A Dog for Katherine: License to Craft

This last week I have been given a license to craft. This is much more dangerous than a license to kill, for me at any rate, because the start-up has cost me some money. I am in the process of speed crafting to be able to open an Etsy store to sell merchandise in order to fundraise money for my dog. All profits will go towards the service dog fund, and in the future I intend to use the store as a way to pay for dog-related expenses (like new equipment, veterinary bills, etc.) and as a way to start putting money away for the next service dog. Because service dogs work so hard and put in a lot more “busy” hours – which can translate to stressful hours – they have to be retired around 9 ½ years of age, dependent on how the dog is still working and their health. It also depends on the kind of work a dog is doing; if the dog is a medical alert dog, and that is their only job, that dog might be able to work longer than a dog that is pulling a wheelchair. My dog will be under a good deal of stress unfortunately; my hope is that over some time he can become desensitized to some of my tics. My kitten who I have had since he was 6-weeks old and is now 11 months old, doesn’t even notice my verbal tics. If it progresses long enough to disturb him, he just gives me this “oh please” look and goes back to sleep. My dog will not react negatively to loud noises – it is a qualification of the program – but it would be best if noises don’t disturb my dog, especially when it is off duty. Obviously, I don’t want to have to think about fundraising a second dog before I even have the first, but it will be much easier the next time around if I don’t have to emergency fundraise in a couple of months.

I learned how to knit when I was 14, right after my family had moved to California. This was before the whole Tourette’s fiasco; it was simply something I wanted to learn how to do. Once I learned however, it wasn’t really something I did a lot of. I forget exactly when I started really knitting, but it was after I had been diagnosed. And then something really cool happened. When I was knitting, my tics weren’t as severe. It was the same phenomenon that happened when I rode horses and that I now know happens when I drive. If my brain is occupied with something else, it doesn’t always have time to tic. Knitting, crocheting, drawing, or anything else that keeps my brain and hands busy makes my tics less apparent. That isn’t to say that if I’m ticcing and somebody sticks yarn in my hands that the tics will abate. All I manage to do then is destroy whatever project I happen to be working on. I have ticced knots into my projects, thrown needles across the room, and ripped out rows upon rows of work with only one episode of tics. In addition to that, when I get really tired or the medications make my brain fuzzy, my OCD tends to stand out more and I will tear out and re-do the same portion of work all night long until I put it up and go to sleep. Crafting isn’t a “cure” for my tics; it helps me control them on good days.

Back to my “license to craft”… I am opening an Etsy store; hopefully in a month or two it will be fully stocked and I will “open” it so to speak. I am going to coincide opening and promoting my Etsy store with a well-known blogger’s promotion of my story, fundraising efforts, and my store. Rest assured, I will be heavily promoting my store when it is open for business, and I will be more than happy to take requests for specific items or color combinations. And here is just a look at what I got done this weekend…