up of two stitches and I only have to work on one stitch at a time.

Live with Intention

Cleo, aka Cleocatra, aka Big Chubba

A friend of mine gave me a beautiful bracelet for Christmas and on it was inscribed the phrase "Live with Intention." It really touched my heart and has been an excellent motto these past few months as I've encountered setbacks with my ms treatment and more recently the loss of our beloved cat Cleo.

It just seemed fitting that my first blog in a long time should be about living with intention and about Cleo because she lived life to the fullest. She was an expert fly catcher, tangler of yarn, sun beam snoozing, fur ball of love. My husband I rescued Cleo and her sister Hattie from an animal shelter and having her in our lives was a true blessing. As much as we will miss her I know that with time it will be easier to remember the good times with more joy than sorrow.

Nothing about Cleo was ordinary and she knew it. While her sister has always been calmer and quieter it was Cleo who would be tormenting the puppies or causing havoc in my yarn room. It was Cleo that would sneak downstairs in the middle of the night to scratch on the furniture or unravel a recently completed row of knitting. Even her meow was more of a battle cry warning to Hattie that she was feeling playful so Hattie better watch out. She so desperately wanted to talk, especially in the middle of the night when we would be trying to sleep. While Hattie would jump lightly onto the bed Cleo with her claws sticking out would preform kitty acupuncture on a weekly basis. I swear that cat never learned how to retract her claws. She was a nut case but she was our little nut case and we are devastated by her passing.

The house seems much quieter now without her meowing to announce her intentions of stinking up the bathroom or jumping on Hattie while she sleeps. I miss seeing her on the top of the stairs, belly exposed to the world being warmed by the sun. Sometimes I used to think Cleo would have been better off as a dog since she would dramatically lay down and expose her tummy for a good rubbing. As soon as she would see you walking in her direction she would move from her side to her back exposing her furry little gut. Cleo never was ladylike but that is why we loved her.

Cleo always lived with intention, although sometimes her intent could be a little questionable. Cleo may not have been a very graceful kitty but what she lacked in grace she made up in charm.