Life is good.

Great family, fantastic friends, loving boyfriend, rewarding job, loyal dogs, cuddly cats and more knitting projects to keep me busy.

Sometimes it's just good to reflect and appreciate the good life one has...

So much yarn so little time

It was a wonderful weekend with great friends and some memorable times. We did our damage at six yarn shops in two days and we never lost our motivation.

It was my first big group yarn crawl and I came home with yarn on order for 2 sweaters and some alpaca for a branching out scarf. Kim, Margie and I are together attempting a Lopi sweater for our first group knit along. It's the same pattern but with our different color combinations the sweaters will look unique. I think I have already decided to change my color combination to add some orange into the mix.

My best purchase was a floor model for sale of a Noro Kureyon Cabled Sweater that I bought for Donavon. The sweater was cheaper than the cost of the yarn and the best part was that Donavon didn't have to wait two years for me to finish it. Here's a picture of Donavon in the sweater that I took with my cell phone:



I have some new favorite shops and look forward to another yarn crawl with the knitwhits.

As promised, the picture of Elbert's finished Snowbird hat:



Lisa modeling the snowbird hat:



The thousand tails of color still have to be sewn in and the large tassle needs to be created. The tassle will have to be large enough and weigh enough to bend the top of the hat over - otherwise Elbert is going to look like one of Snow White's dwarves. Knitwhits Kim and Margie confiscated the hat from me this weekend to help sew in the tails. They are such good friends as sewing in tails is really the worst part of a knitting project to me.

Back to reality and back to work tomorrow. It's been a great weekend and lots of good memories have been made.

Zoey, Gilmour, Mariah and the finished Snowbird Hat

Our princess was properly given her jewels this weekend. I bought her a black patent leather collar this weekend weekend with four diamond pendants that spell out her name, ZOEY.

Here's a picture of the collar before we put it on her:



Closeup of Zoey wearing her new collar:



Zoey on the polka dot rug:





Donavon came home yesterday to find Gilmour on his throne (it's Donavon's chair and only accessible to the dogs if they bravely climb from the couch to the chair which currently is filled with junk and a big NO NO to be on):





Gilmour doesn't get any sparkles as he sports a Harley Davidson Spikey collar. Since the day we brought Gilmour home from Nebraska, it's the only kind of collar he has ever worn (although we are now on the largest size they make and Donavon can fit this collar around his waist).

We still have his baby spikey collars in the pet closet. It's like baby booties to us.

We treat and talk about our animals like most people do with their children.

On the knitting front - the snowbird hat is finished. Ok, it's almost finished. I finished the knitting part of the hat at 1 AM this morning. I have to sew down the cotton brim to the inside of the hat, make the tassle and sew in the 1000 tails of color spewing from the inside of the hat. The knitwits have a plan to help me with the tails from hell. More info to follow.

I have a picture of the hat on my camera phone but until I'm in my local area I can't email the picture to myself. Thanks Verizon.

I blew the surprise to my recipient of the Mariah sweater. It's going to be a Christmas present for my very good friend and fellow knitter Dianne. She owns one of my most favorite yarn shops, http://yarnsforever.com. I wanted to make sure that it was something she wanted. Actually, I just couldn't keep my mouth shut because I am so excited to make it for her. I can't keep a secret if I had to...

I found the pattern downsized to 33" and it will be perfect once I figure out the complicated and confusing directions. I'm counting on my fellow knitwits to get me through this tough pattern. I was feeling invincible after the fair isle snowbird hat but I think my head got a little big.

Knitting Trends That Need To End

After looking through numerous knitting books and magazines Friday night with the KnitWits, we have come to the conclusion that the following knitting trends need to end:

1) Capelets
2) Ponchos
3) Anything made with Fun Fur
4) Mid Riff Shirts
5) Yoga Bags
6) Boleros
7) Patterns with a 42" bust as the largest size

We anxiously await for decent sweater patterns with reasonable sizing for the average human body. Preferably, we look forward to great cable or fair isle patterns.

I started Mariah from Knitty last night but spent most of the night studying the pattern and just trying to understand the directions. This will be my most complex cabling to date. I'm making the pattern for a very good friend of mine as a surprise for Christmas. I figured starting it in March may be enough time to finish it by Christmas. I made it as far as casting on last night.

I bought yarn yesterday to start my ipod hoodie. I'm hoping to start it today between house chores.

I'm on the hunt for sunglasses - if anyone has any recommendations please let me know.

The Travel Curse has been passed...

Elbert has rolled off my project and left the horrid travel curse for me to pick up. The curse has stuck to me for the last week and half - two cancelled flights, 5 hours of delays and over 25 hours in airports.

I was able to catch up with old friends and family members, knit for hours on end, read magazines, play bookworm, watch it rain, watch it snow, watch the wind blow and have numerous hours of people watching.

On the upside, my noro silk garden sleeves are almost done and the snow bird hat has progressed.

On a second upside, David Gilmour's new CD has been released. Our bulldog, Gilmour (named after David Gilmour) spent hours listening to the CD with his owner. Gilmour has a deep appreciation for his namesake.

The Drake Beautiful Bulldog Contest is only a month away - we have high hopes for Gilmour to win this year. He was last year's runner up but he was still a puppy. He has filled out since then and now tips the scales between 75 and 80 lbs. We can tell as we have to pick up the dog numerous times throughout the night - he's a restless dog but has to be next to his owner cuddling throughout the night.

The weekend went too fast - we had out of town company, my Z3 was towed and I was sick. That pretty much summarizes the weekend. Hopefully, the week will be better.

Boogie Time!!

One of my most favorite projects to date for one of my most favorite recipients:

The boogie time watch from knitty for my favorite niece Erika (ok, so I only have one niece but she's still my favorite).

The watch:



And my cute niece Erika:



Erika and her royal wave:



Update on the snowbird hat: decreases are occurring and the hat is in the home stretch. Pictures to follow shortly.

Number of days since working out: 1

The Blue Sweater from Hell, My Fair Isle Hat and the HUGE free cookies for my team.

In January I finished the blue sweater from hell. I say it's from hell because the sweater was all blue and all stockinette stitch. The sweater just seemed to take forever to knit. It was my first adult sized cardigan sweater and that part I really enjoyed.

The yarn is Cascade 220 Superwash and the buttons were vintage from Germany (thanks to my parents journies around the world). I loved the yarn and Cascade is one of my favorite yarns to knit with.

Here's a picture of just the sweater:



My fair isle hat is progressing quickly and i'm now on the decreasing rows. I am hoping to finish the hat in the next day or so. My team member Elbert has claimed the hat for his snowboarding adventures. Since this is Elbert's last week on my project, I will let him have it. I have enjoyed making this hat so much that I do plan on making another one for myself but in different colors next time.

Hat in progress:



Hat detail up close and personal:


Now the free HUGE cookie story. My ego is still riding high from this adventure. Last night, because my team was working late, I volunteered to go get dinner for everyone from our neighborhood restuarant. The guy at the carry out counter started conversing with me and the next thing I know he is giving me a huge basket full of cookies. Each cookie is bigger than my hand's circumference. It cost me a fake phone number but it was worth it. My team was thrilled with the cookies and we even enjoyed them again this morning for breakfast.

Weekend Activities

Productive weekend - I accomplished the following (but in no particular logical order):

1. Saw the Lion King with my good friend Kim. I would love to see it again - it was just fantastic.

2. Rejoined the Y for the 3rd time in the last 5 years (this time I have made a promise to myself to create a workout regime). I'm holding myself accounting via this blog.

3. Figured out Donavon's bday present - it's original and not only will he love but he'll be surprised. I'm horrible at keeping secrets but I'm going to try. It's so perfect I can't wait until he sees it. For xmas, I got him cowboy boots - he was so surprised - it was just the perfect gift. The bar is set high...

4. Started my first fair isle project that counts (the first time I tried fair isle was a failed mitten and turning it into an ipod cozy doesn't truly count).

http://www.knitwhits.com/snowb_aq.shtml is what I'm making. I'm loving the pattern and the project. I plan on making another.

5. Had a lot of cuddle time with Gilmour. Poor guy just seems heartbroken on Sundays when my suitcase comes out of hiding. We shared a pillow last night for a long while.

6. Surfed the web on options to "pimp" out the new minivan. I'm contemplating flames; maybe magnetic flames so my mom won't hound me for eternity. I'm still struggling with the minivan purchase, although I'm well aware of it's practicalness. Everyone keeps reminding me.

7. Taught Zoey pouncing on kitties doesn't equal getting a lot of doggie treats...

8. Zoey taught me that even if she is the last one to get doggie treats she can still manage to eat hers, steal Levi's and then steal Gilmours.

And now I'm back in snowy Milwaukee after a 2 hour flight delay. The week is already off to an interesting start.

Who Collects the Semen???

Two Funny Stories from my Friday at home...

Recently, my rarely used dryer stopped blowing hot air. I flipped through the phone book and the fourth company I called actually answered the phone. They even had good news for me - they could be accommodating and come look at the dryer later in the afternoon. Upfront they made me aware that the charge just for coming to the house was $50 and once the dryer was diagnosed then they would make me aware of the cost for labor and parts.

A really cute repair guy showed up and looked at my dryer. About 3 seconds later he claimed victory that he solved the problem. Between giggles he inquired about the pets in the house and said he has found a hiding place for one of the cats - behind the dryer. On accident, my cat Berlin has switched off the gas vaulve behind the dryer.

Two minutes and $50 later the repair guy was off to his next client.

The second funny story leads us to the Vet's office with our consultation on breeding our english bulldogs. English Bulldogs are a tricky breed and require artificial insemination and c-section deliveries. The vet tells us that we have the go ahead with our dogs for breeding and explains to us the process which leads to his question,

WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN HOW TO COLLECT THE SEMEN?

Donavon gave a response only he would give:

The dog follows me around enough as it is, imagine how much worse it would get. Doc, no thanks, I'll leave that up to you.

The vet then proceeds to explain the cost of all the procedures and how it would be cost saving if we collect the semen when the time comes. Again, Donavon laughs and tells the doctor, no thanks, really - NO THANKS.

In fairness to Gilmour, he's in better hands with the vet...

Today I am launching my blog - nothing too exciting, just a bit about myself.

To introduce me - that's a picture of me taken from a conference I spoke at a few years ago. I'm a consulting manager and am by definition a "road warrior".

I may be a nerd by day but I'm a punk by night. I definitely beat to my own drum.

I am an obsessed knitter with an addiction for starting new projects. I am hoping to post some pictures of some completed projects shortly.

I live in Iowa with and have a great circle of friends plus a supporting family. We have many upcoming roadtrips planned that I am anxiously looking forward to.

I have friends all over the country and due to a busy schedule I keep up with their lives via blogs, so I thought that it would be good if I created a blog.

Below are some pictures of our soon to be famous dogs and cats:

Trouble (obvious how he got his name) - he is our stray cat that adopted us:



Moby (the only female cat) and she is named after the DJ -


Berlin - named after a great club in Chicago:


Jack (the cat who likes strangers a lot more than us, he's on the left and was the instigator for the mess created around him):



Now, for the introductions for the dogs in the house:

Levi - Our ARL dog and resident defender of the landing of the staircase (this picture was taken prior to ripping out the carpetting and when Gilmour was just a puppy):



Gilmour - 2005's Drake University's Bulldog Mascot Runner Up and my shadow when i'm home:



And our princess, Zoey: