Our new addition

We captured him running in the wash, and he captured our hearts. Buster knows "sit", and "stay". We are working on "down". He's 7 months old (approximately) and is now at the vet being neutered and microchipped. I just love this boy. Greta is doing the kissing and Max is doing the racing.

Saturday skies

Thinking about sleeves

Since I want to add some color to the sleeves, I need to figure out where and how to add the vertical stripes. When I put the stripes in the body I didn't take into account the fact that I hadn't done fair isle in a long long time and my gauge was a bit tight. This worked to my advantage, though, since it gives the sweater some nice shaping. Bonus picture: Max says "Hi!"

Sweater news

I finished the body of the sweater I cobbled together from a few patterns. I bought a ton and a half of Cascade 220 a few months ago to make Jardin Anglais that was in knitty.com. I decided that the sweater was just too much, but I still loved the color combinations. So I started a Knitting Pure & Simple top down cardigan, with a few changes, added colored vertical stripes at the waistline (seen somewhere a long time ago), and finished at the bottom edge. I was working on a circ that was a bit small so I could never really tell how it would fit. Tonight I got to slip it on, without the sleeves, and it's just a perfect fit. I would take a picture but I'm too tired from casting off about 50,000 stitches in seed stitch. OK, maybe I exaggerate just a little. I'll start a sleeve tomorrow. I have a little time before I have to start thinking of how to incorporate the colors into the sleeves. Now, good night!

I can't believe it

In my town, which just hit the million people mark (yup, it made headlines), there were 5 yarn stores, not including my friend Kathy's shop, which has no commercial yarn. There are now 3. I walked into one of the former lys and only saw a small wall with a sad collection of yarn. When I asked where the yarn went, the owner said, "Well, we made a business decision, to either sell yarn or make money." I am so disappointed! Two of the remaining 3 shops are owned by the same people and the snob factor is high (not to mention the prices). Looks like I'll be going across town to buy yarn. I know I said i was not going to add to the stash for a year, but I really really need some cotton to make a couple of gifts (I know I have cotton around here somewhere but i just can't seem to find it). I am now thinking of maybe opening a little place myself. Then I could quit both of my jobs and do something I love. Hmmm.

Spinning, critters 'n stuff

A few pictures to make up for a lack of words...

I've been reading and commenting on several blogs and groups lately, and realized that I haven't updated my own blog, so here goes:

Old hard drive is still dead, bought a new pc and have been spending quite a lot of time recreating files and learning how to streamline (not to mention backing up).

I've been spinning nearly as much as I've been knitting, which had better change pretty darn soon or I won't have any gifts finished in time for giving. Here's the newest yarn I made:

It's a blend of Romney and mohair, and was a pleasure to spin. Here is a closeup:

I went to the 2nd annual Tucson Wool Festival, which was a success for everyone involved. Small and sweet. I bought a handmade spool for the Louet, and a pair of beautiful handmade wooden needles.

In keeping with the purple theme, here is a pretty sunset from last week . That's the moon.

In dogs news, Greta was diagnosed with pannus, which affects German shepherds and can cause blindness, so we are regulars at the vet and Greta is making a fashion statement when we go in the sun (UV rays aggravate the condition). She is such a good girl, tolerates the doggles even though she hates them.

And here's a critter we found in the garage - not the best photo - he was scooting into the plant to hide. He will grow up to be a Rustic Sphinx moth. The caterpillar is about 5 inches long, a real big boy!

Here's a Sphinx that was on our wall a couple of years ago