Merry Christmas and Peace On Earth

Merry Christmas all! Though I'm having a lovely visit with my sister in Kentucky I only caught the Holiday spirit after arriving. My trip down was hardly ho-ho-ho.

Does this look like a Passat to you? It doesn't to me either. My 2007 Passat with 1062 miles broke down in Waterloo, IA while I was traveling 70 mph down the freeway. I limped along to a Burger King parking lot where I figured I would at least have coffee, warmth, a bathroom and food (even if bad food). I waited 45 minutes for the roadside assistance to get back to me then 45 minutes for a tow truck to tow the Passat - with 1062 miles - for the third time in it's short, miserable little life. The car was towed to a dealer in Cedar Falls, IA where it now sits because of course the service center was closed for the Holidays.

Determined to celebrate Christmas in KY, I rented a vehicle that could hold two dogs and tons of miscellaneous stuff. I arrived in KY at 11:00 pm when I had planned to arrive by 7:00 pm. Now that I am here I am having a wonderful visit with my sister but tomorrow starts all the phone calls and hassle with Volkswagen about my $%&^% car. I'm already dreading it. I guess it's time to just walk away from the Passat, take the loss and move on. I sure can't keep a vehicle as unreliable as this.


While waiting in the Burger King parking lot I started knitting to calm my nerves. I did not knit on the sleeves to my almost finished sweater but decided I could start on a new project while wallowing knee deep in self pity. Here's a scarf in Misti Alpaca Chunky I completed.

Here's hoping for a yet different new car in 2007. One that actually works.

Happy Holidays!

Wishing everyone a very merry and safe Christmas. Packing the car for a trip to western KY to spend the Holidays with my sister. I hope to have a few finished knitted items to show off when I get home.

Here is my new vehicle, a 2007 Volkswagen Passat - wagon model for the dogs of course. After leaving me stranded not once but twice under 250 miles, I have to admit the car has been great for 5 days now. When it goes, it dances and I love it. However, my final verdict is this car is like a bad boyfriend who has cheated on you. He may still be sexy to look at and fun to drive, but all the trust is gone and it's going to take lots of time and perfect behavior to gain any of it back.




I received a surprise present in the mail yesterday from my friend and dog training mentor Sherry in IA. It's a new dog training book, Success Is In The Proofing and I'm going to sit down and read it tonight plus keep it in my training bag for reference. I saw this book advertised in the most recent issue of Front And Finish and put it on my wish list. I was so surprised and happy to find it in my mail box last evening as I returned home from dog training. What timing!



And this is also a knitting blog so here is a boring picture of my boring sleeve knitting for the Bi-Color Cable sweater. This is why I almost always knit sleeves first. I find sleeves boring and difficult to stick to and finish. So many other projects I want to start but I'm determined to finish this sweater first so for the weekend it's just these (did I mention I find them boring?) sleeves.

NKC (No Knitting Content)

...or very little anyway. I'm hoping to finish up the sleeves of the Bi-Color Cable Sweater this weekend. I've made a few inches of progress. It's boring, TV watching knitting only I have a bad cold and sore throat and keep falling asleep whenever I slouch on the couch to knit and watch TV. I'm not allowing myself to start any new projects until the sleeves are knit. There are several projects calling my name but I am trying hard not to hear them.

Most of my time this past week has been taken up with a new vehicle I purchased a week ago today. I am not going to post pictures of it or name the dealer - yet - because so far they are being fairly reasonable but the car has been in the shop twice already and is there over this weekend. I don't mean in the shop because this little bell or that little whistle doesn't work, I mean towed to the shop because the car won't start! I can't tell you how discouraging, frustrating and stressful this has been for me. I will have to work this afternoon and tomorrow to make up for all the time I missed at work this past week dealing with car troubles. Getting a car towed at 47 miles - can you believe it? Yes, it's under warranty. Yes, it came with 24 hour roadside assistance. That's hardly the point. The license plates are here, the bill from my insurance company is here, the new car is not been here.

Close to completion

I've decide to call these my Happy Socks. They certainly are, um, colorful! I knit these for my hair stylist. Probably sounds like a silly person to knit for to some of you but she always takes such an interest in what I am knitting and even bought me a knitting bag with dogs on it for my birthday. She often wears unmatching socks. I think this is a popular way to dress these days. I hope my socks are not too much of a matching pair for her. I purposely did not match up the yarn to the first sock when I started the second sock. I think she'll like them. It was fun to knit socks again as I haven't in a long time.

I had promised myself I wouldn't blog again until I finished the body of my bi-color cable sweater. So here it is. I thought I would have the shoulder seams knit together and the collar knit up by now but I have been having trouble with the yarn curling so much I decided it was time for a good wash and bit of blocking. Now it looks to be laying flat enough the edges will be easier to work with. It happens frequently to me at this stage of a project but I can't look at the sweater now without seeing all the mistakes! Eek, so many, and such 'ridges' in my knitting. I'm clearly having trouble with the yarn. My stockinette knitting is usually smoother. Still, I have enjoyed working on this sweater and will definitely wear it. I'll start on the sleeves soon, just not tonight. It's going to be a crash on the couch evening for me.

Whisper is doing great. All the girls, including Whisper, have been in season the last few weeks. It's finally over with and the boys are starting to settle down and have brains again. Thank Heavens! I don't think I could stand much more of this.