Sunday Quickie

This will just be a quickie Sunday post due to... 1) I'm starving and need to go get some late lunch, 2) I want to go sit and watch more of the NACAR race, 3) I really need to go work on my Ravelympics project and 4) I can hear thunder in the distance and the sky looks like this as yet another frigging a thunderstorm is rolling in...

The kids were lounging out on the porch when I heard a couple very distant rumbles as I was taking some WIPs out there to photograph... No sooner did I get a few pics snapped, a rather loud distant rumble came and I've never seen 4 dogs run so fast to get inside in my life!

Here is the said Ravelympics project, the Offset Wraplan baby sweater which I cast on an hour ago (and really should have started 2 days ago but got a bit sidetracked)...

One of the things I was sidetracked with was a square for Luke's blanket. Silly me tried to get extra creative by casting on with fingering weight yarn on size 2 DPNs for this...

With a super busy weekend, and 2 days in to the square, I quickly realized I had to forgo this square for Luke's blanket and instead cast on something that would knit up much quicker, as they needed to get it in the mail quickly to Michelle. With that done, I have decided the above square will be the first of many to be knit over several years months to come and will result in a Barn Raising Quilt (for those not on Ravelry, the pattern is in the Knitalong book). I'd been thinking about doing something similar with leftover sock yarn, so this is a perfect ongoing project (and I'll always have Luke to thank for getting me started).

My other sidetrack is the chemo cap project for which many of you know about. If you haven't heard yet, I've put out a call for chemo caps (deadline August 25th) through my fellow knitting friends, the Purling Petals and the Multitasking 9-5 Ravelry group. I'm collecting as many as possible to bring up for my Mom & Dad to donate to the hospital where they have both received chemo treatments over the past year. Again, not to do a simple and quick knit, my first one cast on was the eyelet chemo cap from the Knitting for Peace book.

As you can see, its still in progress. I'll finish this one, as well as some simple caps too. My Mom made one for a special older lady who's going through treatments for brain cancer, but quickly realized a need for them at this hospital. Hopefully we can fulfill that... at least for awhile.

Quick Dad update... he has one more week of radiation treatments (two times per day) and then will meet with doctors to discuss status. If the tumor in his neck has not shrunk enough for the doc's liking, surgery may be the next step. His throat has been very sore from the treatments and he is using the g-tube now, despite his stubborness. Thank you to everyone who continues to check in, send good vibes and keep both of my parents in your thoughts.

We can still hear the thunder, although we don't seem to be in the direct path for this storm... but there are plenty more showing on the radar map to come. So with that, I leave you for today and will be back tomorrow with another review & winner announcement from the Pampered Paw gifts review!

Royalty, Purling Petals, Hooey Hounds & a Moose

Happy Doggy Thursday! First off, please don't forget that you have until midnight tonight to enter last Thursday's contest for the Lapdog Creations Gift Basket from Pampered Paw Gifts!

And now, on to our regularly schedule programming...

Today we have 2 special guests joining in the Thursday fun. Here are the honorary Purling Petal dogs themselves...Luke and Angus {as always, linked names = more cute pics}!

Aren't they just darling? Look at those eyes on Lukey!

It is still pouring cats and dogs raining here in New England, but fortunately we had a short break in the rain a couple weekends ago (yes, it has been that long since we've seen the sun) and I managed to snap some cute new pics of my own purling furbabies...

Queen Lola, being nosey keeping a eye on things...

Princess Sophie, in a rare moment on the porch when she's not chasing some sort of bug...

King Tut, always making sure to let the world know that he's still the baby in the house, even if that pesky little sister is around (don't they look so cute together though... my 2 hooey hounds)...

Zeus the Moose, always uber photogenic, even when being pestered by a little brother...

Enjoy the rest of your day... hopefully its not raining where you are!

Wordless Wednesday

I know several of you do the "Worldess Wednesday" thing and I never have before, however since I am without words or time for another review today...

This is what is on my 365-day Calendar on my desk at work today and I couldn't resist not sharing the cuteness!

REVIEW: GoKnit Pouch

GoKnit Pouch
Where to Find: Knowknits

I received one each of the 3 sizes of GoKnit Pouches for review - small (pink), medium (camo) and large (turquoise) - and took this as an opportunity to get more than my own little one perspective on the item. Which means... I enlisted fellow multitasking knitter, and my good friend, Chan to assist in the review!

I put the small pink pouch to good use, and Chan kept busy dragging the medium camo pouch all around with her. While we were both a bit skeptical at all the buzz about these seemingly basic looking bags, and both confessed we'd already feel head over heels for other project bags, we knew we had to put these bags through the paces of our rigorous multitasking days...

GoKnit Pouches are made of a very lightweight material that reminded Chan of the parachute she played with in elementary school gym class, with just the right mix of slick and needle-poke resistant. We both quickly realized how useful this material is, as we're both multidog households. As any other crafty doggy-Mom out there will surely tell you, a means of keeping yarn clean, as hair free as possible (yes, we know this IS an oxymoron, but we try) and dry is important! Chan noted that her bag quickly survived the test when her puppy knocked it off the coffee table with her tail, and then proceeded to shove her nose in it. A damp paper towel removed the nose prints, and before Chan had tossed the towel in the trash, the bag was dry and happy! I had a similar incident when my baby girl decided she just had to lick Mom's knitting bag.

Chan trekked onward, taking the GoKnit Pouch along on a day trip in her husband's truck (the man's vehicle: yet another place many of us know we need to have our yarn protected in).

There, the bag proved invaluable and shall forever be "the truck project bag." The outside loop unsnapped to allow it to hang on the dash grab bar and the inside loop (to feed the yarn out) saved a lot time and kept the yarn clean as can be! Except when nearing the end of the cake of yarn and those inevitable tangles happened, she didn't need to reach inside and tend to the yarn.

At first the loops looked pretty ordinary to me (I was still trying to find out just what all the fuss about these bags was), but I quickly learned how much I like heart having the inside loop to feed the yarn out too! I've been housing my Cross Stitch scarf project in the GoKnit Pouch and the loop is doing wonders at keeping the Rowan Colourscape flowing nicely along as I knit. I haven't used the outer loop to attach to anything besides my beltloop just yet, but loved Chan's "truck bag" concept! This will be put in to use for me at Matt's racing on Sundays for sure, where in the past I've usually ended up dropping my project bag on the ground or having to prop it up on something that might get greasy.

Chan's next project has already moved right into the bag and she mentioned how great it is to have something that can travel to the firehouse without fear of soot and dirty man-hands. We both agreed that those two, very simple snap-loops are more user-friendly than some of the other alternatives out there. The inside of her camo bag is a little dark, but that's the only thing she could criticize. The bags are not lined (which would only add weight and bulk), so it's a fair trade to leave it unlined if you purchase one of the darker colors. I did not have a problem with the pink bag in this area and the turquoise is also on the lighter side.

Chan says that she can now see why some of her friends think this is the ONLY project bag that will do, and suspects she'll soon be purchasing at least one more GoKnit Pouch, in large for those baby blankets that don't like project bags. I myself will surely be using both the small and large size bags a lot - I can already think of many places (not just Matt's racing!) where keeping my project clean and in a spill proof bag will be key!

The large size has a longer draw string that you can actually sling over your shoulder, making it somewhat of a shoulder bag when on the go. And as you can clearly see, it passed the Teutul test as well!

We also both agree that while you can find a better price and even a prettier, more stylish bag, for functionality, GoKnit Pouches can't be beat!

Chan: Thanks Nic, for sharing this with me. I'm rather sure I wouldn't have given this line of bags a try, but the chance to use it won me over.

Nichole: Extra special thanks to Chan for guest reviewing - this was fun and I hope to do some more combined reviews with you in the future!

No, I Won't Sit

After a 3 day weekend, its another mundane Monday ... and time for a little ranting blogging catch up!

Thursday night was the Extreme show in Boston, which was great! I should've brought my camera, but didn't... so crappy cell phone pics it is...

 
On Saturday night, we headed North to the sticks to catch Boston with Styx opening. The show itself was great - both bands were amazing, however the venue and people left a lot to be desired. Here's Styx...

I spent most of the time watching their set with a bunch of over-the-hill jerks behind us screaming non-stop for us to sit down (nevermind the fact that people in front of us were standing). They never even asked once nicely or normally, but instead just started screaming rudely and acting like they owned the joint as soon as they walked to their seats. HELLO? You're at a rock CONCERT dumbarse! If you want to sit down, go rent the DVD and stay at home. And if you're going to be outright rude, you bet your sweet arse I'm going to be standing up even when I don't really want now (evil laughter inserted here... people are so stupid, I may only be 5'2" but being a Boston girl with an Irish/Portuguese temper, you really have no idea). Jerky boy even went so far as to go to a security dude and ask him to tell me to sit... he looked at me, I said "no" and he just shoke his head and walked away (probably laughing). Ugh. Some guy in the next row came back in between bands, double fisted with the beers and loudly proclaimed, "Just so you know, I'm going to be STANDING for Boston." Ha Ha. My new drunken best bud...



Boston was great (as always) and the addition of Michael Sweet on this tour was amazing! As if we hadn't dealed with enough idiotisms from the locals in the sticks of Northern NH, while we were waiting to exit the parking lot (in bumper to bumper traffic) the dumbest of the dumb threw her truck in reverse and backed right in to us. Then acted like it was no big deal... why would we want her insurance information? why would we want to have the bumper she just scratched to hell painted? I guess in the sticks those things don't matter... after all, they're rude enough to scream at you to sit during a rock concert, why wouldn't they just enjoy playing bumper cars?

A much better show of hospitality was had at The Knit & Crochet Show in Manchester, NH last weekend! I bumped in to many friends and met some wonderful new people too, including the amazing ladies behind KOALA Caddie {side note: I will update with contact information later as I can not locate any information on the web and have her business card at home}.

Koala Caddies are unique craft aprons that you truly must see in person to understand and appreciate their versatility. While I personally can't see myself using one, I can see them being an excellent knitting/crochet bag for many others. I talked to the owner for several minutes about business and urged her to venture to Etsy. Of course, my favorite was this super cute "Knitmare on Elm Street" version (I did purchase a yard of the fabric online and may have to enlist one of my seamstresses buddies to make me some sort of project bag soon!)...

I both spotted a few projects I loved... namely the Mermaid jacket, which I oohed and ahhed over last year too.  However I simply can not justify the cost of the kits (and the yarn isn't even that nice)...

I did make some lovely purchases though! I picked up some beads and supplies, a very pretty handmade glass button (that I couldn't get a good photo of to save my life) and some yarn... not alot, but what I did buy was what I loved!

2 skeins of Maple Creek Farm bamboo/merino/silk in the colorway Chocolate Mint Truffle. Each skein is 500 yards and one of them may be destined for a Virginia Shawl

2 skeins of Tess' Designer Yarns... Super Socks & Baby in a pink/blue/purple/green/yellow colorway and Baby Bunny in a beautiful blue color...

I spied Mary Beth Temple stocking up at the discount yarn booth!

It was a fun afternoon with shopping, talking, networking and just plain fun! And of course, it was great to see MBT and Little Loopy again before they headed back to Jersey. We're not sure if the show is coming back to NH again next summer or not, but we're hopeful...

Spoiled Rotten Doggies

Yes, that's right...Spoiled ... I have 4 of them and they're all vegged out, sleeping within inches a few feet of me as Mommy wastes time paying attention to that screen instead of playing with us I type. I took a vacation day today and boy am I glad! My allergies have been kicking my arse all week and I'm still tired after last night's awesome Extreme concert (one of my most favorite bands ever!). Then tomorrow, we're off to see Boston (which is always a special show since a Boston concert was Matt & I's first offical date)... so taking today off was a great idea!

Now on to some blogging catch up and those spoiled kids of mine! We received our Dogs on Thursday Summer Swap package in the mail earlier this week from Sue - and my oh my, how Sue spoiled us silly!

This is what happened when I started to open the big box... that's Teutul on the left, Lola on the right... being super nosey and hogging everything, as usual!

The top layer of the box was comprised of 4 of the cutest stuffed toys, which I had to grab back from my little pain in the arse thieves angels for photos...

I managed a quick group shot of the toys before they were stolen again... a duck, 2 different doggies and a sheep, which Sue specified was for Teutul due to his infatuation with love of sheep expressed on my blog in the past (Sue really went digging did her homework and read back pretty far in to my old posts, including this one). Sue - you'll be happy to know he did take a shining to "the sheep that quacks like a duck!"


Moving on in the layers of the bottomless box... Sue really knows how to spoil both the furbabies and the humans! This...

Turned in to all this...

WOW... in addition to the 4 stuffed toys, there were 2 boxes of treats from Three Dog Bakery (a favorite in our house), a bubbler maker, Black Jewell kettle corn (which was marked "to share" - and yes, they do love to sneak some popcorn from Mommy & Daddy), a jar of Apple Pie Almonds (yum-o!), White berry tea, the awesome "Rescue Dogs Rock" baseball hat (so true!), a "Love A Dog, Heal The World" coaster, 2 books - Things I Learned From Knitting & 50 Secrets Humans Should Know, my new favorite bookmark that says "Keep Your Paws Off My Book!" and some craft supplies - paw charms, paw ribbon, iron on doggies & dog theme buttons. I love it all - thank you so much Sue!!! You really took the time to learn about me and my kids.

Some close up shots...

Zeus finally muscling his way in to check out the goodies...

Teutul, Lola & Zeus investigating...

Sophie and Lola with their family of new buddies...

The kids have been beating the daylights out of playing with their buddies ... and yes, I'll admit that at least 3 of them have already been de-squeaked... but its okay, they're having fun. Thank you again Sue!