Friday, November 2, 2012

Last minute snood preparation

5 finished snoods ready to go to the CGA annual fundraiser at Hooker Brewery (http://www.ctgreyhounds.org/Beerfest.html). Now to finish up a small lavender snood for a petite & proper grey lady.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Ready for Sandy

The blankie is as big as my lap. One more ball of color yarn to go. Then it's time for the border.

It definitely will not get to it's destination on time, so I'm sending a card with the link to this site. Hopefully I'll only be a week overdue.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Skipping Rhinebeck

Normally the 3rd weekend in October is booked on my calendar every year. Somehow this year, Stitches East & Rhinebeck didn't get written into my schedule. The reasons are numerous...stash has reached monstrous proportions, cash flow is being invested into chimneys and seemingly never ending amounts of paint, and boredom. Yes, boredom. I'll admit that it feels as though I'm missing out on something. While I completely forgot about Stitches, I have been thinking about Rhinebeck & all it's sheepy smells.

Saturday I spent my day riding a bus to the casino. I worked diligently on the blankie both to & from the casino. This was my first casino trip ever. Casino can now be added to the 'do once every 5years' list; right next to attending the Big E (THE big fall fair in Sprinfield, MA).

On Sunday, Jay & I enjoyed some motorcycle meditation then a walk with the dogs. We didn't see any bald eagles which are regular visitors to the area, but Jay gave a dragonfly a ride. Now it's time for football & knitting.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Ten stitch blankie & 1 ball of yarn

It's been 1 week & I only have just started the 2nd ball of yarn for this project yesterday. I even returned the "shades of grey" novel after only 9 chapters to give myself more knitting time. Yes, even miles of garter stitch is more interesting than this attempt at a sexy fantasy romance. If I want to have this project finished in time, I need to use a ball of yarn every 2 days. Yikes!


Sunday, October 7, 2012

Starting a blanket

There is nothing quite like knitting a gift for someone special. Since I don't have a collection of knitted gifts ready to go, I usually interrupt the current project (ok...projects) to start & hopefully finish by the deadline. The hardest part about knitting gifts & sharing WIPs online is to not spoil the surprise. Since the recipient of the current gift is for one of my Facebook friends, I can only share my progress here & on Ravelry. Stay tuned.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

A Greyt day

 We spent the day with other CGA greyhounds.  Today was the snood deadline day.  I sold 5 snoods & will be sending CGA the check for $50 this week!  That means that I still have snoods left over--medium & large sizes only.  If you missed out, please be in touch so your hound can be warm on his/her morning walks.

It's always fun to watch Pudge with other greyhounds.  I heard other people commenting about how cool it is that they recognize each other.  In many ways I get the sense that they are fraternity/sorority bothers & sisters.  The trials they went through together during their younger years & now enjoying a reunion while living a better life as they get older.

Jay says that Pudge is a momma's boy.  Pudge will follow me to upstairs to bed, downstairs because I want a drink, upstairs to bed, back downstairs because I forgot to get the laundry out of the dryer, upstairs to bed, etc....except when his original foster mom is around, as she was today.  Pudge found her over & over again and didn't really seek me out at all.  She still calls him PJ; which was his original call name, before his other family gave him his current name.  Thankfully Jay was keeping Pudge occupied so I could focus on the people visiting my table.  I hope all the foster families realize the impact they can have on these wonderful dogs.

While I had success with the snoods & chatted with people about essential oils, I missed out watching the hot dog eating contest, best trick, best leaner and I really think Pudge had a shot at winning a medal for 'the longest tail'.  So my plan for next year is to wear a T shirt that says "ask me about..." and have a picture of Pudge in a snood.  I'll have the snoods with me in a messenger bag--just like the people who sell contraband at a concert.  Then I'll get to meet other people who have fallen for the cuteness that is a greyhound.  In the meantime, I"ll keep knitting snoods so I can have more for next year!

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Charity Knitting

Pudge modeling snood by AlpacaEnvy
Pudge modeling snood, a photo by AlpacaEnvy on Flickr.

I have finally found a charity to knit for...Connecticut Greyhound Adoption. I am knitting snoods that will be sold with 100% of the profits going to CGA. My first event where the snoods will be available for sale will be at the fall reunion in September. After the reunion, I will take orders & ship to people who would like to keep their Itialian Greyhound, Whippet, or Greyhound warm as the cool weather approaches. I'm asking $10/snood. If I need to ship, then postage would be additional.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Waiting for the repair guy

The repair guy is 2 hours late. Which has made my day off really productive. So far I cleaned the stove, walked the dog, read the Sunday  paper (today is Monday), updated website, did laundry, blocked a sleeve & now I work to finish the other sleeve.

My thoughts are rampant: even the cable people give you a window of time, what if they don't show up again, they really suck--I even confirmed on Friday...grrr, the thoughts build until...

I remember I'm working on a baby sweater. A new being needs a sweater made with love, tenderness and zero angst. Ah, I relax & knit. But once this sleeve is finished....

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Knit, knit like the wind

I got to meet Brenda Dayne after listening to her podcast since before Ravelry existed.  In fact, her podcast was how I learned about Ravelry...and then I waited for 3 months before I received my initial password to be a Beta tester.  I wonder if I would be as addicted to knitting without podcasts, Ravelry, blogs, and knit sibs.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Waiting...

Last November we put a bid on a house.  We are still waiting for a closing date.  In the meantime, we starting boxing up stuff we aren't using--cycling gear, books, craft supplies, more books, etc.  Since one of my missions this year is to use up or donate some acrylic yarn I have in the stash, I thought I would try my hand at a mobius cat bed.  The cats won't mind if it doesn't turn out right & it gives me a chance to try something new.

The Cat Bordi instructions are quite good.  I'm liking this project alot so far....even the tricky spots.  skIt's just small enough to go quick & challenging without making me nuts (I think I typed something like this in my last post....there must me an underlying theme here).

I have finished the mobius part & have started on the bowl.  Then I discovered that if I want to finish this project & we still haven't moved, I'm need to unpack my size 9 DPNs.  Thankfully I remember which box they were in.

I haven't been working on the cable sweater much.  Too many distractions with cats & boxes.  Plus I have been trolling the web trying to get ideas for a craft room in the new house.

Time to go.  I have a pesky cat doing all kinds of naughty right now.  Apex says "Meow"

Sunday, January 1, 2012

New Year = new project

I was a very good knitter over the past couple weeks.  I finished some projects that had be languishing on needles, in a bag waiting for a final detail, or just plain ignored.  I finished Jason's socks.  I started & finished a watch cap for him to make up for the 'made it too big' hat that I also finished.  I added a crochet edge to Salta's pirate sweater so she stops shaking it off on a walk (unfortunately, I think I should have made it one size smaller so it is still a little loose & good for neighborhood walks only.)

Jason learned how much a sweater costs during my last trip to Webs.  I went primarily to look at the square knitting needle sets & was disappointed to find that all of Santa's elves had already made selections for the holidays.  As a result, we looked at yarn instead...for a sweater that he picked out. He decided on the cabled sweater from Erika Knit's book "Men's Knits". Yes, I'm aware of the sweater curse & all, but we are in the process buying our first house so I think we will be ok.  He picked out a bulky sweater with just enough cables to not make me crazy from boredom (from non-stop stocking stitch) or from trying to concentrate on my counting of rows or stitches.  We found the yarn the pattern specified (Debbie Bliss Donegal Chunky Tweed) and counted the number of balls needed (11) and discovered the sweater would cost $220!  Needless to say, we made a substitution.

Today is the day I'm casting on using Valley Yarn's Berkshire Bulky in a Heather Gray colorway.  Goal is to have it finished for February.