Happy St Gertrude's Day

 Not only is today St Pat's Day but it is also St Gertrude's Day.  Who is she?  Well if you have cats you should know her.  

Saint Gertrude of Nivelles was a Benedictine abbess, the daughter of Blessed Pepin of Landen and Blessed Itta of Ida, who founded Nivelles Abbey and installed Gertrude as abbess in 639.

She is also known as the patron saint of travelers, garderner, widows, and the mentally ill.

While the Vatican never officially declared her the patron saint of cats, her association with whisking away mice and rats made her a saint venerated by cat lovers.

 She was know for her kindness to the many cats and mice that lived at the monastery.

It was said that the little mice were like the souls in Purgatory, for whom Gertrude regularly prayed.  

 

 

 

 

Joann's

 I know you all have heard that Joann's is closing. I have to say I am not surprised, after lockdown they were never the same, no employees, items in the ad not on shelves and so many empty shelves.  You could hardly get down some aisles for all the boxes sitting there waiting to be unpacked.  I know the employees were doing the best they could but management seemed not to care.

I use Big Twist to make the prayer shawls at church.  It is a nice cheap acrylic that has too much drape but washes well and is very soft.  It takes about 3 skeins to make one shawl.  I always went in during big sales and coupons and bought a cart full.  I do like HL ILTY but it is only ever 30% off and was never as cheap as Big Twist.  

Also we have a sewing group at church and they make menstrual pads for 3rd world countries, where will they get flannel now.  What if I need wool for something or "fancy" fabric.  Hobby Lobby carries mostly cotton and fleece.  We do have a fabric store on the other side of the state line but that is 45 minutes away and I understand they are very pricey.  

Joann's sales and coupons always made items cheaper than HL and I do not care for Michaels at all, never did really find anything there.  

We all know online fabric and yarn are never true colors and you need to feel the items.  This poses a large problem.  Yes I buy yarn online from KnitPicks but I have shopped from them forever so I am aware of what their colors look like.  

I would like to think there is someone out there who understands the dilemma we crafters have now and start something up.  Also Joann's went to more and more non-craft items.

Black Friday was always fun cos when you were standing in line you always visited with others, hey can I have a yard of that when you get your cut, where did you find that, did you know about the QR code on the search line to show you prices, etc.  The cut ladies always asked what you were making and there was just this bond that brought us together.  There was never any fighting, pushing or other hateful things going on, just like people waiting to get home with their treasures they had just purchased.

I know the world is changing but there are millions of crafters out there who really depended on having Joann's.  I do not think the Board cared enough or talked to the customers to understand what they just did.  

In the end we will make do cos that is who we are, but it will not be the same.  

 

 

$600 Hat

 

Monday morning started out like every other Monday, laundry day and I had a hair apt.  

Around 9am this flies by me:

Sunday I had cleaned out my church bag and put my current hat on the work center in the kitchen.  Somehow Chunky got up there and got the yarn chewed off in 2 places and wrapped around his tail.  I spent most of the day chasing him through the house and finally got the yarn cut down to about 12", there are 2 pieces here about a yard long.  He got under the bed and I went to see if I could see the yarn and cut it off. I noticed one piece was about 4" long, which meant the other part was somewhere, did he eat it?  So I called my vet to see what I should do, he suggested since it was almost 5 to take him to ER vet, so off we go in rush hour traffic.  

ER vet said since I did not know if he swallowed any yarn it would be hard to probably see anything with a scope or xrays.  He suggested I take him home and keep an eye on him for 48 hours.  There are no meds to induce vomiting for cats that really work.  So back home we go.

Tuesday morning I was awakened to hacking, figured it was Chunky, nope the kittens were all on the bed. It was BigBoy.  He tried to hack something up but nothing.  Then he walked a few steps with his back legs spread like maybe he had poop stuck.  Then he laid down and kind of froze.  My first thought was he had a seizure.  My vet was open so I scooped him and off we went.  Good news is no seizure and his numbers were the best they have been in a while.  Vet thinks he was overly stressed from Monday with Chunky.  He kept him a few hours to watch him and when I went to pick him up he was a happy little boy.

This morning all seem to be fine and Chunky has not delivered any yarn at either end. So I am thinking maybe he did not eat the yarn but now I wonder where it is.

So this hat was supposed to go to the homeless, but since it cost me $600 in vet bills, I am keeping it for the rest of my life.