Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Too Much Fun

New agility equipment arrived for the dogs yesterday and we're having too much fun trying it out.



As you can see, even Percy the cat likes it. Percy took a nap in the tunnel this afternoon.

Agility is a new sport for us. I thought I'd try it as once a week herding lessons do not seem to be enough for the dogs and me to make any real progress. At least we can practice agility at home and it is so much fun! Everyone, from the most shy to the most outgoing dog here, is enjoying it.



Fame has been sick for the last 36 hours but seems to be on the mend. Normally she's such a stubborn, independent little dog who is not the least bit cuddly and who never allows me to hold her on her back even though I insist on practicing this with her several times a day. It has been enjoyable to have a sweet, little lap dog for the last day or so. However, Fame is feeling better now and has no time or desire and is far too alpha to let me cuddle her or for her to sit still on my lap. And be submissive enough to let me roll her on her back - never!

I think I have my work cut out for me with this one.

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Thursday, October 18, 2007

New Projects and Completed Projects

Whew, I'm still feeling the relief of completing the Traveling Shells Cardigan. It was a complicated project for me and I'm proud of myself for completing it, but I gotta tell ya, my next two projects are strictly for fun, usefulness, fun, ease, and fun. Enough of being a strict and serious knitter!



I wanted to wait for a sunny day to take pictures of my two new projects as the variegated yarn for both is so beautiful and a flash lit picture taken indoors at night just does not do justice to either yarn. It seems, however, the sun has deserted MN. We are in the middle of the 40 days and 40 nights of rain. Please God or Noah, send me a SAD lamp!

I started the Jacoby fingerless hand warmers. A nice, simple k2p2 pattern. I really need and use these hand warmers during the winter as I am too cheap frugal to heat my house much in the winter and my hands get cold as I'm on the keyboard all day. I'm making these out of Dream In Color Smooshy. This is the second Dream In Color yarn I've used and I love it. So easy to knit with, never wants to split, slides along the needle easily, Smooshy is a great yarn.





My second project is my Clapotis. I'm on the increase section of the pattern and enjoying this very much. It's an easy pattern to remember and fun to knit. I don't have to concentrate on it much, I can even knit it while I watch TV. Now that's nice! Unfortunately, this picture does not show off the beautiful autumnal colors of the Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb yarn I am using. The sun is suppose to shine on Saturday. If so, I'll try to get a better picture then.

Oops! I almost logged off without posting a picture of Fame. How could I forget?



Even worse, I forgot to post pictures of my new bathrooms! How could that happen? I'm so glad it's done. I highly recommend the folks who did my bathrooms (and kitchen, floors, woodwork and bedrooms). If you want their name, contact me privately. But I am SO GLAD they are done and gone. It is so nice to have my lovely "new" house to myself again. Guess I've lived too long by myself.



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Sunday, October 14, 2007

It's Done ... IT'S DONE!





Can you believe it? I finished the traveling shells cardigan! Whoa! I am ever so happy. You can see my mother trying it on above. Remember how I knit and knit on the sleeves because I thought they were too short? As you can see, they are a bit long. Sigh. I will tack them up. I still need to tack down the collar so it will not be a lot more work to tack up the sleeves.

I told my mother to please wear the sweater. It is not heirloom knitting, I made a lot of mistakes, but it's very nice and definitely wearable. I hope she wears it this winter in Arizona. As I told my mother, I do not want her to pack it away and pass it on to me. I don't want to see the sweater again!





Here are two more shots of the sweater laid out and being blocked on my newly tiled bathroom floor. I've had two bathrooms under construction for the past week. They should both be finished tomorrow. I sure hope so. As much as I like and trust the folks I've hired to do the job, I do so hate to see my house in such disorder and can't wait until it's complete. Can you see where my dogs have laid around the toilet over the years? What a mess they made - and I thought I kept a clean house! It's all been cleaned and the walls painted now.

I've started a new knitting project, a simple pair of fingerless gloves to wear while I work this winter. I'm using Dream In Color Smooshy. No pictures yet but it is progressing quickly. So nice to do a simple project again. And of course I need to start my Clapotis for the Second Wave Clapotis KAL. However, my old printer gave up the ghost finally and I can't print out the pattern. I did buy a new printer this weekend but it's not connected yet.

Her Cuteness

You didn't think you'd escape without viewing pictures did you?





Her Cuteness, now called "Fame", at seven weeks.

And I must brag about Dak who performed so nicely last weekend at the obedience trials with scores of 196.5 and 195.5 out of a possible 200. What a guy! He makes trialing him so much fun.

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Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Her Cuteness and a little baking

I've made a little more progress on the traveling shells cardigan. This is probably the ump-teenth time I've said this but honestly, I'm getting close finishing this project.

So for fun, how about a few more pictures of Her Cuteness?







Although today was quite sunny and nice and tomorrow is forecast to be close to 80, this weekend was cold and damp and very autumn-ish. It really put me in the mood for baking. I made two very tasty loaves of whole wheat bread. I ate one myself and gave the other to my parents. I did take pictures of the bread before I devoured/gave it away, but alas, the pictures refuse to download from the camera. All I have as proof of my endeavours is this picture of my dirty dishes. Sad. It was truly very tasty. I made the poolish on Saturday and put it in the 'frig until Sunday. This really helped to bring out the flavor.