Winter has arrived...

and we have been getting snow almost every day for the past week. The new header photo is our deck railing this morning. I love when everything looks like it's been iced like a cake. The snow makes the world a much prettier place.

I really do need to get a new pair of boots. I hold my breath every time I lace mine up as the laces are barely hanging on. Doesn't it sound like an excuse to do some shopping today? I have to go out for a haircut this afternoon and maybe I'll leave a little early ;)

Pretty quiet around here the past week. A lot of time has been spent relaxing and doing nothing constructive. That'll change today, I hope, I finally figured out the next step in the knitted mitts instructions so there should be some progress with the knitting today. In the meantime I've been crocheting which, for me, doesn't take a lot of brain power.

Here is the progress I've made on the Calm Cowl for the CAL on Ravelry...

and then my progress on the fingerless gloves that I started last week...

it's fixin to get way more complicated.

I've also been keeping up with our new grand-dog's progress. He's so adorable, meet Bear, our daughter's new Havanese mix.

There really are a couple of shiny black eyes in there somewhere.

LittleDog is, as usual, having a little snooze. I hear snoring sounds behind me as I type.

He leads a dog's life for sure.

Have a great weekend! Thank you for stopping in. It's always encouraging to read your comments. If you'd like to check out more fibery peeps hop on over to Wisdom Begins in Wonder where Andrea hosts Fiber Arts Friday.

Distracted by Downton

Whoo, I feel like I've been involved in a emotional immersion program...oh, wait, I have...I started with Season 1, Episode 1 last Saturday and  last night I watched Season 3, Episode 2. That's a lot of Downton, let me tell you.

I have managed to get some crochet done while watching...

this is Maxi's Cowl, named for my dear departed pet. It's big and bulky and I really like it.

For some reason my photo skills have gone missing lately.

I've gotten a start on the Calm Cowl I'm doing for a CAL. What have you been up to this past week?

Thank you for coming. Be sure to check out Wisdom Begins In Wonder to see other fibery peeps and what they've been up to.

Life's a little different today

Hello! Welcome to my Fiber Arts Friday post. If you enjoy seeing what fibery peeps are up to you can also check out the blog circus at Wisdom Begins In Wonder after you've finished here. Thank you for coming. I hope you find something interesting/educational/fun.

After the worst day ever this week I'm ready for something fun. What's more fun than going crazy with some crochet and some crappy old yarn you've had in your stash for 5 or 6 years?

Above is the best representation of the actual color. This is the Spike Stitch Cowl. The yarn is Tahki "Twiggy Tweed". It's a blue/grey single with purple neps in it...and a lot of VM! I don't know what they were thinking when they sold this yarn but I cannot believe it was marketed commercially as it is. I've been picking pieces of dried grass and sticks out of it every few feet. This must be why it was so cheap on eBay, LOL
The label says "Made in France" and "we recommend dry cleaning", HA! Dry clean wool...a travesty if you ask me. This baby will be soaking in some Eucalan as soon as it's finished. Hopefully that will soften it up a bit. After so many years being stored away I'm sure it could use a little rejuvenation.

I tried to get a close shot of the stitches but it's difficult to see. It's single crochet and triple crochet alternating. I'm carrying the yarn double since it's quite fine. Super easy and fast but a bit hard on my hands.

If I hadn't run out of wound yarn I would probably be finished. I'll need to wind up the other two skeins so I can finish it this weekend.

After that I'm on to the Calm Cowl Crochet-along. Haven't done a crochet along before so I'm hoping it'll be fun. It's a nice looking pattern and I'm excited to get started on it. You're welcome to join in if you'd like.

Have a great weekend. Thank you for the kind words on my Wednesday post.

We'll be here, adjusting to a different life without Max.

Farewell Max

As you drifted off to sleep so peacefully I thought of the day we brought you  home...

and how fast you grew...

and how talented you were.

You set such a good example for your little brother Sam...even though he wouldn't listen...

and you were a great model too.

It was a good twelve and a half years. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Now you can chase those damn squirrels and never get tired.

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Hello! Thank you for checking out the blog, I hope you find something interesting while you're here. If you'd like to see what other creative peeps are up to, check out the blog circus over at Wisdom Begins In Wonder.

I got to see my granddaughter play basketball last week...

that's her at the free-throw line. She's the tallest on the JV team and she's only 14!

I missed posting last week in the flurry of activity that led up to Christmas. Work was crazy busy and I was frantically knitting a couple of gifts. I managed to get two hats done for my son and DIL...

and finished the yoga socks I was knitting. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of the finished socks. I'll have to have Tammy take one when she wears them.

There was yummy food on Christmas Eve, chicken enchilada casserole and ribs...

we had to set up the long table (actually two tables)

even Little Winnie came and celebrated with us (he got some ribs too).

Hope you all had a nice holiday weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing what all of you have created lately. Have a great weekend and a Happy New Year! I gotta get back to my new toy...

Only a few more sleeps...

until the holiday festivities are in full swing.  (all pics can be biggie-sized by clicking on them)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday! Be sure to visit Wisdom Begins in Wonder to see what other creative folks are up to this week.

I've been a busy bee; Knitting...

I really enjoyed knitting this hat. You do a provisional crochet cast-on, then knit 25 rows of stockinette in the background color.  Purl 1 row for the fold then knit 25 rows of the two-color chart. Pick up the stitches of the provisional cast-on and a 3 needle operation that knits the liner to the outer part then continue with the rest of the hat. The double thickness keeps ears nice and toasty. I've used this technique to make a picot edge on several pair of socks and it works great. Gotta tell you, it's a lot easier knitting this way on size 8 than it is on size 1 needles.


I took a few pics while I was doing it...

You put your right needle through both front and back needles in left hand then pull the loop through both stitches so they're connected, like a 3 needle bind-off without the binding off part. It's like magic!                                                          
This also covers the larger floats in the skull area of the colorwork. Hopefully, you'll find a use for this technique some day, if you haven't already. LittleDog wasn't very happy because he couldn't sit on me while I was doing it. He did get a few opportunities this week to get a good rub from The Saint though...

Sewing...and you know he had to do his Captain Morgan pose in his new jammies...

and shopping the internets.




Most gifty things are taken care of. There is a pair of sock-type-things being knit...

and I need to come up with a son-in-law gift...I haven't had a genius idea about that yet. It's going to be hard to beat the Swamp People t-shirt I got him last year.

Thank you for stopping in. Have a great weekend!

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Hello! Thank you for stopping here and checking out what's been going on. This post is part of Fiber Arts Friday, a blog circus hosted by Wisdom Begins In Wonder. If you'd like to see more fibery stuff created by other talented folks go check it out by clicking through the link.

It's been pretty busy around here this week. I've gotten over my Serenity-Blanket-is-finished let-down and gotten started on a new hat for someone special for Christmas. I enjoy colorwork.

Pattern: Skull Hat
Yarn: Cascade 220
Needle: US 7 & US 8
Provisional cast on

Since I had a day off on Wednesday I had time to get a couple pair of Pajammy pants mostly done for The Saint. He likes fun fabrics...

I'm wishing we would get some real winter weather. I have so much knitwear that I could employ if it would get and stay cold outside. It's a bit much when the temperature is 60F though.

Winston has enjoyed his no-holds-barred diet the past week. The vet said to give him anything he'll eat so he's been livin large in the food department. Val posted a link to a Daily Puglet post that I thought said it best. (get your hankies handy) It'd been awhile since I read it before and it was good a good reminder. Thank you all for your kind words and thoughts. We appreciate them so much.

I finished a little pink scarf for this cutie last week...

Isn't Evelyn adorable? She's the daughter of my co-worker Angie. Thanks to her for taking this pic.

I hope you all have a great weekend and that you get to spend some time enjoying some fiber activities. Now I've got a few more seams to sew...