Grading Day

The Oldest One graded today and is officially a Grade Two student on September 5. So today I got the boys a pool. We haven't had one for a couple of years. It's nothing fancy, but it's good enough for us. There are seats in each corner. It's a little lopsided, so one side is deeper than the other, but I wanted it where the grass was already dead from the camper.

One of the perks of being in the local fire department is getting one of these to fill your pool.

This is one of hubby's best friends who I had to suck into doing this since T isn't home yet (tomorrow).

The kids played in it even though it was cooling off after supper. They can play in the water at the beach, though, so I'm convinced they must not have any feeling.

I picked up a bit of yarn today at the store. The Patons Carmen in camel is for a scarf for MIL for Christmas. This stuff is soooooo soft! I made myself a scarf with it, but you have to be careful not to lose/gain stitches. It's kinda quirky to work with. The ball of Austerman Step is for my Sockapalooza Pal's socks. Yes, I'm bad. I said ages ago I wanted to start by the end of the first week of June. I plan on taking this to the campground this weekend and finally start her socks! (So that will be my entry to Heddy's contest. Don't forget to check it out, plus she keeps finding more to link besides her own contest!)

Here's the snail that the Oldest One found at the campground last weekend. He looks different from the others we have, and he's much more outgoing. He crawled all around their container top last night, plus he had a little jaunt on the side of the monitor. He doesn't mind being picked up too much and will crawl on your hand as well. The others mostly hide back in their shells if they're moved.

Well, off to check on the hoodlums. The neighbor's kid came over. They're in the bedroom with the door shut, that usually isn't a good sign. They're probably torturing a cat or blowing the bedroom up.

Happy knitting!

Contests

We went to the beach again today, so I didn't get much knitting done. I took the sock again and got a few rows beyond the gusset decreases done. Getting ready to go watch Coronation Street and do some knitting, but I want to point you to a few contests going on.

First off, I'll just direct you to Heddy's post here where she has links to some contests going on. Then there's this one where she's having her own contest.

That's about it for now. Just wanted to let you all in on the chance to win some yarn! That's always a good thing.

Happy knitting!

PS Our store is closed on Monday since we aren't open Sundays. I also saw a sign at the grocery store today that said they're open Sunday and are closed Monday. I'd say by the looks of it nothing much will be open in town on Monday.

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!

Summer has finally hit here. Too hot! Today when I got off work at 2:30 I headed off to the beach with the boys, figuring it would be cooler there, as it usually is. Not today! The truck read 34C when I left work, and as I got closer to the beach is still said 33C. Took the sock with me, but I only got a few rounds knit.

They rolled around in the water, but it's way too cold for me to stick more than my feet into for a few seconds.

Got some yarn coming from eBay. First up is Schaefer Anne in color 181. This is to make Sweetpea from the new Knitty.

The other one is J Knits Hand Dyed Superwash Sock Me Yarn in Georgia for Dunes of Tinfou socks by Dipsy Doodle. It's been awhile since I bought yarn, so I figured it was time for some new sock yarn!

Hubby actually washed and polished the truck (doesn't happen very often). He got some new stickers for on her, just his name and location and unit number.

Of course, the Noofs had to be hams.

I'll leave you with the Littlest Cowboy in the Land with the Biggest Feet.

Happy knitting!

PS -- We've got some new yarn at the store. We now have Patons Beehive Baby Sport, really quite nice, and also got some Kroy Stripes and Jacquard sock yarns.

Camping

We did get camping Friday. It was a crazy day. Started off sunny, then the black clouds rolled in, and there was major thunder and lightning, and it rained like a monsoon, complete with hail. Then it cleared off. Then it started again, not as heavy rain as earlier and no hail. By the time we got to the campground it wasn't really raining, but it still had lots of thunder and lightning.

When we first got to the camper I moved their wooden toy box that was on the deck. There was a salamander under it, so of course, the Oldest One nabbed it and put it in an ice cream container. I told him he couldn't keep it and would have to let it go in the morning. After the boys were asleep I checked on it, and it was curled up in some leaves for the night. I almost let it go, but I figured there'd be hell to pay in the morning if I did, so I didn't. Of course, in the morning I hear, "Did you let the salamander go last night? It's not in the container." Never did find it. I figure he went down inside one of the furnace grates. We did run the furnace a bit in the night try to keep the moisture off the windows, so the poor thing probably got fried. On the up side, the Oldest One also found a new snail, quite different looking from the other six (who also had to go camping). I'll have to get a picture of this one. He's a bit bigger, has a kinda pointy shell, and he's white. He's more outgoing than the others and doesn't hide in his shell if he gets picked up.

I didn't get much knitting done. I didn't figure I would, I usually don't. I did get to the start of the heel on Dad's sock. Last night I managed to complete the heel and turn it, pick up the gusset stitches, that's about it. I still have my cold, and the right side of my face hurts, especially my teeth. I haven't been getting much sleep cuz it hurts that bad. I've been taking regular pain stuff, and that eases it very little. I've popped three of hubby's pills he takes for a gout flare up today, and it's almost gone. (I can take these -- I've already had the go-ahead from my doctor. I'm not like my grandfather was and go around taking whoever's pills I can get ahold of! He was terrible.) Today I worked on this for a bit:

This is a sweater I started for the store back in the fall. It's made with Briggs & Little Regal in natural, adult medium. I have the front done already. The back is probably halfway finished. I'd like to try and get it done for next weekend (July 8th weekend) as it's Privateer Days in town and the school reunion. We'll see. The weather is getting hot, and I can't work with any big wool things if it's too hot. While I knit in the shade the Littlest One had fun in the sprinkler while waiting for the Oldest One to get home from his last official day of grade one. He goes back Friday morning for a little over an hour to get his report card.

Well, I have a sink full of dishes waiting for me.

Happy knitting!

Eleven of Fifty-Two

Finally finished, Step FIL socks for Father's Day. The first one was finished for last year's Father's Day, but I couldn't bring myself to finish the second one. Drab grey ribbed doesn't do much for me. It's Patons Kroy in Mercury, the pattern is Traditional Ribbed from Classics in Kroy (which I don't see on their site any more). The cuff is started off with 4 inches of 2x2 rib, then it changes to 4x2 rib. I'm doing the same pair for my Dad (yes, boring Kroy Glencheck), but I only did 20 rows of 2x2 rib instead of 44 rows. I don't figure he'll roll the cuff down. Step FIL probably won't either, but it's too late now! I won't count these towards Summer of Socks cuz I officially finished them before the 21st. My camera batteries were dead, so I couldn't post the pics. (These also make pair eleven of fifty-two for the 52PP.)

The Littlest One doesn't have much stamina for car rides.

The Littlest One had his last day of preschool on Tuesday. He got his certificate, and each of them got a bucket and bubbles. He'll return to this preschool in September, then the next year he'll be in "big school."

After the certificate presentation they sang us a couple of songs, then it was party time. They went outside so the teacher could spray them with the garden hose. He said he didn't want to get wet, but when I picked him up he was soaked. He had a towel and change of clothes, so all was good.

Off to the campground tonight for the first time this season. Most everything is hooked up and ready to go. I have some socks to take with me. I don't expect to get much done. I figure I'll be chasing the kids around too much and getting everything set up how I want it.

And a truck update -- it ended up needing a new clutch. We happened to luck out, and this week they were on special for $1,100 including parts and labour.

Miss Tonia has a birthday tomorrow. Wish her a happy birthday!

Happy knitting!

Half Ringing

Got my left ear cleared out yesterday at the doctor's. What a big hunk of wax came out! Really quite gross when it comes down to it. He said there was nothing in the right ear, so he didn't touch it. If the ringing persists, he said, I'd have to go to the hearing clinic and get checked. Sure enough, once I was somewhere quiet enough, there's still ringing, now just in the right ear. It's kinda worse almost in a weird way cuz it's only in half of my head now. I think I'll get one of the do-it-yourself kits. He didn't mention a charge for doing this, but I got a call that I owed $20 for having it done. I went back today and paid. (I asked if I only had to pay $10 since he only did one ear, but that didn't fly.) My doctor charges for everything that MSI doesn't cover whereas a lot of the doctors in town don't. One of the insurance policies I got for the Oldest One required the doctor to fill out a form because of the meds he takes for his ADHD. You know what he charged them? $250! Just to fill out a stinkin' form. He gives hubby his flu shot for free where he's diabetic. Everyone else I know who lives in a household with someone who is diabetic all get free flu shots as well. Not our doctor! The kids and I cost $25 each, so I usually go to the VON office when they do it for $5/person. (Enough to cover the cost of the supplies.)

Enough griping about my doctor... (He is nice and good and all that. Just, y'know.) My camera batteries died or I would have a picture of finally finished step-FIL socks, started last year for Father's Day and only ever did one sock. He's away working, and I've been sick, so I finished the other one up last night. My dad is away, too. He was supposed to be home tomorrow, but a second boat came in, so he won't be home til the weekend, so I have more time. He's getting socks, too.

Not to be pictureless, here's one of the Oldest One at the school science fair on June 15. He made a home-made compass.

And here's the little ones of the household. Started off with two, then they found another one in the sandbox. Now they've multiplied to six, and I said no more til we get a bigger house for them. (There's a brook that runs kinda out back but outside of our hedges. The Oldest One found about fifty of them on the cement wall of the brook in the shade. I keep telling him he can't have them all...) We started off with Gary and Larry (thanks to Spongebob), then along came Barry. Now I can't really tell who's who, and we're out of names. (Apparently snails are both male and female, so we could use female names. Still takes two snails to reproduce. Ah, the wonderful info you can find on the net!)

We are finally taking the camper to the campground this weekend, probably Friday around suppertime or Saturday morning. The kids are happy. I won't be, chasing them here, there, and everywhere. The Oldest One can go around pretty much unattended, but I still think the Littlest One is too little, and I don't trust the little bugger. The sawmill where Heddy's hubby works is just down the road, so there are big trucks up and down by constantly, and I don't trust him for not wandering out to the road. Plus he's at the start-to-cross-the-street-then-look-for-cars-if-at-all stage.

The big truck is in the shop. The company has started 90-day inspections (normal for trucking companies, not normal that they didn't make them do it before). Basically what happens is they pay for the inspection, we foot the repairs. The clutch wasn't working, so they put a new clutch brake pad on it, but it still wasn't working. Night shift was going to check it out. Watch us need a new one -- big bucks! Hope it just needs adjusting. Also, they found one of the springs in the back totally broken in half, so that has to be replaced. They make springs there, but since this is a Pete it needs a Pete spring. So while we were there, there were these guys with a fancy diagnostic machine they're trying to get the garage to buy. They put her on it for free. I was in the other truck, working on Dad's sock, wondering what the heck the other truck was doing flopping and flouncing around like she was. They were doing this test on her. Since we got her she's had a shimmy in the wheel, and no one could figure out what it is. And she rocks back and forth a fair bit if it's bumpy. This machine pointed out that the center bearing(?) and the bushings(?) on the four springs and beat out. Not something you see just by looking at it. Apparently the bushings on the springs is an all-day job. The parts aren't too expensive, it's the labour. Tires come off, springs come off, bushings popped out, new ones put in, springs back on, tires back on. But in the end the repairs save money because the tires last longer, springs break if the bushings (?) are beat out, etc, etc. (I'm not sure I've got the terms exactly right -- bushings, bearings, whatever. It all sounds alike to me. I talk in terms of dollar amounts, not parts. They'll say, "It needs this, that, and the other thing." I say, "What's it cost?) Plus with this little slip of paper from this machine giving the truck the "green light" is like a get-out-of-jail-free card. This little paper is good for three months if he gets stopped at a DOT inspection. Show the paper that the truck passed this machine, pass on through, no inspection.

Anyhoo, I must get going. Camera batteries should be ready tomorrow. I lost one of my spare ones. Guess I'll need to get some more.

Happy knitting!

PS Guess who opened an Etsy shop!

Very Little

There's been very little knitting going on here this weekend. I have a terrible, rotten cold. I must look like I've been doing drugs for three days, my eyes are all red, watery, and burny. (I even napped a couple of times yesterday, which is extremely odd for me. Napping + no knitting = an unwell me.) We took the boys for a drive and to the Boat Park yesterday.

I took the sock, but I didn't do any knitting on it.
This is the second sock for step FIL socks for Father's Day. All I managed to get done yesterday was pick up the gusset stitches and do the decreases. Thank goodness he's away working. MIL is going to their camper (where he's staying) on the weekend, so I'll have it done by then. Now that warm weather has finally hit he won't wear them til fall probably anyways. Then I have to make a pair for my Pa. He's away and should be back Wednesday, so I'll just tell him I'm making him socks. (Hubby got a new belt, a WOW donair, and a Father's Day cake. A WOW donair is a family-sized donair, it's like $20, but it's worth it.)

Here's the picture of the Oldest One with his new bicycle helmet that he won at the bike rodeo at school the other week.

Back out to try and mow some more. I think I'll have to call the lawnmower man and see how he's making out. He has my number and work's number, but I haven't heard anything yet. It's been almost two weeks, and I'm just about done trying to mow jungle grass with old Pushie.

Happy knitting!

First Sock Casualty

I did laundry today. When I was putting it away I saw the horror. I wore these socks yesterday, and I don't know how it happened but...

My first sock casualty! Oh, the horror! I wore them to work yesterday, and when I got home I changed to store-bought socks because I had to weed whack, and I'm terrible at it. I end up covered in grass. I normally wear slippers around the house, too, especially if I have hand knit socks on. So I have to fix them. The other sock is fine, not a sign of wear, nothing. This almost looks like it got a pick in it or caught on something, and if you look closely you'll see that one of the stitches has laddered back. Later this evening when I have some quiet time I will try to fix this little dilemma. I wear these socks a fair bit, but they shouldn't be worn out already! :(

When I got home from work today I decided to try to mow the jungle with old Pushie some more. I can only do so much at a time cuz the grass is too long, the mower is dull, it's a big yard, and it's hard on me cuz I'm always fetching up in things. My cell phone rang (one advantage to that mower -- I can hear the cell phone when it rings), and it was the assistant manager of the store. He said, "You're gonna love me!" We have an excellent customer from the US who has a summer house here. She spends oodles on custom framing, usually leaving whatever she wants framed, lets the framer (who is also the assistant manager) pick out whatever, then comes back for it when it's ready. After I left today she came in to get her framing. The A.M. pointed out a sweater of mine that I knit for the store over a year ago. She tried it on, loved it, bought that as well as some slippers I made and those Regia socks I just took in Monday! Gotta love it! Money for me!

We are doing the Yarn of the Month thing at the store. This month and til July 31 we are featuring Patons Canadiana. Customers will receive 10% off any purchase of in-stock Canadiana. Client Card holders will receive an extra 5%. I'm thinking August may be Decor, and September Classic Wool, since cooler weather will be hitting.

Here's pairs eight, nine, and ten for the 52 Pair Plunge. These are three pairs of socks for little feet for Dulaan. They were knit with leftover 100% merino wool, all hand-dyed stuff I got on eBay. The bright green and peachy ones are about size two, and the pink and purple ones are about size four. I didn't have enough to do those ones exactly the same, so I flip-flopped them. (Of course, Monkey Man wanted to be in the picture, too.)

I got one of these catalogs in the mail yesterday. They have a sock yarn called San Diego that sells for $12.99cdn, and one skein makes one pair of adult socks. It's self striping, 75% superwash wool, 25% polyamide, and it looks like it's nice, bright colors. Then on their web site they have this yarn, but not the San Diego yarn. It's not the same, this stuff is $2 more/skein. It looks okay, too. I might try a skein or two of each sometime. I guess one will me mail order (cuz I can't find San Diego on their site) and one over the net. Or I guess I could try to just write the numbers for the Supersock Yarn on the mail order. That will save shipping fees. (Their Austerman is $2 cheaper than retail, but maybe they just want to compensate for shipping costs.)

If you haven't done so yet, hop on over here and read this post. It's too funny! (I think it's great that he's doing it!) Also, she's on The Harlot's blog three times in this post! Lucky girl!

Happy knitting!

New Knitty!

The new Knitty is up! Why, oh why, are there always so many great sock patterns! Oh, the humanity!

Happy knitting!

Seven of Fifty-Two

Regia Jacquards in Color #5173, 60sts on 2.25mm needle, basic top down, heel over 30sts, toe decrease to 20sts. These are for the store. They are probably the best fitting vanilla socks I've ever knit! (So of course they aren't mine.) They are pair seven of the 52 Pair Plunge and my June socks for the SAM3 KAL. I finished them at almost midnight last night, plus all it does is rain lately, so no outdoor shots. This was my WWKIP Day project.


I also made another felted bag. I started it Saturday evening and finished it Sunday. Someone asked me to make this color for her. It's Patons SWS in Natural Blue. She got another color to try one herself, but she wanted me to make "a really good one"! These are pretty darned hard to mess up. I still have to make two more of these for friends of mine. I don't need the first one til July, and the second one in August. They're fast and easy, that's the main thing.

I finally seemed to get rid of the virus on the computer. However, Saturday night it mysteriously came back, along with a different virus and a trojan horse. (Never fails -- the few times I've had viruses and such always seem to be when nephew is around.) Those two cleared relatively easily, but now when the computer starts up it says I'm missing something. I wrote down the messages to take to work and show The Boss. So far it doesn't seem to be hindering anything. I keep running checks now like twice a day, just to make sure they're gone.

I had to call about our April HST return again yesterday. I netfiled it on May 7, and we still don't have it. Normally I netfile on, say a Tuesday, and I get it direct deposited on Wednesday/Thursday of the following week. This one was way bigger than usual, so I knew it would be held up. I called several times about it, always with the, "If they require any more information from you they'll call" spiel. When I called yesterday the man informed me that it's being audited and hasn't yet been assigned to an auditor. If I don't hear anything in two weeks call back -- again. I am not waiting two weeks, I'll wait til next Monday, then I'm calling again. I've never had one go all the way to audit before, but he said they'll probably just want a copy of the bill of sale of the truck sent to them. I hope so. I need that return yesterday, if not before that. I sent in another one today for May, but that's just a little one.

I was thinking about starting a new thing at the store, a "Yarn of the Month" thing. Maybe pick a certain yarn to feature each month, have swatches of it, pattern book display, etc, and offer it 15% off for the month. I may just go ahead and do it. (Whenever I ask about doing anything special like that The Boss Lady shows no enthusiasm. May as well just do it -- she'll maybe notice sooner or later.)

I had a doctor's appointment this morning. Nothing major, but part of it was the constant ringing in my ears. Can't stand it, all day, every day. I have to go back next Tuesday and get them both flushed out, and he's hoping that will cure it. They aren't bad looking, but there may be something down inside. For now he said to put a couple of drops of cooking oil in my ears every day to soften any hardened wax. I've never had my ears flushed before, well, not professionally, and I'm sure I won't enjoy it! Once hubby had to take a home kit thing and flush one ear. It totally plugged on me, causing pain, bad hearing, and off-balance. He took great joy in it, but not me! It did fix it, though.

Anyhoo, I didn't vacuum or clean the bathroom this morning. Off to do that, plus throw the laundry in the dryer. I can't wait til the sun comes back out so I can hang things out again!

Happy knitting!

I soooo hate it when Blogger doesn't keep my paragraph separations! Grrr!

World Wide Knit in Public Day

Nova Knitter and Heddy showed up today, but unfortunately Dorothy didn't make it. I haven't met her in person yet! She's been to the store a couple of times, but I've been off those days. Heddy's hubby, T, took the picture. Me on the left, Heddy in the middle, and Nova Knitter on the right. Every time I go to take a bite of something naughty I'm going to look at his picture -- no wonder I hate having my picture taken! Gawd! I was at least 40lbs lighter two weeks after I had the Littlest One. I had lost quite a bit before I got pregnant with him, then I was so happy two weeks after he was born, and I could fit back into my jeans! Now they're all in the closet, waiting for the next time... (I mean it -- I'm gonna print this picture so I'll have it when I don't have internet access! Cow! I look all boobs, almost like Beth! Not dissin' her or anything, everyone knows I love Dog and Family! But she's got major hooters happenin'!) Heddy brought her Jeckyl and Hyde Hederas for me to see. Wait til you see a picture when they're finished! Boy, are they two different socks.


This is what I worked on. I had the first sock finished and started the second one today. I don't like to work on non-store stuff when I'm at work. These are plain old vanilla, 60sts on 2.25mm needles with Regia 4ply Jacquard, #5273? maybe.
I picked up a virus somewhere. When I got home from work last night there were two icons on the desktop that weren't there when I went to work. Nephew watched the boys, so something must've happened when I went to work. I figured it must be a virus, and this morning when the automatic check started, it immediately came up with the virus. I don't know if I really got rid of it or not. I may take the machine to work next week to get checked.

My push mower I have resorted to using til my gas mowers are fixed. This needs to be sharpened. I bought it back in 1998, the first summer that I had my first house. It had a much, much smaller yard, and it didn't have weedy jungle grass.


See how tall my grass got? We had a lot of wet weather. With that stupid old mower it takes me two or three days to mow the lawn, especially since it got too long this time. It doesn't cut the thick stuff, so I have to haul it by hand or just leave it. It's so thick and long right now that it fetches the mower up, and it doesn't turn. I have to go over what I mow a couple of times to get it half decent.

And I have a lot of lawn to mow! This is the side yard.


Half of the back yard.


The rest of the back yard.


And, of course, the front lawn. Plus there's a spot in front of the big fence way in the back of the picture, plus there's banking in front of the picket fence that gets mowed/weed whacked, too. I can't wait to get my gas mowers back! (I have one mower, and that broke down last summer. I borrowed Dad's cuz he has a guy do his now. Then his stopped working, so I have to fix that one, too.)


This is how little Noots and Tootsie fell asleep last night. They look so sweet and innocent when they're asleep. Boy, don't they have everyone fooled!

Yesterday the Oldest One's school held their bicycle rodeo. I was at the stop sign, making sure everyone knew what a stop sign is and how to do the signal. At the end of the day they had an assembly. Each classroom had a draw for a new helmet, and the grand prize for the whole school was a new bike and helmet. The Oldest One was so happy -- he won a new helmet! Hubby's uncle was there and took his picture. I forgot my camera. I'll post it when they e-mail it to me. The bike went to a little girl in grade one who had borrowed a bike because she didn't have one. That was nice. She was so happy! She didn't know what to say. (Worked out good, too. The Littlest One needed a new helmet, so now he is happy as can be cuz he has his brother's old one.)

Oh, yes. Over a month ago the boys found two tiny snails in their sandbox. We brought them inside and made a home for them. They are still going strong! And today they found a third one. They had a caterpillar last fall that cocooned. I think it may have died. It's still cocooned, and I can see that it did change. You can see the antenna and yellow and black wings. We have butterflies now, but there's no sign of anything from this poor fellow. I moved the bug cage to the window, hoping the fresh air and sun would make him emerge, but so far nothing. That other boogily thing they found got chucked back outside. I didn't know what it was, but upon internet search thought it may have been the larva pod of some kind of beetle. That had to go.

Happy knitting!

Four Years

In loving memory of our father, father-in-law, and grandfather, Lambert Roy, who passed away suddenly on June 7, 2003:

No farewell words were spoken,
no time to say goodbye,
you were gone before we knew it,
and only God knows why.


Love always, The Kids, In-Law Kids, and Grandkids


Seems like this happened only yesterday but yet its been forever since we've seen him.

It's a bittersweet day. It's also my SIL's 23rd birthday. (The one that's expecting in November.) Poor old Lamb died on her 19th birthday. Happy birthday to her nonetheless! She just bought her first house, is expecting her first baby, what's not to enjoy.

I don't have any pictures to share today. Hopefully over the weekend. We now have all the colors of Patons SWS in stock at the store. We also got some more Bohemian in stock, and we got Green Tea for the first time. It's a really nice color. Other than that nothing really new came in. Just some restocking on a couple of things. I think the boss is placing another order in a couple of weeks. We need the self striping Kroy yarns. We are out of Tutti Fruitti and Country Jacquards, and there's only two Denim Jacquards left. I have these three down to order plus the Crayon Jacquard and Kool and Krazy Stripes for the first time. Sock yarn has been selling very well, so I hope she orders it all. The sock yarn area is looking quite poor.

For anyone who will be in town on Saturday afternoon, our World Wide Knit in Public Day gathering will run from 1-4pm. It's supposed to be sunny and warm, so we'll sit outside in the sun at Memory Lane Photo, 1 Gorham Street. Can't miss us, it's right off the main parking lot by Home Hardware. It's also the last day of our yarn sale, so it's a good chance to stock up on some cheap yarn. (Some is half price! Others 30% off.) Check out the end of this post to see the breakdown of what is on sale. We also have a basket of yarn that is either the last ball of that color or the last dye lot. Most are marked down 25-50%. I just added half a dozen or so more skeins to it today. I also tidied up the yarn area and made sure to top up all of the cubbies with all of the colors of the yarns.

I hope anyone in the area will come and join me for a bit on Saturday to knit! I'll be there, fingers flying. Gonna make sure I get the store swept/mopped Friday night so I can just serve customers and knit on Saturday!

Happy knitting!

I forgot -- The Blue Blog has a contest going on. Check it out! It runs til Sunday, and you pick what giveaways you want to be entered on. One prize is her book, and the others are all different yarns for Harry Potter projects.

Home on the Range

BIL and SIL moved back to town on the weekend. They bought their first house. Hubby drove the U-Haul since they needed a driver with a license that covered air brakes. We went up in the evening, and the boys played with the dogs. The first one is the best of the bunch, a roly poly Valley Bulldog named Rogue. (She's a mite "huskier" than the dogs in the link.) She's a sweetie.


Next up are the other two. Bronx on the left is a pit bull. Kyra on the right is a mental boxer. Her elevator doesn't go all the way to the top, and I wouldn't trust her as far as I could throw her. (I actually don't trust Bronx, either. He's not one year old yet and wheezes like there's no tomorrow. The vet says there isn't anything wrong with him, but I beg to differ. I've never heard a puppy breathe like that before. As soon as he runs a few feet he sounds like he's gonna keel over. So he doesn't run very far. It's terrible. I think these dogs are okay in the right household, but these guys are expecting a baby, and I don't trust either of these two dogs. Kyra growled and grabbed the Littlest One's wrist later on after this picture was taken cuz he had her ball and wanted to play with her. She didn't break the skin, but she scared him and me and quickly ended up back in her kennel. No offense to any pit bull owner/lovers out there, but I'd rather not have them around kids. Too many instances where the kind, gentle pet turned, and I know it's not just that breed. I'd rather be safe than sorry.)


BIL also has another dog that resides with my SIL (hubby and BIL's sister) who is supposed to be going to live with them now. I don't know how they'll get along. He's "the boss", an eight-nine year old rottweiler. (He's another one I don't trust around kids. When the Oldest One was two we were at the in-laws house on Christmas Day. He was playing on the floor, being loud at times, and all of a sudden the dog got up, growing, and went right towards him. Thank goodness he didn't move fast, but I grabbed the kid, passed him over my head to hubby, and SIL was there and grabbed Xavier by the collar. Ever since then he's been locked away when the kids are around. Plus he's bitten twice, breaking-the-skin bites, unprovoked.)

Onto other subjects... I had to snap this picture -- and they say women have too many shoes! This is most of BIL sneaker collection. Yes, I'd say he has a fetish.

He also has a Playstation 3, so that helped to keep the kids amused.

I decided to dig this sock out of the stash. It was meant for step-FIL for last year's Father's Day. It's just sooooo boring, plain drab grey rib. Blah! I am finishing the final two small child's pairs of socks for my Dulaan box so I can mail it by Friday (gonna have to send it air so it gets there in time). Next comes the mate to this sock. This is how it's gonna be and that's that. I have to start Sockapalooza socks, so this sock will/must be finished first! (Look -- I even managed to hang onto the scrap of paper that had the number of rows, gusset pick-ups, and other little necessary tidbits on it! It was in a book that belonged to the Littlest One who saw I was using his book and demanded its return. I'm amazed I didn't lose it.)

And I do have two FOs. First up is a felted bag from Patons Classic Wool. I kinda have mixed feelings about this bag. I added the little button flap for something different.

The second one is also Patons Classic Wool, but it's a smaller bag. I only used a little less than a skein for this one. Look how differently it striped with fewer stitches. This is the first one I made out of the same color, same dye lot. (At the end of that post.)

Anyhoo, long post, it's getting late. Hope to have some pictures of small socks within the next two days.

Happy knitting!