Sunday, December 28, 2008

This and That

Knitting Projects

After Christmas I forced my mom to come with me to Knitters Palette, my LYS, though not all that local. I wanted to start on a project for her birthday in February. She says she loves the socks I made her out of Lorna's Laces but she balked at the price when she saw what two skeins would cost (yes, even though I was paying for them). At least now I know the colors she likes and I can always go back to get those or similar skeins. But to be honest, I'm not crazy about knitting socks, it's fine, it's okay, sometimes I really wish I had a pair of socks in the works, but most of the time, I simply admire other people's sock projects.

My mom was taken with a vest knit in Rowan Colourscape Chunky. I wasn't so taken with it at first but I purchased the yarn and the pattern so I could make it for her. It's a chunky yarn and I'm not so much into chunky, especially a wool, and having just finished the Hemlock Ring in a chunky wool...well...but I have to tell you, I've done a complete 180 on this. It's turning out so pretty. I love the color changes. This picture doesn't do it justice but at least gives you an idea.



I always knew my mom had better taste than I do. You can see I'm having a bit of trouble with my tension between the purl and knit stitches. I don't usually have this trouble so I'm blaming it on the yarn :-). Actually, I'm hoping blocking will fix up all my problems.

My other project in the works is my white blob, or rather, the Lilies Of The Valley shawl from Lace Style.



I'm on the third of ten repeats. Of course, my progress will slow considerably when I go back to work. There is also the lace border to knit after the ten repeats which is a project in and of itself. I'm loving this knitting though and in no hurry to finish it. This is not a project for a particular person or date so it will be finished when it's finished. I love doing the nupps. I think they are fun to do and add so much to the look of the shawl.

Holiday Eating

I made a cranberry salsa for Christmas which went over well.



The recipe came from here. I definitely recommend making the salsa the night before. For Christmas I spread cream cheese over the bottom of my Christmas Tree dish and then the salsa over that. Very good.

Dogs and Such

Fame had another check up the day after Christmas and is doing quite well as far as her hemolytic anemia. However, she's having a particular side effect from the prednisone, the pred which is keeping her hemolytic anemia in check. A Catch-22 for sure. Fame has considerable muscle wasting which is a side effect of high doses (dosages?) of pred.

Fame is seriously down on her pasterns and limps rather frequently. Her bones are very loose and rattling around in her joints due to the severe muscle wasting. Not a very technical explanation I realize, but despite the number of dogs I have, I'm not a vet and don't play one on TV. X-rays were done and we could not find any other problem for her limping so we are cutting down on the prednisone. Fingers crossed this does not bring back the hemolytic anemia. It's a dance that's for sure. A little here, a little less there, but I'm confident we'll figure it out. If you asked Fame, she'd say she's doing great and certainly that's what matters the most.

We had a warm (well, warm for MN in December) day on Friday and quite a bit of snow melted in my yard exposing my 'sins of omission' as I like to call those poopsicles. Shame on me! So I'm busy picking up the yard.



A turkey now and then visiting one of my bird feeders is fun. Over two dozen of them every morning is getting to be a bit much.

Labels: ,

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Friday, December 19, 2008

Gosh, thanks!

I had no idea people would actually miss me if quit blogging. It was nice to know. I think I live one of the most boring lives around so it's nice to know folks actually read this stuff.

Knitting

I finished Teddy Bear. He's cute, if not a little lopsided. I enjoyed knitting him. I always enjoy knitting toys and how much I enjoy knitting them always surprises me when I do knit toys. Toys are fun. You can tie knots and make mistakes and experiment at covering up your mistakes because, hey, it's a toy! And I enjoy taking the time to add features and personality to a toy to make it unique. Unfortunately, I was a bit rushed completing Teddy and I would have liked to take more time on this final phase. Here's Teddy at the end of my knitting.



I tried to add personality by embroidering eyes, nose and a mouth, but it looked awful. I ended up using buttons for both his eyes and nose and needle felting a mouth. I'm not sure how long the needle felting will hold up on the chenille yarn.



I purchased this Teddy Bear as a kit. He is a Knit One Crochet Too pattern and made out of Knit One Crochet Too Fleece. It looks as if I overstuffed him but I don't think so. I had to concentrate on knitting very loosely because the yarn has no give or stretch. Unfortunately, my loose knitting showed up once I stuffed the bear. Still, over all, a fun knit, a decent pattern and Teddy is oh so soft to the touch.



I started a new project. It is the Lily Of The Valley Shawl by Nancy Bush from Lace Style. Doesn't look like much yet does it?

Christmas Gifts

My sister and I gave each other the same Christmas gift! What a hoot! Here are the insulated glasses she gave me.



My sister gave me glasses with sailor designs because she is one great sailor. She captained her crew and her own boat to first place in two huge races at Kentucky Lake this past summer. She was the first woman to win the Governor's Cup race in the 50 some year history of the race.

So that's why my sister gave me sailor theme glasses. Me, I bought my sister drink theme glasses because...ah...because...I make the best pomegranate martinis around. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.



I think that's all I have to write about today. The dogs are doing great although we are all very sick of the snow, frigid temps and being house bound. Fame continues to improve. What? You want to see a picture of her? Why I'd be happy to oblige.

Labels: , ,

Sunday, December 14, 2008

I'm Back

After some deliberation, I decided to start blogging again. I had considered just tossing the blog away. I was simply too busy this summer to keep up and once I was out of the habit, it was tempting to not pick up the habit again.

Knitting

I can't remember where I left off. I've completed two Mr. Greenjeans, one for my sister and one for me. Here's the one I made for myself.



It's nice. The button hole is too big. I need to stitch it up a bit. For some reason, this sweater doesn't fit as well as the one I made for my sister. Isn't that the way things go! I swear I made it exactly the same. Oh well. I've worn it a few times and will wear it even more once I fix up the button hole. This is knit from Dream in Color Classy, colorway Beach Fog.

I completed the Drop Stitch Tank from Fitted Knits.



Not too interesting of a picture is it? It was an equally uninteresting knit. No shaping, no challenge. I completed this simply because I'm a person who hates to leave a project undone. Surprisingly, it's cute on and I wear it often. I think I made a poor choice in substituting yarn. My tank is made from yarn in my stash, Lana Grossa Point. It's too heavy of a yarn for a summer tank so I wear this sweater over a silk long underwear shirt. I bought the yarn for the color and I still love the color. I have enough left over for something...perhaps a small shrug.

This weekend I completed my first Hemlock Ring. I say first because it's such a fun and easy knit and the results are so spectacular, I'm already planning on making a few more. My family thinks I'm an expert knitter after seeing this!



I made this one using Cascade Ecological Wool. I've seen several on Ravelry made in cotton and I definitely want to try that. I'd also like to knit this as a doily but will most likely leave that project for the summer time. According to Ravelry I'm only about the 3000th knitter to make a Hemlock Ring. Nothing like being original!

I have a Teddy Bear in progress for a Christmas gift.



I'm a little further along than this picture shows. My bear needs to be completed by December 20th so I need to dedicate more time to Teddy. Then, I have some golf club covers planned before Christmas. After Christmas? I don't know. I'm looking around for something different and original. Suggestions are welcome.

Dogs

The dogs and I had a great summer. Lots of agility, a little bit of obedience and almost no conformation shows. Yes! Dusty went from Novice A agility in March to completing his Excellent titles in September. Quite an accomplishment. Now we are working towards his MACH title and progressing much more slowly. I think now we are paying our dues :-) Dot and JJ finished up their Novice agility titles and Dot even has a leg on her Open Jumpers title. Dot is so happy I gave up obedience with her to concentrate on agility. Speaking of obedience, Dak completed his Utility title. Way to go Dak. There's always such a feeling of true accomplishment when you get that UD title. It's hard.

Unfortunately, I was only able to bask in Dak's obedience success for 36 hours before getting some very bad news on Fame. I'm sure you remember my Fame? She was the only surviving puppy from a litter born 8/25/07. Fame was diagnosed with hemolytic anemia three weeks ago. She was one sick puppy. Her HCT (red blood cell count) was 12, which is very, very low. Her gums were gray and she had a heart murmur caused by the anemia. Thanks to Dr. Julia at Twin City Animal Rehab Clinic and to the doctors and technicians at Inver Grove Heights Animal Clinic for saving Fame's life.

Fame had a blood transfusion and was living on Golden Retriever blood for several days. Now I'm happy to report her HCT is up to 38 which is low normal and she's behaving like 100% Pembroke. Fame is on high doses of prednisone and will very slowly, over many months, be weaned off the drugs. Hopefully she can go into remission and be drug free, or at least be maintained on a low dosage of steroids. Some dogs make a complete recovery and never have another incident in their life time, others never go into remission. Most fall somewhere in between. So I'm definitely praying for the best outcome for Fame.

Labels: , , , , ,