WHEW!

Who knew I'd lose track of all of my time this week??? Not me, that's for sure.

The beagle (or beagle/basset mix--we're not sure) is an adorable, sweet, loving boy. Matt and I got home late on Thursday evening from the shop and I briefly laid down on the bed, and up hopped a sweet puppy dog. Not only did he lay on the bed with me, he snuggled up right next to my rib cage and dropped his head on my shoulder. Major awwwwwwwwwwwwwww moment, right there!

But over the past few days, I've made a major realization about myself. I'm not yet ready to bring a dog into the family. Plain and simple, I'm not far enough along the "grieving path" over Connor to be the type of pet parent I feel I should be. When Matt brought him home on Tuesday it was a good three hours until I would interact with him--that alone should have been sign number one. But both of us refused to surrender him to a kill shelter (or one where he would potentially be put down), and we had hopes someone would come forward and reunite this sweet dog with their family. Three days of the ad runnning in the local paper and four days of both our local animal control and humane society knowing that we have him, and there's only been one call, and it was a false alarm. And yes, before Matt ever grought him into the house, we had him scanned at the vet right by the shop, but they didn't find a chip.

He's sleeping in the new crate we bought for him, on his cushy pillow inside, snoring like a little sweetheart. I went to take a picture for the beautiful scene, but the battery for the camera is out charging and I don't know where Matt keeps it when it's charging. Dammit---he's so darned cute.

It's not that I couldn't fall in love with this dog, it's not that I don't like this dog, it's not that he wouldn't make a great addition to our family--it's just too early right now for me to have a new dog. I'm sad about it, but I wouldn't be the best dad for him right now, and that makes me wish things were different.

No pictures with this post--I've not gotten any knitting done in the past few days and as of yesterday, we have Amy Singer and Jillian Moreno in town, conducting a series of classes/workshops through Sunday. WOOOHOO! Mayem and hilarious for everyone!

Allow Me To Introduce Myself

For now, they're calling me "B"



I appear to have two new FOSTER dads as of yesterday (Tuesday). The one that drives a white car swerved to avoid hitting me and then was kind enough to put me in his white car for safe keeping. I have no collar and no tags, so I'm not sure where I belong. I appear to be a young adult male (1-3 years old) and most likely 100% beagle.

My foster dads are checking to see if I have a home that I belong to, but in the mean time, I'm livin' la vida loca on Kilborn, with new sleeping quarters with a fluffy mattress, new bones to chew on, a fresh bath, and a playmate they seem to call Tate. He's sorta fond of me, but I can get a little annoying at times.

You'll hear more about me later today, but for now, I wanted to make sure I announced my presence to the world!

Just A Quick Catch Up Post

Busy busy weekend, that's my story for now. Today holds out to be an interesting one, on several fronts. Weather-wise, we're looking for our first snow of the year, and it should accumulate (only on grass and cars) to about an inch or so overnight, with snow expected most of the day tomorrow. Or at least that's what the weather forecast last night said. Having been born in Chicagoland in a blizzard year in November, I'm a big fan of snow. And living in a community that's accustomed to snow, they know how to clear streets in these parts. Wahoo! Now that's a nice belated birthday gift.

Speaking of birthday gifts, my wonderful partner conspired with his family, my family, our staff, and assorted friends to make a material goods dream of mine come true


Yup--a fire-engine red KitchenAid hoity-toity deluxe stand mixer, with lots of fun attachments. I've wanted one of these as long as I can remember, and I'm very grateful to the folks that worked together to make it happen. We had a GREAT little birthday surprise party for me Saturday night at the shop, in conjunction with our monthly movie night. A great surprise, followed by cake and gifts, all surrounded by friends and good people. Idyllic!

Also a part of Saturday night, I worked on the last few modules of the Ramblin' Rows Afghan out of Blue Sky Dyed Cotton. It would have been finished Saturday night, had I not left my skein of the last color/last block at the shop that night. So I worked on it Sunday afternoon, during my "Warm Wooly Clogs" class--while they were knitting like mad. All done, see


It may or may not get a border of some sort--we'll see how it blocks out and how I feel about going back to it in a little bit. Matt took a great action shot of it


and looking at it that way, I may not edge it (grin). I'm lazy like that.

So, employing the rule "I get to start two projects for every one that I complete", I did swatch and get started on the top out of the new Manos silk/wool blend I showed off here previously.


Not too much progress yet, but the color play is amazing, as is the hand of the knitted fabric. Here's what it's going to grow up to become


I did the back-and-forth part last night, joined in the round, and now I'm started down over the top of the shoulders (it's a KPS pattern, so they're almost all top-down construction). I hope to get a nice chunk of this completed today, but we'll see what happens during the day at the shop. I am teaching again tonight--this time it's "Toe Up Socks" (for the first time), and I did get the afterthought heel put in my sock (I showed you the gaping hole last post). That was my Sunday morning tv knitting, and it turned out great. I'll share a picture with you in my next post.

HEY--WAIT! I finished something else, actually. I had a little help from a finishing elf who did my dirty work and applied the fringe.


It's BEAUTIFUL in person and is getting quite a bit of shoulder time with employees and customers! Maybe I'll hold this FO until later, so I can start something on a whim when a completely tempting yarn or pattern or ??? arrives.

Speaking of new goods, we're expecting quite a bit over the course of the week. Good thing we have a phenomenal staff! Here's a little shopping temptation based on last week's deliveries...


That's five more shades of Perchance to Knit Hand-Dyed Sock Yarn, in 420+ yards in a hank, complete with a hand-beaded Swarovski crystal stitch marker, all for $25 a hank. This stuff is 100% superwash merino and uber cushy and soft. YUM!

Our kit winder, Suann, was back at it recently.


That's a one-of-a-kind kit for a Tulip Cardigan by Dream in Color. There's just the one, it's $32 (including the pattern), and it's ready to be adopted out to a good home.

Interested in anything you see above? Contact the shop by e-mail or call toll-free at 866-939-BEAR and anyone here can help.

In the mean time, I'm gonna go work on the silk/wool top for a little bit before heading to work. It's a very windy day, but the sun just popped out from behind clouds and the ripples on the river look very relaxing. I'm going to knit and watch them from the master bedroom for about a half an hour. See you soon!