Louie on the catwalk

This is our new dog, Louie. He is a Cavipoo. A real sweet puppy with the kids and shares the same birthday as my daughter. That was our sign that it was meant to be. A different kind of dog to get used to since Golden Retrievers have always been our dog of choice. Unfortunately Lucy didn't work out for us. She was re-homed with a family that had older children. As hard as it was to see her go it was the right decision for all of us. She has been with this new family since January. By May we were getting the itch for another pet and found Louie.

My daughter knit Louie a sweater. It turned out a bit on the smaller side. Fit him like a corset or maybe a Slendertone. We had some good laughs with it on him. Here he is strutting his stuff. I think he was enjoying his showstopping experience or rather was running to me to get it off of him.



As I was saying in the post prior to this I have been cross stitching quite a bit. I'm even working on a few of my own patterns. But I still managed to pick up my knitting needles throughout our summer. July was the month for knitting. Our family took a camping trip to the Black Hills and to make the car ride bearable I started a sweater.



Really, something for me and something to wear! The Candy Stripe sweater by Spud & Chloe is going really slow but by spring I should be able to wear it :)





Tomorrow is back to working mode. We had a great summer together and I'm sad to see it end. I also have one entering kindergarten (boo hoo) but he's excited which puts me a little at ease.




Annie

Hello

Life is sure getting in the way of blogging. I even had special requests to update this.

What's the update? Not much knitting but a whole lot of partying.

*We celebrated our daughter's ninth birthday a few weeks ago and tomorrow we celebrate our son's fourth birthday.
*My husband and I enjoyed a short stay on the North Shore at our favorite resort, Larsmont. We went snowshoeing on what we thought was a 3 mile loop and ended up being 5+ miles. I'm glad I survived to tell you about it.
*We attended the Mpls Home Show and heard Shane Tallant speak. He is quite funny and had some great stories. My daughter and I got his autograph afterwards and if I can figure out how to get a picture off my phone camera I will share with you. She's excited 'cause she's sitting in his lap. Lucky girl.
*Attended a Variety Show at my daughter's school. She was the accompanist and her friend sang. Very sweet.
*I won second place in a contest for a bathroom makeover. All the tile we need for our project was the prize.
* I've been sewing sweater mittens. (I'll post pictures later)
* I'm knitting some Fetching for a friend

See, I have excuses. What are yours?

Win some....Loosen some

I will be loosening this one. Not a winner. Loved the sample in the store, even tried it on but just don't love this one on me. It's cute on her but not so much on me. So there it sat on my closet shelf for the entire winter season. Unworn. Sad. Lonely. Did you hear that noise in the background (ribbit, ribbit) I will be frogging this to make a cabled scarf instead, I think. It's too expensive to just sit on a shelf. Love the yarn: Chunky Misti Alpaca. It's so soft and squishy. Maybe I'll have to buzz over to Ravelry to see what else I might be able to make with this yarn.
I've noticed a theme in bloggyland lately. So many projects and ideas but so little time. I, too, have a list of things to knit, crochet, sew, paint, craft etc. but not enough time to begin or finish. High on my priority list right now is making a reversible purse I saw in the last issue of Sew Simple magazine. Hopefully I find it simple to make. My sewing skills are a bit rusty. I've borrowed a sewing machine from a friend and it's time to make use of it. Here's the scrumptious fabric I'll be using:

I want to bathe in it it's so divine. In fact her whole line is yummy. LOVE pinks and oranges right now. And it has a cute name ;) ha As I said earlier, the pattern is in the magazine and they give you a pattern but say to enlarge it by 400%. So I just measure all sides of the pattern and multiply each by 4 right? to give me the actual dimensions???? TIA

Then there's more sewing to come...have you seen Heather Bailey's new store and more specifically her patterns? Even though I'm way in debt I had to have this and this.
Ok, the last thing I'll mention about projects is that I want to make a recycled sweater blanket. I've been pretty lucky to find lots of woolly goodness at thrift stores and garage sales but I've come across a few cashmere sweaters and so now I'm on the lookout for more. I want a big throw for cuddling so I need a few more. It's going to be so snugly.

Lastly, we returned Monday evening from a mini trip to Duluth. We brought the kids to see an airshow featuring the Blue Angels. But I think the highlight of the trip for them was swimming in the pool at the hotel, and the big inflatable airplane they climbed and slid down (which lasted all of 15 seconds). It's the little things, I guess.

R & R

This past weekend my husband and I had a little getaway on the North Shore (Lake Superior) and stayed at our favorite resort. The weather was perfect so we ventured out and did some snowshoeing and hiking on the Superior Hiking Trail. I feel like I'm in a different part of the world when I go there. It's simply breathtaking!
We also managed to sleep in, watch movies (uninterrupted), grill steaks, drink wine, surf the web and I was able to get a little knitting done. Simply divine!

Here is my progress on the skirt. I think this will be one of those projects I'll just have to pick up when I have some time, knit a row, then set down. It's really going to take a long time...

It felt like spring was in the air today. Lots of sloppy puddles everywhere and dirty snowbanks. Not so pretty. I can't wait to see spring flowers.
I've been working on a few fun "spring" patterns by Marie Mayhew- Easter eggs and chicks. I still need to felt and embellish them but here is a sneak peak: