Wishing I Was in Alaska

We've bitched & moaned and barely survived our mini heatwave here in Southern NH... with the past 2 days being a sweltering 98+ degrees with high humidity and plenty of "bad air quality" warnings. Right about now I'd kill for do almost anything to take one of my dream vacations (Alaska & Hawaii top the list for those of you who missed my Virtual Vacation answers)! I just checked weather.com and get this - today's high in Anchorage is a lovely 66 degrees! Fortunately, we are now in the midst of a "cool down" - today's high's are around 88/90 (still high humidity - ick!), then we're supposed to move in to the 70's tomorrow - woo friggin' hoo!! Did I ever mention how much I love fall?! The cool down is an added relief as this is NASCAR weekend at NHIS and we will be up at the track on both Saturday & Sunday (70 degree is a dream for any NASCAR race weekend!).

So Alaska... even though I may not be able to drop everything and run there now, I did receive some wonderful Alaskan treats from my Summer Dishcloth Swap pal, the lovely Martina! I do appologize for taking so long to get this posted, as I received my package last week. Here it is...

Martina made me 2 beautiful cloths is gorgeous shades of purple and included the sampler booklet that she used the patterns from! She also sent me 2 skeins of Knit Picks Shine in the crocus colorway and a skein of Dale of Norway Stork in a lovely lilac shade (which I can not wait to knit up!!)... and for the super goodies, here's a close up...

A small jar of Alaska Tribal wild blueberry jelly, Seattle Chocolate's truffle bar (yum-o!) and the coolest soap ever... Seaside Opus "Soap in a Parka" rosemary lemongrass soap! This is so cool... the soap smells wonderfully amazing and its all wrapped up in wool. I can't wait to use it!!! Martina called it "soap in a sweater" - true! Thank you Martina... everything is absolutely wonderful and very much me!!! I'm now signed up for the 2nd round of the swap and can't wait to see who I get to spoil this time around!

It's not quite FO Friday yet, but my FO from last week is another Duduza Doll, which I dropped off in the growing basket at Joanne's last night (I meant to take a pic of all of them, but forgot... Joanne said she was going to take one to post on her blog this week though!). Here she is (yes, its a she... note the pink beaded hat!)

And as I taking the photos, Zeus decided she might be good to eat needed to be sent off with a kiss, so I let him pose with her...

Did that get you saying "awwww??!!!" If not, how's this for an "awww" moment?

That's my niece Tabitha with Miss Lola at the family cook out we had at Mom & Dad's last Saturday (special note for my friends & family who haven't figured out when something is underlined in my blog text, its a link to a photo or website the lesser experienced blog users, make sure you click all of the links to the names for more pics - I even spent an extra few minutes going thru and putting the links in blue for you this time!). I love the sweetness of the pic on the left and the one of the right was the "doggy, doggy, doggy... hi doggy, doggy" pic. Lola drew the short straw and got to go since we try to only take one at a time to events/outings, sometimes 2 when its the dog park or something, but for visiting family or friends and hoping we get invited back one works well. For those of you thinking we should take all of the children everywhere, have you ever tried taking 3 spazos who weigh in at 65, 90 & 120 pounds??? Yea, I didn't think so... Zeus had just gotten to go for an r-i-d-e earlier in the week too... see???

Here are some more pics from Saturday...

My nephew, the little heartbreaker Jacob (please ignore the evil empire outfit... his parents thought it would be funny...)

Tabby & Jake are 2 of my brother's youngest (youngest Benji was home with pain from those darn pieces of white bone pushing thru his gumsas he is teething and not the happiest little camper). This is a picture of the 3 from last Halloween. Tabitha is turning 4 next week and Aunty bought her this beautiful dress, which she promptly had to model...

My brother's oldest/my oldest nephew Matt just turned 20 - and boy does that make Aunty feel old!!! I've got to go and dig up the great pic I have of he & Lola from when she was about a year old and put it up so everyone can compare it to this one...

Speaking of Lola, my little girl is turning 5 next week (that links to last year's birthday pic)! I just can't believe how fast time is going by (I swear after 30, life goes into instant warp speed...)! She spent most of the day keeping an eye out for dropped food (and yes, she got enough for all 3 dogs plenty!)...

Back to knitting... I do have several WIP's but nothing that was worthy of a photo. I cast on this tank top Tuesday night and got a couple of rounds worked. I've picked up my alpaca shaped scarf and worked some more rounds on it (no hurry for it, esp when its 98 friggin' degrees!). I did finish the first of my ankle socks, but forgot to photo it... and need to cast on the second one. They've been a slow knit because they're kind of boring, but I will finish the pair. I wound up some yarn the other knit to start my shawl and another pair of socks...

I have done a little bit of stash enhancement this past week, but since a couple of packages just arrived I don't have photos yet. I will say this... to all sock knitters who haven't checked out The Loopy Ewe yet, click below!!!

This place is wonderful and I have my secret pal (who has yet to reveal herself) to thank for introducing me to them! Loopy is run by some wonderful people and they have a great selection of hand dyed sock yarns. They also run "The Loopy Club" where you get all sorts of fun stuff... with each of your first 5 orders they'll send you a free gift, then you are an official Loopy Groupie which gets you a whole new set of gifts & perks! Also, they keep track of your spending and for every $250 you rack up, they'll give you a $25 credit - nice!

I wanted to thank everyone who's contributed to my ASPCA fundraising efforts thus far (see the banner/link at the top of my blog), including Lisa, Karen, Christy and Dad C. & Sue ... however unless you tell me that you contibuted, I don't know who you are and can't thank you personally (since my counter only shows total $ raised, not who donated)! So far I have $65 in donations that are unaccounted for... was it you? Please do remember that every little bit turns in to something big and I do hope you can contribute if you have not already.

Well, back to wishing it were Friday work for me ... my lunch hour is over! We're heading up to ManchVegas tonight to see Cirque du Soleil Delirium. I love Cirque du Soleil shows - this will be my 4th different one (I think... or is it 5th?). Happy knitting & racing to anyone heading out to NHIS this weekend!

Dog Days of Summer... and a FO too!

This post is going to be a little photo catch up from the past week... and I even have a FO for your viewing pleasure (though it was really finished last Saturday)! Here is the petal dishcloth I made for my pal, blogless Cheryl in Texas, for the Summer Dishcloth Exchange...

This was a fun knit and I do plan to make more of them. They would make a great trivet or doily for your table as well! I just got an email from Cheryl and am happy to report that she loves it & the package of goodies I sent. She even nominated me as a Terrific Treater! Cool! Its just so awesome knowing she loves the things I picked out for her. I had fun with this swap (even though I've yet to receive my package, though my spoiler says it is on the way - yea!) and have already signed up for the Round 2 "Dog Days of Summer" dishcloth swap... have you (hint: click on the link in the above paragraph!)?

I thought I had taken a photo of the Duduza Doll that I finished on Sunday, but it wasn't on the camera... next post. For now I have some "getting organized" pics. One of the anniversary presents Matt got for me was this gorgeous jewelry box from Bombay Company. He got it thinking I might be able to organize some things in my "knitting corner" (and it actually matches the wood of the bigger Bombay Co jewelry box I have so if I ever wanted to put it near that one it works too)... He was right and had a great idea! Look...

The top has a nice metal "dish" that is always open (the top closes on each side around it - great catch-all for little things like stitch markers & darning needles) ... then each side of the top opens for more storage, as well as a drawer. I've now got all my notions and gadgets tucked away and - get this - they're a heck of a lot easier to find when I need them now!

Doggie update... I've heard from Dottie's new family a couple of times this week and it sounds like she's settling in quite nicely, which is wonderful news! Here's a little photo journey of her last couple of days with us as she was really starting to show her personality and settle in...

Hanging out with Teutul...

I'm damn cute ... and you know it!

Trying to get Lola to play...

She got Lola to play... and wrestle!

Exploring the great outdooors...

Proud foster Mommy (now Aunty

Nichole?) with another success...

Getting her measurements taken (you just never known

when someone will make a custom fit gift)...

And yes, that is my new sheep tape measure she is "exploring"... but at least she didn't eat it like the one Dustee enjoyed! :)

We're taking a couple weeks off from the furry houseguests now, since we have a couple of busy weeks and weekends coming up. So our kids will get some down time as well, though they do seem to be missing Dottie almost as much as Lola missed Dustee!

In knit/fiber related news, I received my registration packet from The Knit & Crochet Show and am looking forward to a fun filled day of spending way too much money browsing & shopping with Mom-Sue that weekend. Sadly Joanne realized she has a family event to attend and won't be joining us, however she and I did sign up for a Double Knitting class next month that I'm very excited about!

We're off to Gloucester for a family cook-out tomorrow and I hope to get some knitting done while there! Have a wonderful weekend and I'll leave you with some recent photos of the kids...

Lola wanted to show off her very own "Lapdog

Creations" logo pillow that just arrived...

Zeus just wanted to look cute...

And Tut, well he was just happy to

once again be the baby of the house...

Happy Summer... Happy Knitting!

Calling all dirty doggies...

If you live around the Lowell, MA area and are in need of a wonderful grooming experience, please check The Grooming Emporium!

The Groomin Emporium was just opened by my good friend Tanya, who is a wonderful, dog loving person ... and just also happens to be an experienced groomer and new business owner! I am proud that she has asked me to help her out with her marketing efforts and I will be doing a lot of her flyers, advertisements and other collateral materials (how do you like her flyer above... hint, hint). And yes, you can use the coupon on that flyer above... its good thru 8/31!

I don't have any knitting news today, except that I mailed off my final goody box to my Secret Pal 10 person and also the box to my Summer Dishcloth Swap gal. I'm not sure when or how we were supposed to "reveal" ourselves, but I did so inside both of these boxes. I hope they both enjoy their goods!

I also forgot to download more photos of cutie Dottie off the camera, but did snap this cute one on the camera phone of my honey & the little girl from Saturday (when we had to bring her down to Mass for the quarantine). Her new family will be picking her up this evening and I'm looking forward to hearing from them!

A Day of Knitting & Stash Enhancement!

Saturday was my first time attending the annual Granite State Knit In and it was a day filled with knitting, fiber and friends -- and some yummy food too! I was elected to drive and headed up to Loon Mountain (a pretty drive, though much more interesting in the fall) with Joanne, Marlene and Marlana at the crack of dawn. We met up with Lisa and a few other familiar faces there... signed in and it was immediately off to classes (after grabbing the must have cup of coffee... did I mention we left at the crack of dawn!!??).

Marlene and I took a 2 hour "Finishing With a Difference" class which was interesting, then I had my "Knitted Beaded Earrings" class. It wasn't really a class per say, but more of buying a kit and following along with the very simple and quick pattern. The instructor was there if you had questions, but that was about it. They were fun and very easy to make though. Here is the pair I made in class...

Cute (despite being difficult to photograph well)? They'll make quick and easy gifts if I can figure out some friends & family that would wear them (hint: if you like them, speak up!)...

After classes, it was time for lunch and I was impressed! Joanne had said the lunch was yummy, but I wasn't expecting things like baked fish, spinach & strawberry salad, perfectly steamed broccoli & carrots and delicious rolls (and more!). It was good! After lunch it was time to SHOP! I was quite impressed with my self control frugal and walked around the vendor area a couple of times before deciding on my purchases, which were very few.

I got a kit to make a 2nd pair of the earrings (this one has the beading needle included which my one from class did not) and also a kit for a knit beaded Christmas ornament.

My only other vendor purchase was a bit of a treat however. I scored a skein of Mountain Colors sock yarn in a gorgeous, deep, dark colorway (which the name is escaping me at the moment) that I had eyed since my first visit to that table.... and the real splurge/treat, an absolutely beautiful skein of Great Adirondack Yarn's Sireno, 675 yards of a super soft 50% silk/50% wool (again I forgot to write down the colorway name). I was going back and forth on this one and which colorway to get, but both Joanne & Lisa though the colors were perfect for me and my plan is a nice fall shawl (for which I am now searching for the perfect pattern - any suggestions are much appreciated!). I also grabbed 2 pairs of Brittany needles in sizes I needed...

I did pretty good with the self control, no? I did purchase one of the huge tote bags that I understand was last year's goody bag/gift - and I'm glad I grabbed mine before lunch because there were only a handful out and I guess that was all that was left because I ran in to about a dozen people after with the "I wish I got one in the morning before they were gone." This bag is big enough to run away from home with bigger than any other knitting or tote bag I own - I actually put the knitting tote I brought inside, along with both of my purchase bags and my goody/gift bag they gave this year ... and still had room! Here's the bag along with the contents of this year's gift bag, which included a GSKI bookmark, a skein of yarn, a nifty needle sizer that looks like a jewler's ring sizer, and more ...

I also spent $5 on raffle tickets... and got 15 free from the 2 hats I donated. This is the carousel hat that I donated and entered in to the hat contest...

After days of trashing all of the button sections of AC Moore, Michael's and Joanne's Fabric searching for carousel horse buttons and coming up empty handed, I used some farm ponies, lambs and cows. Sadly, my hat did not finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd.... part of me wants to complain because it appears they put out the ballot box before all of the hats were on the table to judge (including mine!). I had at least 3 people tell me that they had already voted (1 vote per person) and that my hat was not out at the time they voted. Darn it. I also did not win anything from the wonderful raffle prizes either. Actually, none of us won anything and Joanne was even helping draw the numbers. Some girls won multiple raffle items... one girl must've walked away with 5 or 6! Guess now I know why people were buying miles and miles of those little tickets...

I might not have won anything, but at least I know my hats are going to a good cause and I especially hope the carousel hat brings joy to a needy little one (I forgot to photo my second donation hat, but it was just a simple blue infant hat)! My kids despised were reluctant models Friday night after I finished it up...

That's Lola on the left and Zeus on the right... Teutul was too macho to wear the baby hat (or maybe still embarrased by that bib photo)!

The low point of the day - get this! - I forgot to bring a WIP to the knit in to work on during the speaker/raffle and down time. Oopsie! It would've been nice to have something to work on while Lisa worked her felted grapes, Marlene worked on her baby sweater and ... the woman next to Lisa kept dozing off! I hate to laugh, but it was pretty funny. She was even knitting and would doze off, jump when her head started to fall and then doze again. Talk about entertainment! I also forgot to bring the digital camera, but instead had the dinosaur old fashioned film camera. Which means I'll have photos to post in time for next year's Knit In I can't post pictures until I finish the roll, get it developed, pick up the photos....

I made up for the lost knitting time yesterday by casting on a dishcloth (my first "round" one) for the lovely lady I get to spoil in the Summer Dishcloth Swap and making a new mini sock for my sock blocker keychain (I figured it was time for some springy colors and since my wonderful secret pal spoilee sent me a great mini sock stash, I had to get knitting). Here's the dishcloth in progress, as well as my ankle sock (in Sereknity Triple Scoops) which I worked on just a bit over vacation...

And here's the new mini sock, done in the springy colorway Foofaraw from Blue Moon Fiber (hey, does that mean that my mini sock blocker now rocks??)... and the "out with the old, in with the new pic..."

Question for my fellow mini sock knitters... what do you do with your old socks when you remove them for a new one? I'm trying to think of something more creative than just tossing them all in a basket... ideas?

I also wanted to share my little stash enhancement from just before I left for vacation. Joanne had a great sale over at A Knitter's Garden and I brought home 3 skeins of Wool in The Woods and a beautiful, luxurious hank of baby pink alpaca. I'm not totally sure what I'm going to do with the wool yet, but am thinking about making a lace dog paw print scarf with the alpaca. Isn't it gorgeous ~ if only they had touch-o-vision for blogs!

Joanne also had a fun and brain-jerking word scramble contest as part of her sale and guess what? I won! Yes, I did win something! I got my lovely prize on Saturday... a yummy strawberry shortcake bath set, complete with 2 of the softest hand towels ever. Thanks Joanne!

Dishcloth Swap Contest Answers

OK, here are my answers for my Summer Dishcloth Swap Contest, as part of Anne's group...

If you were going to be whisked from your home and taken to a desert island to live out a year of your life....

What one CD of music would you take?
That's a tough one, but I think I'd lean towards John Mellencamp's Words & Music Greatest Hits.

What one book?
That's a little easier, I think it might be At Knit's End by The Yarn Harlot... I can read those pages over and over again and still laugh out loud. Something that would keep my laughing is a must.

What one hobby-related item?
Knitting needles & yarn of course - and since it says "one item" technically, that would have to be something sold as a kit to include the needles, yarn & pattern, right??? ;-)

What one person?
That's easy - my honey.

What one food? (no, you couldn't survive on a single food, I'm just SAYING)
Pizza!!!!!

Spring Into Summer Dishcloth Exchange

Here's my questionnaire for the Summer Dishcloth Exchange (signs up are open until May 5th for those of you interested!).

1) When did you learn to knit? Who taught you? My Mom tried to teach me when I was a young child. I learned basic stitches and made a blanket for my dolly, but never stuck with it. I decided to get back in to it about 4 years ago and have been seriously knitting now for about 2 years.

2) What was your very first completed object? Your most recent? That blanket for my dolly… I’m guessing I was probably 7 or so. When I got back in to knitting it was a dishcloth. My most recent finished objects were a dishcloth for my Secret Pal and a DUDUZA Comfort Doll .

3) What was the very first thing you sent to the frog pond? (pulled out and started over) Your most recent? I don’t remember the first thing, but recently I frogged a capelet about 4 times before continuing on and finishing it up (and it still resulted in being too small!).

4) What is currently on the needles for you? A shaped scarf (100% native alpaca), a Booga bag (Noro), a second Duduza doll, a dishcloth (cotton), a couple of scarves… I always tend to have lots of UFO’s or WIP’s.

5) What types of needles do you enjoy working with? What have you tried and hated? I love Addi Turbo circs and bamboo DPNs. There’s nothing I really hate except maybe the old fashion metal needles that go clickity-clack, although the have their place with some yarns. I’d LOVE to get some Lantern Moon sox sticks to try!

6) Have you knit dishcloths before? Yes!
A) What was your favorite one? I made some face cloths for friends for Valentine’s Day that had a heart in the middle and used a gorgeous hand dyed chenille yarn.

B) Least favorite? Never really had a least favorite… all are fun!

7) Do you use homemade dishcloths or face cloths yourself, or give them as gifts, or both? Both, of course!

8) What are your favorite and least favorite scents? (For your body, such as soap/lotion/etc)
Favorites: Vanilla, Lavender, Pumpkin, Pomegranate, Green Tea, Ericka's Mow The Lawn soap (actually, I've yet to smell one of Ericka's soaps that I don't like!)

Least Favorites: Lilac, Rose, Clove, Grapefruit

9) What are your favorite colors? I love all shades of purple (light, deep, in between), blues, pinks and autumn colors

10) What colors (if any) are your bathroom and kitchen decorated in? My kitchen is a sage green color and my bathroom is lilac.

11) What other hobbies and crafts do you enjoy? I’m a beginning drop spindle spinner. I want to do some beading (stitch markers) soon.

12) Chocolate: Dark? White? Milk? Ew? YES!!!!! Milk and white.

13) Do you like salty treats? What kinds? Not a big salty treat fan, but I do love macadamia nuts, almonds & cashews (prefer lightly or no salted kinds). Also love chocolate covered pretzels and peanut butter stuffed pretzels!

14) If you could go anywhere in the world for one day and spend the day any way you wanted, where would you go and what would you do? I’d love to visit Hawaii, Australia, Ireland and Alaska. While I’m day dreaming, a nice realistic day would be hanging out without any housework to do, knitting, chatting & hanging with friends/family and good food and wine. Oh yea, and chocolate too!

15) Do you have any allergies? (Yarns, foods, etc. that might impact what your pal can send) Things from a non-smoking household please.