The Stitch Book: Week 42 (October 13-19)

It has been a fucking week. On Sunday, my sweet cat son, Keely, didn't want to eat and was having trouble using his back legs. I took him to urgent care and ended up at an animal hospital in DC later in the day. They emergency vet agreed with the urgent care vet that it was most likely something neurological and recommended Keely stay overnight and get an MRI on Monday. Yes, Keely got an MRI on Monday. He has a spinal issue and was in the hospital until Thursday afternoon. He's home now, and has had some good moments (eating a bit more, drinking water out of a bowl - he didn't do that before this happened) and some bad moments. One of the things he needs to be able to do at home he's not doing, so yesterday involved a trip to urgent care again. If that doesn't change, well, we'll talk about that another time. 

So it's been a fucking week. 

I went to see Neko Case in concert before all of this started with Keely. I haven't seen her live in several years and she's one of my favorite musicians. The show was at Strathmore, which is a phenomenal place to see live music. She played a lot of my favorite songs and two new ones which will be on her new album. One of the new songs is about a spider ("Little Gears" - I think) and she played "Hell-On," which I haven't listened to since that album came out. I hadn't decided what this week's piece was going to be yet, so the combination of those two songs helped me create the design in my head at the show. I love the line in "Hell-On" "I'm not a mess / I'm the wilderness," so that served as the main inspiration. I thought it would look cool in the middle of spider webs, like a rock and roll Charlotte's Web. 

Turns out I'm absolutely a mess this week, but who isn't?

Here's this week's piece:

October 13

October 14

October 15

October 16

October 17

October 18

October 19

Week 42

Weeks 1-42

Week 43's color is foam.

WIP and a Surprise Find

I started one of the kits I purchased from Capital Stitch Co. I decided to start with the Bee Wreath kit. 

My amazing friend Elaine surprised me with a mini black and white glass pumpkin this week! I've been looking for a fourth one since I bought the pumpkins last month. She found one at a Home Goods near where she was participating in a race. It was unexpected and a little joy I needed this week. 

If you can, please send Keely some good thoughts and vibes. This weekend is going to be long and stressful. Here are two photos of him from before this all started to brighten your Saturday.