New Beginnings

So here I am again.... I don't quite understand why the blog drys up after a month or two. I like writing it; I find genuine pleasure in the word-smithing. So, why can't I keep it up? At first it felt a little vain and pompous... who cares what I think about things? Really? Then there is the fact that I am not sure it is worth all the work when I am shouting into the darkness and no one is listening.

But, I am determined to persevere.

There is some news around here... First, I have a nephew! Wicked cute... although looks just like my brother with slightly darker, redder hair.

Secondly, Kerri and I are the Newfoundland Club of New England Rescue & Referral Service Co-chairs. I know it's a mouthful but basically we are now responsible for Newf Rescue in all 6 New England states. I am sure I will talk more about this over time. All I can say for sure is that breed rescue isn't what most people think it is... It's wildly manic--huge highs and deep lows separated by long periods of monotonous paperwork and endless hours in the car. But, I do feel like we are making a difference....

Try, Try, Again...

I'm back!

I was re-reading my post on MS4 and boy was I disappointed. I knit the first 3 clues before I realized how much I disliked the main part of the pattern. The stole is hibernating while I figure out how I can "fix" it. I love the beaded ends, but the body just wasn't my cup of tea. Oh well... There's always next year.

Here's a quilt I just finished... It's a commission, but I don't think anyone will notice my posting it here. I had budgeted about 3 full days to complete the hand applique of the gate over the pieced landsape and it ended up taking 7 FULL twelve plus hour days. I missed my deadline and feel like a heel, but my client was very kind about it.

The landscape was much fun to do... It is composed from strip pieced squares. Once I got the mountains arranged the rest just fell together. I was really worried about the red, but I think it ended up making the piece work. It would be a wee bit boring if I had toned it down.

Chomping at the Bit...

I am so excited! It's almost Mystery Stole season! I enjoyed MS3 so much that I signed up for MS4 on the first day! The clue releases give you just enough to do that you have to plug away at it, but you aren't overwhelmed by the scope of an entire lace stole. It makes an easy introduction into serious lace knitting.

Unfortunately the first clue will be released on Sept. 5th while I am at Dog Camp. So, I will start a week behind, but if last year is any indication, I should be able to catch up by week 3... Crossing my fingers...

I have decided to use some Alpaca With A Twist Fino in the Ruby Slippers colorway that has been marinating in my stash for a while. I am still struggling a little bit with the bead selection... I bought some Miyuki 8/0 seed beads in color 304 which is a dark red which blends beautifully with the yarn, but I am concerned about the lack of contrast. The beads do show up better in person than in the swatch photo, but I am not sure I don't want something with a little more pop... Opinions always welcome...


I know I did a crappy job blocking it, but it's a swatch and you should all just be grateful that I actually took the time to block the thing.... lol...

A meme.... A flickr meme...

I've seen this meme going around, as bored as I am with the All-Star Game I thought it would be a good time for a meme...

The rules:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions : My answers in RED....
1. What is your first name? Kimberly
2. What is your favorite food? Risotto
3. What high school did you go to? LSRHS
4. What is your favorite color? Red
5. Who is your celebrity crush? David Krumholtz
6. Favorite drink? Gin & Tonic
7. Dream vacation? Tanzania
8. Favorite dessert? Cake
9. What you want to be when you grow up? Writer
10. What do you love most in life? Family & Friends
11. One word to describe you. Quirky
12. Your flickr name. Knitting in the Dog Run

Please let this game end... right here... right now... in the bottom of the 15th inning... I shouldn't care about baseball this much... %sigh%

Newfoundland National Specialty

Kerri and I spent the whole of last week at the 2008 Newfoundland Club of America National Specialty in Warwick, RI. I have to say we had a FANTASTIC week -- new friends were made, old friendships renewed... Too much beer, WAY too much laughter... It was a lot like Camp. LOL

A National Specialty is an All-Newfoundland Dog Show held each year by the NCA and a local club which was our club this year. The Specialty won't be back to New England until 2016. There were about 700 Newfs in attendance. It was really nice to be with a bunch of dog people who are already Newf savvy.

Eli's first Rally entry was bright and early Tuesday... OUTSIDE in the POURING rain.... on GREEN freshly mown grass...

The poor boy didn't have a chance.

He ambled into the ring like a pro... Setup nicely... The judge (Tippy Chase) asked if Kerri and Eli were ready... Kerri replied "Ready!"... They took three steps in perfect heel.... I thought they had it.... Eli then turned his attention to the grass and it was over.... It was raining so hard that they had a rain delay shortly after Kerri ran.

At this point I made the considered decision to pull him from Obedience... If he couldn't hold it together in Rally, Novice wasn't going to be a positive experience for either of us.

Wednesday dawned sunny, but WINDY and COLD... Once again the Novice A Rally class was bright and slightly less early. Second verse, same as the first -- 'otta be better but gonna be worse... Imagine Tuesday except the judge was Pat Scully and at the first sign he turns to lean head first into the wind, puffs his chest out and inhales so deeply I thought he'd turn himself inside out... and then starts snuffling the grass.

I know it sounds like a dismal failure, but there were some positives... even completely distracted he did SOME decent work... He was up and happy and full of spirit... this is progress... He just didn't have any focus -- the whole world was full of VERY LOUD GRASS... and GIRLS... unspayed GIRLS... %sigh%

He really didn't have a chance.

But it was fun.

Thursday was conformation. Eli was entered in the Novice class (dogs without any championship points) and luckily it was the best weather of the week. I was a wee bit nervous and just because Eli wanted to see how much stress I could take; he had liquid diarrhea 10 minutes before we were to go into the ring. Let's just say you'd be amazed what Wet Ones can do for a dog's coat when you are desperate.

While he didn't make the cut, the judge (Mrs. Edeltraud Laurin) certainly wanted him to... She came back to us 3 times to look at him, but unfortunately he chose that point to get the wiggles. ACK! Overall, he looked beautiful (Cathy, Eli's breeder, mercifully trimmed him for me) and moved extremely well. I even got some really nice stacks -- even when I hand stacked him.

It was a good experience for both of us and we felt pretty well prepared even if we were up against big name handlers. We have a few things that really need some work... the free stack at the end of his down&back comes to mind... LOL At least he didn't leap into the air when we got back to the judge or try and kiss her... both of which he often does in handling class. Most importantly, I didn't puke on the dog or judge!

There was NO expectation that he would do anything in the ring, this was about experience and being able to say we were on the big stage... I honestly couldn't have asked for things to go any better -- this was a huge win for us.... Someday we will be ready but not yet... What was really driven home for me is how juvenile Eli still is. To us, he seems all grown up physically (certainly not mentally), but after watching BOB yesterday, it is very clear that he still has a long way to go in filling out. Some things can't be rushed. LOL

Here is a picture of Sandy, Onyx, Me and Eli... Onyx & Eli are littermates, if you can't tell. We were fresh out of the breed ring... For the record, I stole the pic from Claire.

Finishing Frenzy... Not....

I try to be a good knitter... I want to get some of the WIPs off the needles... I do. Really... I don't need to be racked with guilt over every new project I want to start.

I even have a genuine FO... Nothing special just a pair of toe-up socks using my favorite "plain" socks pattern.

Pattern: Universal Toe-Up Sock Formula by Amy Swenson

Yarn: Knitterly Things Vesper Sock Yarn in Sherbert
Needles: KnitPicks Circulars - size 2

Unfortunately, I also have a new WIP to show you...


It is the Wavy scarf from Knitty.... This is a great pattern; I will certainly make a few of these. But I will slip the first stitch of each row to clean up the edges as they are a bit messy. Easy and fast to knit as long as you commit to knitting one full repeat at a time. It is VERY easy to get lost if you put it down for a while. For the record, that's Eli in the background. I wish I could tell you what the yarn is but it is just 5 balls of wool/silk heavy worsted weight cabled yarn I frogged from a project approx 100 years ago. I do remember I got it out of the clearance bin at Fabric Place in Woburn, MA -- not that it helps me remember what the yarn is.... lol

So the short of it is that my WIP list remains exactly the same length -- but at least it hasn't gotten any longer....

Hats Galore and, well, some other stuff...

Here I am again... I don't know why I am such a bad blogger. I have the best intentions, but it all seems to back up on me... lol You know the drill... I'll write a blog entry when I finish X (project du jour) and the next thing you know there are 4 things finished and none of them written about. lol

I have been knitting a lot of hats lately... actually I may be sorta obsessed with them. I think it's as much about the fact that I only have to knit ONE of them... While folks often look at me like I have multiple heads, the reality is that I only have to cover one. Two socks, two mittens... I am not very good a completing a pair of anything... Once I have completed one, I get half way thru the second and stall out unless I am on a deadline or I really love the project.

Here is my herd of Hats...

Pattern: Claudia Hat by MJ Kim
Yarn: Labelless Taupe/Purple Merino
Needles: KnitPicks Options size 4

Pattern: Belle Starr Hat by Anne Podlesak
Yarn: KnitPicks Merino Style in Nutmeg
Needles: KnitPicks Options size 6

Pattern: Shedir by Jenna Wilson
Yarn: Rowan Wool Cotton in Dusky Purple
Needles: KnitPicks Options size 4

For more information the rest of the details are on Ravelry. I am DogRunDesigns.