Dog Days of Summer Dishcloth Swap Questionnaire

Here are my answers for the Dog Days of Summer Dishcloth Swap...

1) Do you knit, or crochet, or do both? How long have you been knitting \ crocheting? Knit only. My Mom tried to teach me when I was a young child and I learned the very basic stitches back then. About 4 years ago I decided I wanted to get in to it again and asked her for some supplies at Christmas. I would say I've truly been a knitter now for about 2 years....

2) Have you knit dishcloths or dishtowels before? Yes!

3) What are your favorite cotton yarns? Is there a cotton or linen you’ve been dying to try but have not? For dishcloths, Sugar 'n Cream is a good 'ole go-to, but I do love trying out other cottons, including Debbie Bliss, Knit Picks and Lion Brand. I just got a skein of Dale of Norway Stork that I can't wait to work up ... I would really love to try some Blue Sky Organic Cotton and Vickie Howell Craft!

4) Are there any cotton yarns you don’t enjoy knitting with? So far I haven't really found any that I didn't enjoy.

5) What type of needle do you prefer using? (Metal / Wood / Plastic) I love good quality wood needles and Addi Turbos. I'd love to get my hands on some lovely luxury needles from Lantern Moon, including the coconut palm straights and sox sticks.

6) What other projects do you enjoy knitting or crocheting? I love knitting small projects (near instant gratification) ... socks, hats, mittens, scarves, bags... I adore the One Skein Wonders book ... and I do have several sweater projects lined up to do also.

7) Do you have other hobbies or enjoy other kinds of crafting? I am a beginning drop spindle spinner and I hope to soon find time to start some beading (stich markers and such). I like to read, spend time with my dogs, try out new Rachael Ray recipes (not that I have any time for cooking lately), traveling, touring wineries when on vacation, etc...

8) What kind of treats do you like? Chocolate? Candies? Nuts? Yes, Yes and Yes... I love chocolate (milk & white), sweedish fish, Haribo gummy raspberries, chocolate covered gummy bears, chocolate covered pretzels, macadamia nuts, almonds, peanut butter cups.... do I need to go on?

9) What colors are your kitchen and bath decorated in, if any? My kitchen is a sage green color with icky brown cabinets... Bathroom is a light purple lilac color with butterfly & dragonfly accents.

10) What are your favorite colors and what colors do you dislike? I love all shades of purple (lilac, wine, mulberry, etc), blues, reds, sagey greens and autumn colors. I dislike neon shades and large quantities of bright orange & yellow.

11) Do you drink coffee? Tea? Other beverages? Yes and Yes. I can not exist without daily coffee am a big coffee drinker and love light to medium roasts and flavored coffees. I do enjoy teas as well. I drink a lot of Diet Coke, Pomegrante juices/teas, Vitamin Water and other flavored waters. Also love the drink mix packets that you can dump into a bottle of water! And you can never go wrong with a glass of wine!

12) Do you have any kids (human or pet variety!)? Three of the 4-legged variety, which you will see all over my blog - Zeus (6 yrs), Lola (5 yrs on July 4th!) and Teutul (3 1/2 yrs).

13) Do you have any allergies? Cigarette smoke.

14) Please share 3 tidbits about yourself that you think your pal and other swappers might find odd or interesting.
a) I am a big NASCAR fan. I love Tony Stewart, Scott Wimmer, Ryan Newman and JJ Yeley.

b) I'd love to open my own business someday that would combine my love of dogs and knitting/fiber arts! Since a doggy day care/yarn store combo wouldn't be every knitter's dream (can you believe that some people are not knitting dog hairs in to their projects constantly brushing dog hair off of their knitting??!!), I'm thinking along the lines of a Friends Central Perk type of coffee shop where you bring your doggies and knitting along to hang out with good friends, drink java, knit, gossip, share doggy tips, share patterns, etc (and yes there would be knitting, doggy & coffee related merchandise - my perfect one stop shopping spot!). {Note to anyone thinking of stealing my idea... I will hunt you down ... I will... really... but hey if you're in New England and want to be a financial backer, look me up!}

c) see this post

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!

Happy 1st Day of Summer!

You Should Spend Your Summer in Europe

You're in to almost all forms of culture - art, music, architecture, food...And spending a summer at the beach sounds pretty darn boring to you.So head off to Europe, where you can have your tiramisu (and even eat it on the beach!)

Where Should You Spend Your Summer?

Anyone volunteering to send me to Europe for the summer??? Yea, I didn't think so... but maybe I'll get a European spoiler in the Knitter's Virtual Vacation Swap??

Note to all doggy parents, rescuers and lovers... please take a second to check out my sidebar for the Dog Detective website. A fellow dog Mom forwarded this to me -- great source for lost / stolen / found dogs across the country. Help spread the word about the site!

And a special thank you to those of you who've already donated and helped me in my goal of raising $1000 for ASPCA (see the fundraising banner at the top of my blog)! Unfortunately they don't tell me who donated, so unless you send me a note I don't know who you are... so far I do know of Lisa, Karen and Christy. Thank you ladies - you are awesome!

I promise some actual knitting content coming soon!!! I finished another Duduza doll over the weekend and already cast on another, plus have several other WIP's - my ankle socks, lace headband, shaped scarf... and am about to cast on a shawl, tank top and felted bag. :-)

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!

Don't give me the middle finger!

Some mindless weekend fun that I found over over on Lora's blog and thought I'd try it out... surprised I didn't get the "weird" comment like she did, but it says she & I get along well! And hey, if I don't answer right away, please remember... "I am off in my own perfect little inner world...."

You Are a Ring Finger

You are romantic, expressive, and hopeful. You see the best in everything. You are very artistic, and you see the world as your canvas. You are also drawn to the written word. Inventive and unique, you are often away in your own inner world. You get along well with: The Pinky Stay away from: The Index Finger

What Finger Are You?

Spotted Girl ... Found a New Home!

Dottie has found her forever home! I'm both sad & happy at the same time. She's only been with us 1 short week, but has been such a love and we are sure going to miss her lots! She was extra special due to her shyness and the way we had to get really involved with helping her settle in, letting her know that we care & love her and that she was in a safe home. It was great to teach her as much as we could in the past week and to help her gain confidence in so many new things. We started out with the scared little doggy who wouldn't go outside for 2 days, to the still-a-bit-shy little doggy who's been chasing around our big dogs to play in the morning, enjoying her chewies at night and - yes! - going outside to brave the big, open world on a leash and doing her business! I've even got her to the point where she'll walk out the door with me on her leash (Matt still carries her all the way to the back yard).

This pic is from one of those "let me back in the safe house" days where she didn't want to come off the front steps... as you can see, Zeus helped her and let her know he was there to protect her....

Dottie is going to be living only about 20 minutes away, so we do hope to be able to see her again. Her family promised to keep in touch and send pictures (always the added "Nichole Clause" for my adopters - ha ha!). We took her to meet them last night and they were wonderful! I walked away truly feeling that they will be very patient & understanding with her and give her lots of love, which was really important. They have 2 young boys who both adored her, as well as a 2 year old Jack Russell (appropriately named Jack!) who was in love with his new little sister! The special moment of the night was when Jack brought over his ball and dropped it at Dottie's feet ... then a little later, after she had taken over his bed, he brought her another toy and gave it to her. It was such an oooohhhhhh, aaahhhhh cute moment! Dottie's new Mom even said Jack cried as we were leaving with Dottie... poor guy! But he will soon have his new little sister home on Monday afternoon (since they live in Mass, poor baby Dottie has to go to the facility for the mandated 48 hours of quarantine tomorrow... and you all know how I feel about that!).

Here she is on the car ride over last night... she was very hesitant and a little scared, but she rides very well in the car! (sorry for the dark pic - cell phone cameras!)

I got some more pics that I'll post later... need to get them off the camera.

On the knitting front, I don't have any FO's to report today... I didn't get much knitting done this week at all, except for working some rows on my lace headband at knitting guild Wednesday night. I need to finish up my dishcloth for the summer swap and get that package in the mail on Monday, as well as my final package to my Secret Pal 10 person.

Before I end this post, I wanted to mention the ASPCA fundraising button/banner at the top of my blog. Please take a moment to click on it and considering helping me in my fundraising efforts for the ASPCA and homeless animals everywhere. I set my goal for $1,000 - if you can, please join in! Every little bit counts and adds up to something big, so whether you can give $5 or $50, it all counts and helps a great cause!

Stray's Prayer

I came across this today and just had to post it. Please take a moment to read and think about the thousands of animals in shelters & on the streets...

Stray's Prayer

Dear God, please send me somebody who'll care! I'm tired of running, I'm sick with despair. My body is aching, it's so racked with pain,and dear God I pray, as I run in the rain. That someone will love me and give me a home,a warm cozy bed and a big juicy bone.

My last owner tied me all day in the yard. Sometimes with no water, and God that was hard. So I chewed my leash, and God I ran away. To rummage in garbage and live as a stray. But now God, I'm tired and hungry and cold, and I'm so afraid that I'll never grow old.

They've chased me with sticks and hit me with stones, while I run the streets just looking for bones! I'm not really bad, God, please help if you can, or I have become just a "Victim of Man!" I'm wormy dear God and I'm ridden with fleas, and all that I want is an Owner to please!

If you find one for me God, I'll try to be good, and I won't chew their shoes, and I'll do as I should. I'll love them, protect them and try to obey....when they tell me to sit, to lie down or to stay! I don't think I'll make it too long on my own, cause I'm getting so weak and I'm so all alone.

Each night as I sleep in the bushes I cry, cause I'm so afraid God, that I'm gonna die. And I've got so much love and devotion to give, that I should be given a new chance to Live! So dear God, please answer my prayer, and send me someone who will REALLY care..

That is, Dear God, if YOU'RE REALLY there!

Author Unknown

Even if you're not looking to adopt or foster, maybe you can donate just a little to your local shelter or rescue (its sometimes as simple as dropping off a box of dog cookies or sending a check for $5 or donating your old blankets & towels or giving an hour or two to help out at the shelter ... or even just paying attention to your surroundings and not turning a blind eye if you see a stray or lost animal on the side of the road ... every tiny bit counts!). Speaking of which, I just wanted to publicly commend Sonya on her wonderful rescue of "Black Dog." I don't think she was ever even intending to foster, but it looks like she's gained a 4-legged family member! We need more Sonya's in the world... Through knitting & blogging, I'm meeting many, many wonderful ladies friends who are involved in dog rescue... scroll through my list of favorite blogs on the sidebar and you'll find many of them. It's amazing how many knitters are also involved in dog rescue!