Sunday, September 17

The picnic was cancelled due to the horrible weather. Bummer. We're all very disappointed. We were about 2.5 hours into our drive on Friday afternoon when we got the call. We pulled over to the side of the road, I called ahead to cancel our two hotel reservations, then we decided to go to Saskatoon and stay overnight there. We got a nice suite and stayed in, listened to the rain and howling wind, and ordered Chinese food delivered.

Sabby continues to be a good little traveler. We did have to cover her up in the car - it was so cold and damp that even with the heater going so that we were comfortable, her little ears were like ice cubes. I remember seeing a fleece sweater on Chilly Dogs, so once we got home yesterday I ordered her a Chilly Sweater in red, of course. I'm so very impressed with their products. We got Sabby the winter coat and head muff, the rain slicker and now the sweater. They fit her perfectly, cover her hips/rump, they stay in place when we're out walking or she's running around, easy on and off, and so very well made! I didn't balk at the prices because I know I couldn't get the fabrics and sew the damn things - my time and patience is worth more to me than what I've paid for the jackets. Anyway, I've had to wrap the little princess in some fleece throws around the house here because our hovel is really draughty and cold in the winter and on cold, freezing rainy autumn days. So the little sweater will be good for her to wear at night and also in the car.

We visited a new-to-me yarn store yesterday before we left Saskatoon - the Prairie Lily yarn shop. They had a fanastic selection of all sorts of great yarns and wools. I was looking in particular for some Patons Decor to make this afghan with. My Yarn Forward order has been delayed and I can't wait any longer for it. The original colour I was interested in turned out to be quite bland and boring "in the flesh", so I chose one at the opposite end of the spectrum - an autumn variegation with rich, deep greens, rusts, burgundy, etc. I will post a pic once I get the pattern going a bit. I've decided to crochet this ripple afghan. I don't do a lot of crochet - not that I dislike it, just the stuff I enjoy making comes out better being knit. But I like crochet for afghans, too. I'm a little rusty, so I had a couple of false starts last night, but this latest attempt looks like it will be the one. Anyway, here's some other yarn I picked up there:

The colour of the green Astra is actually quite a limey/neony green, but when I tried to tweak the colours to reflect that, it messed with the other yarns' colours. They are all very close to their true colours in the unretouched photo here. I've got a cute idea for a hat with the Astra, I'll have to mess around with that over the next while. The Opal sock yarn - well, I couldn't go to a yarn store and NOT buy sock yarn, could I?! And the kettle dyed merino wool is another Uruguayan brand similar to Malabrigo; this is Rio de la Plata brand, and the colour is M63, yellow corn-fuchsia-red orange. I love the dye job!

As usual, it being Sunday, this is laundry day. I have a really hectic few weeks coming up - I'm at a week-long conference then after that I have two weeks of holidays, but I won't be returning home between the conference and when I start holidays, so I need to get my shit together, write some good lists and make sure the big fella follows them for packing for our vacay. Hmm, on second thought, scratch that. I'll have to pack my own holiday gear and hope he can do the same!

posted by Terri at 9/17/2006 12:19:00 PM (2) comments

Thursday, September 14

 

nobody move or the bear loses its head!

This morning after our 6 a.m. walk in the rain. Sabby was merciless - poor bear!!

Tomorrow we head off to the greyhound picnic. Although the weather calls for rain, we'll take our raincoats (Sabby's too!) and enjoy.

I have unravelled Starsky and will rethink that project and see what other yarn I have that might work. I am content to work on my socks and play around with a couple of cute small-project ideas for now. The next couple of weeks are going to be crazy (like the entire summer hasn't been?!) and it's probably a good thing that I don't have something complex to work on.

Oh, and don't forget - Survivor: Cook Islands starts tonight!

posted by Terri at 9/14/2006 07:06:00 PM (0) comments

Tuesday, September 12

 

#4 and #5

Got some new ink last night. It made for a looong day (didn't get to bed until 01:30 hrs) and that alarm going off at 6 this a.m. was a killer.

The design is a Celtic greyhound - the artwork I saw was in colour, but I thought the blackwork would look a little sharper and last longer. (Notice Sabby's nose in the corner as she inspects.)

I haven't had a chance for the past two days to do any knitting. I'm convinced that I'll rip Starsky out. I don't know what it is about knitting cable designs with chunky wool. I just don't like how it turns out. I'm getting gauge, but I still am not pleased. For now I'll work on some socks. But right now, I'm contemplating curling up in bed with my dog and a book and getting to sleep early!

posted by Terri at 9/12/2006 07:52:00 PM (5) comments

Sunday, September 10

 

well, that was a week!

Before it all went to hell.

Poor Sabrina has had a hard week - upset tummy, digestive distress (in a hugely gross way) an unscheduled trip to the vet, some medication, diet change, etc. She seems to be doing better now. Her convalescence:

Yesterday she felt more like herself, so:

I am sooo intimidated by her "I know you stuck the squeaky carrot in my collar - you will pay for this" expression. Heh. And that's three hedgehogs lined up between her paws, and one squeaky ball.

Knitting:

I have finished one banana leaf pattern repeat on the back of Starsky. But I think there's something hinkey with the cables. I set it aside and will give it another look later. It just seems like the three don't look identical, so quite likely I messed up one of the crossed stitch sequences in my "sick dog hysteria" mental state. I did a few rounds on my socks, but there's not much progress to show. [shrug]

Im waiting for some yarn from Yarn Forward to make an afghan for a friend. I'm quite excited to get started on it. I think I might crochet it instead of knit. We'll see once the yarn gets here and I can mess around with some swatches.

posted by Terri at 9/10/2006 01:40:00 PM (2) comments

Sunday, September 3

 

negative progress

I am going to rip out the two or so inches of ribbing that I've started on Starsky. I didn't get a chance to read some blog entries about Starsky and the KAL group until today. If you look closely at the back of the Starsky sweater you can see that the ribbing doesn't lead nicely into the banana leaf cable work. And I can't live with that! Now that I've noticed it, it would bother me forever, so before I get any further along, rip, rip, rip! I'll be happier in the long run.

I did, however, last night finish the ribbed scarf. I've been calling it the "tommy" scarf because the colours remind me of Tommy Hilfiger stuff.

I used Regia 6-ply Crazy Color sock yarn in color 5259. I cast on 30 stitches and worked a 2 x 2 rib. The finished scarf is about 6.5 feet long and 3" wide relaxed, and about 6" wide stretched.

We have all endeavoured to make this a really lazy, relaxing weekend. It's been tough - I've had bouts of guilt for not doing any housework, but we both all need to unwind after our super-busy summer. This is the last big "hurrah" for tourist season up here, so the town is absolutely crawling with people. Everywhere! So we're quite content to stay home and shut the world away.

The big fella's excuse for not getting up and doing the dishes - he is trapped!

(close up detail to show extreme lip floopage on the hound)

Sabrina demonstrates her "are you going to beat me with a stick now?" expression. She has settled in so incredibly well to her new home, but from time to time she has tiny little bouts of submissiveness and needs reassurance and encouragement that everything is just groovy and she's the best dog in the world.

She was quite confident when she woke us up at 6 a.m. (on a long weekend Sunday) to go out for our walk. We tried to dissuade her, coax her back to bed, but she wasn't having it. We got up, went out for a nice 50 minute walk, then the two of us got showered up and went out for an early breakfast at 7:30 when the hotel restaurant opened.

Anyway. I am going to do a little further Starsky research, then apply myself to some knitting. A friend is coming over tonight and we're going to have a Jesse Stone movie festival. Jesse Stone is a Robert B. Parker character and there are three movies that have been made. A fourth will begin filming in Halifax in October, I believe. The little twist in the series of movies is that the first movie Stone Cold was actually the second book in the series. So the second movie Night Passage is actually the first book (so a prequel to the first movie). Got it? The third movie, Death in Paradise is in fact the third book. Cool. The next book/movie is Sea Change and I, for one, can't wait! Here's another link to Parker info. I love his work. Interestingly enough, he finished writing "Poodle Springs", which was an unfinished Raymond Chandler novel. Of course it was made into a movie starring James Caan.

Looking forward to it. I baked chocolate cupcakes and frosted them using my cake decorating bag - oooh, pretty! We'll have a great time!

posted by Terri at 9/03/2006 12:02:00 PM (3) comments