The Woolen Rabbit

I guess I'm It!! ....Jan. 31, 20059

Normally, I don't do these kinds of things.....but since I was tagged twice today, by Jean and Chris,......I thought I would be a good sport...... I guess, I'm IT...hehe. 

One reason why I will do this game, is that I just LOVE music.  I can hear a song and it immediately brings me back to a time in my life.  I am usually pretty good at music trivia.  A few months ago, I won the only contest I have ever won, when Vicki held her, what year was I born in contest.  It was fun and brought me right back to my highschool days.  It seems that she and I graduated the same year..LOL. 

So here goes......be prepared, my music tastes are all over the board:

1.  Total amount of music files on your computer:  one. 
Hard to believe a music lover only has one file and that file is that most ridiculous, yet seriously mesmerizing Rumanian song, sung by our silly German friend, here.  OMG, I can't even watch it or I will be hearing it in my dreams........hahahaha.  When I am feeling a bit down, all's I have to do is click on that link and I find I am smiling again........but the danger is........I will be singing it all night long, even in my dreams...

2. The last CD you bought was:
Distant Future by Heidi Talbot
A combination of one of my favorite types of music......bluegrass, with an Irish touch.  Being a redheaded Irish person, I tend to find myself drawn to Irish singers.  I had no clue when I bought this CD that Heidi was from Ireland, but it gave me a wee bit more enjoyment when I read the reviews.

3.  What is the song you last listened to before reading this message?
This one is easy......the stereo is right next to the computer (which is probably why I don't have music files on the computer),   Out of the Woods, by Nickle Creek .  Another bluegrass band.

4. Write down 5 songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you:
Ugghh...I agree with Chris, now I am going to have to think.........there are SO many!

A.When You Come Back Down, again by Nickle Creek
When my granddaughter Avery was stillborn, it was a song that touched many hearts.

B.  Fields of Gold, by Sting
This is a song that brings me back to a carefree time in my life.  A time of complete
freedom in my 30's and long days in the sun at the ocean.  It is also bittersweet as it  brings back memories of a very dear person, who is no longer with us.

C.   What A Wonderful World, by Louis Armstrong
Whenever I hear this song, I immediately smile and move into that zone of childhood happiness.  I ADORE this song.  It makes me feel like all is right in the world.  I also end up picturing Louis singing , I Wanna Be Like You Hoo Hoo, from the Jungle Book.  Just an all over good feelin' song!

D.   The Soul of the Machine
Many of you have probably never heard this album........it is different, very new age.  I learned how to ski with this tape, softly playing in my ears.  I didn't learn how to ski until I was 32, but living up north, in God's Country, I figured, I had best learn how to fill those cold winter days.  I was sooooooo bad.....haha.  I fell off of every chair ramp on every mountain up here...some ski bunny, eh?...NOT!  The soothing tunes of this album helped to calm my nerves and settle me down, so that I wasn't a roving danger to everyone on the mountain.

E.    She Drives Me Crazy, (The Raw and the Cooked, Fine Young Cannibals)
This is my favorite exercise tape.  Whether it is on the stepper or out walking, this tape, along with Robert Cray's, Strong Persuader, always keep me smiling, in spite of how much I HATE to exercise...LOL.

There you have it.  There is so much more that I love, such as the haunting harp tunes of O'Carolan or the power violins from Vivaldi's Four Seasons.  Then there is the sexy, soothing songs that John Mayer sings or the ecclectic sounds of The Chieftains and one of my new favorites, Maroon 5

Whew........I spent more time on that than I expected......but it was time I enjoyed spending.  Now the question remains.......who am I going to tag.  I know that you are supposed to tag 3 people, but I also know that this game has gone around a few times, so I am only going to tag one special person.  I know that she hasn't played and because she doth protest soooooooo much...........she's (Norma) IT!!  (Ducking for cover...hehe)

Fluted Bannisters are Done!

All's I can say about this pattern and these socks is.....................I LOVE them!!  They are the most comfortable socks that I have knit todate.  This was a fun pattern, but mindless enough, that you could put it down and then pick it up days months later and easily find your place. (my favorite kind of pattern)
Yarn  Regia Silk, given to me from my Secret 3 Pal, Erica
this is beyond fabulous Yarn!  Needles: Size1                   

Especially For Ryan
 Ryan, my friend, this is for you!  You were wondering which kennel you should find your next companion at......

skip the dog kennel.....

This is what a dog does when a bitch girl dog is in season. 
eewwwwwwwww.................go for the bunnies!!!

Baby It's Cold........Jan. 27, 2005

Man oh man, it has been some kind of cold up here.  You are looking at an icycle hanging off of our sunroom.  The icycle is about 5 feet long.....bbrrrrrrr!!

Night time temps have been ranging in the -25 degree range all week and even with these arctic temps we've had close to 18 inches of snow over the last week....bbbrrrrrrrrr!!!

A few years ago, it was on a night with similar temps that I rushed to the vet at 3 am for an emergency c-section.  That trip produced two girls.  Ballymena's Winter's Tale and Ballymena Winter's Wind. 

We are getting ready for what appears to be another Wintery Whelping.

Yesterday, during a snowstorm, Breeze and I made our way to the Vet for an xray.  I always do an xray a week before puppies are due.  This way, I can get a head count, check position and most importantly gauge size.  If you click on this picture, you will see the outline of 4 little spines.  Three of the heads are facing towards the left and one is facing the right.  Of course, the 3 facing left tell me that currently they are going to be born breech...sigh....  The good news is, is that they are a nice size and mom should not have too much trouble delivering them.  They could always flip, but my experience has been that they do not change position too often from what I have seen on the x-ray.

So in between the franticness of trying to find another car and send the van with the shot transmission almost 100 miles away to be repaired, I have been getting supplies washed and ready for the Winter Whelping.  We have our whelping box, hot water bottle, heating pad, clamps, scissors, towels, facecloths (for pulling the little buggers out), along with soft pads for when mom is finished and a baby monitor.  What you don't see is the glass of wine that will be poured and ready for when I am finished...LOL.  Even though I have been breeding for almost 8 years now, I still get nervous with each delivery, so the wine will be there to help settle down the nurse when she is finished.  For now, we will just take temps twice a day and the waiting game begins.  Wish us luck!

The gang is trying to show Breeze their "close" support..........believe it or not there are 6 dogs, crammed into this crate....LOL

On the Knitting Front

The beaded socks for the KAL are finished.  They were fun to knit, but if I do them again, I will make changes.  I think I would use a smaller needle and do some ribbing all the way down the foot, so that the fit is better.  Smaller beads too.  It was a fun challenge though, never having knit with beads before. 

Pattern: Pink Beaded Socks  (Six Sock Knit along)
Needles:  Size 2 double pointed
Beads:   Size 8 "e" beads (Elegant Ewe)
Yarn:  Gray Koigu

I am close to finishing up the Fluted Bannister socks and I LOVE these socks!  They fit so nicely and the yarn is yummy.  I will post more about them when they are finished.

I am also participating in the Red Scarf Project.  Lisa Miller started this project to raise money for Chinese Orphans. You can read more about Lisa's story here.

Why red scarves: The Chinese have an ancient belief that says all people who are destined to meet are bound by an invisible red thread. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break. (Very meaningful to the families adopting these Chinese Orphans)

I chose the Opera Scarf that Margene shared with us earlier in the month.  I am making it a bit wider than the pattern calls for and on bigger needles.  Hopefully it will be finished and in the mail tomorrow.  It's a fun project for a good cause.

Ribby..  The back of the Ribby Cardi is finished and
I have started on the sleeves. This is an easy, mindless project.....sometimes mindless is a good thing!   I love the feel of the lambs pride mohair and it is knitting up fast.  This is going to make a nice spring sweater jacket!

Even though it IS knitting up fast and it IS easy, I am finding that my nagging tendonitis and my now strangely sore thumbs is going to slow me down a bit.  I think that I will have to split my time up more evenly over the different fiber arts that I enjoy, instead of being so focused on one.  Maybe a bit more spinning and weaving and a little less knitting will help eleviate some of the pain.  Of course my DH says......"just stop for a while", but he just doesn't understand.  I don't think that I could ever just sit in front of the tv without a project in my hands.........could you?

Holey Moley......Jan. 21, 2005

You know your having a bad day when...................

Yesterday was just not a good day....in fact most of the week has been a washout.  Earlier in the week, my husband's car died for the last time.  It is old, so it was to be expected.......however, yesterday as I was driving my daughter to work, the transmission in my car blew.....aagghhhh!!

After finally getting home and doing laundry, I noticed a small hole in the heel of my favorite Koigu socks.....then before climbing into bed at the end of the day, I put my other favorite socks on....my thick mountain color clog socks on because it is freakin' cold here.  As my feet touched the cold floor, I felt the cold floor.....why am I feeling the cold floor with these thick cushy socks on I think to myself??  That would be, because there is a HUGE hole in the heel...aagghhhhhh!!!!!

You will also notice that there is a clump of blue wool in this picture.  I am going to try and needle felt the wool into the heel of the koigu sock, but I don't know if the other pair can be saved.  If any of you are experienced darners and can give me some tips, please give me a shout!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr

Did I mention that it is freakin' cold??  As I am sitting here typing, the weather bug is telling me that it is -17....bbrrrrrr.  I headed up to the barn first thing this morning to fetch the bunnies water bottles as they are freezing so fast now.  Ya gotta love my morning barn gear...haha.  Lace and boots....the neighbors must think I am a wee bit touched in the head.

Having animals in the winter can be a challenge.  Rabbits will not eat, if they do not have water and of course, they need to eat to stay warm, so when it is this cold it is an endless cycle of thawing out water bottles.  Up and down the stairs with those big heavy buckets.   bbrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....

Keeping my hands warm and my fingers free to pry off those frozen bottles from the cages are these fingerless mittens that I made earlier this year. 

Pattern: Green Mountain Spinnery - Eric's Glovelets
Yarn:  Mountain Colors - Indian Corn

Now that I am back inside where it is toasty warm, I am going to play with this new spindle.  The video made it look fun and I love the old antique serrated oak.  Spindling this way is a bit different and after giving it a whorl........I can see I am going to have to go back and watch the online video again...LOL

As a foot note.......I removed the picture of George Bush from my blog and replaced it with a meaningful to me quote on peace.  Not because I have changed my feelings about him or this war, but after reading different blog comments, I feel that peace has to begin in our hearts first and if a picture is going to cause hurt or sadness in others, then I don't want to contribute to that.  ~Peace~

January 20, 2005

We frail humans are at one time capable of the greatest good and, at the same time, capable of the greatest evil. Change will only come about when each of us takes up the daily struggle ourselves to be more forgiving, compassionate, loving, and above all joyful in the knowledge that, by some miracle of grace, we can change as those around us can change too.

Maíread Maguire

Puttin' On The Dog......Jan. 18, 2005

It's getting to be that time of year, when I start thinking ahead to dog shows.  Every year, we take a family vacation in Colonial Williamsburg, VA.  It is an educational vacation for the children, and it just happens to be where Cavaliers of the Northeast holds it's annual March dog show.

Getting dogs ready for serious dog showing takes a lot of preparation.  Now.....I am not the kind of person who buys all kinds of beauty aids for myself (Lord knows I should...though..haha)............but look at the array that the dogs have.  You have your shampoos, your conditioners, your whiteners, your finishing cream. Cowboy magic gives us shine and slicker brushes help manage the curls. 

I will start giving the dogs that I will be showing, weekly baths now and will add good things like flax seed oil to their diet.  They will be walked and trained until they can't stand the sound of that damn clicker.  Actually, it is a sound that they love, because they know a treat follows.

This March's show team will be Max, Bliss and Max's daughter, that cute little Dora. 

Here comes the fun part.............................................

Into the tub they go........neither Max or Dora are lookin' very cute right now..........hehe

Look at how the same eye wanders when they are a bit nervous and mad at me for photographing them, when they look more like chipmunks than dogs.... 
Hard to believe they are show dogs, eh?

Then comes the endless blow drying.........and yup.......a little more humiliation.................

When you only have 2 hands....these drying coats really help those flyaway hairs stay still while I am working on getting those ears nice and straight.  Cavalier's ears have a tendency to want to curl up like a perm when wet.

Dora is little enough, that she dries up quickly, so she was spared the drying coat.....but she wasn't very sure about the forceful blowing air from the metro dryer.

Hard to believe she is the same dog in the sink, isn't it...LOL?  She is feeling oh, so much better about herself!

At the end of the day however, it is not just about winning, it is about having fun and spending time with your dog .........but .........winning is nice too!

This was Max's BIS picture at a match show last year.

After all that beauty spa treatment.......Max was ready for a good ole' doggy snooze.

WOW..........Elann

All's I can say is wow, wow, wow!!  Waiting for me at the Post Office was this package from Elann.  I am amazed at how fast it made it's way to me from Canada.

What lovely yarn this Peruvian Highland Wool is!!  Now I am wishing that I had done what I was originally going to do and made my xo's vest out of this nice yarn.  It is very soft and the color is vibrant.
With great service and yarn as lovely as this for such an incredible price.......I will definitely be back for more.  (self control........she whispers......self control)

An Addum

My blogging friend Jean gave us this link today and let me tell you, it is the best laugh I have had all week........OMG......I watched it a half hour ago and it is still playing and I am still laughing........hahaha.  The scarey part, is I haven't a freakin' clue what he is saying......but I am still laughing...LOL.  Maybe the brain got a wee bit soggy from washing the dogs.   Thank you Jean!!! 

BTW.......Jean is an amazing knitter.  I can't believe how fast she knit her son's sweater!!  Go visit her blog, you won't be disappointed.

Ships and Knits ......Jan. 16, 2004

Yesterday, I traveled down to Portsmouth, NH to participate in the NETA Afghan Joining Party for the SHIPS program.  SHIPS provides knitted hats for the winters and cool ties for the summer along with other things.  The afghan will be raffled off at the Spa in February and the funds will go towards postage for the knitted items.

Many New England bloggers were there and we shared great food, good laughs, learned some new knitting and spinning tips from each other, along with a fun fiber stash draw.  I was the lucky recipient of this great grab bag from Julia.  Ten lovely skeins of Sylvan Spirit from the Green Mountain Spinnery.  You can see pictures of our joining party here.

Knits
A new lot of Peruvian Highland Wool at Elann went on sale Thursday.  I pulled out books and patterns and quickly had lots of projects, costing lots of money dancing in my head.  As I looked at the total for all of the yarn that I wanted, I almost choked and quickly started rethinking....LOL.  One of the projects that I had been contemplating is the Ribby Cardi from Chicknits.  I was thinking a nice charcoal grey and then I remembered the stash of Lambs Pride that I had sitting in my barn (for over 3 years) and decided to pull that out and save some money. (What a novel concept..hehe) 

I have never worked with Lambs pride before and I was pleasantly suprised at how nice it knits and how yummy it feels.  The ribby cardi works up quickly and is a great, mindless knit.  The body of the sweater will be in the dark charcoal and the sleeves will be knit up in a nice light grey color.  I haven't knit a full sized sweater for moi in a long time, so this will be fun.

Soooo, as all of the projects were dancing in my head........then looking at the price tag and remembering my resolution for 2005 of self control and self discipline, I put all of the projects back on the virtual shelf and settled for just one project  in this lovely shade of Red Maple.  I did manage to toss in a couple of skeins of sock yarn though.....but those will be Christmas presents for next year.....so this is a good thing, right??  LOL

Now, I am not on a yarn diet as some others are......but I really am truly trying to control my impulses and show a little self control and discipline this year, in all areas of my life.....
Maybe I will use up my stash AND lose those extra pounds!

I have also been plugging along on the XO vest from Folk Vests.  I love the pattern, but I am still not in love with the Black Water Abbey Yarn.  It gives great definition to the pattern, but it is very scratchy.  I am still holding out until I give the entire vest a good soaking, though, before forming a complete opinion.  It won't be something worn against the skin, so I am sure that it will be fine :-).

The AKC Eukanuba Invitational

The Eukanuba Invitational Dog show was held this weekend in Florida.  It was televised on the Animal Planet/Discovery Channel.  I don't get that station here, however my daughter was kind enough to tape it for me, so we will watch it this week.

Little Miss Dora will start her training for the conformation ring this week.  Maybe you will see her shining face at the Invitational in a few years!

The Tale of the Tail-less Bunny...Jan. 13,2005

My friend Barb....probably bored at work today, emailed me looking for a blog entry and was wondering what the heck was I doing??   

Well the last few days in between working, have been busy.  It's that time of year when all of the rabbits need shearing......and when you have 17 of them, well......need I say any more?

Past winters, I have always shorn the rabbits in the freezing cold barn, but now that we have an island in the kitchen, I have taken to bringing those chilly buns in the house for their new "do". Little did my DH know that I had lots of non-cooking plans for that island...hehe.

Yesterday it was Nordic Billy the Kit.  Billy is a junior bunny from one of my summer litters.  His color is called Wild Gray.  This guy is one of the sweetest babies that I have had yet and his coat is fantastic!! 

His mother comes down from that German Import line that produces lovely coats.  I bred his mother to my red buck here and again.........those import genes came thru.  He produced 9oz of fiber which is great for a junior.  A little more matting, than the pure German that I showed you last week, but still.......a great cutting for a junior. 

One of the things that I feel strongly about as a breeder, whether it be rabbits or dogs, is temperament.  If they are not easy to live with, you are not going to enjoy their company.   I will not breed animals that show any tendency towards nasty temperaments.  It is not fair to the people I will place their babies with.  Who wants to live with piranhas..??   Not me......I have one in the barn who bites me on a regular basis.......not fun!  Needless to say, she will not be bred.

As you can see, Billy is quite relaxed here in a "new to him" environment.   Just stretchin out and having a good time.

Have you ever seen a tail-less bunny?
This is Dandy (ISeeSpots Dandy).  Dandy is the oldest of my rabbits.  She is going on 7 years old and is the foundation of most of my breeding.

When Dandy came to me, I was completely inexperienced with rabbits.  At her first shearing, I kept wondering......."where the heck is her tail?"  ....."Don't bunnies have tails?"  Of course, now that I have had many rabbits since then, I know that they have tails..LOL.

From experience in shearing wiggly babies, I can now see how easy it would be to lop one off as they are wiggling about.......but I can't find any evidence that Dandy ever had a tail???  How strange is that?   Dandy was very happy to put her jacket on before heading back to the chilly barn.

A Gift
I just wanted to thank Patti for the lovely markers that she made for me.  Don't they look great against the pretty card that she also sent?

I just found out that Patti is soon to become a new angora rabbit owner.  I will look for bunny pics soon!

Thanks so much for such lovely markers!

Felting to Harlotville....Jan. 10, 2005

Yesterday was another snowy day in the Mount Washington Valley, so I made a pot of coffee, pulled out the plastic tarp and sander and set about some felting.  I have made a few wet felted handbags, but this time I wanted to give mittens a try, so I pulled out the big bag of Angora/Merino blended rovings and got started  This is how my afternoon went:

First you lay the wool in different directions over a cardboard pattern cuttout (sorry no picture for that step), then you place a screen over the wool and squirt some soapy water over the wool.  Gently work the water into the wool (I use a small felting tool).  Flip the mitten over and repeat on the other side.  Once it is wet (and I did both mittens at the same time), gently lift the screen off and gently rub the wool until it stops sliding about.

Next comes the fun step.  I took a piece of plastic and laid it over the mitten and revved up the sander.  Now.....I have done this in the past without the plastic and ruined my sander, so you take your chances if you don't use the plastic.  Make sure you have a grounded outlet and rubber shoes on too...hehe.  It takes longer to felt over the plastic however, but still faster than if you weren't using the sander.  Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

After you have added any design effect to the mitten and the fibers seem to stick together when you pull them up, it is time to take out the resist (cardboard), so you cut acrost the bottom of the pattern and GENTLY pull the cardboard out as the wool is still very fragile at this point.

After you take the resist out, start kneading the mitten like a lump of dough. You can use an old washboard or in my case, I use the broilerpan..LOL for added friction.  At this point, you can throw it into the microwave for 1 min. intervals to spead up the felting too.

3 1/2 hours later, viola.......we have soft, light yet warm, angora mittens. 

Now these mittens are not the exquisite latvian mittens that Steph is knitting, but they are lovely in their own way. 

What Stephanie has done for MSF has really touched my heart.  Following my fellow bloggers, Jean and Sandy, these little mitties will make a trip to Harlotville for Stephanie's give away.  Harlotville is a very good place!!

These were such fun mittens to make and it is another yucky day here today, so I'm thinking a black angora pair would be fun....hhmmmmmmm

RAOK

Over the last few weeks, we have truly witnessed wonderful random acts of kindess.  You may remember my post a few months ago when I left the RAOK ring.  I was struggling with just picking a name out of a list of people and sending them a gift.  I struggled because it had no meaning to me.  Not because i don't like giving gifts (which I do)...but because I felt no connection to it.

Watching the outpouring of kindess from knitters, children and people in general over the last few weeks has really touched my heart.  This outpouring was because we all were touched in our hearts for the tragedy of our fellow man.......in our giving we have felt connected.....that perhaps we have helped in some little way. 

Today as I was blog surfing Kerstin's site with my morning coffee, I followed this link .   It made my day and it's way to my list of favorites.  I have never read much about Zen or Tao, but learning more about this way of life is on my list of "to do's" for the New Year.  It speaks to my inate love of balance in life.  I have always said that I only strive for balance and here it is in black and white on this blog.  A very interesting site indeed!

St. Distaff Day........Jan.7, 2005

The Trip
What a glorious day it was today, in the Mount Washington Valley.  The day was mild, the sun was shining and I was on my way to pick up my new to me spinning wheel.  The woman who I was purchasing the wheel from and I were meeting at one of my favorite knitting spots, The Elegant Ewe, in Concord, NH.  Little did I realize that the woman who was selling me her wheel, was Lori Gayle, of Interweave Knits.  What a treat to meet someone who is involved with one of my favorite fiber organizations.  Lori is a technical editor for Knits.  She is the person who writes those charts and instructions so that we all can understand them..LIL.  Lori is a lovely lady, who obviously enjoys her work!.  We visited for a little while and then she headed back south, while I stayed and drooled over the yarns at TEE, but I was a good girl......I left only with the flared smoke ring pattern, that Cassie speaks so much of.  Not an easy feat to leave that store yarn less. 

Next on my trek home was a trip to Patternworks.  A girl CAN'T just drive by with out visiting the ladies now, can she??  There was my downfall......but it was just a tiny downfall, and you all will completely understand.  There was a BIG basket FULL of Koigu and it was all marked down to 6.99.  Now, I could have come home with the entire  basket, but I restrained myself to only 2 skeins.  The picture doesn't justify the yarn.  It is yummy shades of brown, cream and touches of spring green.  I thanked the ladies and was soon on my way home.

The Wheel
 Anyone reading this who really knows me is going to laugh when they see what wheel I brought home.  Resting in this lovely bag, from the bag lady, is a maple folding lendrum.  Why will they laugh you ask?  Well, this would be the THIRD time I have bought this wheel!! " Insane "you whisper.....she must be insane... 

Nope, every time I get the guilts for having too many wheels, I talk myself into selling the folding lendrum because the other wheels that I have are irreplaceable. However, I can't tell you how much I kick myself when I do sell it. It is the one wheel that I can spin on in any chair without my back aching which makes it a nice wheel for bringing to spin ins.  Soooooo, this time I thought,  hmmm.......I have a basket full of lovely drop spindles that I NEVER use.  I am a sucker for exotic woods and those spindles ARE lovely, however, I thought to myself......if I miss the lendrum and never use the spindles, then I will sell the spindles and get the wheel. (sounds good, doesn't it?) So my Hatchtown and Priscilla Gibson Roberts spindles and my Forrester spindle bowls went up on eBay and now I feel better about having this wheel.  (I did keep 3 of my favorite spindles......I'm not completely there in letting go of unnecessary things....yet, but I'm trying.)

So how perfect was it when I got home and found an email from Lori telling me that today is St. Distaff Day.  We celebrate it here in the states on Jan. 12th, but technically, it is the first free day after the twelfth of Christmas, which is today!! 
It must be kismet that this little wheel came home with me today....and this time, it is going to stay!!

The dogs........Libby
 When people think about Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, they picture the red and white version, which is called, Blenheim.  Many people do not realize that there are 4 colors in this breed.  My favorite is probably the least noticed, the Black and Tan's.  Here at our house, we only have one b/t girl and her name is Libby (Fairfield Black Satin at Ballymena).  Libby is just about the dearest dog.  She never demands a thing, but gives such sweet, gentle love.  A true comforter, which is what the "Toy Spaniel" is meant to be.

Libby however has had problems this year with reoccurring ear infections. I brought her to the vets yet again yesterday and we are now thinking that it may be an allergy.  Of course, trying to figure out what the allergy is, will be challenging, but we came home with some meds that should give her some relief.  Once home, Bliss the resident tricolor, decided that she was going to take care of Libby in her own way.......  

You just have to love these guys!

A Pair? Jan. 4, 2005

So, what d'ya think?  Is it a pair...does this count?? 
One of the hardest things for me when knitting socks is keeping enough interest to knit it's mate.  I have tried using the circs to knit both pair at the same time....but I just get so bloody dizzy with it all.  The grey sock is the beaded sock from the six sock KAL and the burgandy one, also from the KAL, is the fluted bannister sock. 

I really love the way that the bannister sock fits.  I am less thrilled with the beaded sock's fit.  The koigu is great to work with, but I guess I prefer the stitch gauge of the size 1 needle that I used on the bannister sock.  The beaded sock was done as the pattern suggested on a size 2. 

Both of these socks introduced a new technique for me.  The bannister sock had an EOP heel, which is a bit different than what I usually do........not sure that I like it yet.  The beaded sock, has a star toe, which eliminates doing the kitchner stitch.  I didn't think that I would like that at all.......but surprise.......I really like the way it fits, and it eliminates that darn stitching.  Yay!  Now the challenge will be to see if I can get the mates finished. 

The New Year

One of the things I have noticed as I have surfed around the blogs this week, is the desire to be a bit more organized or focused in knitting.  All those yarn diets and finishing projects.  Cassie had a great post that kind of encompassed exaclty how I have been  feeling and she did with great humor..LOL.
Been there searchin' thru those baskets right there with ya.... Happens to this ADD adult ALL the time!

One of the things that I always seem to feel when I am surfing is the need to keep up with y'all.  I had more projects started this year than I have EVER had... which again, is a real easy thing for an ADD adult to succumb to.   On the other hand, I think that blogging in a strange, weird way, has helped me stay more focused on my knitting.   I have managed to get more knitting finished in one year than I probably ever have before.  I'm not sure however, that I have completely enjoyed it. ......kind of a knitting frenzy.

Oh dear .......will I get ALL of these presents knitted in time for Christmas?.
"Oh darn,  ...... my socks for the KAL are lanquishing.   
"Oh no", another KAL, that looks so neat....
"Hmmm"  .....  that knit one read one seems great too.
" Lovely fair isle"...... I should probably give that a try.
Those lativian mittens ..... maybe some of those would be nice?   Ok,ok....those are for a GREAT cause,...maybe I will be lucky enough to win them in the drawing and not have to knit them.
Eeeekkkk!!!!!!!!!   Overload!!

For this year, I am going to slow it down a bit.  What I ended up with for Christmas was a damn lovely case of ......tendonitis.  So for now,I am going to TRY to limit myself.  One on the go project and one big project and finish those before moving onto the next.   I have also neglected the spinning wheels over the last few months, so giving my tired wrist a break, I will do a little more spinning and play a bit more with felting....which brings me onto my next topic.

New Year's Eve revisited

Remember that pink nuno scarf that I did at the felting party up yonder in wilds of Maine?  Well, if you know me, I am just not a pink kind of girl.  Kind of clashes with the red hair..LOL.  That wool, looked more earthy brown orange in the ball of roving, but WOW on the scarf it was PINK!

Being home alone with all that time on my hand and a closet full of dyes, I brewed up a pot, held my breath and tossed "Ole Pinkie" in.

Wild thoughts started running thru my head.  "Looking mighty murky in there isn't it?"....."Was this a mistake?"  "Oh well.......I DID learn alot in the class......I can always make another."  "At least no one will be here to watch me have to toss it in the recycling bin"

Imagine my surprise!!  It came out great........at least "I" was happy with it..LOL.  Green is much better color for a plump redhead than PINK.....don't you think?