Lack of Posts

Sorry for the lack of posting the past month.

Of course, Christmas has come and gone and we are now into the New Year.

I must say, 2011 has not started out very well so far. Stomach flu for me early New Year's morning, Koby threw his back out New Year's Day and a husband with severe depression about sums of the first 2 days of the New Year. Yay.

I hope to be back soon with an update on projects and pictures of the new grandson (born earlier in December).

In the Thick of It

It's that time......Thanksgiving is now a distant memory and Christmas is a mere few weeks away.
YIKES!

But back to Thanksgiving - we had a small gathering at our house. Tiffany and her girls made it down from the Range on Thanksgiving afternoon just in time for dinner.

Dani was home (much to the puppies delight - they do love her so).
It was a smallish gathering, but the food was good and it was a nice way to spend the day.

I have been busy getting some projects done (so I can start the holiday knitting - can you believe that I haven't started yet????).

First up is a cardigan that I knit out of Rowan Felted Tweed called Peasy (you can find it on Ravelry).

One piece construction, and the fit is great! Now to find a nice top to wear underneath it.

Tiffany's baby will be here any day, so I started a baby blanket a week or so back. I'm done with the body of the blanket and am working on the never-ending edging. I am loving how the yarn (Tanis Fiberarts) is knitting up and the pattern (Rosebuddy from KnitSpot) is very well written and easy to follow. I hope to get this all knit up by the end of the week and then will get it blocked this weekend.

I have a spinning project for a friend that I need to bucklet down and finish too, but I'll leave that for another post.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with a shot of Wilson and Jojo together - she really looks like she wants down, doesn't she????

Winter Wonderland??

Our nice, beautiful, long fall weather has come to a screeching halt!
This was our back yard yesterday morning. All in all, it looks like our area got anywhere between 7 to 10 inches of snow.

Our shop parking lot was a mess yesterday - quite a slow day at the shop. I think quite few poeple just decided to stay indoors yesterday. We held a class yesterday morning that was to have 5 students and only 1 made it in.

It sure is pretty outside though! I'm not sure how long the snow will last, it is of they heavy, wet variety that tends to melt quickly.

I did manage to finish up the plying on my polwarth roving. I navajo plied the yarn and ended up with 452 yards of fingering weight yarn.

The color is way off in the photo. It is actually a purple/silver color. I'm thinking of knitting it up into a neckwarmer.

Last Sunday we took a trip up to the Iron Range for my daughter's baby shower. Although it was a long drive up and back, we had a good time. Wilson did some handy-work for her while we were there, and Dani drove up with us. Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos!

Sleepless and Heartsick

Yesterday, I found out that the business next door to me is closing as of today. They aren't able to finish out their lease. I can't tell you how hard this has hit me. As tired as I was last night, I could not get my mind to turn off so I could sleep.

I know how much time, effort, money, personal sacrifice and so much more goes into running a business. The owners next door are nice people who tried very hard to make a go of their business in the bad economy and having to deal with unsympathetic property owners/landlords who refuse to work with you. It's no secret that the business owners in our shopping center have been struggling since our anchor tenant pulled out 4 years ago. The surprising thing is that the owner of the center does not seem to care how many more businesses have to shutter their windows and close down their business.

I'm broken hearted for my neighbors.

Yes, I do still spin and knit!

Yes, I do still spin and knit! Actually, I do at least one of the above every day. (Hmmmmm....you would think I would have more finished projects to show off, huh?)

I finished a sweater a week or 2 back -

This is the Effortless Cardigan and I used Madelinetosh Tosh DK yarn. It was a quick and easy knit. I love the one-piece construction patterns.

I'm also spinning up some Polworth that I got from a fiber club that I'm in. The color is a little off in the pictures. It is actually a purple/silver colorway. I'm spinning my single pretty fine and will navajo ply when the singles are spun.


It's the end of October - it's very hard to believe because our October weather has been spectacular. I don't remember an October as nice as this one. I, for one, am ready for the cold weather though. Cold weather should equate to busy times in the shop and I'm ready and waiting!!!

Yesterday, Wilson and I spent a good part of the day with the youngest daughter. It's always fun to hang out with her - lots of laughter all around.

The oldest daughter has about 9 weeks left to go in her pregnancy. I've got a little sweater all knit up, but it still needs to be seamed together.

I'll leave you with a pic of the pups! My buddies.

Another Saturday off....

....and I did it again!


The first 3 photos were taken at the tattoo shop (Leviticus Tattoo in Minneapolis, done by Kurt).

This one below was taken last night -


After it goes through the entire healing process, I'll take some more photos.

Do I love it? Yes, I do. It far exceeded my expectations of what I had in mind - the detail is absolutely lovely, and the colors/shading are fantastic.

I wanted cherry blossoms, but I also wanted them done with an asian influence. I think Kurt nailed it exactly! He drew the tattoo free hand right on me (no stencils), and went to work. All in all, a great experience - and quite relaxing too - I was right next to their huge koi tank, so I got to watch the huge koi swimming as I was being tattooed.

Better Sunday

My mood improved somewhat on Sunday, thankfully. I had the day off (which is always nice), and since Wilson was headed over to my daughter's house to do yet some more repair work, I stayed at home for a bit with the pups, then headed over a little later on in the morning.

Since we both drove separately, I ended up heading back home mid-afternoon and sat out in the gazebo with the pups. It was a beautiful day.

When Wilson got back, we headed out yet again towards Northfield. On my drive on Saturday evening, I passed a local alpaca farm. After a quick call to find out if they had any fiber available, we headed over and got there about 15 minutes before they closed. The owner was quite nice and gave us a tour of the barn. We got to meet the alpaca and also the miniature donkeys that they have.

I did pick up an alpaca fleece. This should keep me busy this winter! (Wilson loved the color and has even requested that I knit something up for him out of it!)