Things That Go Bump in the Night

We were getting ready for Halloween yesterday. While unpacking a bin of decorations and costumes Dallas put a black cape on his head and turned on a flashlight that makes spooky sounds. Mikki and Kai went into defend mode. They had to bark madly at the scary strange man who had invaded the house. Even after Dallas took off the cape to show them it was him they still had to keep barking. At that point it was just a good excuse to bark.

Have I mentioned that shelties love to bark?

At least it is good to know that scary strange men are still Saskatchewan Roughrider fans.

Another Pair Off the Needles!!

Way back at the beginning of September I posted to the Socknitters yahoo group that I was finally getting tired of just doing socks in stockinette and was ready to try something with a bit of a pattern. A bit being the operative word. I do most of my knitting in front of the television so it would still need to be simple enough that I could do it without thinking too terribly hard about it. I also wanted a pattern that would break up colour variegation. I got some really good suggestions, but Elizabeth recommended the Bamboo Walking Socks which would fit my requirements exactly.
I finished them last night and am really happy with the results. I did them in Opal Smoke 1653 on 2.5mm needles. I actually goofed up the pattern and didn't realize until the first sock was almost done. I knit mine with 2 rows of stockinette between each row of slipped stitches when the pattern called for 3 rows of stockinette so I made a bit more work for myself.

I still have another 3 pairs of socks on the go right now along with an afghan. The afghan, however, is quickly losing its appeal and has been sitting idle for a while. But I enjoyed doing this pattern so another pair could be cast on in the next couple of days.

Katie's New Socks

I finished up a pair of socks for Katie the other day. She was sooo excited about them and couldn't wait to wear them to school. She had them on the moment she got out of bed in the morning.

After the schmozzle that is a school day morning around here I picked up the breakfast dishes, feed the dogs and wandered downt he hall to put a couple of things away in Katie's room. And what did I see lying in a heap in the middle of her floor? Her new socks, of course. Turns out that they were "itchy." Just my luck that my daughter inherited her narrow flat feet from me and her Auntie Susan's uber sensitive feet. I made her put them on for the picture, but it looks like I am going to have to give them a serious soak in hair conditioner.

Darn. Knitting socks for Katie is so simple and quick that they are good for a easy sense of accomplishment. They are done in Kroy Socks, 55605 Tutti Frutti Jacquard, by the way.

Puppies, Puppies, Puppies!!

My sister Susan and I took a drive out to the country today to visit a couple of doggy friends who have litters of puppies right now. I can't think of a better way to spend time than cuddling with lots and lots of puppies!

Below is Susan with a litter of three 3-week old miniature long haired dachshunds. Mama Ten (aka Ch. Torihill's Savvidax Prrfect ML) is watching over her babies while at the same time waiting for her pats and compliments on such a lovely litter. Can't you just smell the puppy breath?!

The dachsies own and love their human, Daphne Bowering of Savvidax Miniature Long Haired Dachshunds. Congrats, Daphne!

Susan and I then went over to see Jean Juno of YBF Goldens. The scene there wasn't nearly as calm as at Daphne's! I would have loved a picture of all the puppies with the top of the gate open, but at 8 weeks old not much was going to hold them back and they were determined to escape their puppy pen.

Get ready to "Awwwww!" Is this little girl cute, or what?

The end.

Green Leaves and Snowmen

Katie was just out making a snowman with the wet sticky snow. I couldn't help but notice that the majority of the leaves on the trees are still green. Only in Saskatchewan...

Winter (Bah Humbug!) Wonderland

This week end is Thanksgiving in Canada. And like any long week end the weather was not cooperating. We got our first snow storm yesterday. And did we get dumped on! This is what my back yard looked like this morning...
It has been a very odd year weatherwise. Until today most of my garden and bedding plants were still alive and frost-free. This is almost unheard of in Saskatchewan. I would have had more plants still growing on my patio if I had bothered to water them at the end of August. But at that point I didn't see much reason to water as I figured that they would be dead very shortly.

Here you can see some pink Impatiens peeking out of the snow mound. I brushed off the snow after taking the picture and amazingly I think they are still alive! The snow must have insulated this very tender plant so that it didn't freeze.

If all this snow didn't depress me so much I would have been able to see the beauty of it. But ask me what I think of snow come January. At least now the sun is out and the snow is quickly melting.

When I came inside after digging through the snow to find some carrots in my garden for a pot of soup I am making did it hit me that only in Saskatchewan would my winter boots be sitting next to a pair of sandels.

I finished another pair of socks just in time for the snow. These are Trekking 106. I was completely paranoid while knitting the second sock that I would run out of yarn again like I did on another pair of Trekking socks. I had already completed one sock with exactly the same needle size and stitches cast on before I remembered. But this time I actually had a bit of yarn left over. Go figure.

It's a Rough and Tumble World

Katie is looking a bit the worse for wear right now. The picture doesn't show it very well, but she is covered in scrapes and bruises. The shiner she is sporting is the icing on the cake. It was actually green all around her eye in the picture. You can't see the bruise on the other side of her face and the gash under her chin. She got one bruise from bo staff night at kempo and the gash on her chin from a fun night at the kempo school called Gladiator Wars. It is hard to imagine that Katie is actually a real girly-girl. She is just a real tough princess. The black eye came courtesy of her father. Dallas had her up on his shoulders while coming out from grocery shopping. I opened the back door of the van to load up and Dallas thought she would duck. She didn't.
Another mom who is a nurse was teasing me that we had better hope that she doesn't do anything else like break her arm that would require a trip to the hospital because we would be flagged for child abuse. Scary thought!

Christopher has managed to keep himself unscathed lately. Here he is getting his green belt. It is always a big deal when the kids earn a new belt colour, the highlight for them being the trip to McDonalds to celebrate. Presenting Christopher is belt is instructor Anna Mravcak who is running the New York City Marathon in a few weeks in support of Team for Kids.
With the cooler weather here I have actually been getting a chance to knit a bit more. No completed projects yet, but I will post pictures of some that are almost done in a few days. I have a pair of socks for myself and one pair for Katie that are just about finished. And I finally started something that isn't socks! Although the afghan is getting old really fast and it may take me a while to get it done. Give me a pair of socks to knit any day!