I bet the mail man thinks it’s my birthday with all the wonderful boxes that have arrived this week!

For Special Swap, Lynda has sent me a Safari in a box!

Ooooh!

The sock yarns are Jitterbug in Sahara and TOFUtsies in zebra colors (you would never know was made with chitin - the things they can’t do these days)! There is also some delicious Assam tea, a jungle print project bag (Did you make it Lynda?), a green chibi (Yay! Green!) AND some animal crackers (which tickled me to death because how cute, perfect and delicious).

Then I had this from KT!

Ahhhh!

It’s straight from Sock Camp in Dixie Chick (which, I am told, was one of the tribes. KT was a “Clucker.” I hope that wasn’t a secret, KT! I forgot to put the stitch markers in the picture - you’ll have to take my word for it that they are also marvelous!

To celebrate the bounty of mail, I’ve picked a yarn for the Hurricane Sock Party (which should make Christy feel a whole lot better). It’s some of the hand-dyed superwash from last summer. I’ve been hoarding it waiting for the perfect project.

Sailors’ Warning (the yarn formerly known as “Bushel of Strawberries”)

My Bloomin’ Feet Box is ready to mail on Monday and my cousin’s graduation socks are off to a decent start (I need to finish them by May 15).

Second verse same as the first! Except these are in Little Bunny Foo Foo.

Last week was Quite a Week. Dogs can really suck up time. But Little Man has a new family (photos in Michael’s Flickr)! We met them at Adoption Saturday. Little Man was the only puppy* and did his best to be precious, friendly and interested in everything. We liked them right away, but the way BARC adoptions work is that interested people fill out forms, and we all go home and a background check is done (someone calls their vet). Since this couple is getting married in May (awwww), they had to come up to get their marriage license and picked up Little Man at the same time. I think he will be happy with his new family and I know they will be happy with him.

We are now calling Little Girl “Alice” and Big Girl “Maude”** since we will probably have them with us for a bit. Maude had her surgery yesterday and is still feeling pretty bad. They both stayed inside last night (and are still inside) to work on house training and liking cats.

At the expense of my blog reading, I have finally finished the Bloomin’ Feet socks! Yay, me!

I’m glad my partner isn’t allergic to cats.

It is pouring down rain today*** - hence the awkward flash pictures. I pulled them onto my sock blockers and realized that wouldn’t do any good as the blockers were for me sized feet and not Bloomin’ Feet Pal sized feet. So I blocked them in my traditional manner.

After that I did a little swatching for the polo shirt in Greetings From Knit Cafe. I bought the yarn the pattern called for and I am SO disappointed. The yarn itself is fine and the color is great, but when knit at the appropriate gauge it is loose and floppy. Not something I look for an a polo shirt and not at all what the picture looks like. I am going to give it a try with some Shine and see if that is any better.

Swatching for the Lace Surplice Top is going much better. I am trying CotLin and I really like it. The gauge for the two projects is the same, so maybe I’ll get a color card.

In the meantime I’ve got Graduation Socks to make!

*We left the other one at home because of her red mange (people don’t understand that is perfectly curable and not contagious) and it turns out that Big Girl does Not Care for Other Dogs. And likes to Make a Scene about it.

**You will notice that these are NOT First Lady names. First Lady Names mean you live here. But we have to call them something.

***And I do mean POURING.

We are now the proud owners of a 10′x10′ chain link fence enclosure with a lid. Big Girl knows how to climb. There has also been dedicated work on an Escape Tunnel that will lead to China. For fun, here are some head shots:

This is Big Girl. (No names. Names mean you live here.)

Little Man (Incidentally, my Great Grandmother had a dog named Little Man when she lived here.)

Little Girl (Her ears are blowing in the wind.)

I do still knit on occasion. As proof, I offer this slightly blurry picture of a single finished Bloomin’ Feet sock.

Yay!

It need some serious blocking. Becky, you promise that your sock blockers won’t melt if I really use them as sock blockers? I just can’t stand the idea of wet socks all over them!

We are now the proud owners of a 10′x10′ chain link fence enclosure. We’ve put the dogs in it.

More pictures here.

It’s collapsable and still Not Ideal, but better than the tiny cage or getting hit by a car. After a fair amount of investigation, we discovered that we are the dogs’ best chance. Also, the county probably thinks they belong to us since we took them to the vet and the county shelter does not take owner drop offs - hence the large numbers of abandoned animals. Genius. There is an adoption fair next Saturday so please hope and pray for us that they will find homes (I will be reminding you to hope and pray as the date approaches).

The answers to the Hurricane Sock Party Questionnaire are After the Fold. This is probably only of interest to a select group of people (that is: me and my Sock Pal), but if you are want to see my answers, just click where it says “Continue Reading Extended Entry.”
Read the rest of this entry »

So once again I find myself with a rant about abandoned pets. What do people think “DOMESTIC” means?!

Our latest guests:

A mom and her puppies (boy and girl).

We found these guys at the end of my grandmother’s road, they are super sweet and well-behaved (I’ll try to get a better picture in the yard when we go out to play this afternoon). Here are the puppies at the vet this morning.

We are all good friends.

They had their first round of shots and we’ve got wormy stuff to give them. The tan one has red mange which is perfectly treatable and we have the medicine for that! If anybody wants a dog (and lives kinda near) this is a great opportunity! The only reason they can’t live here are the cats we’ve already rescued. They are great little dogs. We’re in the process of getting in touch with our local humane society to see if we can get them fostered out instead of taking them to the county shelter - a cage on the front porch is Not Ideal. Even if it is roomy and the blinds are down so the cats can’t torment them.

Speaking of torment. I am at the heel of the first Bloomin’ Feet Sock. Again.

Recognize the pattern, Lynne?

I should have started with Angel’s Rest (Fiber Trends Peak Experience) in the first place. It’s perfect and zipping right along.

This week will go down in history as the Great Weed Out.

This is not a weed.

I was desperately lazy about the flower beds this winter and am paying for it now. I am about 75% finished with de-weeding, mulching and planting bulbs (I know it’s too late but they were on sale) and a couple perennials. Since it is freakishly cold this morning (such a shame haha) I have a minute to show you my other great accomplishment.

I can hardly believe it myself!

That is 20 CounterPain Squares crocheted together. I did it myself! They fit the width of the bed exactly as planned - with the lace edging it will look just right. I can’t even tell you the relief it brings me to know that this is actually going to work. Bonus points to me because it it pretty and I learned to crochet! Points to the CounterPain because there are still 111 squares to go (120 to join). The CounterPain is still in the lead, but I am gaining ground.

Happy Easter.