Still spinning...

I know I don't mention it much, but I am still spinning on my borrowed Louet. This is my second project. I purchased this alpaca spinning top at the Holland Dutch Kerstmarkt. This is from a local Alpaca farm, Circle R Ranch. I was able to spin the 8 oz into a little over 116 yards of 2 ply worsted.



This baby alpaca was especially soft and smooth, but that also made it difficult for a new spinner. The fiber didn't hold onto itself very easily, so I found myself letting a lot of thick bunches of fiber go by just to avoid breaking my flow. I also overspun some areas, which caused areas of the ply to coil onto itself like a bad perm. All in all, it turned out decent. I think I could make a nice fluffy scarf or mittens with this. But first, I have to take on the adventure of color dying.

She's working hard to pay the bills

I can finally post about this project since it was given to it's rightful owner this weekend. When I went to Debbie Stoller's book signing for Son of Stitch n' Bitch a few months ago, she modeled a clever scarf with the shadow pattern of a stripper on it. The moment I saw it, I knew I had to make it for our friend, Dave.

Brian was kind enough to model it for my photo shoot. As you see, from the front it seems to be a simple striped scarf.



But, true to the title of the pattern, Naughty & Nice scarf, if you hold it horizontally, you'll get a surprise.



Dave loved it. He wore it all weekend and showed it to everyone who crossed his path. This brought homemade gifts to a new level.

Chi-Town

BB, Maggie and I spent this past sunny weekend in Chicago. We had a great time catching up with old friends. The primary reason for going out was to celebrate this silly girl's 30th birthday.



Carrie's husband threw her a fantastic surprise party at a fun bar downtown. They had great food, drinks, and this guy.



Many of you may not know his name, but I'm sure you recognize him...Luis Guzman. We were seated near the door. Although it was rather frigid, it allowed Brian and Mark to notice him walk in. He was there celebrating one of his own friend's birthdays. The boys were so geeked to meet him. They were afraid to approach him because they didn't want to be "douche bags." Once I realized how wasted Luis was, I forced them to go talk to him. He probably wouldn't remember it all the next day anyway. They thanked him for his comedic contributions to the world and pretty much bowed down to him.

We spent the rest of the weekend with Mark, Dave, Ryan and Ryan. We jammed to Rock Band on the Nintendo Wii and ate plenty of good food (including Brian's traditional "big breakfast").  All of the boys were especially great to Maggie; they treated here with such gentle kindness.  I was pleasantly surprised.  We were sad to leave, but as they say, all good things must come to an end. Maggie found her way to the pillows in the back to curl up for a long ride home.

Vote today!

I entered my photogenic Maggie in the Spay Day contest with the Humane Society. Please go vote for her today! We have some major catching up to do (about 275 votes!) Here is my photo entry.



Boy, I remember the days when she was that small and innocent :)

Stop me before I get another puppy.

The sound from this video drives Maggie crazy!

This just out...

"Priscilla Presley, Kristi Yamaguchi and Adam Carolla are catching dance fever.

They are among the dozen celebrities who have signed on to compete on the next season of "Dancing With the Stars."

The other contestants include actors Marlee Matlin, Shannon Elizabeth and Steve Guttenberg; tennis champion Monica Seles, magician Penn Jillette, R&B singer Mario and Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor, ABC announced Monday night."

Hmmm, I don't know so much about Steve Guttenberg or Penn Jillette. We'll just have to wait and see!

Clever Ewe

Clever Ewe of Ada, MI held their annual winter clearance on Saturday. I went with Brian's cousin, Rachael, a new knitter. I stressed a bit about what time to go, because the sales changed every few hours. We ended up going at a perfect time, 11:30, because they let us overlap the 30% off all merchandise from 9-12p with the 40% off select merchandise from 12-3p. I did some damage to my savings for my own spinning wheel, but I found some great buys!

I bought all of this yarn at only $2/ball to make a sweater for Maggie. It will be a zig zag print. I have no idea when I'll start on it, but I'm excited at the idea. Rachael also found some yarn to make a sweater for her new Westie puppy, Baylie.



I bought five balls of this fun sherbet colorway to save for a baby project, again at $2/ball.



I bought enough of this Debbie Bliss merino for a sweater for myself....or who knows, maybe another lucky gal in my life. $3/ball marked down from $8.75.



Besides that, I found a silk/merino blend to make a double knit scarf for Brian with the outline of the Brooklyn Bridge. He's very excited about that.

That should be enough to last me for the next 6 months (and more)!

Going, going, gone.

The Junior League held their annual silent auction to support the endowment fund last Tuesday. Last year a donated a hand knit purse. This year I decided to make a teddy bear since the one I made for our house was such a hit. I combined the bear with a pair of pj's and a couple nice bedtime stories. (btw, the book "Guess How Much I Love You" is soooo adorable)



The bear was well received, but I was told that I shouldn't have shrink-wrapped the basket because the bear appeared "store-bought." Their was a very poor turn-out the night of the auction due to a bad snow storm, so there were more silent auction items than bidders. The basket ended up selling for $30, which was just a little more than I spent on the items. That's too bad as I thought it could've gone for at least $50. But, I got a chance to bid low on some great items for myself, so it all evens out.

That's one good looking dog.

Uno the beagle is up for Best in Show. He is the first beagle to win in the Hound Group since 1939. If he wins Best in Show, he will be the first beagle ever! I haven't heard the results yet, but I have my fingers crossed.

For those TTC

For those out there TTC, check out this ticker at Lilypie.



And yes, for those not TTC, this may seem like TMI. But some will understand. I think it's just plain fun.

Okay - I was mistaken last time. I misread my body. Here's my new ticker.

Blame it on the snow...and comcast

I haven't been blogging much lately because, for some ridiculous reason, whenever there is a blizzard, we lose our Comcast signal. Brian's called them no less than 5 times and gets the run around. They were supposed to come out on a service call a few weeks ago, so we hung around that Saturday. They never showed. When he called to ask what happened, they said they'd done some outside work a few days earlier, so they didn't need to come. It'd be nice if they'd have informed us of that! What was their compensation, well they said they wouldn't charge us for the service call. Excuse me! Charge us for something that's your problem?! What a rip off!

Moving on, this past weekend was a quiet and cold one. We took Maggie to the Harbor Humane Society for their Valentine's Day adopt-a-thon. They were offering microchipping for $10, so we went ahead and did it. Poor Maggie, but it didn't hurt me one bit! Now if she is ever lost or stolen, she can be scanned and identified through her tiny microchip. The chip is the size of a grain of rice and between her shoulderblades. As much as I try, I can't feel it.

While we were at the Humane Society, we took a look at their dogs. One of the employees told us they get a lot of beagles there. That was shocking to me. Apparently hunters give them up after they lose their hunting ability and new families decide they don't want a dog who runs away. She said they're hard to adopt out because people see them howling in their crates and don't want to take home a loud dog. I was moved to tears when we found an old beagle in the kennel. He had a husky howl and a sweet face. I hope he finds a home someday...a nice farm with room to roam.

Here's Maggie at the dog park on Saturday. She just loves taunting the big dogs. It's hard to catch her on camera as anything more than a blur.

The day she made a name for herself....

As you all know, Maggie is now a Thursday regular at Camp Bow Wow. Today was the day that will go down in the books. It's the day the employees will all talk about, "Do you remember when Maggie...." It's the day Maggie received a free bath while Campground 1 was shut down. All the dogs from that camp were shifted to the next room over while the floors were scrubbed down. Why was Maggie getting a bath while the others were playing? Well you see, she is now not only in love with eating poop, she's in love with rolling around in it. She rolled in it outside and then came inside to roll all over the floors and leave a nice brown coating everywhere. The worker was checking in on her thinking "Oh, that's nice, look at how much fun Maggie is having rolling...around.....oh my god what is all of that shit doing on our floor?!"
Do you think all of the other dogs were disgusted by her. Now they speak in hushed voices behind her back, saying "Don't get too near that beagle. Word on the street is that she lathers herself in feces. She's so unrefined."

What to expect from an 8 month old puppy...

Maggie is officially 8 months old today. If most puppies are like her, I would say having an 8 month old puppy is a pleasant challenge. She is now consistently housebroken and now only has to pee about twice per evening. That's a definite change from the overactive bladder that demanded an outing every 45 minutes just a few months ago. She has become our constant shadow, always underfoot or trying to steal our seat on the couch. She follows me upstairs and down, but still refuses to go more than 1/2 way down to the basement. Perhaps she has a sixth sense. She rarely bites now other than mouthing during play and has lost all but one of her milkteeth. She loves to make new friends at the dog park (even if it's a snarling pitbull). She has stopped eating our carpet and my knitting, but has since moved on to eating her poop and our plants. I'll settle for latter, since my plants know how to regenerate and freshen her breath. She is warm and bright and the best puppy that Brian and I could ask for.

Crafting

This weekend has been devoted to several craft projects:

Tuesday is our Valentine's Day party with the after school program at GRYC.  I'm heading up the craft room and have planned tissue paper carnations.  They're simple and fun.  I want to change it up a little by having the kids attach little tags with IOUs.  It will be good to expose them to gift giving that comes from the heart as opposed to the wallet.

I also spent some creative energy on invites for my sister's upcoming baby shower.  I think they turned out cute...

I have a few other things still in the works, including a gift basket I'm donating to a silent auction for the Junior League's endowment fund.  The basket includes a bunch of baby items, including a knit teddy bear.

I have to get back to the Super Bowl commercials now!