Weekend Visit

It's a no-picture-blog this evening. I updated a few of my sidebar items and wanted to mention in my blog what I nice visit I had this weekend with my friend Kathy from Missoula, MT. Kathy and I were friends in grade school before her family moved from MN to MT. We've been in touch off and on over the years and when my RV broke down in Missoula back in 2002 I say to this day Kathy quite honestly saved my life. For sure she saved my sanity. I had to spend 8 extra days in MT with 11 dogs stuck in a new motor home waiting for a transmission. People said I would laugh about it some day and I'm hear to tell you, that some day has yet to come. Kathy took me to the grocery store, the laundromat, the dog food store, to lunch, to every place you would need to go in 8 days.

This past weekend Kathy, husband Bob and daughter Erin, came back to the home town in MN for a quick visit. We did some site seeing, visited her family's old farmstead, my family's old house and made a walking tour of a local cemetery. It was great fun. So nice to see Kathy again. So nice to have a friend for such a long time.

Wait, wait! What about Pembrokes or knitting? As for dogs, all I can say is Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings are dedicated to dog activities. I honestly can't wait until tomorrow as Thursday evenings are dedicated to Mary's TV watching. As for knitting, I'm very close to finishing one front side of the Nantucket Jacket. Sorry, no pictures but it's coming along. I think I need to dedicate an evening (or weekend) to knitting.

Bluebirds, Robins and Thunder - Oh My!

The bluebirds arrived Friday morning about 8:30 am. I know this is not the best picture but it was as close as I dared with my little camera on Friday. The bluebirds will become much tamer and friendlier as the weeks go by but for now, this was as close as I could get. They are such a welcome sight. Truly spring is here and though there will still be cold days and probably even snow storms, it means I've survived yet another Minnesota winter. Yeah! I spotted one lone Robin in my yard on Friday but by Saturday entire flocks had appeared. Yet another welcome spring sight.

I'm sure you are wondering why I feature my cat Percy in the same blog as bluebirds. I just couldn't help myself and snapped this picture of the poor boy as he lay unsuspectingly sleeping on Friday morning after a long night out. Now that the all the birds are returning poor Percy will be relegated to the house until all the baby birds are hatched. It is always a difficult few months for Percy and me but he is one heck of a hunter and as much as I need a mouser around here, I do not want a birder. Thus Percy will, most unwillingly, become a house cat until early to mid July.

And spring means thunder storms in Minnesota and although none have shown up yet, they have threatened most of the day. Dak, such a "tough" dog normally, is terrified of thunder storms. I've made up a little spot for him in the basement where he feels safe enough and here he spent today, tucked away on his little raised bed with his fleece blankie. It's an awful picture with those flash bulbs in his eyes and Dak would be so embarrassed to know I exposed his weakness to the entire WWW. Ah, poor Dak!

Waiting For Winter's End

Eek! It's been a while since I blogged. Honestly, I haven't been so busy, yet, I haven't been feeling so great lately either. My RA has been acting up for the past few weeks so my knitting progress has been minimal and I've needed to save my typing fingers for work since I do still need a paycheck!

I did not get a picture but there's at least one new bird, a lovely Mourning Dove, visiting my bird feeders these days so hopefully warmer weather can't be far behind. I'm expecting the Bluebirds next week. I've made sure all the Bluebird houses are ready and have been watching and waiting for their return. Can't wait for winter to end!


I've finished the sleeves of my Nantucket Jacket and have started the left front. I'm still very happy with it though feeling a bit slow. Checking the KAL, I'm so much slower than other knitters. Ah well, that's the way it goes sometimes.

I was so determined to finish the Nantucket Jacket before I started another project, but my fingers are sore and I've learned having a project on dpns to work on is a nice break from circulars, so I think I will have to start a sock project before I finish the Nantucket Jacket. I hold my fingers and wrist differently when using dpns and it allows me to continue knitting even when my hands, fingers and wrists are hurting.

As for dog news, Dak managed to pick up the second leg of his CD with less than a less than illustrious score, but I learned much from his performance and we are working towards a much better performance next time.

New yarn, new project

The yarn I ordered came today. It's Debbie Bliss Cathay in a soft, celery green color. Yes, I know I am currently knitting a sweater in a soft green color but this next project is for my mother and this is the color she requested so it's the color she gets. The pattern is from Vogue Spring/Summer 2004. It's #11 and designed by Shirley Paden. I remember looking at this lacy wrap when the issue first came out and thinking I could never be good enough to knit it. Not long ago I was browsing through old knitting magazines and came across the pattern again. Believe me, this will still be a big (like HUGE) stretch of my knitting abilities but I'm determined to try it. And if I fall on my face, the yarn will be perfect for something else.

I took a bunch of pictures of the pattern and yarn. I think I chose the best one. I recently complained to my sister about the fuzzy and out of focus quality of the pictures I take. She suggested I wear my glasses next time. Sigh. Such a simple solution. So I wore my glasses but still managed only one good shot out of the entire batch.

I definitely will not start this project until the Nantucket jacket is knit and being blocked. I find one big project and one small, take-with-me project is enough. Still, I like knowing I have the yarn on hand to start my next big project when the time comes. The Nantucket Jacket is coming along, working on sleeves and hoping to make good progress this evening. I am anxious to start a new take-with-me project and have two nice sock yarns calling to me, yet determined to finish up the sleeves of my Nantucket Jacket first.

On the dog front, I bathed up Dak today as he is entered in an obedience trial this weekend. He's ready but I'm nervous. I so hope we have a good run. Sounds like finally the weather will not keep us from attending.

Speaking of weather, the dogs just hate this spring snow, the kind of deep but soft snow they sink into with each step. Makes it very hard going for my short legged crew.

Snow Storm and More

Ok, so the snow storm last Saturday and Sunday was not the storm of the century as previously predicted, however the snow this past Wednesday through Friday certainly was. Here is Dak in a snow drift though I can tell you he is not even close to being at the bottom of the drift. The snow is very hard packed because of the winds we had. I picked Dak up and tossed him into the snow and this is as far as he sunk. Dak thought I had quite lost my mind when tossing him into the deep snow. This is one nice thing about all the snow, the corgis make a few trails through it and mostly leave the deep drifts alone. It makes my daily yard clean up very easy. I just follow the paths, no need to traverse the entire fenced yard.

The last time I posted I bragged about the progress I was making on the bi-color cable sweater. Gosh, that will teach me to brag! I have knit the collar over three times, once in the pattern directed garter rib stitch, a second time in plain garter stitch and the third time in the above shown k1p1 rib pattern. Yet none of these have produced a collar I am happy with or that looks good on me. I finally decided the problem is in the way I am picking up the stitches. I think I have too many stitches along the back of the collar compared to the stitches I pick up along the two sides. Honestly, I don't know, it's just my current theory but I am going to try adjusting this stitch count. If that doesn't work I will try omitting the collar altogether.





Here are the buttons. I think they turned out very nice even though they are not crocheted. I made I-cord buttons because I was too lazy to drag out my "How To Crochet" manual for left handers.












And here is the completed back of my Nantucket Jacket. I'm still in love with this pattern. I've started the sleeves, two at once, and have about 2" of the 7" completed. It will all need a good blocking but I think it will look nice once I've knit, blocked and stitched it all together. If nothing else, it's a fun knit.