Good bye monkeys

Despite some Friday night procrastinating, I manage to get a few monkeys off my back this weekend - the giant, King Kong gorilla of the hideously trashed studio is still on my back - but the door to that room closes, so I can live with it for another week or so.

Among the things I accomplished:

Yarn dyed: This wasn't really one of my monkeys, but Mom and I spent all Saturday doing it.
Here are some of the results:

(Mom got a new camera, so she's all about the fancy shots now)

Pictured is the new Alley Cat, and it will be in the shop Monday. We also did some Big Cat, which is our yet-to-be-released worsted yarn, but I'll do a post all about that when we put it in the shop.

I cleaned out the cupboard under the stairs: I didn't find a boy-wizard there, but I found just about everything else. It's actually more of a large walk in closet and has been a junk-depository since I moved in.

The kitchen is cleaned and scrubbed: Should we be so inclined, we can actually eat at the kitchen table again instead of looking at piles of ... whatever happened to accumulate there! And the collection of wine bottles is in the car ready to be returned for deposit. (I might have about $10!) I have a whole corner back now! I moved the cats dishes over there, instead of in front of the cupboard where they were. Tux is totally confused.

I completed two freelance writing assignments: I left the newspaper business and suddenly my respect for deadlines went right out the window. Fortunately the editor is a good friend, so she forgave me for being late and will still pay me!

The fat cats got some exercise: I took the boys out for some much needed fresh air. They have been outside in about two weeks because I've been too lazy after work and last weekend the weather was crappy. But today we went out. There wasn't much exercising, they pretty much just relaxed under the rose bushes while I read my book, but they were happy to be outside.

Pattern released: This is by far the biggest accomplishment of the weekend. The fluffy cat shawl pattern is ready!
This took me far too long to get around to. I finished this shawl in JANUARY! But it's finally named - Artemis - and is ready on Ravelry for your knitting pleasure!

As I mentioned, the studio still needs to be cleaned, and there are still a few small things I need to accomplish, but I'm feeling much better now. It's amazing what a little determination can do!