Ping Pam S.

I just wanted to say thank you again.

Ben and I have been really down since Hunter died. I handle it by crying
for a while, then not thinking about it, then crying again. Ben, however,
just stays very depressed and morose 24/7 (also, he was much closer to
Hunter than I since Hunter stayed in "his" part of the house and Hunter
would lie right next to him or on his chest when he was on the computer). I
needed something for us to do this weekend (maybe his only weekend off until
September), so I pulled out one of the jigsaw puzzles you sent - "The
Hobbit" one with a thousand pieces. This kept us happily diverted all
weekend long. We finished it last night and I took pictures of the
completed puzzle, but of course didn't get around to uploading the pictures
yet.

Anyway I just wanted to tell you again how much I appreciate your kindness
and how much we're enjoying the "care" package you sent.

--
Hugs,

CatNipped

See all my masters he http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
I just wanted to say thank you again.


You're welcome again. The Hobbit puzzle was one of the hardest puzzles that
I ever gave up on. I'm glad that you two were able to put it together. The
Wenzel cat puzzle is another hard one. How is the crochet lessons going?
Are we going to see one of the cats in a new hat? Maybe you'll be able to
crochet or quilt them their Christmas card clothes this year. At the very
lease, maybe you can quilt them all little blankies.

Pam S. who didn't send the quilt stuff, but thinks it was a grand idea.

"tanadashoes" wrote in message
m...

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
I just wanted to say thank you again.


You're welcome again. The Hobbit puzzle was one of the hardest puzzles
that I ever gave up on. I'm glad that you two were able to put it
together. The Wenzel cat puzzle is another hard one.

It really was hard - there were SO many pieces with the red stipes on them
and all of the pieces had similar backgrounds and colors. That was one of
the reasons we really enjoyed it - it took our minds off our troubles and go
us really engaged in something outside of ourselves.

How is the crochet lessons going?

I learned all the basic stitches, but I just can't get the "tension" right -
it's either too tight or too loose (and not consistently so, so it comes out
kind of crooked - ;). I bought myself a pair of knitting needles and tried
my hand at that again - easier, but I keep dropping stitches so there are
"holes" in the output! I just have to face it - I'm not "handy". But I'll
keep trying - practice may not make perfect in my case, but I'll settle for
"adequate"! ;

Are we going to see one of the cats in a new hat? Maybe you'll be able to
crochet or quilt them their Christmas card clothes this year. At the very
lease, maybe you can quilt them all little blankies.

I haven't gotten a quilting book yet - they are pretty steep. But I'm going
to look up quilting online and see if I can figure it out from that. I'd
really love to learn since I love quilts so much.


Pam S. who didn't send the quilt stuff, but thinks it was a grand idea.

It is a great idea and I'm looking forward to learning.

Hugs,

CatNipped

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
"tanadashoes" wrote in message
m...

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
I just wanted to say thank you again.


You're welcome again. The Hobbit puzzle was one of the hardest puzzles
that I ever gave up on. I'm glad that you two were able to put it
together. The Wenzel cat puzzle is another hard one.

It really was hard - there were SO many pieces with the red stipes on
them and all of the pieces had similar backgrounds and colors. That was
one of the reasons we really enjoyed it - it took our minds off our
troubles and go us really engaged in something outside of ourselves.

How is the crochet lessons going?

I learned all the basic stitches, but I just can't get the "tension"
right - it's either too tight or too loose (and not consistently so, so
it comes out kind of crooked - ;). I bought myself a pair of knitting
needles and tried my hand at that again - easier, but I keep dropping
stitches so there are "holes" in the output! I just have to face it -
I'm not "handy". But I'll keep trying - practice may not make perfect in
my case, but I'll settle for "adequate"! ;



I took up knitting again last fall after reading some hints in Arthritis
Today on how to protect your hands from stress. The main things that
helped me were using natural needles and natural fibers. They have more
'give' in them. Also, now I strictly use a 'round' needle even for flat
work. The sort that has two fairly short needles connected by a nylon
cord. It keeps the weight of the work off your wrists.

I still can't crochet, but thats a lot because I always did work far too
tight and that's rough on the fingers.

I was using Alpaca and wool last winter. But got burnt out when I made a
sweater vest for my grandson. I even knitted my first even pair of socks.

Now I need to look for some cotton yarn and start a summer project.

Jo

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
"tanadashoes" wrote in message
m...

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
I just wanted to say thank you again.


You're welcome again. The Hobbit puzzle was one of the hardest puzzles
that I ever gave up on. I'm glad that you two were able to put it
together. The Wenzel cat puzzle is another hard one.

It really was hard - there were SO many pieces with the red stipes on them
and all of the pieces had similar backgrounds and colors. That was one of
the reasons we really enjoyed it - it took our minds off our troubles and
go us really engaged in something outside of ourselves.

How is the crochet lessons going?

I learned all the basic stitches, but I just can't get the "tension"
right - it's either too tight or too loose (and not consistently so, so it
comes out kind of crooked - ;). I bought myself a pair of knitting
needles and tried my hand at that again - easier, but I keep dropping
stitches so there are "holes" in the output! I just have to face it - I'm
not "handy". But I'll keep trying - practice may not make perfect in my
case, but I'll settle for "adequate"! ;

It took me years to be able to knit and crochet adequately. Like every other
activity, unless we're a prodigy, its all about practice practice practice.

Dunno if it helps, but I find the *rhythm* of knittin an crochet the
important part. And its really about muscle memory, just like driving a
manual car is. If I can use the analogy, you are at the point of being able
to get the manual car moving, but you have to *think* about each gear
change, and have to *look* at the gearstick before you change gears. Bunny
hops and stalling is still all too common. Sooner or later you stop doing
that and just *drive*, the changing gears just sorta happens at an
unconcious level. Knitting & crochet is very much the same, once you get
that rhythm and can stop *concentrating* on what you are doing, the tension
sorts itself out and it becomes more like 'constructive fidgetting'.

(and even the most experienced drivers still occasionally stall their manual
cars...)

Yowie

"Yowie" wrote in message
...
"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
"tanadashoes" wrote in message
m...

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
I just wanted to say thank you again.


You're welcome again. The Hobbit puzzle was one of the hardest puzzles
that I ever gave up on. I'm glad that you two were able to put it
together. The Wenzel cat puzzle is another hard one.

It really was hard - there were SO many pieces with the red stipes on
them and all of the pieces had similar backgrounds and colors. That was
one of the reasons we really enjoyed it - it took our minds off our
troubles and go us really engaged in something outside of ourselves.

How is the crochet lessons going?

I learned all the basic stitches, but I just can't get the "tension"
right - it's either too tight or too loose (and not consistently so, so
it comes out kind of crooked - ;). I bought myself a pair of knitting
needles and tried my hand at that again - easier, but I keep dropping
stitches so there are "holes" in the output! I just have to face it -
I'm not "handy". But I'll keep trying - practice may not make perfect in
my case, but I'll settle for "adequate"! ;

It took me years to be able to knit and crochet adequately. Like every
other activity, unless we're a prodigy, its all about practice practice
practice.

Dunno if it helps, but I find the *rhythm* of knittin an crochet the
important part. And its really about muscle memory, just like driving a
manual car is. If I can use the analogy, you are at the point of being
able to get the manual car moving, but you have to *think* about each gear
change, and have to *look* at the gearstick before you change gears. Bunny
hops and stalling is still all too common. Sooner or later you stop doing
that and just *drive*, the changing gears just sorta happens at an
unconcious level. Knitting & crochet is very much the same, once you get
that rhythm and can stop *concentrating* on what you are doing, the
tension sorts itself out and it becomes more like 'constructive
fidgetting'.

(and even the most experienced drivers still occasionally stall their
manual cars...)

Yowie

It's been many, many years since I did any knitting or crocheting, but IIRC,
it is possible to pick up dropped stitches (of knitting), using a crochet
hook.

Joy

Yowie wrote:

Dunno if it helps, but I find the *rhythm* of knittin an crochet the
important part. And its really about muscle memory, just like driving a
manual car is.

Or any car, really. I learned to drive on an automatic, but at first,
driving was anything *but* automatic! And then a few years later, I
learned to drive a manual shift. OMG, it took me so long to get the
hang of that! First my dad tried to teach me, but he lost patience
quickly (he doesn't have much to begin with), and then I wore out a
few friends before I finally got it.

If I can use the analogy, you are at the point of being able
to get the manual car moving, but you have to *think* about each gear
change, and have to *look* at the gearstick before you change gears. Bunny
hops and stalling is still all too common.

"Bunny hops", LOL. I used to call it "bucking bronco".

Knitting & crochet is very much the same, once you get
that rhythm and can stop *concentrating* on what you are doing, the tension
sorts itself out and it becomes more like 'constructive fidgetting'.

That would be great for me - certainly better than tearing up pieces of
paper or breaking pens.

--
Joyce

To email me, remove the triple-X from my user name. ^..^