New Year's Countdown (again)

Finished Craftster Swap

From August until now, I was participating in a Tea Towel Swap on Craftster (I'm "Dancing Boots" over there). This is where you decide on a theme and then send your towel to the next person in your group of six. You embroider and then keep mailing to the same person, working on different towels until yours is returned.

I just received my finished one today. My theme was 50's diner/roller girl, and here's what I received:

I have to admit that this swap was a bit exhausting - the person I was sending to was difficult to reach and didn't communicate when towels were sent or received. I don't want to be negative, so I'll just say that I may not participate in a swap for a little while - I'll just concentrate on my own projects. The organizer was fabulous and the challenge is fun, but there was something about this round that wasn't as thrilling as the others. Maybe in the spring I'll be in the mood to try again.

If you want close ups, let me know and I'll photographs the work individually otherwise you can see the seperate images in the Craftster thread (link)

Paw Cozy 2

Oh I just found this photo of the Paw Cozy - with the cabling detail....

that's a little better of a photo isn't it? (Is the image 'hot' on your screen? If it is, sorry about that)

Finished Objects - then and now

Now that Christmas is over and presents have been received, here are some photos of the things I made.

First up I made one for my mum and one for my brother and SIL; this is a big mitt designed for your hand and a retractable dog's leash to be inside. The idea is that with mittens or gloves, the possibility of the retractable leash flying out of your hand when you're walking the dog with a glove or mitten will be decreased as you have your leash and your hand inside the mitten. There is a cable up the sides and a buttoned flap which allows you to put the leash inside and stay inside. The retractable part fits through the little tube. If I'm not explaining it well, check the pattern - you can get the pattern and see more photos here.

From a kit at a quilt shop, I made these Sock Monkey pillowcases. I was in such a hurry to finish them and get them in the post so the presents would arrive in time, that I forgot to include a note that they were handmade. When my SIL saw them, she instantly wanted to get the whole sheet set! They didn't even know I had made them! I had to break the news to her that there probably isn't a sheet set to match these ones, but there are sets out there - see here for example.

The top photo has more accurate colours - and the pillow case is straight, I just took the photo at an angle. The red strip is a sewn on piece.

I think I'd like to make some pillow cases for myself now.

And speaking of monkeys, I made a set of Monkey Socks for my mom in Berroco Ultra Fine Alpaca - they are very soft socks and she tells me they fit her well. I just love the colour too - up close you can see bits of mustard and blue and plum - so they'll go with lots of things - I believe Berroco calls the colour Prune Mix. If you are looking for a nice soft but durable sock yarn then you should give this a try - and the hanks are a good size as I had a fair bit left over. (I know bad self portrait but again, I was in a hurry to get it in the post - I think there's a shadow giving me an extra baby toe as well)

And finally, this was made after Christmas not as a present, but part of a set I promised to make for my mum. It is counted cross stitch and is about 5 1/2" x 7 1/2". More designs can be found here.
(wow - everything has a web link to it - welcome to the age of the Internet)

And now I am knitting something for myself - this is the Shapely Tank Top which I am knitting in Knit Picks Shine. (details on my Ravelry page) So far I've knit about 6 1/2"

Besides the crafts I have also been doing a fair bit of cooking - today I made a pineapple and whipped cream dessert for JP and tapioca for the kid. In a minute I will start on a late Christmas dinner with turkey breasts, potatoes, stuffing, Brussels sprouts, gravy, bread and salad.

Whew! Thank goodness I don't have to work tomorrow! I hope you're getting some time off and enjoying the holidays as well. And I bet many of you in the lower mainland who drive probably went out today for the first time in 2 or 3 days - am I right?

Countdown Clocks

Shnow, Shlush and Shugar cookies

To help out my old girl, I followed her through the yard and made her a pathway when we had our first big snowfall. This saved her from doing that hoppy thing that dogs do in the snow.

1. Here's the weird 'hoppy' thing:

It's very hard getting her picture in the snow because she moves just so dang fast, and I should have waited until daylight -but you get the idea.

2. Here's Jazz enjoying her pathway(already covered with more snow) :

And now that it's warmed up (2 degrees) and it's been raining heavily, the bottom of the patch is grass but the wet snow is still all around on the sides. She'll venture into the deep snow when she's following a scent or other important things she must do, but otherwise she seems to very much enjoy her pathway (Thanks to my brother for giving me the idea).

3. And here's Jazz doing an impression of one of those 'digging dog' garden ornaments:
Christmas was good to us, and I hope it was good to you as well. We were well fed and kept warm. Our family and friends gave us nice gifts and all is well.

Today we had a bit of a power outage from 4:15am to 9:45 - the kid slept right through it and doesn't even know about it. Jp went outside earlier with the portable stove and boiled us some water for tea - ahhh, it always tastes super good that way. We had heard the power was going to be out until the afternoon so we're pretty happy it came back so quickly.

We're not going anywhere today. Jazz's vet appointment was canceled due to the power outage and so I'm spending the day between thes activities: playing MillionHeir on my Nintendo DS, knitting (a tank top-I know it's the wrong season), embroidering, walking Jazz (when the rain lightens up), listening to music with my new headphones, reading and cooking. I'm starting to wonder if my multiple interests should really be considered 'attention deficit disorder' or do I just have lots of interests. Ever heard the saying "saying your bored means you're boring"? I suspect a mother wrote that to stop her kids from whining, but I don't think I could be a boring person because I always have some activity to do (insecurity alert, insecurity alert: am I a boring person? eep, maybe you're reading my boring blog and nodding your head.. aiyee)

Anyway, it's too wet and sloppy to go outside so we're going to stay warm and waiting for all the yucky white stuff to go away.

8 inches, people!

Yup, there is 8 inches of snow here and more is still falling. Yesterday we went to the library and picked up a STACK of magazines and some books. Jp, he's a fast reader - after dinner he picked up a book and 2 hours later he was done. Me, I don't read that fast plus I always have little distractions like letting the dog out, or thinking of other things. He may read fast but I have really good comprehension and that is how I'll console myself since I can't read as fast as he can.

Yesterday when were picking out the magazines there was a guy there snoring away at a table - it was kinda funny because you don't normally hear snores that loud in public but sad too. I am grateful that I have a home and a warm and comfortable bed to sleep in. And I hope you're all home, safe and sound and warm too.

The snow on the tops of these garden items look like little gnome caps don't they? There is now less than a day until we can open our presents - are you excited? very excited? or couldn't care less?

Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas.

It seems we're having an unintentional international week of pre-Christmas dinners - Saturday was Japanese, Monday was Greek and Wednesday will be Italian - you know, we all need some Christmas Cannelloni don't we?

I've been given this week off work and I've been filling time very nicely -watching a bit o' TV, reading, cross-stitching, shoveling snow, taking The Jazz out for a walk or two and some baking - yesterday I made Banana Bread muffins, sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies. Today (yawn, stretch) I'm not sure what I'll do yet, but I know I'm enjoying it!

Yesterday's dog walk was great - it was above zero and the snow was more like sand (or dry pastry dough before kneading) - what a great leg work out - for about 20 minutes until I hit a windy area and then I was ready to come home.

The biggest key to success this time of year, is making sure none of it is stressful - which starts by not seeing any in-laws (hee hee, just kidding babe - I know, it works both ways).

For years, my mum made Christmas a terrific time of year with great decorations and wonderful treats, it was always a cozy atmosphere, but after she moved away it has been hard to find my own traditions and style. I would get sad because Christmas only felt like Christmas at her house. But since I can't always travel to her house this time of year, and with Jp I think I'm finally learning what Christmas is to me, to us.

Here's a little acrylic nutcracker that is one of my favourite tree ornaments. I think I like his painted blue eyes the best.

And here's a lady who knows what we're going through in our house this time of year. Remember those felt slippers I made? I found they were great on the tops of my feet but couldn't do enough to cut the cold from the floor - so I put them INSIDE some other slippers (that look like UGG boots) which have a plastic soul and a lot of foam padding on the bottom and now my feet are not cold as long as they are in these super slippers.

(P.S. I still like Christmas at my mum's the best).

Just hangin'

Since all the presents are done, we're enjoying our free time. I finished another knitted project - but just need to weave in the ends before I can take a photo. I started on this cross stitch for my mom - it's a picture of a black kitty on top of an ironing board,which I'll post when it's completed.

This morning we went out early to buy our Christmas groceries and rents some DVDs and games for the week. It's been fun working on whatever craft project I come across first and it's nice to have free time. This morning I made some bran muffins for brunch and tomorrow I'll do some Christmas baking. Quite the Home Ec session, isn't it?

I'm feeling a bit melancholy about not being with family at Christmas time but I'm reminding myself that not having travel at this time of year and especially with this weather is a good thing. You just gotta take the good with the bad, right?

Merry Christmas to you - and please be safe out there in the snow and ice.

Countdown Clocks

Doggie DVD

My brother sent me an article from the May 2008 issue of Reader's Digest, called "Best In Show" by Steve Burgess. The author talks about dog friendly remote controls (a thing of the future) and dog DVDs (a thing of the present). The article says "the DVDs offer plenty of motion to catch your dog's eye, and music designed to soothe".

So do we all have to take our wall mounted TVs and stand them on the floor like we did when he lived with futons and cinder block bookshelves? I don't think my dog even bothers to look way up there to see the TV and she certainly isn't going to be encouraged to watch TV from the furniture.

Are the owners truly thinking of their dog as a means to provide additional stimulation, or is it a substitute? If you take your dog for a good walk before work and one when you get home (assuming he's locked up for 8-10 hours per day) then he'll most likely sleep as dogs have done for centuries (well the ones that were housebound and not working)

Or, is this just another way for some people to make money and for owners to spend money?

Jazz only pays attention to the TV when dogs are in distress (like the Vet TV shows) - but my mom says her schnauzer, Finnegan, watches TV and I've heard other dogs that are interested and even react to certain TV shows. According to the article, dog expert Stanley Coren says "nose-oriented breeds are less likely to respond to the TV". It would have been good for Jazz if she had paid attention to sounds electronically transmitted because I had hoped the Desensitization CD would have helped cure her noise phobia - but she paid no attention to it - no matter how many decibels I played the fireworks and gun sounds - she had no reaction. But shoot a kid's cap gun in the house and you've got a real reaction.

Is this the next doggie evolution? Or just people novelty?

Countdown Clocks

To Teach is to Learn *

I went to, what I consider, a pretty progressive high-school. For example, kids were given a tabloid newspaper listing of courses and allowed to choose their following year - you'd be given a choice of say 8 or 9 science classes and you had to pick 4 of them. Or you'd have to have English 9 (or whatever grade you were in) and then three other English classes. We had a quarter system so we had four 10 week sessions which seemed like just the right amount for a class and perfect if you had a student or teacher you wanted to get away from. With seven classes a quarter and only 5 per day they were in full rotation so you never got stuck with PE after lunch or that kind of thing.

One of the classes I took (for credit) was Tutoring. The bad news, my grade was determined by how well my tutee improved and no matter what I tried, some kids just couldn't be tutored so getting a lower grade because of them stunk - but hey, that's life right? Always a lesson to be learned.

Today's inspiration has me nodding my head as I recall teaching percentages to one kid, and basic algebra to another. And after teaching another, I realized how much better I understood the basics too.

There is an old saying that goes "those who can't do, teach" ** which used to infuriate my mother (who has a B.Ed). Her point was that it didn't apply to all teachers - and I agree. A hockey player who no longer has a chance at the Stanley Cup can still be an excellent coach, but the saying doesn't apply to teaching English or French for example. And by teaching, you can 'do', because by repeating the lessons you can become better a something - be it math, or english, or knitting, or even sports.

Oh I could talk about teaching for a long time - but I'll spare you - it's almost time for Christmas Break (or Winter Break as I think it's now called) and the teaching lessons are very light right now so I'll say "class dismissed"

* Chinese Proverb

** (read this for an essay on the phrase, and teaching)

Wooly Wristlets for Wednesday - WOW!

Remember that grey wool I used to make my felted slippers? I had some left over, so I made these cute wristlets, at first I wasn't so thrilled with all the detail, but once I finished them, I'm glad I did and being wool they are definitely keeping the cold off the backs of my hands while I type. It's kinda hard to take a photo of your own hands- did you know that? The pattern's from 101 Designer One Skein Wonders. And just in time for me to shovel the driveway again - okay, actually I'll wear full gloves for that. So far we've got about 1" of fluffy white stuff and it's minus 3 degrees C at the moment. Do you think it'll stay for a White Christmas? Why is it so important that we get a White Christmas? Anyone?

And finally, our countdown:



Countdown Clocks

Countdown to Christmas!

Countdown Clocks

Because it is cold and because I'm done my Christmas knitting for others, I decided to make some felted slippers for myself. I used undyed wool that I bought at the Whonnock (Maple Ridge) Weavers and Spinner's Christmas sale. Basically you knit a really large pair of socks.

the before: with a sock to show the sizing

the after: after felting

It only took about a day to knit, but it took about a day and a half to dry so I'm am wearing them this morning. Oh, the pattern is: Fuzzy Feet from Knitty and they are fuzzy, and they are warm.

~~~~~

When I get up in the morning, my office/workroom is only 14 degrees. But I'm not complaining because I know there are people who definitely have it worse.

My parents and brothers used to live on a farm in a drafty little house with only a wood stove to heat it. My mom recalls getting up in the middle of the night to stoke the fire and check on her boys (I wasn't bornded yet) and slipping on some ice on the floor that had been accidently spilled when my dad was carrying fresh water into the house. Ice on the floor in your house means it had to be zero degrees inside- now that's one cold house!

Cold House, Warm Feet

This weekend seemed to be very short, even though it was the normal two days. I think because the cold wind kept me indoors it all blended into 1 day.

Saturday night I made cabbage rolls which were very yummy (but take about 2 hours to make). And then I went with my neighbour to look at some Christmas lights, except I thought we were just going to sit in the van and maybe walk around a yard or two. I didn't know we were going to be invited in - oops, mamma always said to dress up when you go out. The host gave us a tour of her lovely home - with 11 Christmas trees - all fully decorated including many handmade ornaments. And one of the most amazing things was the fact that the home had burned down 8 years ago so (almost) everything she showed us had been purchased or made after the fire. There was a blue and silver themed tree in the living room. A white tree in Grandma's bedroom, a skinny tree in the kitchen (for practicality) a 2' tree in the laundry room with little knitted mittens and socks held on to the tree with little clothes pegs, a 'family' tree with ornaments the grand kids/nieces/nephews had made which included their photos and a little story about what they wanted to be when they grew up(rescued from the fire!). And a very nice dedicated craft area(I wanted more time with grandma's stash too). Boy, if this was my aunt's/grandma's house I think I'd be there all the time! And it was very warm!

My house is not warm. And this cold wind is not helping at all. Brr. It was -5 this morning outside and 14 degrees in my office/work room. So there are there space heaters in the rooms to help warm some spots up. And I knitted me some slippers this weekend which I felted (washing wool in hot water to purposely shrink)- I'll show the photo later today when they're done drying. But the best thing we did was about 2 weeks ago we bought a heated mattress pad. Ahhh! Now that's nice.

When I moved back home in my early 20's, my parents gave me their basement to live in but the bedroom was a bit cold(did I mention I hate being cold?). That's when my father told me about heated mattress pads. Electric blankets didn't work for me because I was a rather active sleeper back then and I ended up breaking the wiring in the electric blankets (although I'm sure they're made much better today.) I remembered my dad's suggestion and suggested to JP that we get one for our cold room. Ahh! Thanks Dad. It's so nice having a warm bed. There are two warm places in my house - the shower and my bed. And if you take those away from me - I will be a very grumpy girl! I do not like being cold at all. No I don't.

I hope you're all staying warm too.
9 MORE DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!

A finished project - Airy Scarf

Finally I can show you a finished object - here is a mohair blend scarf which I knitted for my neighbour:
Boy, it's tempting to keep this for myself. This is from the book "Last Minute Knitted Gifts" and you can view more details on Ravelry if you're a member (I'm "wayoutwear"). Now I think I'll do some embroidery.

It still hasn't started to snow here and JP missed a business lunch downtown because of it (long story). He's not happy he missed it and it didn't snow; easy for me to say "better safe than sorry" but I'm glad he's already home.

Have a good weekend - snow or not.

Did I say Boll Weevil?

Okay this kind of blows my mind - yesterday was "the birthday of the Boll Weevil Monument? In1919, the people of Enterprise, Alabama, dedicated the world's largest monument to an insect. The monument consists of a statue of a lady wearing a flowing white gown, arms stretched above her head to display a big black boll weevil. Triviafans: the lady originally held a fountain, not a bug! " (credit: Audri and Jim Lanford)

Find out more here.

I had no idea that the boll weevil would receive this type of attention. Did you?

I was going to suggest that the full moon had something to do with all this muddling but then I remembered a couple people saying it's been going on for a couple of months. So I'm still waiting to hear a theory. In the mean time, this is a nice wish don't you think?

And I'm sorry to report that Bettie Page passed away yesterday. Thank you for so many things sweet lady, we're missing you.

"Keeping up" is easier than "Catching up"

Oh boy, ain't this one the truth. Staying up to date and staying organized really is better in the long run.

I've got a a long-winded story, with a bunch of run-on sentences, about trying to buy Olympic tickets for work which included a potential $11,000 purchase, scares of what was being charged, scares of what my employer would reimburse me, lost pass words etc. It was a frantic time and I don't know what happened to my brain. Where was I? Why did I screw this up so much?

And if I hadn't been behind on keeping my desk tidy, maybe I would have written down my password information in the first place, or not lost it if I did write it down.

Even telling the story, it's still all muddled - I'm sparing you the details.

But this experience, to me is a warning message. I need to pay better attention - or next time it might not all work out!

I need to keep up because catching up is too scary for me!

And as one of my co-workers likes to say "give your head a shake".

More corny inspiration ?

Carol thought yesterday's inspirational card was a bit corny - so what do you think of today's?

Today I had a really busy day at work. I think many people are cutting out around the 19th and so suddenly it's all coming in! Wowza. Well busy days can be good because I get more done and it sure makes the time fly but I don't like when you get a call and you can't locate one file or find the answer to one question - and then as soon as they hang up, you find it all. And it only happens to that one guy - so you're sure he thinks you're completely incompetant. No, doesn't happen to you?

Tuesday's Mish-Mash

- Three knitted projects were finished last night - for those on Ravelry you can look (I'm WayOutWear) but for the rest, sorry, you'll have to wait until after Christmas when they've been received.

- Tonight I'll be starting a scarf, my last gift knitting for the season - I'll be looking through my stash to find the yarn. And that one I can post. I am also hoping to get back to some embroidery and other crafts.

- Yesterday I found out from my boss/manager/supervisor that I have December 22 - January 2 off. He just requested that I be on call - not a problem! Yay! Going to love having those two weeks off for sure. And they're not included as holiday days. (My friends in Texas get a laugh from me because I say "holiday" instead of "vacation")

- After an inter provincial search (thanks Mom), we're officially giving up the Wii search. He's now getting something else. We'll just stick with our Xbox 360 for video games for now. But no Wii Fit for me (sob), I'll just have to get my Billy Blanks workout CDs spinning!

And finally, since I know y'all are waiting for it.. here's today's inspirational pop-up card:

Have a happy Tuesday.

Well just like you - I have been busy shopping and socializing: I took Friday off work and JP and I went to Main Street and S. Granville. On Saturday, Carol, Cynthia and I went met in Richmond at Daiso - where Carol said I "went crazy" with my shopping! I bought double what she did - but most are for stocking stuffers at Christmas, really! We had some bubble tea (I haven't had that for so long, it's a wee bit harder to find out in the valley). Then I raced back home (ok, I drove at a reasonable speed really) had about 1 hour to change into a dress, and glam up my hair and make-up and hit the road with JP for a surprise birthday (a friend's not ours) in Ladner! Whew! That's a lot of driving in one day. But I bet you've had to do the same kinds of things!

I have 1 more box of presents to wrap and plan to send things out by Wednesday at the latest. My current problem is finding a box to mail things in - oops! I went a little crazy with the recycling and I have nothing left to ship my stuff in - I hope I don't have to BUY a box!

And now, to up the cuteness factor, and to make you smile - you MUST watch the sweetest, cutest little story-teller I've ever seen


Once upon a time... from Capucha on Vimeo.
I found it on the blog - every little thing.

And today's inspirational quote is:

Grinners are winners - did ya know?

Today's blog post is brought to you by our wonderful childhood pals, Dick and Jane:

I booked today off, Dick.

We're going to the big city for some pre-Christmas shopping.

See what I can buy, Jane.

It's nice to have a day off, Puff.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I always thought grinners were fools or people with something to hide, or lecherous goofs you meet in bars who try everything to get you to go home with them. Now I find out they are actually winners.

Well, I guess I'm never to old to learn!

rooty - toot - toot

I like this one. I didn't know people still "rooted".

root - (rōōt, rŏŏt) intr.v. root·ed, root·ing, roots
To give audible encouragement or applause to a contestant or team; cheer. See Synonyms at applaud

To lend support to someone or something.

And today I root for you and you and you and you! Way to go!

Wouldn't you like to be this comfortable? Even though her face is smooshed and her ear is bent she sure looks comfortable with all her pillows. Her eyes aren't even fully open, she's just that comfortable. Now a days most dogs have a pretty good life. No more spending time outside for extended periods or being thrown scraps of food whenever or being whipped or beat. Nope, our dogs get people food and warm houses and regular grooming and lots of hugs and kisses and advanced medical treatments.

Speaking of which - can you see Jazz's shaved foreleg? She was at the vet's on Friday for her Chemo injection and she was on a table being held by the vet when the vet had to take a phone call. While the vet was holding her, Jazz ripped out her catheter! So she had to get her other leg shaved so they could put a catheter in the other leg to give her the injection. Now that's a dog that's feeling much better!

Last night JP took me to a picture show. We went to see Four Christmases and I have to say that it was good to laugh and take my mind off things. And, I also decided that we would just stay home for Christmas - no driving all over the place to visit people. Nope. Our Christmas is going to be just for us. And there were a couple of things between Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn that JP and I do as well so that was funny for us too. It's actually a pretty good Christmas movie. I'm sure most couples can relate to several scenes in it.

And now for today's inspirational card:

*did you notice typo? We need more proof readers in this world.

((sigh))

Today's one of those days where even the simplest tasks seem difficult. I sure hope I don't go loco this month but I feel awfully close. It's the same pressures that others have - work, home, family, pets - but I feel a bit like it's all coming down around me.

This weekend was a busy one because it was The Kid's 10th birthday. While he was out with his dad I sewed up a quilt for him - I'll post photos tomorrow. He likes it but I need to do some hand quilting in the middle of it - I tried to machine quilt it but it just didn't work out and 1 spent about 20 minutes picking it all out. Didn't need that. Once I get my out-of-town parcels sent I'll work on his quilt some more and then can take it home and I'll never see it again.

I did get to go to a great craft fair with Carol and Cynthia - it was put on by the Whonnock Weavers and Spinners group and featured very unique items. As well they had a different style of presenting the items - they were arranged by colour and were placed on three long 'island' tables. Knitted, felted, woven, ceramic and glass items were all mixed together. You picked up what you wanted to paid once on your way out. This was so much better that having to fiddle with change at each booth. I will definitely return to that show next year. Thanks for the suggestion Carol!

I'm trying to get some projects completed for the Christmas gifts that I mail out and would like to have them in the mail by next Tuesday at the latest - part of what is contributing to my being frazzled. Maybe I should just start drinking.

I have a feeling that my blog posts will sporadic over the next 30 days, however I know that those of you who read this will also be very busy so maybe it works out the best for all of us.