Friday, February 28, 2014

Fiber Arts Friday: Palindrome Scarf, part 2

My Palindrome Scarf hasn't been getting much love lately.  In fact, I haven't posted about it since October.....


Since October, I finished the first of the two grey balls and am now working on the last one, then I have one black ball left.  Total length is currently 19 inches.

The intent of this project was to use up left-over yarn, practice purling correctly and work on my transition between knit and purl stitches.  I started with 4 1/4 ounces and have used 3 1/8 ounces so far. At about 6 inches per ounce, I should finish my yarn at ~25 inches.  Which, in my opinion, is not long enough for a scarf.  :-/  I think they should be more like 60 inches when finished and then it would grow some with blocking.  Gosh, that means I would need another 5-6 ounces to finish this scarf.  sheesh.

That's disheartening.  :-(  This project is perfect for 5-10 minutes here and there or in the car or when there's a lot of distractions, but for anything else, I find it gets boring quickly.

On the plus side, my purls and the transition between knit stitch and purl stitch are looking pretty good.  :-)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Denver Dog Show

Last weekend was Gunnar's fourth Dog Show Weekend.  There were five days of shows, of which we participated in four.

He enjoys the grooming part.



He enjoys the meeting people part...


... especially the small people.  ;-)


He even enjoys the showing part... but I have no photos of that.  :-(

He also got to see his Breeder at this show who he adores.... I wish I had it on video... Gunnar LOVES his breeder.

He just turned one year old on February 12th.... 12 months and 135 pounds.  :-)  I was surprised, but he was still the youngest TM in the competition.



Gunnar won Winner's Dog every day which is first place for the Non-Titled dogs.  That added a few points toward his championship.  The big deal though, is that on Sunday, he won Best of Breed.

BEST of BREED!

Over the current #1 Tibetan Mastiff in the US.

The Best of Breed win gave him his second "Major" so he only needs five more points to become recognized as a Champion of Record.... Yes, my baby boy is growing up.  :-)


Of course, the very best part of any dog show is being able to go back to work with his pack and his charges... and he was especially happy that there was still some mud available.  :-)


Friday, February 7, 2014

Fiber Arts Friday: My First Colorwork

The Zeotrope  hat caught my eye quite a while ago.  It reminded me of those flip books we had as a kid.  I just loved them.

Also since my family is originally from Kentucky, we have a generations-love for the Kentucky Derby.  Someone in the family usually hosts a Derby Party and the appropriate Kentucky refreshments are served.  Betting happens and awards are given for the best hat.

Being in Colorado, the weather is always a bet.  The first Saturday in May can be warm and spring-like or it can be cold and snowy.


So I thought that this hat might be a good, location-appropriate solution for the Derby Party.... and as an added benefit, I've been wanting to try colorwork for a while.


I took the hat on my trip to Mexico.  I spent a lot of time working on it while in transit and a little bit in the mornings before the others woke up and my mind was fresh.


I am enjoying this colorwork.  It's just like putting together a puzzle... and the yarn is lovely... Silk and Cashmere coupled with Merino Wool.  I very much may be of the opinion that all yarn should have Cashmere in it.  ;-)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Introducing: Taboo Ruff's Sweet Colorado Mochi



Mochi moved in about a week ago.  She is 9 weeks old and doing well.  :-)




Mochi made fast friends with the other dogs and has started spending short, supervised time with the alpacas.