Dodge Creations

I'm very excited and pleased to announce that my stitch markers are now availabe online at Dodge Creations! Please stop by and check them out! I guess this means I'm now somewhat international too, since Dodge is based out of Canada!

Of course, they are always availabe in my Etsy shop and via direct, custom order, as well as locally at A Knitter's Garden!

Order Up!

I'm excited and happy to announce that the first official Lapdog Creations wholesale order of stitch markers is off to Dodge Creations (well, technically it won't be on its way until the morning, when I can make it to the post office)!

Its really cool to have an actual wholesale order (read: paid up front) and to know that my markers will soon be available at an online store! Yeah! As always, my markers are always availabe at A Knitter's Garden and in my etsy shop too (an update to come later this week).

Since I don't want to bore you completely with shameless self-promotion, I'll leave you with some recent critter shots from Nichole's Wild Animal Kingdom...

I came home the other day to find Chucky (yeah, so maybe its Woody... still not sure?) hanging out in the front yard. Like the mirror shot?

Last Tuesday, Mr & Mrs Gobble were back at work (I'd like to think they were a day early to wish me a happy birthday) ... greeting us all at the front door!

I'm to the point now that I walk right up to them with no worries... they like to hang out directly in front of the door and we're convinced they think there are friends inside, since they can see their reflection in the door!

April Showers...

No fooling, its raining today! I'll be waiting for those ahhh....chooo! May flowers!

I have to tell you about the cutest tape measure ever, which brought a big smile to my face on this rainy day. You see, I asked Anita about the possibility of making a doggy tape measure and OMG, look at the puppy dog! Photos do not do this justice - it is truly something you need to see in person (you just might get too... I will have one as a prize in my upcoming contest to be announced on Thursday & I believe another bloggy friend out there will have one for her blogiversary contest prizes too!). I also bought some adorable little lobster stitch markers from her (so appropriate for a girl who grew up on Cape Ann, MA!). Be sure to check out Anita's creations here.

I also got one of my latest bead orders today... wanna see what $45 worth of beads looks like? Seriously folks, this tiny little envelope contained my $45 (after 15% discount mind you!) order. At least when we spend $45 on yarn, it usually amounts to a sizeable package! I'm waiting on some more pewter charms to come later this week and then will get to making some more stitch markers!

Etsy, Etsy, Etsy!

I'm finally live!

Mundane Monday

Where or where did the friggin short, not enough time in the day weekend go??? I can't believe its Monday already... ugh.

I spent Saturday watching Scott win the race and working on some more stitch markers, including sets for Chan's blogiversary contest, my DOT Spring Swap pal, my Mom and even a couple sets for little ole me! Yes, I can finally use my own creations now. I made matching Colon Cancer Awareness sets for Mom & I using dark blue awareness ribbons & swarovski crystals. I really love the way they turned out... hope she likes her set! I also made myself a set of purple paw print markers (purple is the awareness color for animal abuse - you can check out many great "purple paw" items here). After I completed the gift sets, I went on to work up some that should wind up in my Etsy shop within the next couple of days, so keep an eye out if you're interested.

Since I neglected Clapotis all week, I devoted yesterday's crafty time to it....

I'm pretty doubtful not sure of making the March 31 deadline for the KAL, but I'm chugging along. I'm on skein #3 of yarn and have dropped 3 stitches thusfar...

While I knit away yesterday, Matt piped up and asked what I was making. When I showed him the pictures on the pattern he asked if I was going to have to block it.... I was impressed! I think he may've been asking (in a typical manly fashion) when the heck I was finally going to use that monstrous blocking board that we lugged home from Webs last year... but hey, he at least acted interested and he's got the lingo down, right? The dogs, on the other hand, were much less interested...

Sophie & Teutul

Zeus

Lola

I can't not post this one too... 3 dogs took over the couch for much of the lazy afternoon at our house (please excuse the mess of hodge-podge blankets and pillows... if you have dogs, you understand, I'm sure). Notice the girls got the pillows on either end and the boy is stuck in the middle...

By Gobble, its Snowing!

This is what I saw when I was getting ready to leave for work this moring...

No gobbling about it... its friggin snowing today! At least its just snow showers, off and on, but it did make for a slippery commute on the backroads this morning. The dogs were loving it though, especially Lola. {as always, click their linked names for more new photos... I just uploaded a gazillion} You should've seen how wiggly she got when I opened the door and she saw snow... which prompted some super girl zipping!

Tut and Zeus were happily romping & zipping too...

Princess Sophie decided since she'd already done her business when Daddy let her out, she didn't need to be bothered to go romp in the white stuff... maybe later.

I was trying to be artistic while rushing around trying not to be late for work this morning. Cute?

Speaking of trying to be artistic... I have photographic proof of my beading labor over the weekend!

3 chokers ~ all for gifts, 2 of which were mailed out this morning (with added extras) ... can you guess to whom?

Some stitch markers that are packaged up and ready for sale...

I mailed out a set of markers on Monday and hope the surprise/thank you arrives today. Another set went out this morning along with a knitted item (insert drumroll... with that my Pay It Forward packages are all out...yeah!). I plan to get some more markers made this weekend and finally up on Etsy!

Now, what's the gobble about you ask? Well, let me show you. Once I got to work this morning (the snow had started to be more wet and less white... before going back to heavy white flakes), this is how I was greeted (excuse the not-so-perfect cell phone camera pics)

No, you haven't lost your mind and yes, those are turkeys! They appeared on our office lawn for a couple days back in February and we hadn't seen them since.... until today. Today they were not only on the lawn, they spent the morning greeting each of us at the front door. We literally had to walk thru them. They also spent some time entertaining & greeting passersby...




They gobbled a bunch and gave us some pretty shows with their feathers before moving on later this morning...

So, tonight is knitting night (woo hoo!) and I'll be working on my Clapotis. I'll be back tomorrow for your blog reading pleasure with Zeus' birthday photos for Dogs on Thursday (I'm totally convinced now that you all read my blog more for the doggy photos than knitting content anyway...). Before I leave you for the day, I did want to show off this...

This hammered/textured white gold pendant (which is on a funky, double chain that you really can't see in the photo) was part of my Valentine's present from my honey and I absolutely love it! We saw it at the jewelry store a few days before V-day when we were picking up something and I just fell in love with it. He went back the next day and snagged it! I've never been one for this type of gold jewelry before (i.e. not a costume/fashion piece) but I thought it was so unique and very cool... so there's my 2 cents of bragging for the day. Happy Hump Day!

Spring Ahead?

Did everyone remember to spring ahead this weekend, despite the fact that it seems spring is still a million miles away? I replaced our snowman slate hanging thingy on the front door with Mr. Bunny yesterday ... so that entitles everyone to think Spring, right? It rained all weekend and we have a f&$%*$g wet basement, which sure does make it seem like spring... Then I got in my truck to head to work this morning and the temp read 17 degrees... bbrrr.

Did everyone have a crafty weekend? I worked another 12 row increase repeat on my Clapotis and then switched to some other WIPs on Saturday. Yesterday was my race watching and beading afternoon and boy do my hands friggin hurt show it today. I got 7 or 8 sets of stitch markers completed for a LYS, a couple sets for gifts and 3 choker/necklaces which are all gifts (I plan to get some done for my soon-to-finally-have-something-in-it Etsy shop next weekend). One of the sets of stitch markers is going out in today's mail as a surprise/thank you to a dear friend and one of the chokers will be going out this week as a Pay It Forward surprise.

Despite the back-to-the-daily-grind Monday blahs, I got a smile on my face when I stopped at the post office this morning and found my Loopy Ewe order waiting for me! I got one of the new Kitchener Stitch dog tags for myself and one to put in my swap stash and some very cool merino wool. It is UrbanGypZ hand painted twisted sock yarn in the vibrant Ave Maria Sangria colorway. The cell phone photo doesn't do it justice, but it is gorgeous! I'm planning to use it for the Lydia Scarf by Lazy Kate. The pattern calls for 150 grams of DK weight yarn, which according to this handy converter equals 5.2911 ounces. The skein is only 4 ounces, so I am guessing I will have to adjust the length of my scarf.... I think the easiest way would be to weigh the yarn after the first section (before starting the main body of the scarf), then do the silly math calculations to figure out how much I used.

Happy Monday... see you over at the Multitasking 9-5 board?

Another FABulous Swap Box!

Last week I received my swap box for the Fall Into Autumn Dishcloth swap. It arrived a little late, but my wonderful spoiler was the amazing Cass and she emailed to let me know things were a tad behind a couple times and actually revealed herself in email prior to the box's arrival. And boy was this box so worth the wait! LOOK!!!

Everthing was wrapped up so nicely... one package even had a little dog collar & "woof" tag wrapping it!

Until I tore into it all faster than the speed of light and found all this yummy-ness!

OMG, can you say S-P-O-I-L-E-D??!! Cass included one of the most wonderful, kind notes ever and explained to me that this was not a traditional "dishcloth swap" box per say, but it came to me with a spa theme. Me loves spa theme... very nice!

There were so many cool & unique things inside the box, inlcuding knit-theme hand stamped mini note cards, a "Wag More, Bark Less" (such words to live by!) sticker that will soon find its way to my car and the coolest little notebook that was made from a Black Dog Ale 6-pack box.... how friggin' cool! Cass included my babies and sent them some great chicken & carrot organic dog treats that they've been drooling over! And... there were, of course, some wonderful handknits & beautiful cotton yarns...

There you see a most amazing stoneware mug with a custom knit cozy (this is going to be so perfect all winter long!), 2 face cleansing cloths, a face scrubby and a luxurious eye pillow (for which I was eyeing - no pun intended! - and anxiously awaiting the pattern on Cass' site!). There's also yarn ... 2 skeins of Sugar 'n Cream, a skein of Cotton Ease and a skein of Pakucho Organic Cotton that I can not wait to try! It is made in Peru and feels so super soft.

Then there's the "mmm... good" part of the package...

There is a vanilla travel candly, Te Tao bath & body set, chocolate, tea (including some Teaology Lavender Mint that I can't wait to try) and the most delicious Butter Cream coffee, which we've made 3 times now and love it. It goes especially good with the seasonal vanilla spiced rum coffee creamer that's out now! YUM-O!

Thank you Cass... this was a fan-tab-ulous spoiler box and you really nailed me to a "T"!

In other knitting related news, I spent some time packaging up my first few sets of stitch markers that will officially be for sale at A Knitter's Garden (I'll get to some more for Etsy shortly, after I finish all the knitting & gifts for the AKG Open House). Here's the first 8 sets of "Stitch Markers by Lapdog Creations"...

Here's a close up of 2 of the sets...

Stay tuned for a recap of my Dog Needle Felting Class...

And Now, She Beads!

Yes, I've finally gotten around to taking a stab at making beaded stitch markers! I'd bought a bunch of supplies ions months (heck, maybe even a year??) ago, but had never gotten around to sitting down with it. So... with a little inspiration from the beaded bracelet class at Violet Bleu last month and a little kick in the arse need to be bringing some extra cash into the household (I am still hopefull that someday yarn shops & MasterCard will team up to offer cash back for yarn purchases...), this is how I sat down to watch the race & Pats game last Sunday...

After a good hour or more spent organizing the above mess in to nice little plastic caddies, I spent a few more hours ranting, cursing and ouching... the end result? The very first Lapdog Creations stitch markers...

What do you think? (honestly, the photo doesn't do them justice... my bad for taking it at night) I have to get my wire loops & wraps a little neater and more uniform, I know. The black & white ones were actually the first set I made and I think my favorite so far. I brought them to knitting night on Wednesday and everyone seemed to like them... I hope that was honest feedback! I picked up some more supplies on Tuesday and plan to spend some time on them this weekend. I realized stitch markers are not a great project for evenings after work... my tired eyes need daylight shinning in the windows (or else I need to go invest in one of those overpriced craft lamps & tables).

As for knitting, I have 2 finished objects, but the photos are still on the camera so you'll have to wait. Would you settle for some New England foliage eye candy instead? These are from my front yard.

Tut's birthday cake photos are still on the camera too, so how about he & Sophie's modeling of the "Tricks for Treats" t-shirt from Old Navy? They both got to participate in the Dogs on Thursday Halloween Parade yesterday (as unorganized Mommy is still trying to find the cutest photos of Zeus in his devil costume from when he was a puppy... still hopeful to find them before Wednesday!).

As usual, I got the largest size & it fits like a muscle shirt...

It was a little big on Sophie...

Just don't mention it being snugg on body concious Teutul... otherwise you'll get some dog-attiude... (yes, he is sticking his tongue out at you)

A few more modeling shots...

I love this pic of Lola & Sophie... I think Lola wanted to try on the shirt too! You can also see the ham that Sophie is becoming... she's no longer shy or scared when its come to getting her attention. She pushes right on thru our dogs, sometimes going under their legs, sometimes giving them a good 'ole hip-check (she's got the move down!)... its pretty hilarious!

TGIF... have a great weekend! GO SOX! (and Pats, and Tony Stewart, and... )