Tag Archive | puppies

Just a few photos today

Oct8

I’m not feeling very wordy today and I’ve got a lot to do, so today’s post will be mostly photos.

Location of this morning’s newspaper. Yep, that’s the street.

Grace’s new favorite thing is lounging in the greenery to watch the street.

Tubs are packed with inventory and props for today’s craft show set-up.

Included are these 4 new Royal blue hats to celebrate my KC Royals in the post-season!

I managed to make not one but TWO super bulky striped hats yesterday! That was fun. Don’t know that I’ll get much knitting time today, what with setting up my booth, stopping at Costco for dog food, and the boy’s choir concert tonight. But I’ll be sure to post photos of the craft show once it’s all done!

Craft Show Madness

Oct5

It’s setting in, the frenzy of an upcoming craft show. I feel the urge to MAKE ALL THE THINGS that I think will sell because I’m convinced the stuff I’ve already made is not good enough. I know I won’t be able to put up an attractive display by myself so I’m crossing my fingers that my knitting SIL will help me out. I’m fretting about how to take essential breaks when I’m working my table by myself. So yeah, normal pre-craft show jitters.

All the broken-rib hats have buttons attached and yesterday I cast on for a new hat. It’s a simple slouch hat in stockinette but I’m doing red and white, a candy cane look for early holiday shoppers. I like it so far, and it’s going quickly. But this morning it hit me: WHY am I not doing blue and white?? My Kansas City Royals are heading into postseason baseball, and KC is baseball crazy this year. I’d be silly to not have some blue in my inventory this weekend, so I’m setting aside the red and white for now. Good thing I have extra circular needles!

The most exciting progress from the weekend comes from the husband. He got 36 of 41 fence posts installed! I am SO excited to see this taking shape. It’s going to look fantastic. Plus we’re all ready to retire these stupid chains for the dogs. The lack of running-around time is making Grace crazy, so that when I take them for a walk in the evening, she’s uncontrollable with energy. It makes walks miserable for both me and Jack, who gets tired of being pulled around when they’re on the double leash. So if the rain holds off, I’m going to see if I can handle taking both pups to the dog park to run off some of the crazy. Wish me luck!

Oh Grace

Sep25

This is not what you want to see when you’re out in your unfenced, corner-lot-on-a-busy-street yard. The puppies were playing, running, chasing. They hit the end of the chain, her collar snapped, and Grace kept going. She ran the perimeter of our yard for a few minutes, ignoring me of course, before running into the neighbor’s yard. I followed her into their side yard which is thankfully blocked off with brush and fence, and was able to grab her neck. Then I carried all 65 pounds of her back home.
I’m still kind of freaked. I mean, aside from the busy street, she didn’t even have her collar with the tags! Ugh. This fence can’t happen soon enough.

Adventures in Chart Knitting

Sep24

I cast on for a new cowl yesterday. I had that lovely Mochi Plus in shades of blue and found this perfect wave cowl pattern called Clemence. I downloaded it and cast on, and then realized the stitch pattern was in a chart. See, sometimes knitting patterns use charts with little symbols to represent a stitch, like shorthand or something. And sometimes they write out each line. It’s just personal preference. I suppose charts take up less space or something, which is especially important in complicated lace patterns. In any case, I prefer written patterns. It’s hard for me to remember what each little symbol means, so I’m always looking down at the key to figure out what I’m supposed to be doing. But I love this cowl and it was just right for this yarn, so I did the first row without problems.

At least I thought I did. Then I re-read the instructions and realized the chart is meant to be read bottom to top and right to left. What is this craziness? I texted my knitting SIL to vent and she pointed out that you knit bottom to top and right to left. Stumped, I had to agree she was right. But still, I said, I read left to right. Her response? “Pretend you’re Hebrew.” All righty then.

I ignored that first (wrong) row and just started the next row doing the chart properly. And once I figured out how simple the pattern really is, it was fine. I even took it with me for car knitting during the girl’s flute lesson and worked without the chart and didn’t mess it up (I don’t think.) And I’m glad I kept going because I think it’s going to be gorgeous. It’s knitting up quickly and I’ll have enough yarn left over to do matching fingerless gloves and a hat.

Here’s a fun puppy photo from the other day. We took them to the dog park on Sunday and they wore themselves out big-time. That night Grace crashed on the couch and the kids thought it would be fun to wrap her up in the blanket. She didn’t care a bit. She looks like she belongs in Star Wars, like she’s Obi Wan Kenobi or something. Funny dog.

Yoda All the Time

Sep16

This week has been all about Yoda. If you remember, I got my new batch of Yoda green yarn (aka Knit Picks in PeaPod) in the mail on Saturday. Sunday night I started knitting hats, and Monday afternoon I listed them on Etsy again, available in three different sizes. I sold one pretty quickly, soon got a custom order for a bigger size, and then got two more orders! I spent all day yesterday knitting, finishing and mailing three different orders…and I loved it! It made me feel like my little business is going in the right direction. I think it’s safe to say Yoda’s a pretty popular guy right now, so I’m going to keep making those hats until my yarn is gone again. If they don’t sell on Etsy, I’ve got two big craft shows coming up this fall and I’d love to feature Yoda.

Last night was a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra at Chipotle, so we met my sister and her kids there for dinner. Eat a yummy dinner AND benefit young musicians? No brainer! My nephew ran across the restaurant calling my name when he saw me, and that always makes a girl feel good. So yeah, the food was great, company was great, and then we came home. What do you know, the pillow exploded! Sigh. Apparently Grace needs a new toy or two, along with a fence in the backyard. She’s getting bored. She got another pair of the girl’s shoes the other day, and now the pillow. Super. I love my dog. I love my dog. I love my dog.

Time for Some Crochet

Sep11

Crochet came first for me, but after I learned to knit, knitting because my primary passion. I love the fabric it creates, the rhythm of my hands, hearing that little click of the needles every so often. But I still enjoy crochet too, and lately I’ve been feeling the urge. Yesterday I gave in to the urge. It was time to take a break on the blanket and I don’t have any outstanding orders to finish, so I perused Ravelry until I found a pattern that spoke to me. Now, you’ll have to be patient with me. This will be a gift for someone who I think reads my blog, so I don’t want to share the full details just yet. But here’s a little peek: I think it looks a bit like chainmail. I’m using a DK weight (a little thinner than I usually use) yarn called Merletto from Louisa Harding. It’s called Sage but to me it’s more of a silver, and it even has a lovely shimmer. I’m quite excited about this project, and in fact I’ll be going back to it once I’m done writing to you lovely people.

The girl had her second football game yesterday (reminder: she’s marching band, not football team). I think the team lost, but the band was wonderful of course. And right after the halftime show, there was lightning and then some rain and the band was sent home and I didn’t have to sit through a whole football game! Yahoo! Anyway, we came home. To the puppies. Yes, THOSE puppies. The ones who are naughty sometimes. I’d gotten a package in the mail yesterday and included was a small gauzy pouch containing a birthday present. I had set it aside to open on the actual day. Well, you can guess what happened. Grace decided she wanted it open NOW. She’s very good at opening presents. Thankfully, the present was nothing she deemed edible, so it survived. And it’s beautiful too, see: This is from Kind Spirit Jewelry. She makes pretty things. I will wear it today when my mommy takes me out for a celebratory lunch. And the weather is supposed to be sunny and slightly cooler, so I think it will be a good day. Happy Friday and enjoy your weekend!

The Hitchhiker is DONE!

Jun4

Now I know why everybody has made one: it’s FABULOUS. The pattern is so simple, but the end result is just stunning. It’s absolutely perfect for variegated yarns, but it would look equally gorgeous in a solid too. I loved knitting this, didn’t get bored or tired of the endless garter stitch. It was perfect TV knitting, and even though Rafa lost (so sad!) I was happy because I finished this! The photos aren’t great, sorry. It’s raining and very wet outside, but someday I’ll get better pictures. I guess I need to paint my craft room so the walls are a better backdrop color. I wanted purple, but maybe I should consider white. Or maybe a very pale gray? That could be cool. Anyway. Love my Hitchhiker. Already perusing my stash to figure out which yarn to use for my next one.

Last night I decided I needed a super-fast instant gratification project, and I wanted to use my new Marblez straight needles. I chose this Leafy Washcloth pattern and it was done within an hour. I wasn’t crazy about it at first. But then I got it wet and stretched and tugged and flattened, and voila, it became a leaf!Mine’s not as dense as the photo, so I think I’ll use smaller needles for the next one. And as much as I love knitted washcloths and dishcloths, there will definitely be a next one. This is a fun, unusual pattern.

Our new sod is enjoying the rain, I think, but the puppies are not. They did get a walk yesterday but Grace still woke up with plenty of energy for mischief.
I’ll be going out today to buy a cheap rug for her, and she will be sad because she’s a spoiled little princess who thinks she needs a cushion to sleep on. Well, too bad for her! I’m not giving her anything else that can be torn open and have its innards removed.

Today is the women’s semifinals of the French Open and I think I will work on my black and white chevron scarf. It’s becoming the neverending project! How do the rest of you find the motivation to work on those projects that seem to take forever?

Two More WIPs Finished

May28

I’ve been on a roll lately! In the last couple of days I’ve completed two more WIPs, bringing me down to only three still on the needles. One of the new FOs was my Mother’s Day project, the Chocolate Cherries shawlette with the Baah wool. It hasn’t been blocked yet, so the yarnovers aren’t as open as they will be. I’m also hoping I can block it a bit longer, because I wanted to be able to wear it like this: I absolutely loved knitting with this yarn. The colors are so gorgeous, and the yarn is perfect, soft without being limp. It has great stitch definition. I have another skein of this, and I’m looking forward to finding the right project for it. My Ravelry project page for it is here, or you can go directly to the Find a Penny pattern page.

My other FO is another Oh, Helen! mesh scarf. This one I made in a silvery-gray Berroco Weekend. It’s a worsted, not DK, so I cast on fewer stitches and used size 9 needles. I rather like this one better than the first, pink one. It doesn’t roll quite as much so you see the pattern better. I made this so I’d have something versatile and lightweight to wear when I do craft shows so I can model my wares! I haven’t been knitting as much the last few days, though, because I’ve had another project going. For the first time in my adult life, the first time in the almost 18 years I’ve been married, I have an actual bed with a headboard and footboard! We’ve always just had the metal frame that comes with the mattress. We waited at first because of money, then the husband wanted to make them. I think he would still like to, but he’s got a lot of things going on, and it probably won’t happen for a while. Then a friend of mine mentioned she wanted to sell her bedroom set with a bed, dresser and nightstand. It just happened to be oak and the Mission style that I love and that matches the nightstands the husband made several years ago. She was asking a fair price and it just seemed like too good a deal to pass up.

The downside was that it meant quite a bit of manual labor, to move them home then clean out the bedroom and set up the new furniture. I took apart the old bed and set up the new one ALL BY MYSELF (okay, the boy helped a little bit) but I needed the help of the husband and brother to move heavy dressers. Last night it was all set up and I could appreciate my new grown-up bedroom! The dresser has a matching mirror, but the husband was too tired to attach it last night. Maybe tonight. Anyway, I’m delighted with it.

And last but not least, here’s a recent puppy photo. Remember the new dog bed Grace tore up? The one I mended and sprayed with the bitter apple spray? Yeah. Here it is. I give up. I mean it, I really and truly give up. No more new dog beds. At least now I can look at this and chuckle. This was Monday, and nothing’s been destroyed since then. Fingers crossed we can make that trend last a while!

The sun really did come out tomorrow!

May23

Figuratively, anyway. We’re still stuck in a long stretch of gray, rainy days. Thanks to those who cheered me on after my rough day! Yes, after my (very) early start yesterday, things got much better. I had a lovely long lunch with two great friends. Funny how something like that can improve your outlook so quickly. I came home and got out the chewed up dog bed to further inspect the damage. Here’s what I saw. That’s all there was, the rest of the bed was fine. This was doable, especially since it didn’t have to look nice. I trimmed the rough edge of the zipper and re-threaded it so I could zip as much closed as possible. Then I just sewed it all closed, making sure to sew around the zipper a bit to keep it closed. I won’t be able to open it for washing, but at least the bed will last a while longer. It’s not pretty but it worked.Once that was done, I sprayed it all with the bitter apple no-chew spray and set it aside to dry. Then I moved on to the other bed, the one that had been soiled. It needed a second run through the washer but came out nice and clean. By the time bedtime rolled around, the pups had two good beds again!

But wait, it gets better! I got to sleep until 6:40 this morning AND nothing was chewed up overnight! *CHEERING* Yeah, I got this. These puppies aren’t gonna break me!

Oy, What a Day I Had

May22

Yesterday was not a good day. Yesterday was pretty close to a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day. It was the last day of school so it was going to be my last day of peace and quiet, and I had high hopes which were quickly dashed. I woke up to find the 2-day-old $30 dog bed now had half its insides on the outside. Not only that, the charming dogs had also chewed up one of my smaller tote bags. Thankfully, it was a $2 bag from Goodwill, but still.

After breakfast, I had to cancel an Etsy order. I messed up when I created the listing, which was for multiple sizes, and I had no idea which size the customer wanted. Three emails had gone unanswered, so I refunded her money and fixed the listing. Maybe she’ll reorder. I hope so. Until then, there went that money.

I didn’t have time to sit around with tea and yarn, because I had an errand to run and I wanted to get it out of the way. The boy’s school said he still owed money on lost library books, and I had proof I’d paid for them a year ago. I get to the school…nope, I need to go to the elementary school since that’s where the fine was accrued. Fine. I went to the pet store and spent $60 on new puppy toys to hopefully discourage the darn dogs from chewing on inappropriate things. I went to the grocery store to get milk and bread for the mother, and discovered it was the day for everyone and their grandmother to shop. Seriously, so crowded, and they all moved SO SLOWLY. Plus, they didn’t have the exact bread the mother wanted, and she’s picky about her bread. One phone call later, bread was selected and I was on my way. I dropped off the milk and bread and got my first pick-me-up of the day: she’d made No Bake Cookies! Whew. One was consumed quickly and several were packed away for later. Off again, this time to the elementary school. Thankfully, they were very nice and took care of the problem quickly.

After that, the day improved for a good long bit. We had a nice dinner, started watching Shrek, then discovered one of the pups had an upset tummy and had been eating A LOT of grass. A fight ensued over which puppy would get to re-ingest said grass before we ushered them outside so we could clean up. Two more small puddles and a movie later, we went to the kitchen to get ready for bed and discovered the one remaining dog bed had a very large puddle/pile of…unpleasantness on it and next to it. I swear, what the heck was wrong with these dogs?? I was pretty sure it was Jack, since he was the one looking sad and pathetic. Dog bed cover was thrown in the washer, towels were laid down for them to sleep on, and off to bed we went, with hopes that surely things would look better in the morning.

Well. I certainly didn’t mean at 4:45, but that’s what the puppies thought. I really think it was Jack. He was probably starving after emptying the contents of his stomach last night. But, at least they hadn’t chewed up anything overnight. Small victories, right? Sigh. I am discouraged. Discouraged and frustrated. I’m trying to tell myself that I survived small children, so I can survive this. I’m trying to remember that my pups bring me lots of joy and love, they really do. I mean, look at this sweet guy. So let me end on a high note. My collection of chair socks has grown significantly. 18 made, only 14 to go! My sister’s project bag has been knitted and has handles attached. I bought the fabric for the lining and it’s GORGEOUS so now I only need to line the bag and it will be done and I can show it to you! And best of all, yesterday I booked a room for a short getaway next month. I get to go meet a dear Facebook friend who I’ve never met in person and I can’t wait! It’s only one night but it’s better than nothing and I think we will have a marvelous time.

Now, if you will excuse me, I’m going to go find a quiet place to play with yarn. I need to restore some sanity.