I See Sun!

Guess what? The sun is out today and its actually somewhat warm (translation... I wore my thin leather jacket today instead of my heavy winter coat)! Yes, I said sun!!! Woo hoo... although we have more rain in the forecast for tomorrow into Saturday (translation: more snow melting + more water on top of it = a F&$%*N$# wet basement... aka the sorrows of Spring at our house).

So anyway... Happy SUNNY Dogs on Thursday! Don't forget to hop on over and sign up for the Spring Doggy Swap if you haven't already - you have until March 13th! And.. if you haven't already, would you please vote for my kids in the HSUS Spay Day photo contest? The direct links are above this post on my blog and voting ends tomorrow - March 7th. Thank you to everyone who's already voted!

I finally received my Winter Doldrums Dishcloth Swap package today... a full 3 weeks after it was mailed from Marilyn in Victoria, BC. I guess the US postal service isn't the only one who has resorted back to the horse & buggy delivery system, apparently Canada's isn't much faster. Inside the big envelope I found 2 sage green colored cloths, some yummy smelling Seaweed soap, Canadian chocolates, 2 extra large plastic stitch holders, and one full, plus a half used skein (?) of wool yarn...

Back to doggy Thursday... 2 nights ago I gave them each a Healthy Edibles roast beef bone and tried to use them to get a shot of all 4 together and failed once again. Holding yummy treats above the camera is the method to my madness my trick to getting Zeus, Lola & Tut together for the great 3 doggy shots, but unfortunately Sophie hasn't quite figured out the game yet...

Where's Sophie?

Here's Lola & Teutul doing their infamous

"aren't we cute... now give us the treat!" pose...

Zeus, the-almost-birthday boy...

Teutul enjoying his snack froggy style...

Cautious Sophie reaching for hers...

Since I didn't make it last night, I'll be stopping tonight to pick up Zeus' birthday cake and toy... at least I plan to. If not, I still have tomorrow night, right?

KAL to Defeat The Winter Doldrums

This week's Defeat the Winter Doldrums Swap topic is...
For some of us we get the doldrums and others don't. For the ones who get doldrums what helps you get rid of them? For the ones who don't get the doldrums, what helps you keep them away?

Well, I can start by saying today is Monday and I hate Mondays... esp ones like today when it is biterly cold and the wind is howling something fierce! bbrrrr!!!! What would I like to be doing to defeat the doldrums? Sitting at home, on my couch with a nice big cup of coffee, my knitting, magazines... watching some guilty pleasure daytime television with a dog or two (or four!) curled up next to me. But I digress and realize that I must go to work... I do have the nice big mug of coffee on my desk and I am surrounded by photos of my furbabies, so that's a start. I'll get to the knitting later tonight......

Speaking of knitting, are you like me and the boatloads of other knitters who've been meaning to cast on a Clapotis? Do you need a swift kick in the arse to do so? Then why not sign up for the Fashionably Late in '08 Clapotis KAL? I just did! I've been poking around Ravelry to see what yarn might work and think I might go with Patons SWS. I have to check my stash tonight and see if I have enough skeins of any one colorway........

So, being that it is almost Valentine's Day, Zeus was wondering if you've bought something special for your sweetie yet? If not, you have a couple days... he says hurry up and thinks this card that his Daddy bought for Mommy last year would be suitable...

Winter Doldrums Topic #2

This week's Defeat the Winter Doldrums topic is...

There are many people who ADORE receiving hand-knit or crochet items; but there are just as many who have no appreciation whatever of how much love, work, and time goes into a hand-made item. Share a story of a hand-made gift you gave to someone and how it worked out - good, bad, or ugly!

My best story / memory of gifting is the Booga bag that I made for my Mom and gave to her this past Mother's Day. My Mom knits & crochets and always wanted to teach me both, though I never got much past knitting a rectangle (aka blanket for my dollie) when I was about 7 or 8. At least not until about 4 years ago when I decided knitting might actually be cool and I wanted to try it again! Mom has knit & crocheted me many, many items over the years... but the Booga bag was the very first thing that I got to knit for her. Seeing her use it really makes me proud!

Speaking of Mom, a quick update... she is on her 2 weeks on, 1 week off rounds of the chemo pill until about May now. Thank you for checking in on her! Also, thank you for the kind words about my friend Melissa... she did, tragically, loose her Dad on Wednesday. Much love to her and her family at this difficult time........

Winter Doldrums Dishcloth Topic

This week's Winter Doldrums Dishcloth swap topic...

Weekly Topic: Dishrag. Dishcloth. Face cloth. I've seen folks get all fired up in forums when someone refers to their knit or crochet creation as a dishrag, as that's somehow offensive to them! When you're working on yours, what do you call them? Also, is there a difference between a dishrag and a dishcloth? How bout a facecloth? Are they all really the same thing?

I would say yes, they are the same thing... unless you knit something like a heirloom piece, then it becomes a face cloth or even a doily. However, if you've used your dishcloth so much that its beginning to fall apart, it probably is only eligible for dishrag status at that time... I am actually planning to tackle a few Heirloom facecloth patterns soon!

Defeat The Winter Doldrums Questionnaire

Here's is my questionnaire for the Defeat The Winter Doldrums dishcloth swap (illustrated with photos courtesy of my star model, Zeus!)! Registration opened today for anyone interested...

1. Do you knit, crochet, or do both? Knit only

2. What types of needles do you enjoy using for making dishcloths? For dishcloths, I usually use bamboo straights. The Peace Fleece needles are always fun to work with!

3. What types of cotton do you enjoy using for making dishcloths? Is there any that you've been wanting to try? The 'ole standby, Sugar 'n Cream, especially now that they're coming out with variations (stripes, twists, etc). I love Debbie Bliss cotton also and Lion Brand is not bad. I'd like to try some organic cottons.

4. What color(s) are your kitchen and bath decorated in (if any)? Bathroom is lilac (pale purple) and kitchen is a sage/minty green color.

5. What are your favorite colors for yarns? Least favorite? I tend to always lean towards fallish colors (think fall leaves in New England), jewel tones and most shades of purple. My least favorite colors would be anything neon!

6. Do you like Winter, or do you count the days until it ends? Both. Fall is my favorite time of year, but I love winter too. I like the pretty show showers, but could do without the major Nor'Easter storms (or having 100 feet of snow dumped on us in one month!). I like the cooler, sweater wearing temps, but could do without the frigid, below zero days. Zeus wants to know when the summer sun is coming so he can lay in it instead of hiding under the blankies...

7. What's your favorite way to brighten your day when you're down in the dumps? Spending time with my furbabies... no matter how bad your day is, you can't help but smile. They give unconditional love 24/7... no matter what! Vegging on the couch with a good great cup of coffee, my knitting and some guilty pleasure tv (think celeb reality shows on VH1 and E) watching is always great too!

8. What is your favorite treat to indulge in and when your down in the dumps? What isn't??? Ice cream (anything peanut butter), chocolate (milk and white), peanut butter cups, chocolate covered gummy bears (don't knock 'em til you try 'em... YUM-O!), Kettle popcorn, swedish fish, gummy berries..... need I go on?

9. Do you drink coffee? Tea? Cocoa? Yes, yes and yes! I drink coffee all day long daily and enjoy most light to medium roasts, breakfast blends & flavors (no decaf though ... what's the point?). I also love tea and have been drinking more of it lately (need to get some of those neat honey spoons). As for cocoa, I'm a New England girl, of course... its a winter staple!

10. If you could take a vacation starting tomorrow and go anywhere for one week and money were no object, where would you go and what would you do? Hawaii!!!!!!! Although, when I finally do get to go there, I don't think a week is long enough. To go all that way, I think its a 2 week minimum vacation, don't you? I want to see all the sites, the volcanoes, the beaches, the sunsets, the locals, the shops... taste all the yummy food, etc.

11. Do you have any allergies or aversions your pal should be aware of? No cigarette smoke please.

I told the big guy we might get some more snow... and he suddendly popped up and ditched the blankie... "Snow? Someone say SNOW? Are ya gonna throw me some snow balls??? huh? huh? are ya, are ya???"

Defeat the Winter Doldrums

Ok, so yes, it did look like a Winter Wonderland that I was driving thru to get to work this morning, with all of the pretty snow on the tree branches... but still, a let up on the white stuff would be appreciated. We're running out of places to push it too. And in case you were wondering, yes, it was snowing again this morning...

So, much to my delight I noticed the new dishcloth swap is getting ready to start up... appropriately titled Defeat the Winter Doldrums! Click on over... sign ups begin January 11th!

As previously mentioned, my little Southern Belle is adjusting quite nicely to the wretched white crapola snow... although this morning she seemed much more content to curl up and sleep on Zeus' enormous size bed, than to want to get up and go out.