Sunday, July 16

We, and all the members of the RCMP family are very saddened and upset by this. There's a lengthier story here.

I haven't posted in over a week - this will be a long one! I finished the baby blanket yesterday and am happy with how it turned out. I used Patons Astra in colour #2721, baby variegated. The pattern I used was this one. I still used the 225 stitch cast on and with the sport/dk weight yarn got a blanket about 45" wide.

And here's a close-up of the stitch pattern:

I started a pair of socks for the big fella last night using this yarn in colour #1003. I only just cast on and did a few rounds of ribbing; no real progress to show yet.

A few orders of yarn have made their way to my post office box in the past couple of weeks. Now I have the fun task of deciding which project to embark upon next. I have to do some business traveling next week, so the socks will be good and portable for that, but I want to start another project - sweater, etc.

This is Highland Wool in colour 306 coffee bean brown which mysteriously isn't on their colour palette right now. It is to be used for the Knitting Pure & Simple's #263 wrap cardi. I also have the pattern #224, weekend pullover and I think some suitable yarn in the stash. Although I'm not interesting in knitting a bulky weight sweater at this time.

The other yarn is Lang Musica Color in colour 0034 (?) or 336 which is twilight blue something, which also is not on the current colour card. I bought it with an idea of making the Evening Star top in the latest Interweave Knits. I don't know yet if this is a workable substitute for the yarn called for. I'll have to swatch a bit and see. I like the colourway, though. I'm not a big fan of knitting with cotton, but this might be okay.

There's also the Marble yarn in denims and berries, to make a shrug/cardigan with this pattern. I'm pretty sure "denims" is the same colourway as Brenda's and I hope it looks as fabOO as hers! I'm leaning towards starting this project because I love the colourways of the yarn.

I also have yarn on hand for Starsky in Elann's Peruvian Collection Highland Chunky in redwood which has been mellowing in the stash for a few months.

I'm sure there's a couple other projects I have in the back of my mind, but at the moment I can't think of them. We are enjoying a quiet weekend. The big fella had to work yesterday, but we had the treat of lunching out with a friend (hi Bonnie!) that we hadn't seen in a couple of years, so quite enjoyed that. Friday after work I "played" tennis with a friend. The tennis courts are directly across the street from us, so I'm sure we entertained the big fella and Sabby. I use the word "played" very loosely. We go out there with a basket of balls and whack the ball back and forth, pulling muscles, swearing, hacking at it with our raquets, sweating! We accost passers-by to throw back over the fence the balls that soared out of the court with amazing speed and altitude. It was a blast! I do have a few achey muscles yesterday and today. Then after that we took Sabrina for a walk and ran into her "boyfriend". Someone in the community has a gorgeous Afghan Hound, so we let the two of them play together in his yard, then we took them out for a long walk. They caused quite a stir, they're both so striking in their unique ways. Sabrina so enjoyed being with "her people" as Afghans are also sighthounds and the physical similaries are many - under that mop of fur, his bone structure is very much the same.

Random goofy Sabrina pics:

Sabrina spends as much time sleeping in her crate as she does on the couch and on our bed. This is the largest crate size available and since we've taken the crate door off, she can really stretch out and relax.

Greyhounds do quite often sleep with their eyes open - sometimes they're at half-mast and you can see the pupils, but other times they're rolled back in their skulls and you get the delightful white of the eye. Freaky!

I'm off to do that final load of laundry, sit and knit a bit, then get ready for supper. We're going to have a friend (or two?) over for steaks - yum!

posted by Terri at 7/16/2006 04:15:00 PM (0) comments

Friday, July 7

 

another hectic week

It was a challenging and interesting work week. Even though we had Monday as a holiday, the week still seemed quite long and arduous. But it ended great - and now it's the weekend! We had a thunderstorm during the afternoon and had some rain and that cooled the temps down. I think by Sunday it will be hot again, but for now we have the windows open and the fresh air coming through. It's raining right now.

I had the fabulous luck to get to go for a helicopter ride after work. It has been some (20?) years since I've been in a chopper. Very cool.

We flew over town a couple of times - that's my house by the white arrows!

Kingsmere Cabin, which I have seen in all seasons - but never from the air!

Hee!! I rode shotgun!

Cool dials - dunno what they mean, but they kept us up in the air. :-)

One of the beautiful creeks that flow in/out of our lakes. So green and vibrant!

I have done some knitting and am still working on the baby afghan. I really hope to make more progress this weekend. Sabby was sick a couple of days - off her food, eating grass (then puking it up on my living room carpet), upset stomach, etc. I think it is partially the heat. Even with the air conditioner (which we bought mainly for her comfort - but we're enjoying it, too) the house can be quite warm when it's unendingly 30°C plus day after day. We have had a lot of forest fire smoke - incredibly thick and hazy even though the fires are 200 km away. So buggy, muggy and smokey. Blech.

Anyway, I cooked her some rice and mixed it with pumpkin last night and this morning; and tonight she got some ground beef and kibble and she's gobbled that up. Her personality and demeanor has been the same happy little dog, so we didn't think it was anything too serious. The big fella had today off, so she enjoyed having him around the house while I was at work. So TGIF!

posted by Terri at 7/07/2006 08:39:00 PM (0) comments

Sunday, July 2

 

belated Happy Canada Day!

As every July 1, the big fella marched in the Canada Day parade. I had absolutely no intention of going - I had a long list of housework to do. He pouted until I agreed I would come and bring Sabrina, too. The parade was okay - but the real star was Sabrina. She did so very well with all the throngs of people crowding her, the little foo foo dogs, kids, loud noises, etc. Well done!

After her public appearance, she was plumb tuckered out:

I had an order of yarn Friday from Mary Maxim:

The Marble yarn is to make this cardi. I like the pattern and the colours are very nice. I also got one ball of Sirdar Yoyo in a turquoise shade. It's one big 400 g ball of monochromatic/gradient colour. There's instructions on how to knit the front from the outside of the ball and the back from the inside of the ball to sort of match. I don't know what pattern I'll use - it came with a free pattern from Mary Maxim, but the label also has a pattern on it.

I have been working diligently on the baby afghan - it's coming along, but slowly. I am pleased with how it's working up, but eager to finish it so I can start something new. I will work on it some more this afternoon as I do laundry. I have three balls of yarn left, so I'll keep going until I run out!

posted by Terri at 7/02/2006 01:38:00 PM (0) comments