What I've been up to

It's almost Christmas, and I've been doing some crafting.

I have 3 baby wraps on the Megado loom that I'm really trying to finish up by the end of the year.  I actually cut one off to wash and see how it looked.  I'm using 100% superwash merino wool for the weft on all 3 of these, and I wanted to see how it washed up.  I will admit to waking up in the middle of the night with a panic attack about this.  The weft is a hand-dyed wool, and sometimes hand-dyed yarns have a tendency to bleed.  Add in the fact that this is a very dark, midnight blue, and I really panicked thinking about the blue bleeding all over the beautiful rainbow gradient warp.  I am so happy to say that Tanis Fiber Arts yarn is really color set! No bleeding at all.  Whew!

I've been doing some knitting also.  My daughter asked me to knit up some hooded cowls for my granddaughters, so I have those almost done.  I'll post photos after I get the buttons sewn on.

I've been knitting socks, socks, and more socks too.  Footies also.  There is just something so comforting about knitting these, although I probably have more socks and footies then I will ever need at this point!  I also knit up a cute pair of super toasty warm, lined mittens.

I needed a bunch of Christmas gifts for my knitting group, and with being on a very limited budget, I knew that I had to handcraft some type of gifts, so I decided to make a bunch of key fobs using some of my handwoven fabrics.  I like how they turned out - there were 5 different kinds.  The extras ended up going into my etsy shop (www.stringalongfiberarts.etsy.com).

Josie is recovering well from her surgery.  We love her, no matter how she looks.

And Koby is as goofy as ever.  He's slowed down quite a bit due to his back and hind leg issues, but he's a happy guy.  Can't ask for more.

December

I'm having a hard time believing that we are now in December.  I can not believe how fast the days fly by.  Now that I'm home all day, I thought that maybe the days would seem longer, but that is just the opposite of what has been going on.  W is amazed that I'm not bored, but I have too many crafts that I love doing to be bored, plus I get to spend more time with my dogs!  :)

Josie made it through her surgery.  She scared us coming out of it and also when we arrived to take her home with a bad reaction to her morphine, but she's been home for a week now and is healing up. I'm finally able to come to terms with what needed to be done.  She had another mast cell tumor and this time it was in her ear.  Unfortunately, they need to be removed and removed with wide margins around the tumor so it doesn't come back.  So, to make sure that they got it all, she had to have her ear amputated.  She has a ton of stitches which will be removed next week, and has been wearing her cone, but she is such a little toughy and is doing just fine.  We've stopped with the pain meds - she just doesn't need them anymore.  While she was under, our vet recommended that we also have her nostrils enlarged to help her breathe, so we did that too.  She looks different, but in my eyes, she is still beautiful, funny, and one of the loves of my life, so I am so thankful that she is still with us.  The tumor ended up being a low grade one, and they did end up with clean margins, so that is great news.

Tiffany and the grandkids came down for this past weekend to celebrate my grandson's birthday.  He is SO into Spiderman and wanted Spiderman apples, so I couldn't refuse, and made some up for the kids.

Saturday we went downtown to see the new Holidazzle Holiday Market.  What a disappointment and such a money pit.  Don't waste your time, if you have kids along with because there is very little to do for the kids.  Basically, you pay admission to get in and EVERYTHING inside also costs money.  Overpriced food and drink and a very small area where all the little buildings are crammed into.  I hope that they do away with this plan for next year and go back to having the parade.  We actually didn't stay long there and headed off to Macy's where we had much more fun.

Sunday was spent at home with the whole family having birthday cake and the opening of the birthday gifts.

I've been spending the last two weeks or so warping up the Megado for another run of baby wraps.  With the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Josie's surgery and the family down this past weekend, it's been taking much longer than it should have.  I finally have all the heddles threaded and need to sley the reed, so I'm off to head back upstairs for some more "work time".