Ottawa

At the beginning of October we took an overnight trip to Ottawa. Biko and Happy got to come with us. I'm telling you, never again! The pups were real good in the car. But after being in the car for a day, with bathroom breaks of course, they had quite a lot of energy to disburse. I shudder when I think of those two days.
We found a pet friendly Hotel, and after a lengthy walk in the evening, Biko was quite content.



That could not be said of Happy. He was like a whirlwind, and could not settle down. He reminded me of a five year old on a sugar rush.


I tried to get a good picture, but he soon discovered that he could jump from one bed to the other, and for the next half hour or so, did just that.


He also learned something new on this trip; Biko ever so helpful showed him how he could drink from a toilet! Never before and never since!
These are the only pictures I took on this trip. And that's O.K. it's better forgotten anyway.

The pups behaved well, until about 2 hours from home on our way back. They just had enough of this never ending car ride. It was dark, raining, we've caught a cold, and felt terrible, and they started to fight. In my desperation I threw back my last apple, and that broke the spell. Happy was working on it for about 5 minutes, but that was enough to calm them down.
I even brought along some knitting, but needless to say, I never unpacked it.

Well, live and learn!
***

Kiila

I'm trying to get my backlog of finished knitting shown here, that sometime in the near future, I'll be able to blog "real time". This pair of socks must be the oldest FO right now.
Back in May there was a Mystery KAL on ravelry and I participated, because the designer was Yarnissima.
Even though I've bought sock kits from her, this was my first pair of socks I`ve knit, which she designed.


I must admit, I was a little disappointed because the design was so simple. I'd expected more somehow. I didn't like how the transition from the cables on the foot to the cables on the leg was executed. Other then that, I don't remember much about it.



pattern: Yarnissima
yarn: Jojoland Melody, 100% wool, color # Y20-2043, 2 x 50g
needles: DP 2.5mm
start-finish: May 4-24 (it took so long, since we got one clue each week)

***
This past weekend, I enjoyed reading more than anything. I still knit a little on my Triangular Scarf with Leaf Pattern by Nancy Bush, but Stieg Larsson's Trilogy just kept me enthralled I could not help myself. I've only got the two first books The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and The Girl who played with Fire, leaving me antsy to get my hand on the last book. Thank god it was released this October in English in the UK, and now it`s on its way to me, albeit the Royal Post`s ongoing strike. I hope my package slips through.

***

Shredder for rent!

He works fast, and on a low noise level. He can go on for hours, and only needs a few pets, and some treats to recharge his batteries, before he resumes his work. He's not limited to single sheet paper alone, but shreds cardboard, high gloss paper, envelopes, newspaper, flyers, you name it! Once he gets started, he is hard to stop, but even if his work is hard, he'll not complain. He will not rest, until he's done, and satisfied with his work. He comes cheap too, no need for electricity.



Anyone need a shredder?
***

Moose and Donkey = Trinity Hannah!

I've been waiting to tell you this, and finally she's arrived!

Welcome, Trinity Hannah, Baby girl (born on November 12th) of Kelly and her husband Moose!

I've been reading Kelly's blog for quite some time now, and always thought she and her husband are a lovely couple.
Back in September I sewed some bibs, and burp cloths, as well as some socks for the little one, she called Tadpole (I'm sure not any more).


Since Kelly calls her husband "Moose" I was looking for a fabric with Moose on it. I wish I could have found something nicer, but that was all I've got.



It was hard to find a fabric with a Donkey on it, and I'm still not sure this is one, but let's say it is.


This bib I made for fun. I could not resist the "I am a Canadian!" on it. :o)




I like the look of these socks, but I had to rip out the heel twice, and didn't think the third time would be the charm, so I just did my usual square heel. I just didn't get the heel in the pattern. I like the garter stitches down front, and back.

pattern: Garter Stripe Baby Socks by Jennifer Hoel
yarn: left over Bambino sock yarn by Sockpixie
needle: 2mm
size: newborn

Congratulations to the whole family!

***

45

It's my birthday today. I'm very grateful that I have family and friends who think of me on this day. I don't take it for granted, since I know not everybody is that lucky. Thanks, everyone!

The one thing which comes to mind is, that more than half of my life is over, and I could/should be in better shape. That this is not going to happen any time soon, David surprised me with a "homemade" Austrian style chocolate cake, almost like a Sacher Torte, but not quite. One I've made many times myself in the past, and I like it. (He ordered it from an Austrian Restaurant in the next town.)

I've got another pair of socks from Hannah. She sent me this lovely package with handmade organic soap called "Happy Carrots", an embroidered sachet filled with Lavender, and this weird, totally cool little mug. She writes the most touching cards too.

Some time ago I mentioned to David, that if there are always reruns on TV, they should show Northern Exposure more often. I used to love to watch that series. I'd like to watch it from start to finish, and look what I've got! The complete series in this fun bag. He does listen to what I say - sometimes...

Today I'll be thinking seriously about my life, past and future.
***

Grove

Originally I wanted to knit these mittens for myself. Ignoring the size given in the pattern (average women's adult, 7" circumference at palm), I cast on. I'm not an average woman, and my dimensions at the palm are 8.5". After the first mitten was done, I was fully prepared to rip it out again, and start over with modifications to fit my large hands. On the other hand I had a perfectly good (riddled with mistakes) mitten all done, finished, ready, so I asked Hannah if she would like them. I don't think she dares to say NO, so she said yes, she likes them, and the other mitten was cast on. I always make mistakes with the first of a pair, be it mittens or socks. Once I know how it's supposed to go, the second one turns out right. The second one here, would be the right one. Same here.

I fully intended to knit myself a pair, right after I finished these mittens, but got sidetracked with stranded colorwork instead. Ha, yes, I've an attention span of a three year old, and a memory like a gold fish. At least that's what my son says, I can't remember.

The pattern is from "Made in Brooklyn" by Jared Flood. I wanted his booklet so bad, that when it got published I ordered it right on Classic Elite Yarns website, and they use shopatron. The postage was more than the cost of the booklet! I really feared, it would be sold out, and I wanted it, I wanted it bad. So here's the first finished pattern from it. More to follow...

The yarn I used is elann's Peruvian Collection Highland Wool in the color # 2117 using 4mm needles.

The cuffs were a big PIA to knit, but the rest of the mittens went very quickly and easy. The only complaint about this booklet so far is, that it's printed in a too small font. The charts are so small, it's hard to read them, maybe I should go look for a magnifying glass. I've tried to enlarge the mitten chart pattern, but it got all blurry, so I had to look at both, the print out, and to be sure at the booklet. That's a bit annoying. The top of the mitten gets a three-needle bind off, which is not my favorite, unless it's a shoulder seam on a pullover. I liked how the decreases were worked, real clever. While knitting I didn't see the nice structure of the mittens, it came out better in the photographs. In all I'm pleased with the mittens, and I think Jared has absorbed some of E.Z.'s knitting genius. I'm looking forward to see more of his designs.

***

And as of yesterday evening, I've officially started on Holiday knitting. Didn't even know I would do much of that this year, but the closer it gets to Christmas, the more gift ideas I get.

***

On the Happy front, we had some success. Thanks so much for all your advise. It has been tested on him - all of it! We found a winning combination of long leash, exhausting Frisbee play with two pieces, so he would bring back one, and run after the other. As it turned out, he choose the rubbery Frisbee over sausage, and that's what makes him come running and into the house like the wind. He'll only get that one from now on when he comes inside.

For now I'll still leave the leash on him, until he really comes reliable, when called to go inside. I don't want him to get more practice in ignoring me.

That would be the super, better than sausage Frisbee, and soon to be Superdog! ;o)

Happy's first snow!

Well there he is, real time Happy as he looks today! And I've not even caught up with my blogging yet, but last night we had our first snow, after a very weird day of sunshine, scary cloud formations, snowball shower the size of peas, wind, and a drizzle of rain. After dark before bedtime I went outside and to my joy and amazement, we had some snow!

You should have seen Happy's face! He didn't want to step on it, he sniffed, and looked at me, gingerly took a few steps, looked at me, licked the snow, and so we went all around the pool, until he finally took his pee. This morning though, it was business as usual, even if the stepping board was a little slippery.


Throw the frisbee, throw it, throw it ....


a lot of sniffing and snorting (by the way, this was early morning, while Biko was still in dreamland)


Did you hear that?


I'm sure there's a big, old bear in the bushes! (it was just a falling leave)


From last night, a frozen paw print.

***
We have a bit of a problem with this teenage fellow right now. He does not want to come inside, when we are finished playing. No trick or sausage makes him come close enough for me to grab him. He just knows all I want is for him to come inside, and it's so much more fun outside!
I tried leaving a leash on him, but the first one was too short, he learned quickly how close he could let me come before I had him. I tried a very long leash, and he promptly ran a figure eight around 2 trees and got tangled up real good. By the way, I put the harness on him, and on that the leash, so he wouldn't break his neck. With the long leash I was just untangling him all the time, so that was not the solution.
At the end I left him outside by himself, with the door open, and I could watch him through the window. He had a grand time, periodically looking at the door, and the first time he came inside after about 20 minutes. The next time it was about 10 minutes (totally covered in mud, I had to give him a bubble bath), and today he came after 5 mintues. Progress! Anyway, with temps tropping, I don't like to leave the door open too long. I sure hope he gets over this phase soon! Any other suggestions?

***

Halifax

At the beginning of October I visited Hannah in Halifax for a long weekend. I always wanted to visit her, since she started going to NSCAD University there.


(see the pillars, one's in the sun and one's in the shade, that's the entry to University; it's several historical buildings together, I think a couple of blocks, really huge, and that's just the old part.)

Even though she didn't have much time (after she left me in the evenings, she had to go to school do some printing), she tried to make this short visit a nice one for me. She would drag (in the most loving way) me around the city from Friday to Sunday, rain and shine, no matter.


We visited the Art Gallery of Noca Scotia, and the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. We went for strolls along the Halifax Harbour twice (rain or shine remember!). It was wet, cold, windy, sunny, and I loved it.



Hannah with the forbidden Island in the background (it's what I call it, since it's military and no one is allowed there. It also has the oldest lighthouse ever on it.)



One evening we spoiled ourselves and went to Waterfront Warehouse Seafood Restaurant - delicious! The photos are blurry because I didn't use flash light and the camera couldn't focus right. After dinner our sight was blurry too! :o)


mussels for Hannah and


seafood chowder for me.

Halifax is a nice city. I like it. It's just the right size. I've been there from Friday noon until Monday noonish. Hannah and I ran around from Friday afternoon til Sunday noonish, and I swear I knew my way around after that, no problem. It's also small enough that you start recognizing people again. I saw a few people who stood out to me (like the guy who served us tea and sandwiches in a bakery or the woman with the stroller), and I later saw them around town at different places, days, and times. I thought it especially nice that as we walked, Hannah got greeted many times by fellow students.
We walked (and walked) through cemeteries, and the Halifax Public Gardens, all very beautiful even on overcast days.


This ones in the middle of the city, and so peaceful, while outside the fence the traffic pustles along.

On Saturday we went to the Farmers Market and boy was I overwhelmed with it all. So many people, such amazing abundance of food, and handmade items. I could not resist to take home a couple of those beautiful cutting boards. (for unknown reasons I can't get the photo to show up here)
They came in all sizes, but I had to carry them around for a while, so I opted for the smallest ones. We ate fine pastry, and had some Elderberry juice as well.
It was all so wonderful, except I had blisters on my feet! For a while I sucked it up, but at one point I could not make another step because of the pain. Well I could, but it looked funny. The next shoe store I saw would make a sale, I was sure of that. In I went, looked around to find the Birkenstock section, didn't find it, and almost crying left again. Hannah knew of another shoe store (yeah well, big surprise, that Halifax has more than ONE shoe store!), so we went to find this one, very slow going it was.
I went in, found the section I was looking for, found a pair of Birkenstock clogs (didn't care what color, just that they were closed in front and open in the back. Looked around for some help, pointed and said with tears in my eyes, " I want those in size 42!"
The Lady who helped me said," Are you aware that this this size costs more?" I was sitting by then. I bit my tongue, because I wanted to shout, if that's so, then I'll take size 38, even though I need a 42! Long story short, I got my clogs, and could walk again!



On the board walk at the Harbour there was this guy with these gorgeous two fellows. The big one was called Rocky. I didn't catch the name of the little guy, but he's 4 1/2 month old in this picture. The guy said, his wife calls the dogs "chick magnets" and it was true. They got photographed a lot, and petted as well.



Here we had to walk UP after a short, but cold rain shower (still with my feet hurting at this point).



Here is Hannah sitting outside a nice cafe (can't remember the name of it, but something with a Monk in it). We later went inside, sat down for tea and knit until closing time. In the background there's an old boarding house. I loved this building which was about a block long, down the road, and to the left side. It's going to be torn down though. Very sad.



After all this running around, the nicest time we had was in my hotel room. Sunday at around noon we were wet to our undies, and exhausted. Hannah left me at the hotel to get dry and to put my feet up. Meanwhile she ran home (oh yeah, I visited her house too, but didn't take any pictures there) to get some clothes to change and her knitting stuff (which was the black sock I mentioned in the post before this one). She picked up a pizza and some chai tea for us. Well, she's in better shape then I am, so I was just sitting there in the big ole chair, with my feet up, and she was comfortable in my bed. We watched a couple of movies, and it was cozy and nice. We never get so much together time when she's at home.


The best place in my room was this chair!


I started knitting the Textured shawl, got halfway done, but I'm not loving it. I might rip it out again.



Oh, and how could I almost forget. Before I flew to Halifax, I looked up three yarn stores in the city. Hannah knew all of them. I was very disappointed with one of them, the other one was closed, but the third one LK Yarns was what I think is the ultimate yarn store! My heart started pounding faster, and I almost hyperventilated. There was so much yarn everywhere, all gorgeous stuff. I smiled from ear to ear, and inched my way through the narrow aisles, squeezing yarn, and of course I found something to my liking as well. Gorgeous Malabrigo sock yarn, and some Sisu sock yarn not pictured here, and Fame Trend sock yarn, probably not for socks. The On Your Toes sock yarn's already made into socks. Well, there you have it. My trip to Halifax. :o) Thanks Hannah for your lovely company, and patience with your (old, hurt, slow moving, deer in headlights, country bumkin also called yokel) mom.

Kai-Mei and Angee socks!

Argh, daylight saving time is still bothering me, even though we are finally back to normal. You go tell Happy, that it's way too early to get up and have breakfast, when his internal clock tells him otherwise!
As much as I like Fall, there's always something, which I really don't like about it. For instance, as soon as it gets cold outside, we'll have unwanted guests coming into the house. We were successful trappers today, and I woke up my son to get rid of trap and mouse! I did allow him to go back to sleep though. :o) Funny enough, it's always just one mouse invading our space, well thank God for that!

Yesterday we started tackling all the fallen leaves, but even with "walking" pneumonia it's no walk in the park to rake the leaves and put them in paper bags, and carry the bags into the garage. Yeah, well, we missed yesterdays pick up, and the next one will only be next week, and it's rain in the forcast, every day, and it's paper bags, you know. I felt foolish enough to schlepp them around, when a woman showed up, grinning and sticking some advertisment in my hand, while I wrestled the heavy bag. She thought I needed a break anyway, and could benefit from a little reading. The one sheet might just have been enough to tip me over, if it weren't for the huge bag in front of me. Another thing to recycle! Ah well, some blisters later, and with a steaming mug of tea in front of me, I decided to show you my Kai-Mei socks today: oh by the way, my son has "walking" pneumonia not I. We'll finish the yard clean up next sunny day, whenever that will be.

I've preordered Cookie A.'s book "Sock Innovation", and bought actually two copies. One for me, and one for Hannah. She's actually knit Cookie A. socks before and liked knitting her designs. So she got the book for her birthday in June.

This is my first Cookie A. sock design and I loved the Kai Mei the most.


The yarn is Knit Picks Donegal, I dyed some time last year. It's very soft.



Since I finished them back in April, I don't remember much about knitting them, except it was a pleasure. I loved the butterfly stitch, and they fit.



At the beginning of October I visited Hannah in Halifax. Have to show you some picture of that trip too. While I was there, she was knitting a black sock from Cookie A.'s book. It looked huge.
A week later, when I was at home again, a package arrived with a pair of socks in it for ME!

Yep, Hannah has knit me Angee! She didn't have enough of either color, so she made one black and one natural. I love them and they fit very well!



Even though she's quite busy with her stuff at University, it's the only time of year, where Hannah gets some knitting time. I don't know how she does it.

Do I really need a title?

Right, thanks for the warm welcome back! I'm sorry if you have followed me on flickr or ravelry, so you'll already know some of the photos of Happy or my knitting. I'll be done with the old stuff soon, moving on to new projects and pictures of the pups.

To follow up, here's Happy in September (17 weeks old).


We found out that his choice of favorite toy is the frisbee! As much as Biko likes her tennis ball, and Sam liked his big red Jolly ball, Happy will do anything for his frisbee. He didn't actually catch it in this picture, but was just playing around. At least he was bringing it back for me to throw it again.



Playing with a frisbee was new to me too, so he had to get into odd places to retrieve it. One is still in the backyard of the neighbour, since they never go there during this time of year. We'll get it back eventually.



And here you see Biko (looking like a tank says Kelly), after her last swim for this season back in September. She's all puffed up, still wet, and glad that HE's not bothering her for a moment. Happy also likes the Jolly ball.



I haven't spun anything for about 2 month now, that is, until this last week. I took the wheel out of its hiding place in the corner, and was happy to see that I still could do it. Still, I'm a little slow I think, since the pups knocked it over twice, before I realized I had to put it away, after I played with it. Of course knocking it over did nothing for the wheel's health. I had to figure out what's wrong with it, since the drive band was acting weird, and jumping off twice. I'm glad to say I eventually found the problem, afer I nearly took it apart into all it's pieces, oiled the heck out of it, and it wasn't even a big deal. The wooly winder was the culprit, I just had to push a piece (don't know what it's called) back into it's place, and the drive band has now a clear way to do its thing. Now it's smooth spinning again. Yeah!

On the knitting front:
Over the next little while, I'll show you:
8 pairs of socks
2 pairs of mittens
3 pairs of fingerless mittens
1 knit market bag
1 crochet market bag
1 pin cushion
1 1/2 lace scarves
something sewn and
one finished handpun yarn. Hmm, yeah that's about it. So, that's what you can look forward to. :o)

What's that now? You want to see another picture of the pups, well here it is. Do you remember in the beginning, when we got Happy he could run around comfortable UNDER Biko's belly? He sure can't anymore.

It's now or never ....

It feels a little weird blogging again. I've thought about it over the last week or so, didn't know where to start. You get used to not thinking about it real fast. You stop noticing blog worthy things or moments, which cross your way. Life goes on without blogging, no problem. I'm not even sure I've got something to say. I sure do have things to show you, knitted things. Some left over from before the break, some projects I made during the last month, but not today.

So, it's now or never! I thought I'll ease back in, not with spinning, knitting or even with doggie stories, but with this lovely indidcation of Fall. It's part of our front yard.

Today the weather had me in a peculiar mood all day, and right before the sun set, I took this photo (not that we actually saw the sun today). I love it, the photo. The funny thing though is that it's really pretty, right? But - how am I going to spot the doggy piles? The leaves came down so fast!

Well, my dear readers, I've missed you all, that is unquestionable true, even if I didn't miss posting itself.

*** Monika***

Pause

Hi friends,
I’ll be away from the blog for a while. I don’t want to leave you hanging and wondering. It’s not that I don’t want to blog anymore, I DO. There’s just stuff going on, which needs my attention, and an upcoming trip (actually there's two) and so much more. I’m not sure about the time frame myself, but I’ll be back. Until then, happy knitting, happy crafting, enjoy life, see you soon!
Monika

I'll leave you with Happy's trip to petsmart on September 4th:

This was his third trip to the shop. The first time he went with David alone. I was told it was a success. The second time I went there with him, alone. It was - "fun". We were strolling through the aisle, when suddenly a big (tiny) 1o week old Labrador puppy emerged. Happy was 13 weeks old that day. This little pup was a real man eater (not), and Happy peed himself in fear. After the pup growled at Happy (very cute 10 week old growling), Happy thought it was best to blend in and disappear on a stuffed toy shelf. I was embarrassed for him, but he didn't care.
After I cleaned up his mess, and the coast was clear to move on, we did.
Next aisle over we found us head to head with a blue Thai-Ridgeback, fully grown female. Scary looking to me, but Happy knew exactly what to do, and approached her, like a good puppy would. She just stood there, regally, ignoring him totally.

Well, next time was the charm. Once again we strolled down the aisles (looking for scarry puppies) something tasty:

(God, he looks like a Chihuahua in this picture)

when we came upon his favorite treat, or rather the empty space where it should have been ...



he got cranky (kids always want the things they can't have; nothing else would do)



Dear God why is there so much to choose from???

***

Well, Happy is much older, braver, and wiser now. He's 17 weeks now after all. We've visited petsmart several times since, and he's enjoying it more and more.

Rain?

Last time it rained here was September 5th.


What's that? Rain?



I know I said I had to go, but ...



.... do I REALLY have to?



All right, all right, if you insist!

Looks like we are going to have rain today - maybe.

***

Handspun Friday - sw Merino

Just one thing before we get to the fiber: If you work with a hungry puppy, training him with kibble, make sure the first word he learns is "gentle" or else get a steel glove. Just saying.



At the beginning of August Marianne surprised me with this superwash merino fiber in a very unusual colorway. I was not sure how to spin it until I opened the braid. It screamed to be navajo plied with long color repeats. So that's what I did. Why make it complicated, when it's telling you what to do. Just a couple of weeks later I spun this up in a hurry. It was such a pleasure to spin merino, since I've been spinning much rougher fiber lately.




I was going to knit with it right away, but as always other things got in the way. It's been close to a month now, since I've spun something. I hope I'll be back to spinning soon. I miss it. It's relaxing, and I just like to make yarn, thinking about what it could be some day.



This yarn is a little bit of a challenge for me, because it's so colorful. I think it would be perfect for a baby item, but I've filled my quota for this year.

fiber: sw merino, 4oz from Fluff-n-Stuff
yarn: ~ 392yds navajo plied

See what I've to look forward to? That's stuff from Fluff-n-Stuff, and the funny looking batt was another freebie!



I really can't wait to get back to spinning!

Now I go put some band-aids on my hand.

***

Baby Alicia's Overall

I should apologize to Baby Alicia. My intentions were loving and pure, but the making of this overall got on my nerves. I blame the pattern. There was something fishy about it. I made the size for 3 month. It looks pretty small to me, but it's been a long time since I had a Baby in my arms. If all else fails, it will probably fit a doll or a Teddy Bear. There should have been a cardigan, as well as a pair of booties, but wouldn't you know it, as soon as the overall was done, it hopped right into the mailing box. It would not wait a minute longer to go on it's journey to Europe. Who am I to hold it back another couple of days? Farewell unloved overall, I hope you are good for something!

The yarn was gorgeous to work with though. It's sweetgeorgia yarns handpainted socks, in the colorway "afterglow". Just right for some baby knits, don't you think?

How can two such small pieces have so many ends to weave in? To my surprise the sewing was not the worst thing, even though I always dread it. It has a zen-like effect on me. During sewing I start thinking, and I wasn't done thinking when I was done sewing.

pattern: "The perfect ensemble" from the book "Chic Knits for Stylish Babies" by Patricia Wagner
yarn: sweetgeorgia yarns handpainted sock, 100% merino, colorway "Afterglow", 1 skein 112g/ 420yds, a little left over
needle: mostly 3mm, and 2.5mm for garter ridges around the edges
size: 3 month
start-finish: September 08 - 15 (I think in this case speed counts, because babies grow fast)




I should have knit a baby blanket. It would have made me happy, and it would have been useful longer for Baby Alicia as well. Next time ...

I don't think my cousin Romy or any of her family members are reading here, so I can show it to you right away. If I'm wrong, well Hellooo! :o)

***

Happy - 4 month old

Happy is 4 month old today and weighs 17kg, despite that he's allergic to (probably) rice, and we are having a hard time getting this issue under control. It looks like he's inherited this from his mom.


He's learned to step UP on this thing, and wait for the release O.K. I don't use it anymore, so I was glad that I remembered having it in the first place. Happy loves to stand there. He even does it on his own, without being asked.



Last Saturday we had our first training lesson with dog trainer Ginny. It was not easy to find someone, with which we are comfortable with, or who would even return our calls/e-mails! On Sunday we went to the Canine Sniffer Instinct seminar Ginny was holding. It was very intersting as well.
With Happy we decided to try clicker/treat training, which works very well, since he loves his food!


Monkey see, monkey do!


I like this picture because of the shadow.

The one place Biko can be sure he does not follow her is the pool:



Well, enough with the doggies already. Next time there will be somthing fibery, I promise!

***

Modified Sakura Shawl

Some time in July somebody wanted to knit my Sakura Cherry Blossom shawl, but she could not get further then the 34 rows I wrote out. She asked me rather rude for help, apologized later, so I sat down and cast on for the shawl to see how I could help her (it has been rather a long time since I worked on this myself). I wrote out another 30 rows after that, and was wishing for her to see how to proceed from there. I've never heard from her again. I think it's too easy now with the Internet pounding out an e-mail if there's a problem, instead of sitting down and trying to figure it out for oneself. I admit I've done it too, but learned from this experience to really only use this way of getting help if all else fails. Don't get me wrong, I'd like to help if I can.



At first I thought what a waste of my time. I had just grabbed some yarn in my stash, which I was not too fond of. I ripped it out again, but was thinking why not give it another try, but a little different.



I changed the edge increases so I could pick up stitches easier later on. Next after a few pillar stitch patterns followed by garter stitch rows, I increased the garter stitch rows from the initial 3 ridges by two ridges after each pillar segment. I lost patience and interest after I reached 11 ridges (I know short attention span). It was just a whim after all. What I really was after was the edging! I always wanted to knit a sideways edging, but so far never got to it. I liked this edge design from the moment I first saw it. It comes in different sizes. Mine I picked out of "A Gathering of Lace". It takes a while to knit, but I was so happy with every stitch I made.

The truth about this project whether it would be a success or not would reveal itself after blocking. And you really have to block this shawl, because of the pillar stitch pattern it leans heavily to the right. The border opened up nicely!



I'm especially proud of the tip, with some few extra short rows I got around it in a round way:



What the heck, I did a crochet bind off on the top edge too, just so.


The yarn was some sale yarn from elann. It's Australian merino wonderful soft, but made a little scratchy by the lame thread. I WAS thinking of spinning something like that some day, but not anymore. Anyway, sometimes I like shiny.



pattern: my own
yarn: King Australian Merino & Lame, 4.5 balls, each 50g/175yds, 91% sw merino 9% lame, color# 81
needle: 4mm
size after blocking: 34" x 56"
start-finish: July 14 - 22

***

Happy - 15 weeks old

Happy's 15 weeks old today, and weighs 16.55kg/36.4lbs (I made him sit on the bathroom scale so I'm not sure it's totally right). As you can see he's naked. His collar is still wet from yesterdays bubble bath.


I took these two photos with the zoom from my shady spot under the umbrella. It's too hot to get down and dirty. Happy likes his shady spot too. Only Biko pretends to want to play fetch, but after I threw the ball, she just watched it disapear in the bushes.



***

just playing ...

Yesterday, when I woke up, there was total silence outside. Usually shortly before dawn breaks, birds start singing. Was this the first sign of Fall approaching? Today though, it was like a madhouse. Squirrls made so much noise, it sounded like upheaval in the monkey house, Crows, Cardinals were all protesting about something very loudly. Happy and I had a nice sleep in. It's a holiday, so it's allowed. Speaking of monkey, Happy is quite the little monkey himself.
Playing fetch with Biko got severely interupted by him.

He's stalking her bringing the ball back:


then takes it away from her and runs. She looks a little flabbergasted.



She's still not realized that he's not playing by her rules, like Sam did. Usually she would drop the ball a few meters before me, to be picked up by Sam, who would bring me the ball. She obviously wanted Happy to do that as well, but he always grabs it and runs off with it, leaving her to go after him to get it back.



It's great fun for him, and you can almost hear him giggling. At the end of the chase he just flops down on his back, and let her have it until the next round.



On crafting news: I'm working on a secret project, just something I can't show here yet (because SHE is reading my blog); I spin a little. My Cousin Romy had a baby girl, so I've got to knit something for her as well. I found a pattern last night, have to dig out some yarn. It's NOT going to be a baby blanket (gasp), even though I would love to knit one, but it would take too long. The single socks are still waiting for their partners, but they are on the back burner, as is my cardigan. So, I better hop to it!

Have a nice Labor Day!

***

Hannah's Hooded Scarf

Today Hannah's going back to Halifax for another school year there. I've just finished her socks, and the hooded scarf in time, so she can take it with her.



I really like this design. I was surprised to find, that you can even get used to working with crappy yarn. But I can't get used to knitting with 7mm needles, that was very unpleasant. My fingers, hands and wrists hurt, and I had to push each stitch off the needle on to the other. No wonder it took so long. Looking at the finished thing, it was a sweaters worth of knitting, at least in Hannah size. Not a fast, and last minute knit.



If I really had to, I would knit this again, but only with the softest yarn. I like anything "hoodie".

The stitch pattern is called "Fisherman's rib" where you slip every second stitch, every row. So even with the thick yarn, progress was slow. Anyway, I did it. I did not get to wash it though, but with acrylic yarn it would not matter, only there are some"Happy coodies" on it. (he chewed on the yarn several times, ran away with a ball still attached to the knitting a couple of times, from the living room to the kitchen) At least I picked out the white hairs, not just his, but Biko's also.

Happy tried to help me, by eating/shredding the instructions, because I was complaining so much. Thanks, Honey!



pattern: from Rebecca Design Team, # 35, Modell # 11
yarn: Mary Maxim's Titan (Hannah selected that yarn for her hooded pullover last year, but we got the original yarn from Angelika instead; that's why I had this yarn at hand, so glad it's out of my stash now), color # 521, 10 balls, (1 ball is ~ 80 yds)
needle: 7mm addi click circ
start-finish: Aug. 27 - Sept. 02

After knitting this scarf, I was craving to knit with thin needles, and to have to finish the second sock of this pair, was just right to keep me sane.



yarn: Mary Maxim's Gemstones, 2 balls (I think) it's color # 23 (Garnet?)
needles: 2.25mm
cast on 60 stitches, reduced to 56 for the foot

Now I'm supposed to knit 3 pairs of fingerless mittens, but I think I need a break from knitting, and spin instead. Yeah, that's what I'll do.

***

Happy - 14 weeks old - 33.7lbs

Who are you, and why are you wearing my colors???


... until we meet again ...


***

Jumbo Rainer Cherries Blanket is done!

Since I was so close to finishing it last time I wrote about it, I wanted to share it right away. My crochet blanket is done! I'm very happy with it too, even though it's made with acrylic yarn.

The color of the blanket is not right in this picture. The sun was shining on it full force, the other photos are more accurate.

yarn: Lion Brand Vanna's Choice, 19 balls each 100g/170yds (total of 3230 yds) in the colors # 172, 171, 99, 158, 180, 113, 133. 100% Acrylic

hook: for the squares 6mm and to crochet them together as well as the border 5.5mm
size: 54" x 70"
pattern: "Circle to Squares Afghan" by Lion Brand, but I used only two of the three sizes of squares and made my own layout.



border: I used granny square stitches for the border, and finished it off with Attich24's shell stitch for which she wrote a tutorial.

start-finish: June 26 - August 24



Even though this is acrylic yarn it was alright to work with. I like the strong colors, and for crochet blanket you really need a lot more yarn, so this cheaper version comes in handy. Another plus is, that you can wash it in the machine, and it comes out fine. Blocking is out of course, but that's O.K. with a blanket.



Now I'm have no blanket WIP at the moment, but Hannah reminded me, that it's time to finish my cardigan, since it's getting cooler and Fall is just around the corner. She's right of course, but I'm dreading miles of stockinette. I've also a hooded scarf for Hannah in the works, and three pairs of fingerless mittens for her friends. Since she'd like to take the hooded scarf with her, when she's leaving for University, I don't have time to sit and spin. I know today should have been "Handspun Friday", and I do have something finished to show, but I was too excited about the finished blanket.

***

Gross lesson # 1

It's ridiculous how fast Happy is growing. These pictures were taken just 10 days ago (and time flys). Yesterday he was 13 weeks old, and weighed ~ 30lbs. Just this morning he came and wanted up on my lap for a little snuggle time. It's almost impossible now to be comfortable for him or for me, when I'm sitting on a chair. We'll have to get those snuggles moved over to the sofa I think.

Biko is still ambivalent about him. One day she plays with him, the next day, she leaves the room, as soon as he enters.

Other days she teaches him nonsense, and of course he's eager to learn such things.

What's that you ask? Here she shows him how to find the longest grass on the property, how to eat it, just to gross me out later, when my help is most likely needed, as soon as we'll see the grass again.



Well, lesson learned. He's chewing on a long plant, roots and all.


Sticks are good too.

It's hard to take pictures of him, because he hardly holds still long enough. This stick came in handy.



He's finally grown into his own blue collar. He had to wear "girl clothes" at first, the red collar. I liked him better in red. We also got a harness for him to go for short walks. I don't want to have the pressure on his neck and this harness is perfect for now, until he learns how to walk nicely. It didn't bother him at all. By now he knows what's coming, when I put it on him, and he hold still, because if he don't it always takes forever to get it on. I guess he WANTS to go for walks.


This is my current favorite photo of him. You can look at them bigger, by clicking on them, then go to "All sizes" and click on large or orignial.

***

Jumbo Rainier Cherries Blanket

Do you remember my crochet squares? I've been working away on them on and off. These are the ones, Happy honed his grab and run act on. I suppose we both thought it funny, because otherwise I would have removed them from the coffee table.



The whole blanket is made up of 86 squares. I found the most delicious Jumbo Rainier Cherries! Don't they looks scrumptious amongst the squares? And they tasted as good as they looked. Of course now I've to think of those every time I look at the blanket. So here it will be named "Jumbo Rainier Cherries Blanket".



It's not quite done yet, but I'm close. I'm already working on the border. I'm liking it a lot...


I would have finished it already, but my arm hurts up to the ellbow. Crocheting is harder on my hands and arms than knitting is.

Of course it's not a proper post without a Happy story:


The picture has nothing to do with the story though. I just had to say Thank you! to Ulrike, who sent me this cute little Teddy Bear in Lederhosen with an Edelweiss on it! It's a genuine Steirerbua from Styria, Austria. The empty bedside next is filling up fast. I think the Steirerbua looks a little scared. He saw what Happy did to his cousin. (Don't you just love Happy's light brown eyes?)

***

Now to the actual story. Happy and I were up VERY early in the morning, a couple of days ago. I took him outside first thing, and while he played around in the hallway, I sat (cough) at the computer (cough), totally forgetting he was there. About an hour later I heard the bells I put on the doorknob jingle, and my first thought was, that Biko has come downstairs (which was nonsense, she gets up late). Then I saw my little snuggle bug sitting prettily in front of the door, waiting for the door magically to open, since HE rang the bells! He really had to go desperately, as it turned out. I can't tell you how proud I was at that moment, that he'd figured this one out so soon. :o)

***

Handspun Friday - Falkland/South African Fine

I missed last Friday's handspun post. But here I am today. This one's not so exciting as others, it's rather boring. Don't know what I expected, when I combined these two. I liked both colorways, but put together - b 0 r i n g!

I like spinning with Falkland fiber. It's like Corriedale I think, and I wanted to make 3-ply sock yarn. But with 4 oz there would not have been enough for my size. So I added some South African Fine, which I dyed a long time ago. I did felt it a little. It was a struggle to seperate strips, and predrafting was a must. Still I liked the color combination of lavender/silver birch. I still have a couple of ounces left. I might use this color combination again some day.

~ 32yds navajo plied South African Fine

The Falkland had many nebs in it. You can't see that in the braid, but I got very frustraded while spinning. At first I picked them out, but they came so frequently, that at some point I let some slide. So the singles were a little uneven. To top it off, I forgot to check the tension on the Lazy Kate (again) and it overtwisted with plying. But adding the second colorway gave me some great yardage! ~ 622yds!

Yesterday we had thunderstorms and Tornado warnings. It was like the world came close to an end. The eeriest light after the storm. This photo is not photoshopped or whatever. It was just fantastic to watch. Here the bad weather moved on East.

And here the look to the West. I saw some blue before the sun was down for the night.

More exitement was to be had that day:

While thunderstorms were all around us, I was sitting on the sofa spinning on my new used Ashford Elizabeth wheel, which arrived yesterday. I've got it from Susan. It came in two boxes, and after David put it back together I grabbed some undyed natural brown BFL to give it a whirl. Boy, that's a big wheel combared to my Ashford Traditional! I tip the treadle once or twice and it runs, and runs, and runs, it might still be running, I haven't checked. Among the many accessories there was a Wooly Winder as well. I always wanted to give it a try and now I have. At first it ripped the fiber right out of my hands, but I managed it in the end and spun up 2oz of the fiber in record time, even my usual thin singles. This was a very nice experience during bad weather. And to top it all off, Happy (I still want to say Sam, after all those weeks!) snuggled up to me and let me spin!!! At first he was like this, head stuck in the corner, but he liked it better the other way.

Of course the peaceful moment did not last. I had to get up eventually for something or other, and as soon as I did not pay attention, he grabbed a mouthful of fiber and was off at high speed. I think he was planning it all along. Lull me into believing he's harmless to my fiber, when in reality he's fibers worst enemy. :o)

***

Have a nice weekend you all!

***

And there is even yarn in this post!

Happy is 12 weeks now and weighs 25lbs! I can't believe he's gained 6 lbs in one week! How is that possible?
Well, he does sleep a lot during the day. This is one of his afternoon naps. Normally he's not on the sofa for that, but yesterday he had some tummy ache and joined me there. I slipped away to spin, but he stayed there for an hour.






Later that day I was looking for him, when I found him here:


It's our biggest crate, for Great Danes. Biko likes to hide there, and he joined her. The photo is crappy because it was so dark the camera would not focus, and I've only got one shot, before Biko was out of there.

Today, I guess, is not his growing day, because he's hyper like he had too much coffee. My first yarn casualty! I didn't even know at first, from where he's got it from. He gave it up pretty easily, but I could swear he was smiling with mischief. Now he's back in confinement, so I can write this post in peace. Biko's beside me, and just relaxed with a sigh of relief.

Four socks!

And not a single pair finished!


I found this cheap sock yarn. It's Mary Maxim's Gemstones. I liked the colorways, but the yarn itself feels like elann's Sock-It-To-Me, which is also made in Turkey. I was so curious how the socks would look knit up, that I decided to knit one sock with each colorway. The first one was the far left. It will be socks for DH. I made this one with 2.5mm needles, but the knit fabric is a little bit too loose for my liking. The second one will be mine, knit on 2.25mm needles. The third one will be for DD, and the last one, the far right, will also be for myself. My DS didn't want a pair. All of them are cast on with Italian cast on. I changed each heel, so it would not be too boring. Now I have the "pleasure" to pair them up. I've started with DD's sock, that has to be done by the end of August, when she will return to University.



Of course it's hard to post without a doggy story. The other day, while I was taking Happy outside to pee, Biko thought she'd reclaim some space in the kitchen, which Happy took over with his arrival. The crate seemed to be as good a place as any in her mind. I have no idea how she could get in there AND TURN AROUND! This is a medium sized dog crate! As you can see I could not close the door if I wanted to. There was a rawhide bone in there as well, which normally does not interest her at all.



So, when we came back inside, this is what we saw. She looked a little guilty, but also a little smug. They started to fight for the bone right away. Since she didn't care for it, she let Happy have it.



But that was not good enough for him. He had to get into the crate with her, which made it a little claustrophobic for her. She just wanted to get out, but he was in the way. There was a lot of rumbling, and snarling, and yapping until they sorted it out, he was in the crate and she was out.


I don't think she's figured him out yet. I had to laugh hard the other day. She had this little game with Sam. When they were fed, she would start eating her food. Sam always was done first, very much like Happy now. She would walk out the kitchen with half her food left, turn around quickly and look back inside to her food bowl. If Sam would even look at it she would run like a fury, snarling and bareing teeth to shoo him away. Poor Sam didn't even glance in her direction anymore. She did that every time, it seemed she could not enjoy her food, without this game.

Now she tried this game several times with Happy but he refused to play along (like she was used to). As soon as she stepped away from the bowl, he hung his head in there gobbling up mouthfull of her food. No snarling could stop him now. She always looked at me in wonderment, whining in disbelief. She tried this several times now. I wonder when she'll understand that Happy is not Sam! He doesn't even wait sometimes for her to step away from her food bowl, he just sticks his head in there with hers until she really gets mad, then he backs off a little.

Happy's wading pool!

By the rate he's growing I have to post more pics. It's already almost a week later than when the pictures were taken. So much is happening every day.


these pictures were taken right after a thunderstorm

On Tuesday Happy will be 12 weeks old. He's learning so fast. I finally got around to digging out the one puppy training book I liked, which we bought back in 2001, before we got Biko! It's from the Monks of New Skete, "The Art of Raising a Puppy". I told you I was still carrying him down the stairs. To my surprise I found out through the book, that he could have learned how to walk up and down the stairs weeks ago! That con man!!! As soon as I saw this, I grabbed him and went to the nearest staircase. He had no problem climbing them, but he was really scared to walk them back down. I clapped my hands enthusiastically telling him he can do it, and ever so carefully he reached out one paw, pulling it back again, whining, whimpering, and finally trying again. Needless to say he could do it, no problem. In the book the puppies were 7 weeks old, when they learned this, Happy was 11 weeks old. Con man, did I say that already?



After a few days of having mastered the stairs, he's still cautious about it, but getting more comfortable each day.



The photos today are about his wading pool. Since he started digging in the water bowls in the house (first with one paw, then with both) we thought a wading pool would be good for him. You can see for yourself, that he went in there by himself. He digs it! He's a water baby! Yeah. Photos are from August 11th. Since then we had him in the big pool as well, and he swam a short distance to the stairs, climbing out by himself. He's got good form, no panic. On a hot day like today, he likes to stand on the first stair in the pool better than his wading pool, because the pool water is really refreshing to say the least, and the wading pool water temp is more like soup.

Anyway here are two videos linsk of him in his wading pool, embedding does not work (again):

Happy 1 and Happy 2.


By the way, a few days ago I suddenly noticed a shift in our house. After a few weeks of puppy madness, there was suddenly calm in the air, which I didn't really notice at once. It just hit me a couple of days ago, that I could sit and spin for an hour without interruption, or do other stuff I like. I'm not exhausted to the point to just fall into bed each day, but am able to read again! How I missed reading. Happy stopped sleeping in his crate a couple of weeks ago. We have plastic crates and it was just too hot in it. He always started to pant heavily after a while, and when I let him out he ran to the water bowl, drank and dropped down right beside it to sleep there. The other change was, that Biko moved out. She moved back to David's room. She did not feel comfortable with Happy in the room, even if he was sleeping in the crate. So he's got the whole bedroom to himself . There are two dog pillows and one dog futon to chose as his bed. He likes to sleep on the towel next to the water bowl.
Long gone (well maybe not that long) are the nights were we had to take him outside every two hours. It's one time during the night now, which is O.K.

The other shift is from Biko towards him. She no longer jumps up and leaves the room, when he enters it. That's progress. Today, while she thought I was not looking, she was lying behind me on the floor, burring like a motor idling, while Happy was all over her, licking her ears, her mouth, and she was sniffing him up and down. Hehe, I saw that, girl!



While he still gets into lots of trouble, there's been a routine to our days, which comes close to those days with Sam and Biko. Biko is helping with teaching him, even though she does not know it. He knows now what "lets go outside", lets go inside", let's go to bed" means, because he saw her respond to those phrases. I just LOVE it, when I say, lets go to bed, and he's the first to run up to the next floor, sitting and waiting at the right bedroom door, while Biko and I are just halfway up the stairs. He also learned "lets go for a walk", because he now joined us on short evening walks. More about those another time.

While he does not sleep in a crate anymore, he gets put into the one in the kitchen during the day to get used to it. He's pretty good now, so we can leave him home alone for a short while, which makes life easier for me.

BTW- since I'm sitting here with only one shoe, I have to mention this. He still loves my Birkis as his sleeping buddies. Whenever he gets whiny because he's tired I give him one shoe, he drags it to wherever he wants to ly down (during the day), chews them a couple of times, and falls asleep. They are worth every penny I paid for them. They are still mostly mine, still wearable. We both love them very much. :o)

So, that's what I see when I turn around. My shoe is under his head. Nice soft pillow.



Hallo sleepy head! He heard Biko shifting in her crate, but kept on sleeping right away. I love sleeping dogs.



****
O.K. enough for today. :o) By for now.

Come back later if you are here for knitting ...

Yesterday we went to the Vet's for Happy's second vaccination, weighing and a general looksy.
Dr. Doug our regular Vet was not there, so we were supposed to get Dr. Jackie, who we don't know yet. Instead Dr. Nora saw us come in and snatched our appointment away from Dr. Jackie, just so she could have some time with Happy. She's heard of him, but not seen him. Well, he welcomed her, like an long lost old friend. I should start taking the camera to the Vet's too, but it's always really hectic there. First thing was standing on the scale, not really surprising he weighs a ton. Since I still have to carry him down the stairs, I can tell.


This little piggy is 11 weeks old today, and he weighs 19lbs (~ 8.7 kg). When we picked him up he was 6 1/2 weeks old and weighed 7.9lbs (~ 3.6 kg). Dr. Nora said he's on the tall and skinny side and we could feed him more. Everything else was fine, except he behaved like a maniac, no manners at all. He's the first dog who liked those healthy treats the Vet gives out, I'm afraid this one would eat anything. Biko and Sam always politely took the treats when offered, and spit them out descretely.
It's hard to play with a full belly like that!



Happy little Happy tail.



Biko wanted to play ball, but was not sure who would get it first.



Wild crazy eyes before he ran off in a puppy run.



I'm sure Biko was thinking ," What did I do to deserve this?"



Still not far enough?



Comming up next time are pictures of Happy and his new wading pool. It all started with digging in water bowls, flooding kitchen and hallway ...

***

Somehow I missed this picture yesterday and since he's growing fast, it should be in this post:

German Twisted Stitch Socks

I thought that was a nice thing to do, for those of us, who could not go to Sock Summit. What am I talking about? Jody Pirrello offered up three free sock patterns for us sock crazies in this special issue of Knotions Magazine. Enjoy!

I've finished a pair of socks, no not recently, back in June. It's socks, but it should have been a pair of knee heighs. I did not have enough yarn for that. I only make one bell underneath the big design. The interesting thing though, is the Italian cast on. I like it! I've used it since several times. It looks neat, and it's strechier than the usual long tail cast on I use.




Here you can see how a wonderful knit knee heigh should look like. Her stitch definition is way better than mine.



The yarn is a cheap one, but it's not nice to work with. It's splitty, and as I said, the stitch definition is not great.



specs:
pattern: Schachenmayr nomotta, Inspiration Nr.32 # 4331
yarn: elann.com, Sock-It-To-Me in green, 2 balls each 50g
needles: 2.5mm
size: womens 10.25"
start-finish: May 19-June 16

This booklet has several other nice twisted stitch knee heigh patterns in it.

I'm a bit in a knitting funk, lost mojo maybe? All I want to do is spin. I've seen people have startitis all over the place, but I don't even want to cast on something new. Picked up my sweater and knit an inch or so, put it away again. I finished all the crochet squares a while ago, and just today I started assembling them, but not really feeling the love for it right now. On the other hand, I've printed out a gazillion new patterns, which I liked, to add to all those others already waiting forever to be knit.

***

Wool Wedding Gown

I found this link on Susan's blog. I think this is the most unique wedding gown I've ever seen. The photos are wonderful too, worth a looksy.

wedding gown

***

Happy at 10 weeks

Happy – 10 weeks: what we/he have/has learned so far:

His name.
Biko’s name.
Sons name.
No. No. No! No! No!
Lets go pee.
Sit. (since this gets him food, and out of the crate).
Get off! Recognized but mostly ignored.
Bone.
Ball.
Fetching is beneath me. Or - I’ll get it, but you can’t have it!
There’s never enough food in the bowl.
The water dish is his personal swimming pool.
He’s sharing his swimming pool freely with all his chew toys.
He can take from Biko whatever he wants, whenever he wants.
She’s there for his amusement only.
Her food is his food.
His food is his food alone.
Crate time is not acceptable.
Telling that he has to pee/poop is well and good, but who can wait for these slow humans?
Given boots, helmet and rope he can climb anything.
Getting down is another matter.
Jumping on the sofa, since he’s too big now to crawl under it.
Yoghurt containers, as well as empty plastic water bottles are great toys.
He can take himself outside on this darn leash. (get it off, get it off!)
Walking on leash works well - when it’s in the direction he wants too.
Being carried is his right.
Birds are scary, lawn mowers are not.
Glass doors hurt, when taken head on.
Chasing own tail is fun, even if one gets dizzy.
Chair cushions are there to sit on.
Biko is a big chew toy. Especially her tail, mouth, eyes and chest.
The space under the desk is a forbidden zone, so it must be reached any chance one gets.
Water is fun, did I mention water is fun?
White vinegar is NOT water.
Yarn balls are fun too, especially if being chased through the house is the result of grabbing them.
Paper is there to be shredded.
Paper towels are there to be shredded.
Sleeping through the night is for dummies.
He can sleep great during the day, any time he wants to, as long as he wants to.
Humans are suckers.
The world is his food, and chew toy.
Stones are good too. Lick, lick, crunch, crunch, yummy!
Toads are not as tasty as he thought.
Little puppy nails grow quickly and can scratch painfully.
He’s faster than I am in an open field. And besides, he’s part rabbit!
Birkis are still kicking, and his best sleeping buddies.
Puppies are exhausting.
Left alone he’ll definitely kill himself.
What were we thinking?

***

A few days ago, Happy had his first bath. Biko is wishing we'd drown him, I'm sure, and if so, she wants to witness it first hand.

A treat after good behavior in the bath tub:

What? I'm eating!

Rest IS for the wicked...

***

Handspun Friday - 3rd skein - Jacob Humbug

That's my last skein of Humbug, which I've finished BEFORE Happy arrived. I have not finished anything since then, but I'm close. Hopefully there will be something to show you, next week.





fiber: Kettle Dyed Jacob Humbug by Shunklies, 3.5oz
yarn: ~ 348yds, navajo plied







I like to see all three of them side by side. I know already, that the next colorway will come in two skeins. Why? More about that when they are done.



I know I'm terrible behind in answering e-mails etc. I haven't been feeling too well for about a week now. Looking after Happy is all I can do right now, before the headaches and nausea get worse. I really hate it, when I'm not feeling well, and I can't do anything worthwhile. Please send some positiv thoughts my way! Thanks.



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