It's a better day.....

But I know one little pup who is still keeping to the safety of her "dog cave".  She had her dental work done yesterday, and poor little girl, she had quite a time of it!  Once they had her asleep and were able to xray and "probe", etc..... I got a phone call.  She had abscesses under the gum line, and was going to lose a great many teeth.  Eleven, in all.  The biggest fear that phone call brought, however, was the risk that in the process of pulling one of her molars, because of the position of her tooth in relationship to her jaw bone, the jaw might break.  He just wanted me to know that was a possibility - although a slim one.  So....I paced, and paced some more while I waited for the phone call with the outcome of his work.  Finally the phone rang and my husband took the call.  I was so afraid of bad news, well - what are husbands for if not to help out in a time of need.  Anyway - the jaw was intact.  He'd had to pull 11 teeth (and come to find out she was already short 13 others - I guess such small dogs often times don't have room for all their teeth, and they just don't grow in).  He did bone grafts to her jaw bone in 3 places.  She had some excessive bleeding, and they had trouble keeping her body temperature up, but everything had eventually mellowed out and she was ok.  We were allowed to pick her up very late yesterday afternoon, and now the healing process has begun. 

She is doing remarkably well.  In lieu of changing her diet (she has a sensitive tummy) I am soaking and smashing up her normal dry kibble.  She's having tiny snack meals throughout the day today.  She is on 3 medications - pain, anti-inflammatory, and an antibiotic.  They are all liquid and I'm putting it in her food, so along with many mini-meals, she's getting her medications.  She is actually liking this frequent eating thing - and the extra lap time she is getting.  If she's not on one of our laps, she is in her kennel - as it's her safe place.  She is sore and uncomfortable, but doing much better than I would be, given the same dental procedure!

So....I'm glad she made it through ok.  I have copies of her x-rays, and the position of that molar in relationship to her jaw bone....the dark shadows of abscesses --- it all makes me shudder!  I am grateful that her doctor was able to take good care of her.  He gave me his home phone number in case I needed him during the night, and he also called late last night to see how she was doing.  I just feel so bad that all this has been going on, and we were not aware.  I think the brushing of her teeth and treating her water, etc, perhaps made the visible teeth look good, and gave no clue as to what was happening below the surface of the gum line.  Anyway.... thanks for those of you who have sent best wishes and prayers her way.  Just thought I'd give everyone an update.  Only the dog-lovers out there will understand, but I do think there are a fair share of you that are....(and cat-lovers) also of course.

So, back to the knitting part of this show:

There's a monster in the making.  He's going to have some sort of pocket and be a cousin to the tooth-fairy, or an assistant, or ...... you get the idea.  Some little man I know will be loosing those front teeth one of these days.  (OH NO!!! Ijust realized, I'm still on "teeth".)  Ok - enough of that......

I've signed up for a Mitten Mystery KAL with the "I Make Mittens" Ravelry group.  It starts in July.  With a certain amount of hesitation, I decided to take this braid of fiber:

and separate out the colors.

I'm trying to create small skeins of yarns for the colorwork in the mittens.  It may well be an epic fail, and I admit that I'm not quite sure of what I'm doing, but I'm trying it.  I do kind of like this little skein.

I have adequate yardage (90 yards needed) for this to be one of the "main" colors.  I need another of this amount (hoping for the red to produce this much) and several small skeins.  We'll see what happens.  If nothing else, I'm learning lots, not to mention having fun!  I'm spinning on my Matchless and plying on my Lendrum.  Works well that way.

I've also joined in on a Mystery Shawl KAL - one by Wendy Johnson.  The first clue is completed.  I believe the next clue comes out tomorrow. 

It's been quite some time since I've knit this type of lace-work, and I must admit it's been fun.  I'm using some deep stash fingering weight yarn - an Alpaca blend.  Super soft, and of course, "my" color.  I'm knitting the large size - 393 cast on stitches that will diminish as I knit it.  I enjoy those types rather than the ones that become longer and longer rounds. 

Our local sheep/wool festival is tomorrow.  I plan on going with a friend.  Should be fun.  Sofee will be in good hands with "daddy", and I'll try not to worry......not TOO much anyway.

Enjoy your weekend......  k