Dogs on the last Thursday of November!

These were taken of Ella last Friday (again the date stamp is incorrect!), when she went for her walk with dad! It was quite cold that day, so she was wearing her sweater!

What about my ears?

Today it's raining and cloudy and a little bit chilly! A great day for curling up on the couch or the chair!

Have a great day! Be sure to check out the other Dogs on Thursday!

WIP Wednesday...

Ready? There's some WIP's here as well as some finished goods!

Hubby's Hat #3

Pattern: Father/Daughter Hat, from Dropped a Stitch

Yarn: Plymouth Yarn, Plymouth Tweed, color #5313 (orangy/brown), I skein with a little bit left over

Needles: Size 7, 16" circular and dpn.

(Hubby's Hat #2 is the same, but uses Cascade 220 wool in sapphire blue. He just loves this hat!)

Utopia Hat, from Smariek Knits

Yarn: Bernat Alpaca, Natural Blend, color #93143, sky (very, very pale light blue); 1 skein with a little bit left over

Needles: #8, 16" circular and dpn.

This is a great hat! Very, very easy to knit! I did it in one day! (It's finally cool enough to wear a hat in the morning!) If I knit this again, I'd probably make the ribbing longer!

Dog Biscuits for Ella.

From DIY Network, Creative Juice.

I used my mini Christmas cookie cutters in angels, candy canes, gingerbread men and (not pictured) tree and bell shapes. These were very simple, and at least I know what went in them! She's had two so far!

The Celtic tote is waiting to get it's lining. I'm waiting until I have that done before I post any more pictures! I will tell you that it came out great! I really like it! Hopefully I can get to the lining tomorrow! When I sew, I like to devote the day to it, so tomorrow seems (at least right now tonight) to be the day!

I also started the Anna of Green Cables hat! For some reason, Dropped a Stitch's patterns appeal to me! I had started the Foliage hat from Knitty, but frogged it, and decided I liked this hat a lot better! I still will probably knit the Foliage, but later, when I find the right yarn for it!

I also frogged a sweater I was making (it was a two-year old project) today! I love the yarn, it's some vintage (and it is!) Paton's chenille yarn my great-aunt gave me in a great maroon color! The pattern I was knitting just didn't call to me anymore! It was quite cathartic to rip, rip, and rip! I'll have to find a better pattern for the yarn.

(Cactus Note: I just now realized that the date stamp on my camera is wrong! These pictures were taken today, and over the weekend!)

Turkey Tales...

A chocolate pie for the LittleOne's birthday. We did a combination of turkey day and her birthday, since everyone was there. (Don't fret for her, she's getting another party tomorrow and then on her actual birthday, I'll take a special snack to school!)

This, I believe, is self-explanatory.

The table.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We had a great one! My in-laws (that's the table)cooked the turkey (see above), we brought the stuffing, creamed onions, pumpkin pie, apple strudel and a chocolate pie. The chocolate pie (see above) was the LittleOne's birthday, since we were all together we decided to celebrate yesterday! She did get presents too! And, no, she wasn't upset that she had to share her day with a Turkey!

I did hit the stores this morning, okay it was only one, Target! I just love that place! I'm there way, way, way too much! The one in my town wasn't that bad, there really wasn't much of a crushing crowd.

Okay, so the other night we had the owl barking in the tree. Today, as the family and I were driving out of our neighborhood (about 1/2 mile from our house) a bobcat ran across the street (you'll have to take my word for it, the camera was at home -- of course), jumped up on the six foot block wall, stood there for a second, arched his back, and jumped back onto the road side. We are in the car! He (I'm assuming) hid behind a prickly pear cactus and then scooted behind it and was just sitting on the sidewalk when we drove away! He looked just like a stray dog just waiting for his owner to come by!



Wow! I wonder if he was looking for turkey scraps...



On a knitting note: I got the Celtic Tote all seamed up and I felted it this morning! It looks great. When I post the pictures (I want to line it before I show it off), I'll let you know all the details. But I've had people leave comments about the outline on the cables...I think you should do the outlining. It takes a little time, but the detail is well worth the time. Otherwise the cable (think of all that work) gets lost in the background.



So, of course I started something else...can anyone guess what it would be? A: baby sweater; B: hat (for me of course); C: a cake; D: A and B; E: C and E; F: B and A...hmm...tough one!



Have a great day!

Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Tote(n) Good Tuesday

Before we get to the pictures of the Celtic Tote, last night we had a visitor in our tree. It's a little hard to see (Hubby had giant spotlight on him and camera tried), but it's our friendly neighborhood owl! He sits up in our tree and makes weird sounds (sometimes he barks like a dog!). The arrow is pointing to him as he turned his neck to look at me! He's pretty big, for an owl, that is!

Next up: The tote!

This is the back side. (ha, ha, ha!)

And here are the back and front, with the outline in the dark brown. I'm working on the gusset bottom right now, it's a little tricky at first, but once you get going, it's pretty mindless! Looking at the dates on the pictures, it only took me about two weeks to finish the pieces. Pretty good, if I do say so myself (plus another hat thrown in for good measure -- those pictures are coming! I have to get the model wearing them!)

Hope all have a great Night Before Thanksgiving (there is a book). (Although technically, it's the night before, the Night Before Thanksgiving!) It's a great one for everyone!

Thankful Thursday, the Friday Edition

Taking a cue from NH Knitting Mama, this will be a thankful Thursday post, the Friday edition.

1. That my Hubby understands my need to create with yarn, even though the yarn seems to take over some time! (He's getting lots of hats this year!)
2. That my kids (the Munchkin and LittleOne) are happy, healthy and have some good friends!
3. That Ella (the dog), has blended into our family after we adopted her a couple of years ago.
4. And finally, that I have the ability to create things from string!

Hope all have a great Friday!

Festive Fall Cookies!

It's finally cool enough to bake during the day!

Festive fall cookies! (Recipe from here.) This is a great recipe, very multi-purpose!

Monday (Catch Up, Catch Breath)

Wow! It's Monday (again). And a Holiday to boot. Only a week to go until Thanksgiving! (Got a Turkey yet? no, not even close!)
Today's been Catch Up Day around here, since the weekend days were spent at soccer games and the Munchkin had a birthday party to go to. Loads of laundry (and I do mean loads -- I think 6) and the kids are home today, sort of helping -- they did change their sheets today! Yeah! They really can learn how! And they did help sort the laundry (well, most of it was theirs!).
I tried to catch up to all of my blogs that I read, some days it's hard to check in and see how every one's doing.
I'm about 15 rows out of completing the first side of the Celtic Tote from the new Interweave Knits. I'm still working on the Embossed Leaves socks. I started another hat for me last night (this one). And the hubby wants another Father/Daughter hat. Not to mention I still have some Holiday knitting to do (you know those pesky teacher gifts!).
But enough rambling, back to work. (I think I caught my breath!) No, maybe a snack and some tea...

(Edited on Tuesday Morning -- the hat (for me) was completely frogged last night! So...it's a do-over!!!)

Dog on Thursday

Pose number 1.

Enough of this Mom...I'm out of here!

Yes, that's Ella's ear.

And Ella's eyeball.

And a pretty picture.

It was a long, long day for Ella. A long walk with Dad this morning, sleeping on the couch, the floor, and the couch again. Guests (my parents and aunt) for dinner. And it's still hot here! She really wasn't up to posing for pictures tonight, but I think I got a good one!

Couldn't Help Myself

I got my issue of Interweave Knits in my mailbox yesterday, and I couldn't help myself, I cast on for the Celtic Tote last night (after I finished Hubby's #2 hat -- a Father/Daughter again) and have gotten about halfway through the chart/side.
I had the perfect yarn (see here) and, for some reason, this pattern called out to me.

I've been looking for a brown bag, just a plain brown bag, and when I couldn't find one, I took myself off to the LYS and bought that yarn, not really knowing what I was going to do with it. I looked at it for the past two weeks, researched some patterns, but I guess I was waiting for this particular one!

Don't you just love it when you have the ability to say, hmm, I think I need a new bag? Or, hmm, I think I would love a new pair of socks? Or, hmm, I need that sweater. Or, hmm, my puppy/dog/cat needs a new sweater...or a hat...or gloves...or fingerless mitts...or mittens...(for you, not the animals! although I think they'd look smashing!)

We knitters (and sewers) wield such power, don't you think?

Another Pair of Fetching and Another Hat

Well, this week went by so fast! What happened to October? How did November sneak up on me like that? And I can't believe that my LittleOne will be 6 at the end of this month! Wow!

Anyway, I actually did knit two things this week.

Top: Droplet Hat, from Knitting Nature, by Norah Gaughan. Yarn: stash yarn, something acrylic, I think, but I wanted it in gray. The only alteration to the pattern was that I forgot the first 2 purl rows after the cast on, so I just extended the ribbing (I read the pattern wrong).

Bottom: Fetching, from Knitty.com. Yarn: Brown Sheep (I think, it was from my stash) in light purple. Alterations: I made the ribbing at the bottom longer. The first pair I made (and gifted) were too short. These are much, much better.

Well, I'm off to a busy day of soccer here in the desert! Hope all take care, have a great weekend, and happy knitting vibes to you all!!!

November Dogs on Thursday

Although this picture was taken on Tuesday, that pesky date timer, this is how Ella spends most of her afternoons. I think she thinks it should be cooler outside. The glasses do not help her see the TV.

I'm not sure what she was doing here! Jumping on the couch, I think. (I didn't take this picture, I think My Hubby did!)

Go Dogs on Thursday!

Happy November!!!!!