As I work my way through the two nearest balls of scrap yarn in my collection:

I have come across more than one yarn scrap that is shorter (under 8″) than what is optimal for the project I am currently working on. So I unknot those scraps and pull them out of the yarn ball they are a part of and set them in a pile while I re-knot the ends of the longer scraps and continue on my way.

Eventually, however, I find that it behooves me to compile the shorter ends into one length of scrap yarn which I can then wind into a ball of “shorter” yarn scraps, but all of that was interrupted today when my cat, Stripes, had a cat emergency.

The long and short of it was this: crochet would have to wait while I attended to the needs of my cat.

I won’t go into the details, but suffice it to say it was messy, required the attention of a veterinarian, and Stripes was sufficiently uncomfortable that she let me hoist her into a utility sink so I could wash off some of the mess.

After I got an appointment made and found her cat carrier, we were on our way:

and while she wasn’t exactly happy with me, she also did not give me as much grief as she usually does. I don’t know if it was the pain, or if it was just that I was her ride and she knew she needed one, but she even impressed the veterinarian with her cooperative spirit.

After her treatment was completed, we headed home.

I got her situated:

and I was able to return to working on my crochet.

I started by tying the shorter ends together so that they would not get lost and collect any more pet hair than they already have:

then I worked as many rows as I could before the sun set on the day:

While it does, in many ways, seem as if this project is moving quite slowly, the truth is, before I know it, the two yarn balls I have been working from will no longer exist, and then the hunt for scraps in my yarn empire will once again be on, and the long and short of that is then I will be tasked with finding even more yarn scraps.