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.

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.

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.

Trying to keep this a knitting blog

I am very cognizant of how long it has been since my last blog. I was hoping to be further along, if not finished, with the green, traveling shells cardigan before I blogged again. I'm close, yet, I'm a long way from a finished object.



I've completed the sleeves of the cardigan and 1/2 of the collar. I will baste the sleeves to the body tomorrow and have my mom try it on, as it's her sweater, but the sleeves sure look too short to me. I knit the sleeves 1.5 inches beyond the pattern suggested length and still they look too short. Hopefully the hang/drape of the fabric will change my opinion once I have my mom try it on. I think I'll shed real tears if I have to lengthen the sleeves but I'll do it.



Perhaps it is because of the time I've put into this project but I'm not too happy with the overall look. Maybe it will get better after I do all the finishing. I think the sweater looks better without the collar. I like the scalloped edges of the cardigan and the collar, at least as I've knit it, hides this pretty detail. I hope to complete the brunt of the finishing work this weekend. We'll see how it all comes together after that.



My puppy girl is doing great. She has really grown since I last blogged. I've moved her to bigger "digs" and still she is close to being able to crawl out of the larger sized swimming pool. Next will be an X-pen (exercise pen) in the dining room area will she will be able to interact with a bigger part of the canine family living here.


Her Cuteness

This And That

Again, not much knitting content this evening. I was dog showing it this weekend but did manage to knit about an inch on the sleeves of the traveling shells cardigan. I'd show you pictures but I figure if I'm bored with the project - and I am - I can only imagine how bored the rest of you must be with it. The Second Wave Clapotis starts next weekend so I need to finish this cardigan soon.

Dak did well this weekend at the obedience trials. He was second in his class both days with a score of 196.5 out of 200 on Saturday and a 195.5 out of 200 on Sunday. I'm very pleased with his performance and consistency though I realize we need to bump up our performance if we want to be truly competitive. Shamrock acquired the first leg towards her Rally Advanced title. She wasn't very enthusiastic about it and her score suffered as a result but at least it's done.

I managed to drown my favorite laptop last week. I left it on the kitchen counter along side a gallon jug of water which sprung a leak over night, flooding my laptop, kitchen counter and floor. What a mess! My replacement laptop is not as nice, smaller screen and smaller, more uncomfortable keyboard. Oh well, I still get to work for home so my complaints are minimal.

My Big and Only Girl is doing well. She's just as cute as she can be.

First Meal


Playing With "Litter Mates"

Still There Are Two

I still have two puppies though it has not been without struggle. My little boy wants to live and this has saved him so far. I'm still holding my breath for him and hoping for the best. Dottie looks good doesn't she?



My vet and I agree the little boy was born premature. He is lacking some hair on his head, which you can see in the above picture, and also on his feet. His hair is growing in. I am so amazed he is with us. Of course I understand problems might yet develop but I am in awe of his will to survive and have decided I will help him however I can. You can see he is less than half the size of his sister. I am supplementing him but less and less each day. My "little" girl is a chub isn't she? Hurray for her.

If you have any name suggestions for my premmie boy, send them along.

Belated Happy Birthday To Me



Yesterday was my 55th birthday. Geez, I'm old! I was so busy with work and helping Dot with her puppies that I didn't celebrate much. I received many nice cards and gifts.


Knitting


Have you seen this pattern of the Autumn Cardigan?



You can find it here. I just love it. I even ordered the yarn.



The picture does not do the yarn justice. I have no idea when I will start this project, I just know I had to have the pattern and yarn as soon as I saw it. Perhaps I'll start this winter.



The Autumn Cardigan will be a difficult knit for me and honestly, once I complete the Traveling Shells Cardigan, I will be happy to work on a few simpler projects for a nice break. I have not had any time to knit since my last post. I surely hope to finish the Traveling Shells cardigan soon. I'm not much of a stash person, but look at the lovely sock yarns I have waiting for me. A few simple socks would be a great break.

Blue Sky

At least I think that's what this is called. We've been so long in the rain and fog and gray I may have forgotten the correct name for the above. It's an absolutely beautiful day today and my house managed to stay dry through all the rain so I'm trying to enjoy the day as best I can.

My dog Dot had three puppies by C-section this morning. Things aren't going perfectly. We lost one large, beautiful male. My first litter in 2.5 years. It was disappointing enough to be a small litter and to lose one of the three was very sad.



I have one strong female and one weaker, smaller male. I'm helping the little boy and he is able to nurse from a bottle so hopefully I can keep him going until he's able to nurse from mom and until mom's milk comes in stronger. A puppy's survival is always touch and go for the first few weeks but especially after a C-section. Send good thoughts.

I won't make it to the State Fair this year but Susan of The Rainey Sisters posted pictures of her own and a few other winning items. Gosh, those Rainey sisters sure can knit.

Jeanne also did some winning and has photos on her blog. These will have to be my vicarious State Fair experience this year. Next year I'm going to set a goal to enter an item or two.



Speaking of my own knitting, I thought it was time to bore you with the sleeve progress on the traveling shells cardigan. I've completed 1.5 pattern repeats, only 3.5 to go before sleeve completion.



I had hoped to make roasted tomato sauce today but instead will spend my time hovering over Dot and her puppies.

Catching Up

Nothing particularly new today. I am making slow progress on the sleeves of the traveling shells cardigan. I truly hope to finish by the end of the month - but we'll see.

Both Jeanne and Guinifer asked about my bluebirds so I thought I'd expound a bit. I found the "Bluebird Man" through my sister and her husband who live on the other side of town. As it turns out, he is actually my county's coordinator for the Bluebird Recovery Program, of which I am now a member.

One thing the bluebird man insisted on was that I take down all the bird houses which were attracting wrens who are the enemy of bluebirds he told me. Now I do not like being a bird bigot and the first day we took down the houses the wrens complained all day. By the second day, the wrens were gone. It made me sad, I love to hear those chatty wrens. Still, I must say, by the third day my yard was filled with bluebirds. They visit every day now, especially in the early morning and early evening. They do love the bird baths and it is so fun to watch them play in the water.

Here's a link to the Second Wave Clapotis KAL. I can't decide if I can't wait to get started on my Clapotis or if I can't wait to finish my Traveling Shells Cardigan!

Still blogging...

I'm still blogging, just been busy. I haven't even had a chance to knit since last Friday evening. Sometimes Life gets in the way of the life I want to have. I hate it when that happens.

The I35W Bridge

I've checked all the Minnesota blogs I read and everyone seems to be fine but like most Minnesotans, I know more than one person, my nephew included, who traveled the bridge on a daily basis. I wish they would publish the names of those injured so I can rest easy no one I know is on the list but I understand the privacy reasons for not being able to do so. Such a tragedy.

Knitting News

None actually. I'm still plugging away on the green traveling shells cardigan. Lack of time has seriously curtailed any real progress. I have one half of the shawl collar completed and hope to start on the second half this evening.

Dog News



A bit of pleasant dog news to share. Remember Junior? Junior and his owner/handler Linda managed a High In Trial award from the Open A class. This is a fantastic achievement. They are quite the team.

JJ managed to complete his championship this past weekend. Hurray! Of course I'm happy about his championship however I'm ever so happy JJ never has to go in the show ring again. This is a boy who can see no sense in making silly circles around a show ring when there are other, much more fun activities like obedience and especially HERDING, to do.



Whisper went to the shows this weekend also and was Reserve Winner both days. I call this the "Best Of The Losers" award. Pictured above is Whisper on Monday morning, exhausted from her weekend efforts. Sorry for the X rated photo but I thought she was pretty cute. Wish I could relax like that!

Bluebirds

The "bluebird" man came out and helped me put up a few new houses and take down houses which were only attracting wrens and tree sparrows. We will put up additional houses next March. A few days after his visit I had 9 bluebirds in my yard early in the morning and late in the afternoon. They had a blast in the bird baths. It was so much fun to watch them. They've since moved on. Hopefully they will be back to visit my yard on a frequent and regular basis. I hope so.

A Moment To Myself

Finally, a moment to myself. My job has been insanely busy lately and my "free" time taken up with other affairs keeping me from just sitting back and relaxing for a few hours. I'm definitely enjoying this Saturday morning with a pot of coffee and that "almost caught up" feeling.




Look! I've completed the body of the traveling shells cardigan. I sewed the shoulder seams and took the time to weave in all the loose ends. It looks nice, though now it is packed away in the knitting bag while I work on the rest of sweater.


I've started on the collar and am finding the pattern easy to follow so I'm thinking about doing both left and right side of the collar at the same time. Hopefully the collar will go quickly, then all I have left is the dreaded sleeves. I hate sleeves. It's very tempting to put some fancy crochet edging around the arm hole openings and call it a vest. I was worried for a time about running out of yarn so the vest idea might have been a necessity. However, it looks as if I have plenty of yarn left for the sleeves so sleeves it is.




I'm getting a new, maintenance free deck - hurray! I've needed this for quite a while. Sometimes I'm just too cheap frugal. Now that I can see how nice the new deck looks, I don't know how I lived with the old one for so long. The same folks who remodeled my kitchen a few years ago are installing the deck. They started yesterday and will finish today. That's right, they even work Saturdays. The dogs aren't as happy about the new deck as I am. I'm not having any railing or benches installed as I'm sick and tired of the boys going outside and lifting their leg on my deck. Yuk. They have a huge fenced yard to relieve themselves in, they do not need to be using the deck.


I finished Peony In Love but never bothered with a book review. I found the book pretty boring and just didn't care enough to even give it a decent review. The book became very repetitive and even though I tried, I found I had no empathy for the Love Sick Maidens. I started to lose interest early in the book when I couldn't buy into the tragedy of Peony's death. The whole premise of her not looking when her father points out her future husband was too far fetched for me. And why didn't Wu disclose himself to her during one of their three meetings? This seemed like deceit to me and made Wu a difficult character for me to appreciate. Luckily I had downloaded an audible form of the book and forced myself to listen through to the end by plugging in the ear phones and cleaning my house. This is the first book by Lisa See I've read. I'm not eager to read any others. Let me know if you have a different opinion.

Catching Up

Thanks to everyone for your stories about your first book. I so enjoyed reading about your experiences. I'm a bit embarassed though, both Uberstrickenfrau and Guinifer mentioned the book "A Wrinkle In Time". I can't remember ever reading this book. I am planning a trip to the library to check it out.

Lauren mentioned reading a book about a witch and wanting to be witch. This reminded me of reading Silver Chief Dog Of The North and all the other Silver Chief books and wanting to be a Canadian Mounted Policeman when I grew up. Then someone pointed out to me girls were not allowed to be Mounties. This was the first time I remember being told I could not do something because I was a girl. I was so crushed! Never mind that I hate the cold and winter. I just wanted to be a Canadian Mounty and have a loyal, strong, wolf/dog hybrid exactly like Silver Chief.

My latest read is Peony In Love. I've just started it. I heard it reviewed on NPR and decided it would be my next big read. I'm enjoying it so far.

Knitting


This is suppose to be a knitting blog after all so I decided to show you a picture of the traveling shells cardigan. Sometimes I think I am making very little progress but then I spread the project out on the table and realize there's a lot of knitting here. I have added about an inch to the back of the cardigan since this picture was taken so I'm getting closer to finishing the body of the cardigan. Next I will do the collar and then see how much yarn I have left for the sleeves. I might have to re-design the sleeves somewhat as I'm concerned about running out of yarn. For now though I'm acting like Scarlett O'Hara and not thinking about this problem today. I'll think about it tomorrow.

Two Cents Worth Of Advice

I neglected my dog training for a few weeks but I'm back on track now. I had a private lesson last weekend with Dak and we picked up one gem of a piece of advice for Dak's problem with the long sit/stay exercise. Dak has always had a problem shuffling his feet on the long sit. This shuffling of his feet leads to shifting his position and finally, laying down instead of sitting and a big non-qualifying score even though he can get such nice scores on the other obedience exercises.

The instructor suggested placing a penny on each of Dak's feet while he is doing the long sit exercise. It is suppose to help Dak "think" about his feet and to be aware of his feet. When he shuffles his feet and the pennies fall off, he gets a small correction. "Oh oh Dak, look what happen" type of correction and the pennies get put back on his feet. This seems to be working for Dak. He is sitting very still the last few days and not shuffling his feet at all.





Now before any PETA folks send me nasty comments, here's a full picture of Dak with the pennies on his feet. He's quite relaxed during all this. Yes, his tongue is out but that's because it's hot out. This is not torture, it's training.




And here's a sampling of the treats I use during training. Dot would like to point out despite the variety shown, I'm out of her favorite peanut butter flavored treats. They're on my shopping list for tomorrow morning.




I wish it would rain


It can't seem to rain in the 7-10 mile radius around my house. The corn and beans are suffering, some fields are already lost. This is Percy rolling in my grass, at least it was grass earlier this summer. I'm not so sure it will recover and become green grass again even if it does rain. Sadly, the next forecast for rain is a 20% chance of rain on Tuesday. Not very good.