Not sure what the temps were yesterday morning when I woke up but I checked the weather around 9am and it was showing a balmy -37F outside. Brrrrr-Freakin-rrrrrrr. And of course in true Luvs2knit nature, I had to go out in the cold to go to a doctors appointment. Another RA checkup so I really couldn't cancel it since we're trying to get meds adjusted. Meds went up again but at least this time I have 60 days before I go back. I've been going in every 30 days. Unfortunately I still need to visit the lab vampires. I think I'll wait till later this week though since it's suppose to warm back up to more normal temps.
I have been doing a little knitting besides the stuff I can't show you.
The pattern is Saint Brigid's Stockings (ravelry). The yarn is Dream in Color Classy. I was a bit worried that I wasn't going to have enough yarn but I still had plenty to spare when I finished.
I started a pair of toe up socks for Bree.
I'm using some of the leftover yarn from my Rainbows & Clouds socks. I'm not very far into the socks but they never take very long to knit since her feet are so small. Basic toe up sock with a short row heel....nothing fancy.
Finally I'm making good progress on my toe up Opal socks.
I'm about an inch from starting the heel. These are my take along knitting project. Not thought involved, no pattern to bring with me, just a basic stockinette sock that I've knit so many time the pattern is permanent etched in my mind.
I'll end this post with a couple of pics of Penelope.
The first one is of her "helping me" take pictures. She was curious about what I was doing and shoved her nose right up infront of the camera. The second one is of her laying on the floor all pretty trying to get some of the pineapple that I was eating. Our dogs love pineapple and will beg for it every chance they get.
The sun keeps disappearing and we haven't seen it much here lately. I think it ran off to some place else like the Bahama's and I'm still contemplating going out in search of it. It's most likely where my motivation and lost cable needles are. It would be a lovely reunion for all of us. If only the plane tickets weren't so high.
Sadly the knitting I'm working on is secret like type knitting which can make for boring blog posts. Between test knits and the knitting going on for my swap pal there isn't much to report on.
Shall I distract you with a shot of the shawl pin I got for my mom.
I haven't gotten a chance to work on the shawl lately but I couldn't resist picking this pin up when I came across it at The Loopy Ewe. I was buying some things for my swap pals box and need some small things to bump my order up to get free shipping not to mention the fact that I was really close to getting a $25 credit.
Penny is growing in leaps and bounds and Zeus has warmed up to her. He does growl and snap at her when she plays too rough which I expect because Penny is a lot bigger then Zeus now. Her 20 pounds of muscle can stomp poor 8 pound Zeus into the ground. Penny is starting to catch up on chasing after Zeus too. She's shedding that awkward puppy run and honing that quick Springer Spaniel sprint. Zeus still has the edge because he can corner fast and run without problems on the tile floor but if they had to run longer distances Penny would leave his little butt in the dust.
On a the military side we're getting closer and closer to retirement time. Shawn drops his retirement paperwork in Dec of this year and we'll be in the market for a house next spring/summer. I can't even begin to express how happy I am about this. When your active duty military you drop your retirement paperwork (you intention to retire) when you are one year out.
We've got a few job possibilities in Boise so we're looking at homes in the Boise area. We had originally tossed around the thoughts of moving to Coeur d'Alene but after much pondering we opted to go back to the Boise area. The summers are generally hotter in Boise but the winters are much more milder with less cold and subzero temps that cause severe joint pain for me. We've found some great houses in our price range, to bad we couldn't buy now and move. The girls and I will be moving next summer so we can get the girls settled in school. Shawn will follow us a few months later. Damn, I can't believe we're almost done with the military crap! I can't tell you how happy I am that retirement is so close. The only thing that could derail that is a set of orders out of here. Fingers crossed that orders are not on the horizon unless of course they are to Hawaii! I would sooooo not argue with a set of 3 year orders to Hawaii. I'd gladly go and not miss this damn snow and cold at all.
Hopefully the next post will bring more more knitting.
The subzero temps are back again. It's a balmy -2F outside. It's suppose to warm up to around 20F by Wednesday but with that warm up comes snow. I think I'd rather have the snow then the bone chilling cold though so no complaining from me. At least we have a snow thrower to make clearing the driveway and sidewalks easier.
The only knitting I can show you right now are my YOSS socks.
I'm knitting St Brigid's Stockings (Ravelry). The yarn is Dream in Color Classy leftover from a sweater I made Bree. I was a little worried that one skein wasn't going to be enough but it appears that I'm going to have enough. I'm not far from starting the toe. Worsted weight socks work up quickly.
I just read the blog post on The Looy Ewes blog and this years club isn't going to be all about socks which sounds really great. I'm up for new things and something other then sock yarn would be perfect for me. The only thing I wished is that I would have had a bit more notice so that I could gather enough money up to pay for it in advance. I can still pay for them kit by kit so it's not a huge deal but I would have loved to have gotten a discount for paying for them all at once. The only way I can do it right now would be to put it on a credit card and well that just negates the whole discount by putting it on a credit card that will tack on interest.
I really need to kick it in gear and finish up my test knits and get started on my TLE swap partners knitted item. It's not going to take long but I really need to get started. Plus I need to finish up the scarves for the Special Olympics. Those I can drop off here in town so I won't have to worry about making sure they are shipped out in time.
I did pick up some yarn for the current TLE challenge.
It's going to be all about cables and I'm planning on knitting the Cabled Keyhole Scarf (ravelry) (non ravelry) by Knitspot. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Honor which is 70% baby alpaca and 30% silk. The colorway is Jeans.
Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment. I really love my dentist but I absolutely hate having my teeth worked on. We're working on crowns now which means tomorrow I'll come home with a temporary crown and I hate those. My gums are always so sore from the temp crown.
I'll end this post with a picture of Penelope.
Doesn't she look comfy. Penelope's decided that the girls leather chairs are the best place to sleep so I've had to cover then to keep her claws from damaging the chairs. She went in to the vet the other day for another round of puppy shots and she's now up over 17 pounds. She's growing so fast.
I noticed I only knit about half the amount of projects in 2010 compared to 2009. I think this was due to several different things, the biggest contributing factor was the test knits I worked on throughout the year.
In 2011 I hope to knit more stuff for myself. I have several sweater quantities of yarn to make sweaters for myself and I intend to knit them up this year. I also joined YOSS Year of Stash Socks to help use up some of my sock yarn stash. It's rather plentiful. I'm not going to stop buying sock yarn but I stop and ask myself, "do I really need this?" "can I use something from my stash instead?"
I'm not making resolutions but I do plan to workout more and hope to lose some weight this year. Now that my meds seems to be working for me I can workout more. I know I'll feel better and there will be less pain in my knees if I lose the extra weight. Plus it would make my RA doc much happier to see me drop some weight.
I hope that you all had a safe and wonderful New Year. Here's to 2011, may it be a great year for everyone!
Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to all my blog friends. May you have a wonderful New Year. This will most likely be the last post of 2010 for me. I might try to do a recap of the year on New Years Eve but I make no promises.
It's thawing outside....woohoo! The temps are a warmer and the snow is melting. It looks like we'll still have snow on the ground for Christmas so technically it'll be a white Christmas but no new snow is expected. I can't say that I'm disappointed. Ice jams made a mess of a portion of road here in town that is down near the river. The water overflowed onto the road and froze. It feels weird to say that we are under a flood warning and flash flood watch in the middle of winter.
I've actually been doing a little knitting since my last post. Well the post before the last post since my last one was a distraction with puppy cuteness post.
I finished Bree's Christmas socks.
These are the Lacy Rib Socks (ravelry)(non Ravelry). The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd sock, colorway Iris Garden. It's an easy pattern, perfect for tv knitting but is a bit more interesting then plain stockinette socks. I may make a pair for myself in the future.
Kaity has one of the daybed doll beds from Target and it only comes with the blanket for the bed and nothing for the trundle bed. I used some sugar and cream cotton yarn from my stash. It used less then 200 yards. Yes I know I could have just made my own pattern up but that would have require a bit more effort then I wanted to put into it at the moment. I'm planning on browsing my stitch pattern books and make something a little lacy with some Dream in Color Classy. I have a full skein of purple leftover from Bree's sweater. One can never have to many blankets for your doll bed.
I really love this scarf pattern. It's so simple you don't need a pattern. This is one of the scarves I'm making for the 2011 Special Olympics. The drop off for Montana is here in Great Falls so I can take them in instead of having to mail them this year. The yarn is Red Heart Super Saver color numbers 886 and 512. If you're interested here's the website with all the info. I know some of the states have already hit their deadlines but you can knit for any state.
I've also started a new pair of "on the go" socks for myself.
These always take a little longer since I normally only work on them when I'm not at home. The yarn is Opal Rainforest, Flamingo colorway. I'm using my basic toe up pattern with a short row heel. I haven't decided if I'll do a ribbed cuff or a picot edge.
I'll be soon be starting my knitting project for my TLE swap partner. I really need to finish the last test knit I'm working on. I'm about halfway through so it won't be long. I'm not sure if she reads my blog (have a good number of subscribers but a lot of people don't comment) but I have it linked to my Ravelry account so she can easily visit so I won't post anything to give it away. I can say that I'm pretty sure I've found yarn and a pattern to knit that I think she will love.
Now on to some puppy pictures. I know there are a few of you out there that want some new pictures of Penelope.
I snapped this one the other day.
Zeus crawled into Penelope's crate and fell asleep. Penelope decided she was tired too and crawled in to take a nap with him. He woke up when she crawled in, gave to low, short growls then laid his head down and went back to sleep.
This one was taken a couple of days ago.
Bree decided to crawl into Penelope's crate and play with her. They stayed in there for a good 20 minutes. Penelope actually likes her crate and will crawl in there to sleep when I'm not sitting somewhere where she can lay across my feet.
I'll leave you with this video of Zeus and Penelope playing with one of the stuffed toys.
It warms my heart to see those to finally playing together. Not to say Zeus doesn't still growl at Penelope because she's being a pain in the butt. In the background you'll probably hear a bunch of girly screams. Shawn kept scaring the girls and at one point Bree ran into the room where I was at.
I have absolutely no knitting to show you so I'm going to tempt you to forget about it with the puppy cuteness of Lady Penelope. (there's a video posted below so if you're using a feed reader it may not show up in your reader)
She has such a deep bark for a little puppy. She actually doesn't bark much which from what I gather is a Springer Spaniel trait. Mostly the barking comes about when she wants to play. The more you talk to her the more she barks back. I can't believe how big she's getting. I'm not sure what her weight is but she needs to go in to the vet next week for her next round of shots.
Zeus is still fairly indifferent to Penelope. After she ran off to get a drink Zeus looked up at me as if to say "do we really have to keep her mom?" He still runs around and plays with her upstairs and outside so he's definitely adjusting.
How this could possibly be comfy I don't know but she stayed like that for over 30 minutes before she woke up to play.
Penelope is still my little toe warmer. I've actually had her lay across my feet while trying to do the dishes. After talking with the breeder she said that Penelope's daddy does the same thing. He loves to know where his humans are. Speaking of toe warmers she's laying across my feet right now. I'm sure that's going to be fun when she hits 40 pounds and curls up on my feet.
Oh I do have one knitting related thing to share. I did get in my final shipment from the Unique Sheep's Lord of the Rings sock club. If you want to check it out, CLICK HERE.
I did join up for YOSS (Year of Stash Socks). It's a pressure free KAL and it's a great way to knit down some of that sock yarn stash. There will be patterns to knit each month so I'm looking forward to seeing the pattern list when it's posted.
Hopefully I'll be back soon to post about some knitting I can actually show you. After these test knits are done I need to finish up Bree's socks for Christmas and get started on my Special Olympic scarves. I have until Feb but I'd rather get them done and in the mail before the deadline. I also have to knit something for my TLE Swap partner so I won't be able to post about that.
The weatherman keeps promising warmer temps but unfortunately he has been wrong in the past and I can no longer trust his information. This time he's promising a warm up into the 40's (that's Fahrenheit) for Tues and Wed which means snow melt....woohoo! The snow has been around since a few days before Thanksgiving. I think it's time for it to go away. I guess time will tell if he's telling the truth or not. According to the local paper we got a total of 19.5 inches of snow in the month of Nov.....yikes! Actually it didn't starting snowing until like mid-Nov so that's almost 20 inches of snow in a two week time frame. Wonder what the totals are for the higher elevations. Our elevation is under 4,000 feet.
We had freezing fog the other day and while it made a bigger mess of things it was rather pretty to see all the naked trees covered in a layer of white.
It kind of reminded me of the years when my parents had their christmas trees flocked. I remember one year the flocking was so thick the tree looked like it was hit with a blizzard. We use a fake tree in our house and I do miss the lovely pine smell in the house with a real tree. We decided to use a fake tree because the idiot cat we use to have ate all things green and it was easier to use a fake tree then to clean up cat vomit. We might do the real tree thing when we get our own home.
The tree shortly after we set it up.
It now has a star that lights up on top. I've put the poor angel up for now. She doesn't sit very well on the tree. She was designed to fit over the top of a real tree so she's be retired for now.
I have been doing a bit of knitting. Right now I'm working on test knits but before they came in I finished Kaity's socks and made good progress on Bree's.
Kaity's socks are done! The pattern is Lovely Lace Socks (ravelry)(non ravelry).
The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd sock in the Tickled Pink colorway. I think Kaity is really going to like them. Her feet are still small enough that I can get a pair of socks out of a 50g skein of yarn and still have leftovers to make socks for Bree.
Bree's socks are almost to the heel flap.
The pattern is Lizzie's Lacy Rib Socks. (ravelry)(non ravelry). The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd sock in the Iris Garden colorway. I'll be able to knock these out in another day or so. I just need to finish up the test knits I'm working on.
Zeus is giving me the "Mom why the hell did we have to get a puppy?" look and yes he really needs to go see the groomer.
He's still iffy on the puppy now that she's home. He'll play with her outside and upstairs when we take the girls up to put them in bed but he wants nothing to do with her when we're downstairs.....silly little dog. Oh and her name is Penelope or Penny for short. We still haven't decided on her full AKC registration name but at least she has a name.
I'll finish this post with a puppy picture.
Penelope sacked out under my desk. She's so angelic when she's sleeping. Then of course she wakes up and the terror begins. I can't believe how much she's grown since we brought her home and she hasn't been home with us a full week yet.
