Knitting Up A Dog

Knitting

I finally finished knitting my mom's birthday socks. I'm happy with them. I don't enjoy knitting socks much but my mom loves my knitted socks so once in a while I find an easy pattern and knit a pair of socks for my mom. My blog friend Guinifer is a super fast and very accomplished sock knitter. I'm in awe of her. It takes me forever to knit a pair of socks. Truth be told, my mom wears the socks I knit for her to bed so they are never to be seen in public. And that's perfectly fine with me, my mom has neuropathy in one of her feet so I'm happy they make her feel warm and comfortable and I don't have to worry if they are not quite perfect.

Here's the finished product. The pattern is Dublin Bay Socks  knit from Pagewood Farm yarn on 2.25 dpns.

Now that I've finished the socks, I'm starting on a knitted Pembroke Welsh Corgi.

I know, as if I need another dog!I've started knitting the Pembroke Welsh Corgi from Knit Your Own Dog. It's super easy knitting, yet, I've managed to complete only the two back legs.

Why? Because I can't motivate to complete the rest of the dog. It's all in bits and pieces. The sewing up of the dog is going to be oh so futsy, putsy. It makes it difficult to continue. I can knit up the pieces with no problem, just not sure I want to bother with sewing together all the teeny pieces. Here are the two back legs knit in Elann Pure Alpaca Fina on Size 2 needles. I'm thinking of ripping these up and starting over using the same yarn doubled and size 4 or 5 needles so the sewing up is a bit easier.

I've knit a few of the Fiber Trends sheep and dogs and they are not knit in tiny, little pieces. So I'm a bit concerned about the finishing work required on these Knit Your Own Dog patterns.

Also, I don't think the Pembroke is very realistic. Some of the other dogs, especially the Jack Russell, the Westie and the Scottie are very realistic. I have a friend with both a Scottie and a Westie and at first I thought I'd knit up both for her. Now that I know how much finishing work is required, and since my friend is a knitter herself, I think I'll just loan her my book and she can knit her own!

A very nice feature of the book is stating the number of stitches at the end of each row. There's a lot of shaping going on and it's especially nice to be able to check you work after a shaping row. The quality of the pictures and the paper the book is printed on are excellent. There's a number of errors in the descriptions of the dogs and their jobs, for example, the Pembroke Welsh Corgi is stated to be a dog who "use their agility to nip at the heels of sheep and horses." Horses? Actually, Pems were used as cattle driving dogs and yes, they did nip at the heels of cattle. But horses? I can't imagine any horse owner I know allowing a dog to nip at the heels of their horses. I only hope the patterns themselves do not contain as many errors. Still, over all, a book I had to add to my collection and am happy to have done so.

Indoor Gardening

Don't these tomatoes in my hydrophonic garden look fantastic? I thought they were ready to eat but I picked one and not only was it difficult to pluck off the vine, a good sign in itself the tomato was not ripe, but it also tasted like a green tomato. I thought for sure I'd make a nice meal out of these this weekend but looks (or rather tastes) like next weekend instead.

My herbs and leaf lettuce are doing great. The romaine lettuce, not so good. About half my Romaine lettuce has wilted, the other half is looking and tasting great but I wish I knew why I lost the other half.

Dogs

2011 has started out great for the dogs. Tinkerbelle is racking up the QQs, Fancy finished her OA and is making good progress toward her OAJ, Rumor started agility with one weekend in February and one in March and has already completed her NA and NAJ. Also lots of obedience training happening here. I'll need to give up a few agility weekends for obedience trials later this year.

Percy spent all winter indoors, which was quite unusual for him. I guess he's getting old. I can't really blame him, it's been a long, hard winter here and still no spring in sight. Percy's now starting to insist on going outdoors several times a day which makes me very happy. I know, it's so politically incorrect of me, but Percy's always been an indoor/outdoor cat and is a working cat here. I cleaned and bleached the cat box today. I confess, I'm happy to know, barring any illness or injury, the cat box won't be used again until next winter.

Uncle!

Okay Winter of 2010-2011, you win! I've had enough. I'm crying UNCLE! We are once again in the middle of a huge snowstorm. Early this morning it was heavy snow, then it turned to heavy ice pellets, now it's back to snow. Enough already, I'm sick and tired of this!

Knitting and Sewing

There hasn't been much knitting progress here though I've very much been wanting to knit. My RA has flared this winter and despite new meds my fingers are swollen and so painful   I can only knit for a short while.



This is a pair of socks I was hoping to complete for my mother's birthday, February 1st. I obviously didn't make it. The pattern is Dublin Bay Socks. I first saw these socks knit up on my blogger friend Bridget's site. The pattern is easy to memorize and the perfect take-along project. The yarn is ... is ... I thought for sure I still had the ball band but now I can't find it. I do remember the colorway is Denim. I'm a little worried about running out of yarn but otherwise have enjoyed this project. If only my fingers would co-operate a little more often.

A friend asked me to make her a Kindle cover. I wasn't sure what colors she would like so I made up two. I'm worried about sending them to her because she is an excellent seamstress who is without a sewing machine at the moment and I don't want her to see my sloppy work. I'm teaching myself to sew and haven't gotten the details down yet, the finer points which make something beautifully handmade rather than sloppily homemade. At least I'm trying.

A New Hobby

I know, I know, I so don't need another hobby, but I have one. I've been stalking the AeroGarden website for over a year now wondering if I would like one and if so, should I order the biggest they make or the smallest. This past Thanksgiving weekend they offered a deal I couldn't refuse, buy the largest AeroGarden and get the smallest one free. Now I actually have 4 AeroGardens and I love them! I have two growing lettuce, one with herbs and the extra large size currently has about 2 dozen green tomatoes slowly ripening in my basement.

I'm waiting for the sheriff to come and inquire as to my high electricity usage.

I realize I'm not saving money growing a few of my vegetables and herbs this way. In addition to the extra electricity I also need to buy water for the plants because neither well water nor softened water is  recommended. Here I have softened well water! Still, it's loads of fun and there's nothing like picking your own salad greens for supper in the middle of a Minnesota winter. The tomatoes and mature lettuce are water hogs though. I always thought other people were silly to buy water...


Dogs

I've been keeping myself very busy with agility trials in January. I do this on purpose as I'm not at all a lover of winter and staying busy every weekend makes January pass much faster. It also exhausts me - not as young as I used to be or would still like to be.

We've had some nice runs. TinkerBelle and I are finally running as a good team. Feels great to be out there on the course with her. Fancy and I are struggling a bit in the Open classes. Fancy started her agility career on January 2nd and breezed through the novice classes so I'm not too surprised Open has been a bit troublesome. It's a huge jump in difficulty from Novice to Open and although I know Fancy is trained well through the Open classes, the stress of being at real trials as opposed to home practice and lessons is hard on a young dog. Fancy has 2 legs on her OA and one on her OAJ. I'm confident we'll be advancing soon. Rumor was also entered in trials but went into season so had to sit out the month of February. I hope to have some good progress to report on Rumor in March.

I've been keeping a secret....

And her she is. This is Sassy, my Toy Manchester Terrier. Sassy is two years old. She's been with me since puppyhood. It hasn't been all smooth sailing even though I'm totally smitten with her. Sassy came down with Leggs-Perth disease at 7 months and had major surgery to keep her pain free and much rehab work to make her as sound as possible. She also suffers from seasonal alopeica, thus her bare nakedness in the photo. Sassy started her agility career in February. She is excelling in the jumpers classes, not so much in the standard class where the chute (or closed tunnel) scares her and suddenly this week, the teeter has her scared also. Still, I'm not complaining. Sassy is a total blast to work with and I'm sure we'll get this all figured out soon enough.

Not to worry though - the Pembrokes - they're still my kind of dog.

It's Back!

Knitting

I got my knitting mojo back! I don't know where it went or why it left, but it's back and I'm thrilled. I think it was seeing this pattern, Watershed. I ordered the pattern as soon as I saw it and then went digging through my stash and came up with more than enough Rowan Calmer in a bright purple/pink color. I'm not sure Calmer is a good yarn substitute, I don't see it used too often in lacy patterns, but it's the right gauge and so far I'm liking the look of it. Besides, I've been spending a lot of money on the dogs lately so it was nice to use yarn I already had.

Here is the beginning of the bottom lace edge. It's going quickly now but it took me about an hour to get started. I wanted to teach myself how to do a figure 8 cast on. There's plenty of videos and instructions on the web, but being a lefty, I have to struggle with thinking in mirror images.

In addition to starting something new, I also went through my unfinished projects. I'm determined to finish them.

I started this chevron scarf a long time ago. This is Lorna's Laces sock yarn. I love the yarn and the color. The reason I put the project on the back burner is because I'm not much of a scarf wearer. I'm trying to figure out what else I could use the yarn for instead of a scarf I'll never wear. Socks seem the likely candidate I know, but I'm not crazy about knitting socks. I have more than enough yarn for a shawl, but I'm not much of a shawl wearer either and these are bright colors for a shawl. Any ideas?

And this is my Cameo sweater from Custom Knits. All I have left are the button bands and the little capped sleeves. It should only be a few hours work. I'm having trouble getting it done though because the sweater is going to be too small. I'll finish it though, I hate leaving things undone.

Best of all, I finished my Mother's Day gift in plenty of time.


Dogs

Wait, isn't that a picture of a rabbit? Yes, it is. There's a family of rabbits living and copulating under my pine trees in an unfenced area of the yard I use for agility training. I'm not a fan of bunnies at all and I'd like them to move on. Cute as they may be, rabbits are covered in fleas and full of tape worms. I don't want my pets around rabbits.

Percy is a great rabbit killer, but I'm keeping him in the house until the 5 baby bluebirds leave their nest. I have several dogs who are excellent and experienced bunny killers. I'll omit their names to protect the guilty. I could send the dogs out to dispatch of the bunny family, but then they'd be covered with fleas.

My A-frame is sitting unused because, in addition to the rabbit family, the wheels on the A-frame mover broke and I can't move the A-frame myself without the A-frame mover. I'm afraid to move the tunnel because I'm thinking there will be nests of baby bunnies under it, or worse, snakes. Guess we'll do obedience training in the basement today.  Like Scarlett, I'll think about it tomorrow.

More On The Neighbors

Thank you to those who commented on my previous post. I tried to reply to each of you but found out I'm missing some current email addresses.

Chris asked why I don't turn my neighbors in. I don't need to turn in my neighbors as they are constantly being watched and inspected. Although dumping their dog waste next to my driveway was probably illegal (they cleaned it up with one warning phone call from me) unfortunately, there is nothing illegal about the way they keep their dogs.

It's a bit of a dilemma for me. Dog breeders are constantly fighting against legislation to limit or halt the breeding of dogs. Naturally, I don't want to lose my freedom to breed dogs. Still, as a responsible dog breeder and lover of dogs, I'm saddened by the sorry life many dogs live. Responsible dog breeders are so afraid of losing their right to their hobby that we just scream No! to every piece of legislation. I'm not convinced this is the best tactic. Perhaps instead of standing in place, shaking our fists and hollering No! we should sit down and come up with some reasonable compromise. Otherwise, we're leaving dogs like my neighbor's quite literally out in the cold.

On to more pleasant topics.

Knitting

I actually finished something! This is a face cloth from Fiber Trends Bath Time Blossoms pattern. I plan to start on a pink one today and am hoping to finish up my Mother's Day gift on time. Actually, I've made a number of these as gifts over the past few months. They knit up quickly and are great portable projects. I like using the Cotton Fine for these because the bit of wool in this yarn feels better and gives the cloth a better shape than 100% cotton.

Dogs

I've been keeping up with my self-assigned dog training challenge. Bunny has the nicest retrieve now! It's exciting because there were days I wondered if she'd ever get to this point. A few years ago I trained my Winger, a shy, quiet, lacking in confidence dog, and swore I'd never train another dog with such a temperament. So here I am training Bunny. I think I know a little more this time around. I've always known and thought I understood that dog training is all about breaking the final desired behaviour into smaller pieces. Training Bunny has taught me there's always an even smaller piece I can train and perfect. Make the right behavior easy to do and the wrong behavior difficult to do. That's how to train Bunny. It's slow going at times, but it sure is fun when it all comes together.

Practicing their down stays, with their bright green flash bulb eyes, is Bunny, Shamrock, Dusty and Whisper. 

Food

I lost the ten pounds I've wanted to lose so I celebrated this weekend with lots of white food, white flour and white rice. Not good diet food that's for sure. It's okay though, I'll get back on the wagon. You can't deny yourself everything forever.

Shrimp risotto with asparagus and red peppers

Buttermilk and currants scone

Percy

It's the time of year Percy has to stay in the house. He hates it. I'm not too crazy about it either. He has moments of acceptance though and I managed to capture one here.

Is it spring yet?

Gosh, seems like we Minnesotans have waited a long time for spring, and we're still waiting. I hope it comes soon. Actually, I'd be quite happy to skip spring at this point and go right to summer.

Birds

I haven't been posting much about my birds this spring. I think it's been so cold and gray most of the time I just can't get excited about it. But I am excited about this - Indigo Buntings!



Can you spot the Bunting on the thistle feeder here? I noticed a small, gray bird sitting in my large feeder a few weeks ago and thought to myself, that's a female Indigo Bunting. But I figured I must be wrong. I haven't seen Indigo Buntings here for about 10 years. Then, last week I spotted two males sitting in my large feeder helping themselves to the food. Two at once! I tried to get a picture but they flew off as soon as I moved towards the window. I did manage to capture a few, blurry, though the window pictures of one at my thistle feeder. The buntings were around for about 4 days, now they seem to have moved on. I wish they would spend the summer but at least I saw them while they were here.

I have bluebirds again but they haven't started nesting. According to the Bluebird Man, it's just too cool yet. I've heard some bluebirds further north are starving to death this year due to the cool weather and lack of food. Mine seem to be doing great in the food category. All this wet weather makes for plenty of worms for the bluebirds. Still, they have started building a nest on the few warm days but abandon efforts as soon as it turns cold and rainy again. This isn't a very good picture but it is proof of my bluebirds.



I spotted my first bluebird this year on April 14th. That's about 3 weeks later than normal. The first Orioles appeared on Monday, May 12th, about a week to 10 days later than expected.

Knitting



I don't think I have published a picture of my Mr. Greenjeans completed with a button and all. My sister Rita wore it to my nephew's college graduation and my mom tells me Rita was the best dressed of the group. I know moms tend to say these things but I must say, it does fit my sister very well and the color is perfect for her.



So, I decided to start my own, my second, Mr. Greenjeans. I turned a few skeins into center pull balls tonight. The way this spring has been going, if I hurry I might still get to wear my own Mr. Greenjeans before summer comes.

Meanwhile, I'm knitting on my lacy scarf. Here it is as a blob of lace.



And here it is stretched out a bit so you can see the pattern.



I think it will be quite nice once I block it out, but it's so boring. I usually manage one pattern repeat before I'm too bored to continue. I definitely need another project in addition to this scarf. I've used up one skein of the Karabella Terrain. I have three. I will definitely use a second skein to complete the scarf. I don't think I can manage knitting up three skeins. Maybe, but it seems too boring at this point. I think the scarf will be plenty long enough using two skeins.



This weekend I knitted several swatches for a project I bought back in . . . 2002? 2001? I can't remember as this project has been marinating on my back shelf for a long time. It's a stranded knitting project, not only stranded but done in cotton (eek, all my errors will show as cotton isn't as forgiving as wool) and it's not done in the round so I will be stranding on the backside (purl stitch). I can't imagine what I was thinking when I bought this. Yikes! Yet I'm sick and tired of looking at this project and am determined to get it started this summer.

I've made several swatches, more than shown here. I've swatched with different needle sizes, different stranding techniques, you name it, I think I've tried it. I want this project to turn out as nice a possible so I'm taking my time at the beginning. My biggest fear is that I don't have enough yarn for the body of the sweater. Now that will be a big bummer! I don't think I have much hope of finding the same yarn in the same dye lot should I run out. One of the perils of retiring a project for so many years!

I'm usually much more monogamous with my knitting projects but looks like I'll have three going at once for a while here.

Dogs

No new puppy pictures. JJ and Bunny go to NADAC trials this weekend so perhaps something new to show next week.

Resistance Is Futile

Knit News

I had 3 days of obedience trials in the Twin Cities this past weekend and on the way home today I stopped by Knitter's Palette to pick up a nice button for my Mr. Greenjeans sweater. I did come home with a lovely button, but look what else I brought home. I swear, resistance is futile. The last thing I needed was more yarn!



I purchased 3 skeins of Dream In Color Classy to make a second Mr. Greenjeans for myself. My first Mr. Greenjeans turned out quite nice and it was a very fun knit with an excellent pattern. I had only two problems with the first sweater.

First, life took over and I simply ran out of knitting time. This should be a relatively quick knit, I just didn't have that much time to give to it. Second, I had to knit the button band three times because of my own errors. The first time I tried the button band I was spending the night in the hospital keeping an eye on a family member (who is fine now). I knew there was something wrong with what I was doing but I kept on knitting out of nervous energy or something. I hadn't picked up enough stitchs which caused the sweater to pull up badly in the front. So I ripped that button band out.

For the second attempt at the button band, I was so sure I had counted correctly but I ended up with one side starting with a purl two and the opposite ending with a knit two. Clearly, this was not good. Finally, on the third attempt I got smart and used two long dpns to pick up the stitches for either side of the button band and then used the correct size needles to pick up and knit the actual stitches. I am so happy with the result that I am going to make another Mr. Greenjeans for myself.



Here's my first Mr Greenjeans drying after a wash in cool water. Once blocked, it fit me perfectly and was not too small as I had feared. Still, I had promised it to my sister so it is now hers and I'll make another for myself.

The white yarn above is Cascade Ecological Wool from which I plan to knit a Hemlock Ring lap blanket.

I started a diamond lace scarf using Karabella Terrain. It is coming along nicely, if not slowly. I completed this much of it at the dog shows this weekend. I had to rip back a few times. I'm thinking knitting lace at dog obedience trials is not such a good mix.




Dog News

As I mentioned above, I spent the weekend at dog obedience trials. Dot finished her CDX in three shows with very respectable scores and a first and second placing in her classes. Dak tried Utility and unfortunately, did not manage to pass this weekend but I am very happy with his performance and progress. It will be June before I show him again which gives us more time to practice and perfect. He's a very willing dog with a very happy and up attitude and I have no doubt of his success.

Below is a picture of Emma, formerly known as Fussy, from my last litter. I don't know, I might have to demand her back. I'm not sure she has enough toys or dog beds and dog friends to play with.

Knitting, cooking and puppies of course

The blogs I enjoy the most are the blogs updated regularly. Unfortunately, that's not what I seem to be able to do. It is always my intention, just not my reality. I hope the regular bloggers I enjoy reading will keep it up. Meanwhile, I will work at not feeling guilty for my own irratic blogging.

Knitting



I am making good progress on my Mr Greenjeans. This picture is not very flattering. I can't seem to get a photo which shows off the lovely colors of this Dream In Color yarn. I've made more progess on the cable and rib pattern than shown here. It's a fun project.

I also blocked my Clapotis and re-hung it on the back of Dottie's chair.



Before Christmas I bought this yarn at my LYS to make the Fiber Arts Paws To Remember scarf. I decided to start this scarf in addition to Mr. Greenjeans. I am hoping it will turn out nice enough to send to a friend. The only problem is...this scarf requires size 7 needles and I am currently using my only size 7 needles on the Mr. Greenjeans. Oh oh, I sense a need to visit a yarn store!

Vegan Day



I am not vegan, heck, I am not even vegetarian. However, I do enjoy cooking and experimenting with new cuisines. A few weeks ago we held a Hot Dish Lunch at the office. One of my work mates brought a recipe based on this. I don't think this dish qualifies as a Minnesota Hot Dish, still, so delicous! I made it today and it was very good. I stayed with the basic recipe since it was the first time I've made this. Next time, I'll taste and add salt and a bit of sugar as needed. The worst mistake I made today was roasting the sweet potatos before the rice was ready. I love roasted sweet potatos and ended up snacking too much while waiting for the rice. I had to roast a few more potatoes to round out the dish.

Since I was into a vegan experience today, I made chocolate cupcakes filled with peanut butter cream from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. OMG! These are so good. I will definitely be making more cupcakes from this fun little book. I think I make excellent 'regular' coconut cupcakes so I'm anxious to try coconut and lime cupcakes from the book.

Dogs And Puppies



This picture is already a week old. I'll have to work at getting some new shots. The puppies are doing great though I can't say the same for the beating my kitchen floor is taking. The girls are having visitors for the next few weekends. That will be a lot of fun for the puppies and I'm anxious to show them off.

Fame, always my Wild Child. Fame had agility lessons today. Agility is definitely her sport but she needs to learn to listen and "chill" a bit. Fame tagged along to obedience class on Friday also where she was a big hit. I thought my friend Heidi was going to steal her away from me.

Preemie Hat knitting

Jeanne and Chell over at k3tog have started up their annual January preemie hat knitting for the Children's Hospital of St. Paul. I wanted to contribute a few hats this year and I have quite a bit of baby yarn left over from various baby blankets I've made. The hats are so teeny tiny! It does not take long to make one and it takes very little yarn. Here's my first, sans a pompom on top because I've forgotten how to make pompoms so figure I'll knit up a few hats and then sit down one evening and make all the pompoms at once.



I so wanted Fame to model the hat for a picture but Fame was having no part of it and I feared for the survival of my newly knitted hat!

I have a bunch of green baby yarn and a whole bunch of blue I'd like to use up but I figure I best stick with the white and green so the hats can be worn by either boy or girl babies. I'm not sure how many I will finish but I will play around with these until the end of January. If you'd like to contribute just check out their web site for details.

I am starting to catch up on some of the sleep I lost while tending to puppies the last few days so am hoping to also finish up my Clapotis which seems to languish for long periods of time while I work on other projects.

I wanted to show a picture of the green traveling shells cardigan which took up so much of my 2007 knitting. My mom wore it at Christmas with a black blouse and black slacks and it really showed off the pattern.



It was so sweet of her to wear it on Christmas. Makes me want to fix all the mistakes I see in it -- or even consider making a second one since it would be better than the first. Eh, don't worry, I'm not about to tackle that project again!

Since I have no other knitting progress to talk about or display, here's some pictures of what has been taking up all my time the last few days.



Shamrock is looking rightly proud of her new brood.



From top, going clockwise is Necklace, Splat, Blackie, Two Spots and Fussy Mussy. Don't worry, these won't be their permanent names. (At least, they almost never become a puppy's permanent name.) These are their "weigh-in" names, names usually based on distinquishing markings I use to chart their weights for the first few weeks.

And of course Fame is still the delight of the house. She is getting so big and adult looking. For a while I thought Fame would not make it as a show dog but suddenly, she's looking rather nice. I think I might have to train her for the conformation ring in addition to obedience and agility. Here's a picture I caught of her being still. It's a bit out of focus but it is so difficult to get a picture of busy, constantly moving Fame. I managed to take this as she stalked watched the cat who was trying to get down from the kitchen counter.

Something new for the New Year

I know I've been ignoring my blog lately. There was the Holidays of course, a wonderful Christmas spent with all my family together, my parents home from AZ and my sister here from KY, along with all the rest of the family still living here in MN. It was a great Christmas.

Still, I ignored my blog even after Christmas. Here's the reason why:



These 5 beautiful girls (yes - all girls!) were born late last evening. I've been on pins and needles anticipating this litter since my last litter resulted in only a singleton. As wonderful as Fame is, a one puppy litter is still not a great success. Even when I had time to blog I couldn't. My mind was on nothing else but doing all I could to prepare for a successful litter. I was hoping for something a little bigger this time and it seems I've gotten my wish. So far at least. Everyone is healthy and fat. They have all nursed throughout the night and mama Shamrock is in good shape. The sire of the litter looks like this.

So wish us luck and good health.

Agility Trials

Dusty and I attended a weekend of NADAC agility trials after Christmas. It was So.Much.Fun. And Dusty did great besides having a blast. He even won his first class. I ordered a professional photo from the trial which won't arrive for 4-6 weeks so you'll have to be satisfied with this shot of Dusty taken while we practiced one frigid day after Christmas. Agility lessons are in an unheated building and I dress for the cold. It was strange to run agility indoors at the trials without at least 5 pounds of extra clothes on!



My sister took this picture along with several others of the dogs working and she took some beautiful family pictures during the Holiday get-togethers.

Knitting

I don't have any new knitting pictures to show. I'm finishing up some hand warmers in Dream In Color Smooshy and also my Clapotis. I can't wait to start something new but I am going to finish up these two projects first.

Christmas Knitting

I've been doing a bit of Christmas knitting in November. I finished a few projects and have started several others.



A few months ago I purchased the Fiber Trends Felt Flock pattern. I finally got around to knitting a sheep and did I ever enjoy it! I would not have thought I'd enjoy such a knitting project but I did. This little lamb is made of Cascade 220 wool for his body and some very old Dale of Norway Heilo I found in my stash for the contrasting color. I ended up with just a bit of the Heilo left so I made an I-cord collar for my little lamb. I think I will give this to my agility and herding instructor who is anticipating the birth of her first grandchild this coming week.

...yes, I know I forgot to knit a tail for my lamb. No excuses, I just plain forgot. I'll do better on my next one as I do intend to knit more lambs.



I so seriously enjoyed knitting the felted lamb I actually purchased this book and hope to knit a few more toys in the future. I think I will even join the Ravelry knitted toy group.



I finished my third Ribs and Ruffles Scarf out of Misti Alpaca Chunky.



My first two scarfs were knit in a natural and a baby blue color. These are a very quick knit and make a luxurious gift. I plan to give this third scarf as a gift also. Now I need to make one for myself.


Unfinished Christmas Knitting

My sister asked me to make golf club covers and gave me a pattern using Red Heart yarn and Lion Brand Fun Fur yarn. Hum... so I experimented a bit.



The tan yarn is Mission Falls 1824 Wool and the green eyelash yarn is called "Funny". I made the bright pink one after searching on the web for knitted golf club covers and reading several patterns and posts which said the gaudier the better. The pink yarn is Red Heart and the eyelash is some Crystal Palace Splash I found in my stash. I'm not a golfer but I find the pink quite gaudy for sure! I do not have enough of the Splash to make another cover but I do have some Fun Fur in pink. I'm not a golfer but I hope a second cover with a different novelty yarn will still make for a "matching pair". The golf covers where fun to knit, but honestly, a little boring. I still need to make another in each color by Christmas but I'm going to put it off a bit as I just can't bear to make two more at this time. Each takes about 4-5 hours to complete.




I've finished one of the fingerless mittens I'm making for myself. I like them. I think I should have made the hand portion of the mittens in a stockinette stitch instead of the ribbing because it would have shown off the colors better but here it is. I still like it. I'll finish the second once all my Christmas knitting is complete.



My Clapotis has also taken a back seat to the completion of Christmas knitting. I'm half way through the straight section. Though I'm normally a pastel color person, I am loving the colors of my Clapotis.

And despite all the Christmas projects I also started a simple cap for myself tonight out of some left over stash Dream In Color yarn. I hope I have enough to finish the cap. I remind myself of the shoemaker's children. All the knit projects I make and I don't even have a hat for myself this winter!

Food Project

I've had this plan in my head for a while now. Shelves of my book cases are taken up with cooking magazines. I never take these old magazines out and use them. So, I've let all my cooking magazine subscriptions expire and I am determined to take one or two magazines a month out of my "collection" and go through them a final time, making any recipes I am interested in, saving them if I really like them, and then tossing the old magazine. In December I will go through all my old December magazines, in January, all my old January magazines, etc., until I've cleared out all my old cooking magazines. Then next year at this time, I'll order all new subscriptions!




This weekend I started with a Real Foods Winter 2005 Byerlys and Lunds magazine. (Minnesota readers will recognize this as a quarterly magazine published by upscale grocer Lunds.) I immediately remembered the Dried Cherry and White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie recipe from this issue. I made this several times last winter. I'm keeping this recipe. I made the Citrus Pork recipe tonight for supper. It was very good. The marinade was clementines, cloves and scallions. I made a clementine and spinach salad to go with it. Very good. Definitely a keeper. There's a Lime and Tortilla soup I'll also try out of this magazine and then poof, in the garbage the magazine will go.

Dog News

The dogs and I have been taking private agility lessons for the last 4-5 weeks. It's so much fun! All the dogs are doing well but Dusty is especially excelling. He's so fast and I have to run full speed to keep up with him. He is already doing full size A-frames after just 5 lessons. I've entered him in a NADAC trial at the end of December. He does not have the weave poles mastered yet so I've entered him in a Tunnelers (boy, does Dusty love the tunnels!) and Touch N Go class only. It will be great practice for the upcoming AKC agility trials this spring.


Fame Was Here



And what a mess she made! I was working on the computer this afternoon and Fame was quietly destroying my kitchen rugs. Good grief. Fame starts her first agility lesson tomorrow. I'll try to remember to bring my camera and see if we can capture a few pictures of her. She already loves her tunnels.

And finally, a picture of Percy. Why? Because the dogs and I love him and because he killed a mouse in the basement this week and that is his original purpose here. Somehow, the dogs and I fell in love with him forgetting his original purpose. But when he manages to protect us (okay, me) from the great villain which is mouse, he is exulted. Hail Percy!




Now don't give me a bad time about letting the cat eat on the kitchen counter. Keeping dogs from eating cat food is simply impossible. All you can do is keep the cat food away from the dogs.