Random thoughts...

color makes me happy.
this is one drawer from my 3 drawer plastic stash storage system (whoo, say that 3x fast). when i was purging last week, i realized i finally did exactly what i set out to do early into my knitting - only purchase yarn that makes me happy. that means, buy the colors i really love (and that doesn't include "safe" colors), even if i don't think i'll wear them, buy quality not quantity, buy luxury when i can because hey, we all need to treat ourselves every once in a while and last, but certainly not least, never apologize or feel guilty for having a passion and a wonderful stash.

the only thing missing from this group is my collection of chartreuse/golden rod yellows/golds. i do love me some jewel tones. and although i do wear quite the bit of black and charcoal gray (i am a "creative"... i'd rather put that energy into my work rather than figuring out what to wear! isn't that what folks say?) i don't want to be surrounded by drab colors. my craft bookshelf is painted a bright kelley green (you can see a bit of it in the background) and my fiber stash is equally as bright and happy. loves it!!!

weekly wrap-up/finished object(s) current projects
on the needles
still working on my shawl... unfortunately nothing to share yet :(

on the spinning wheel
still working on the singles for my husbands socks.
i have about .6 oz left from the 2nd bobbin, and one more ounce and some change to go, then ply time!

odds & ends
what i love this week
real simple magazine. actually, i love this magazine daily. it's my go to for quick and healthy 30-minute and less recipes, in addition to home decorating inspiration and home/life organization tips. it's a really great magazine and what i really enjoy is the breadth of topics covered. as i mentioned above there is the home stuff, but there is also women's empowerment articles, health/diet/exercise, beauty, finances, meditation, relationships, really a great magazine that you can sink your teeth into. i've subscribed to it since it's inception, and it's never gotten dull.

ok, so my point with bringing the magazine up... when it comes to eating, i try to steer clear of anything in packages (save for pasta noodles, bread, dairy... you get the point) for the most part. anything that i can make myself, i typically do. and yes it's commendable i guess, but it's also a lot of work and frankly, exhausting. so in comes real simple... i can flip the auto-pilot switch on and just follow very clean, simple and healthy recipes that are easy to add personalized touches to. one of the quick recipes i made this week was the chopped chicken salad:

the chopped chicken salad was "real simple" made with mayonnaise (or a substitute if you like), celery, scallions (i used shallots), lemon zest and lemon juice (i used 3x the amount, yum!), and seasoned to taste. seriously, real simple, but it would not have been on my radar at all. the recipe had the chicken salad served over watercress, but i served mine over spinach :D who the hell has watercress hanging around anyway?! i rounded my meal off with a little more protein (if not, i would be starving 20 minutes after eating!), warmed pita w/ a little butter (yum! i love bread), some grapes, a little knitting (back left), and some soda. damn... all that healthy ish really does make me crave a little naughty! and who can resist an ice cold squirt!?

anyway, so yeah... check out the magazine if you haven't already. you will thank me because it is wonderful and additionally, beautifully laid out. and don't let them have an article on paint.... lawd, have mercy! hahaaaa i find real simple to be a very positive, uplifting and inspirational magazine. just the kind of easy reading one should read, right? we are inundated with so much garbage on a daily basis... it's hard to filter it all out. and besides, who wants to read about heavy, depressing, energy-draining junk? we all have enough going on in our own personal lives! i always feel that what you put out into the world (or blogosphere) should be light, fun, informative if possible, and most of all positive and fun! a little bit of escapism. and like the old saying... if you don't have anything nice to say, then shut the front door!

i forgot to mention (as i digressed)... on the same page with the above recipe, there were actually 10 quick boneless chicken dishes. no thinking! there are also more elaborate recipes in the magazine (read that as usually more than 30 minutes), but there is already 1 martha stewart, and dammit, i'm just trying to eat!

another thing i am loving this week now that it's cooled off a little is the small bit of activity in the pseudo-garden. i know i fell off on this one, but i promise, things are still growing and doing their thing in the backyard. my yield so far has been 2 tomatoes (one of which was enjoyed by one of the local critters), 3 really nice-sized anaheim chilis and 6 lovely green bell peppers (one of which was enjoyed by a daring insect). the latter of the 2 were chopped up for a 4th of july barbeque and grilled with a little olive oil and lots of lemon, spices and shrimp. very delish.

 itty bitty chili! so cute :)

baby bells. there are a ton of these on my six plants, so here's to a nice-sized crop!

i'm having the most success with the bell peppers and the chilis, no surprise here. they are the kind of plants that as long as you put them in full sun for most of the day and give them a drink of water, they are usually alright. they love the heat. and california, heat we have! i love hearty, bullet-proof plants.

another tomato even managed to show up. yup, only one. i'm watching this one like a hawk because low and behold, just on the other side of the plant was this...

yeah, sure... some kind of fancy butterfly perhaps. yeah, not even. it's the infamous tomato hornworm. gnarly looking, right? and in typical caterpillar fashion, they wreak all kinds of havoc on plants, specifically tomatoes and peppers. notice how there are zero leaves where this little bugger is. remedy: the hubster snipped off this piece of the plant and moved the perp to a distant shrub. he more than likely got picked up by one of the resident birds. hope it enjoyed its time while it lasted. anyway... such is gardening.

and now onto a new segment i'd like to call: "dose of dog" (you already knew this was coming!).

so, this week, we had a sick pup in the house - mr. tinsley enjoyed a playing around with a plastic juice bottle a little too much, and more than likely ate a little bit of plastic while doing so. unlike riley, he doesn't seem to understand that the non-traditional toys aren't supposed to be eaten! they just get kicked around. so he spent the rest of the evening throwing up, and then continued throwing up throughout the wee hours of the morning and into the next day. he was not a happy camper.

first thing in the morning, i took him to the vet to make sure everything was ok with him. he really is a big ole sissy so he does have the tendency to overexaggerate and make things worse than they really are, but i still wanted to be doubly sure that he didn't consume something potentially damaging. and yes, i am a worry wort when it comes to the dogs. the dogs are both 4 and thankfully, i've gotten much better about this. can you imagine me 3 years ago when they were really getting into everything?! ugh. the vet at banfield (the vet office located in many petsmart facilities) proposed the most expensive thing possible of course, an x-ray, to the tune of $300. *sigh* damn.

i won't go off on a tirade here, although i really, really want to, but in so many words, i asked the assistant why they always propose the most expensive treatment first?! they don't really try to troubleshoot, but they jump straight into pathology mode. and that is expensive! tinsley is in perfect health (and the vet would've known this had he just pulled his past charts!), so i ended up just having him stay at the vets for observation (more than 6 hrs) for peace of mind... add $70 to the bill.

the vet called me later on in the afternoon to tell me tinsley was doing fine, resting comfortably and had no additional vomiting, but he still wanted to administer an anti-nausea injection. you already know my response... "um... if he's not throwing up anymore, why are you going to charge more money to inject him with something to prevent nausea/vomiting?" in my head, what i wanted to hear... the honest response should have been, "because it's another $30 that i can charge you!" but after a ridiculously long pause (guess i caught him off guard) he said, "preventative measure"... fair enough. ok, fine. add another $30 to the tab. the vet then tried to sell me on taking home a few cans of prescription food because with all the vomiting, tinsley's system needed something bland, gentle and easy to digest, to which i responded, yeah... i can make that at home. it's called white rice and boiled chicken. the vet really wanted me to choke him out, right? lol

in the meantime, riley and i hung out at home. we missed our mr. tinsley like crazy though. he really knows how to fill the empty spaces of the house with his silly grunts, warning growls to potential intruders and loud yawns. luckily, he came home around 6pm and got lots of love and rubs and hugs. he knew he was missed, and i could tell someone was loving up on him at the vets because he came back all smiley. the vet sent him home with medication, i guess it was some type of antibiotic... whatever it was, read that as another $15-20 added to the bill (bastards!), and my husband let the vet know we'd be making his food at home, so subtract $15. i guess when the d.h. asked the vet what ingredients were in the prescription food, the vet was completely stumped (again). when hubster looked at the ingredient list, it was totally indecipherable. so all in all we spent $100 for peace of mind, and saved $300. the things we do for our pets, right? mr. tinsley has been resting comfortably ever since and really enjoying eating rice and boiled chicken. they eat a really high quality diet anyway, but he loves himself some rice :D

but seriously... i don't have kids, my furries are my children, and i just can't resist these faces...

i just love them to bits-and-pieces and want them to be happy, loved more than they can handle and well taken care of because they bring me so much joy. and that has no price tag.

enjoy your weekend!
until next time...

-- untitled (again) --

welcome back...
i've been expecting you ;) i've been on a much needed break since my last challenge. i have been keeping busy in hobby land but all that spinning had a sister wiped out.

[[weekly wrap-up/finished object(s) current projects]]
on the needles
now that tour de fleece is wrapped up, i am continuing to plug away, albeit slowly, on my portland hat. here is your refresher:

i have about... i'd say 2 or 3 repeats left on it, and then i can start decreasing. i've made a ton of mistakes - talking and/or listening to conversation while knitting is not my thing), but they are well-loved mistakes that i will leave alone, because they don't effect the overall look of the hat. and it is a hat after all ;)

i'm itching to get started on a new project, and here is the kicker - i'm looking at shawls. i mentioned this on the last blog, so ignore this part if you read it already, but shawls always looked and seemed so matronly to me. as of recent i've seen knitted shawls being worn in a different, more current, more "hip" way - as a kerchief. i already wear kerchiefs as accessories, so knitting one with lovely yarn is a natural progression. this i can swing. the hard part is stash diving and finding the "right" yarn, for the "right" shawl. right is in parenthesis because that is relative and really will depend on the mood i am in on the day i am picking yarn and patterns ;) i could always use handspun...

on/off the spinning wheel
today i finished plying my last tour de fleece yarn - 5.4 oz of polwarth. it's a 3-ply yarn of which i managed to spin a whopping 368 yds out of. my new yardage record! i haven't checked the wpi, but it feels like it's fingering to light fingering weight. this yarn is currently drying, but i took a few glamour shots of it before i gave it the spa treatment.

now that my wheel is currently unoccupied, i cleaned it up/dusted it off and now it's ready to finish spinning the other 2 plies for the husbears 3-ply socks. if you remember (you probably don't) i spun 1.3 or so ounces of "panda" blend (merino/bamboo/nylon) from fatcatknits at the end of tour de fleece to hit my goal of spinning 1 pound of fiber. well... i almost hit the goal. in fact i spun 15.7 ounces! :O say what?! i know... crazy. the even crazier thing is my total yardage in singles was a touch over 1 mile. that is re-damn-diculous! anywho... here is that bobbin i spun on the last day of the tour, and next to it is a before shot of the fiber.

this was my first time spinning panda blend, and i wasn't sure if it was going to do me wrong, and just leave me all kinds of frustrated. surprisingly it didn't. this blend is super soft and silky, practically drafted itself (come to think of it, i just had a bit of a deja vu moment... so maybe i wrote these exact phrases on my last post? oh well... i'm keeping it!), and all together this blend was really enjoyable to spin. it gave me no problems at all (it spun like other slick fibers i love to spin) other than it shedding all over the place. i had a pile of fluff left on my legs and shirt. this stuff shed like a mofo! and if you only knew how much i can't stand hair being all over the place... just take my word for it. the dogs are lucky they are cute and a non-shedding breed because they would've gotten the boot a long time ago if they weren't ;)

and last in the spinning section, here is my little collection of usable handspun. usable meaning decent yardage - over 150 yds - and not chunky, lumpy and funky. this is the only yarn i keep outside of a plastic bag or plastic storage bin, because it's lovely and i am very proud of it, so of course, i must keep it on display so i can look at it and appreciate the work it took me to get to the point of usable yarn, and also to possibly inspire me to knit with it :)

there are 5 nice skeins here. basket is overflowing, so it is time to knit!

[[odds & ends]]
what i love this week
a clean crafting room.
something about decluttering that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

so, i spent a few hours out of the weekend doing some much needed summer cleaning and organizing (i tend to do this each season) because my workspace gets cluttered fast. as i mentioned many months ago, i store most of my fiber stuff in see-through plastic storage bins and shelving systems. it's easy for me to keep things organized and tidy, but it still allows me to see my "stuff" rather than hide it. there is no shame in my game, so there is no need to hide a thing. i also like the see-through bins because i am able to add splashes of color to my craft room, without actually having to have the "stuff" sitting out on the table. anywho... so yeah, my table top gets cleaned regularly because as my husband likes to remind me, i am a stacker. if there is an empty, flat surface, i will stack my "stuff" right on top of it :D in organized piles of course, but nonetheless stacked.

to make this post longer than it really needs to be, through all the sorting, tossing things into the trash (i purge hard when i clean), stuffing donation boxes with items i no longer use, and removing visual clutter, i stumbled upon my first attempt at a sweater, carefully wrapped in its own box.

this sweater, even though you can't see the entire thing, was the makings of a seed stitch, v-neck, slouchy debbie bliss sweater with a chunky cable down the center front, in a very heavy, chunky weight yarn.

get a load of those lovely rosewood needles. probably size us 13. 

i haven't touched this sweater since the time i started knitting it - which i'm sure was fall 2008 - and the yarn is really quite lovely - a deep mossy green - and was pricey at the time for the amount of yardage/weight on the skein. so i am doing what any crafter who hates to waste the good stuff would do. i am frogging this bad boy! perfect knit night project.

i managed to keep my ufo/wip's (unfinished objects/works in progress, that is) consolidated to one single market basket as of my last hard purging session. it is still under control, as much as i've been having the urge to start new projects. i'm trying to discipline myself, and be a predominantly monogamous knitter. i work best like this anyway, as i really don't find multitasking with my hobbies efficient for me. the rule with the ufo/wip basket is, i can only work on what can fit in the basket. this usually ends up being about 5 projects. so far there is a hat for the husbear, a couple of swatches for a sweater, a half-started shawl for my mom which i more than likely won't even bother with right now and an almost finished cotton baby sweater. other items i am currently working on are in my knitting basket which i carry with me from room-to-room and outside for quick access. only 2 items and spinning fiber in there ;)

ufo/wip basket - this is one of the baskets from black sheep gathering. perfect use for this!

what other photos do i have to unload...
oh, here are some dog shots (you know you love them). a couple of weeks ago it was blazing in the house, so i cranked the fan up on high because i was trying to hold out on turning on the a/c... of course the dogs quickly got up from being puddles on the floor and allowed me to take photos of their silliness. enjoy!

and my favorite from this batch:

mr. tinsley is so silly :D

more spinning, less knitting

my knitting mojo is m.i.a. oh where, oh where can it be?
this is no surprise... this has happened to me every year that i have been knitting, so almost 3 years, because i've been knitting for ages, right? har har! this year, i was able to keep the flame going till june! last year, i was over knitting in february. ugh.

i've been trying to find my mojo for the past couple of weeks; trying to get excited about finishing some of my wip's that are glaring at me from their baskets and/or ziplock baggies; and trying to free up some of my needles so that i can work on something fresh and new! failing miserably in all 3 areas. normally, just starting some new w/ amazing, vibrant-colored fiber is that quickest way to get me excited again... but this time it's not working.

so to that i say SPIN!

weekly wrap-up/finished object(s) current projects

on the spinning wheel
first try, navajo-ply. not much to say here... navajo-plying was very relaxing for me. it took a few yards to get a good rhythm going, but all in all, i really enjoyed this technique and will absolutely do it again in the future. i have at least a few more braids of fiber where color management would be very important, so i'm glad i had a few guinea pig bobbins to test this out on with first! i'm not happy with the colors on this (still). looks muddy to me.

not bad... just not good either imo

but it looks nicer in a skein :)

the d.h. loves this fiber nonetheless, and is adamant that i make him socks out of this (instead of hide it at the bottom of my fiber bin)... i probably should. i don't want to be wasteful. the yardage came out to about 150-160 yds... so maybe i can make him those small footsie type socks with reinforced heels and toes. i am actually a little curious as to how this will knit up, because sometimes it does in fact look a bit better.

not all the news today is as depressing (thank goodness).
i finally used a yummy braid from my corgi hill farm bfl/tussah fiber and enjoyed every step of spinning that fiber immensely. hope you are ready for a heavy post of few glamour shots!

three bobbins of lovely greens.

let the plying begin... love those colors blending!

almost overfilled the bobbin :D

onto the homemade pvc niddy noddy, and getting ready for a bath

 a bit overplyed... but this is sock yarn ;)

all finished.

a little sexy lighting here :D

this fiber was prepared nicely and spun nicely as well (bfl and silk = long staples)...
although (ugh... i hate "buts") i wasn't happy with the depth/saturation of color/dyeing. what i mean is... when i was drafting the fiber, i was hoping the color would be all the way through the thickness of the fiber, but the more i kept spinning, i noticed that only the top layers of fiber were dyed and the middle layers were the base color (creamy white). not a bad thing in and of itself, but i would've loved more lengths of the vibrant green.

i found myself spinning in an awkward fashion, where i was trying very hard to spin each color separately, pinching off colors i didn't want to use/grabbing what i wanted to use, rather then let all the different shades of green and white blend together and heather. my spinning guild is having their annual "dye day" this month, and it will be interesting to have a firsthand account of how the dyeing process works, including seeing the individual challenges that arise with the varying types of fibers and fiber preparation, the different dyeing methods and seeing the reactions between different colors. maybe there is a reason why the colors on some of the fiber i have used/seen don't saturate all the way through. i'll let you know.

here is my stash for dye day. gotta love knit picks!

odds & ends
what i love this week
in the garden... signs of life

 

after his workout... he should really think about hitting up a good salon for a pedicure! ;)

bell peppers are in full effect!

anaheim chilis getting ready to make their way to my kitchen!

and of course... to make this post complete... furry shots :D 

oh, you know you love it! how can you resist!?

what a sweet face! doesn't she just look like a trouble maker? 

i love those little rolls at the back of her neck and that little itty bitty nose! *squeak, squeak* :D

doing what they do best... holding the floor down!

being nosey, as usual!

helpful links
youtube: i must share the navajo-ply video i used with you!
it's done very well over a cream-colored spinning cloth and you can see the spinners movements very clearly. the video is actually a decent length (almost 6 minutes), so you don't have to worry about the video being over before it starts! i tend to work alongside videos in an effort to try to mimic the movements while the video is still going, so proper length of video is important to me!

and on that note...
let's hope i get my knitting mojo back. it's been on haitus for 2 weeks now. pfft! 

little updates...

i've been a little busy the past few weeks (try not to be so surprised!) so all that has cut into my crafting time. of course this made me crankier than normal... yeah, maybe that doesn't say much! hahahaaa anyway, the one item i was really focused on getting finished before the month is out is below. and yes, i made it before the deadline! 

weekly wrap-up/finished object(s) current projects:
on/off the needles
a finished project! yay. it's been a while.

knitted doughnuts on double point needles. a quick, easygoing project that i could do in front of the tv or at my knitting group. i will admit, it was starting to drain me (most people only make 1 or 2... i made 7), as do most projects that take more than a month to complete, but once enough doughnuts were finished, i was happy with the results. adorable! the dark chocolate ones were my favorite, and i remember that each time i picked up the dark brown yarn, i had a craving for a chocolate cake doughnuts. funny how that works, right? :)

so now, i'm back to working on wip's that i put on a time out to finish doughnuts. that still sounds so funny :0)

these projects include getting started on one of two sweaters i swatched for a couple weeks back and my lovely chartreuse socks! and as i searched past posts to see if i actually shared images of the new swatches, i realized i didn't. totally space cadet. so i'll share now :) this is my brain on "busy" folks, any questions? i think my intention was to do a post on this... but you know the old saying about intentions... "the road to hell is paved with good intentions"... wait, that doesn't really work. actually i think the saying i'm looking for is regarding "best laid plans." ok, whatever.

idlewood sweater by cecily glowik macdonald of winged knits

the "lauren" sweater by ann weaver

my gauge was SUPER off on both swatches (even after washing) and a knitting buddy taught me how to adjust the pattern to fit me and the gauge i preferred. i'm really excited to see how this all works out. and yes... i remember i still haven't finished the last sweater i was working on. i remember quite well. but you know what "they" say about variety... it's the spice of life! and i need some spice in my life! hahahaa :D and i get bored easily. i need a few projects going to keep me interested.

on/off the spinning wheel
i finished spinning the fat cat knits falkland in "abigail."

you remember this falkland right? the braid with amazing colors that was spinning up all muddy? well if not, here is a photo of the before and after to refresh that poor memory of yours. in the photo below, you can actually already see that pieces looked muddy to begin with. it's all good. it came out lovely anyway :)

before

after

i'm in couch mode (as in, totally not getting up from the couch right now) so you'll just have to trust me when i say that there are 2 finished bobbins of singles. so now it's time to get to plying. first to ply (and very well rested) is the sweetgeorgia fiber club silk/bfl.

i could use that coffee right about now!

odds & ends
over the past few weeks, the hubby and i have been working hard in the backyard, cleaning, organizing, weeding, planting, pruning, all the above, and because the weather has been so nice lately (clear skies, light, cool breeze, warm temperatures around 80F), we are finally able to enjoy the fruits of our labor. here are a few snapshots of things going on back there.

 

apparently we aren't the only ones enjoying the fruits of our labor *side eye*

no damage done yet, but the rabbit has already been put on notice by riley!

*sigh* i have the craziest dogs ever! and they are so nosey. loves it!

later on a small tree was planted here in this hole.

speaking of crazy dogs... miss riley has allergies. i don't think i mentioned this before, so i'm mentioning it now.

she's been through several home remedies and lifestyle changes (probably all the same remedies that many people with dogs affected by allergies has tried), and a few medications (including otc antihistamines and benadryl), yet nothing has really worked and the one medication that she was using that worked well, as in instantly - temaril-p - is not considered safe for long time use. now she is on a new medication, and although it's not as effective as temaril-p (a steriod), it is a safe alternative that can be used for long time allergy management. it's either this, or we move to a new house. i'm still voting for the latter ;)

the only annoying thing i'm finding so far with the cyclosporine (aside from the fact that she does still itch, although it has been reduced significantly) is the way it is administered - through a syringe. the link i shared shows it in pill form, so i'm not sure why she has liquid form. maybe it's easier to administer, or maybe it's because of her weight? anyway... like the bottle shows, the meds must be given prior to eating or drinking water (one hour before) and 2 hours after eating. it's taken me a few days to remember all this, but i've finally gotten the hang of it, and riley is no longer eating her breakfast at late lunch hours :)

nonetheless, she is not amused.

my initial concern with this new medication was the issue of vomiting and/or diarrhea that many people who have used it on their dogs complained about. the general consensus was that the vomiting was absolutely worth it if it gave their pets a more comfortable life, and i feel the same way. honestly, it wouldn't be the first time she's thrown something up, and i'm sure it wouldn't be the last, because this little dog eats EVERYTHING. i just want her to be more comfortable and return to doing the things that she once enjoyed. the interesting thing is that riley has not had any issues with vomiting *phew* yay! i guess eating all that random stuff and having a cast iron stomach paid off!

after about an after she's taken her meds, she's able to do stuff like this again...

 hunt wabbitslizards that sneak into the garage around this time of the year!

and even more beneficial - cleaning up cobwebs!

so all in all, cyclosporin has allowed riley to regain her happy life back in many ways. as i mentioned earlier, it has not alleviated all itching - in fact, she still scratches, licks, and is still generally itchy all day, it's just not as magnified, and she is able to enjoy her usual activities like terrorizing all the critters in the backyard, play fetch, eat empty planting containers, play frisbee and chew on rawhides. she also still continues to have restless nights where she wakes me up at 3am because i'm assuming her meds are fully out of her system at that point and she's beginning to become uncomfortable again. it is what it is. i'm happy she's happier.

until next time!
enjoy your week :)

Eye Candy...

 A little something to tie you over till the next post...

Last week was a total wash for me... I had no energy at all to do a thing. When this happens, all I can do is listen to my body when it tells me that it wants to spend the entire day horizontal on the couch. Maybe it was the weather (of course it was the weather), or maybe it was because I overworked myself the previous week. Who knows. No worries... sometimes you just have to rest.

I managed to muster up enough energy to groom the dogs last week (I really need to bite the bullet on a proper grooming table), and the sun managed to peak it's face out long enough this weekend for a few photo ops: the dogs enjoying their new hair cuts and stash enhancement for a new project.

Here are the lovelies, looking all stately and whatnot

The unthinkable happened while I was clipping Mr. Tinsley's nails (doggie on the left)... I cut into the quick/kwik of his nail, the inner part of the nail which contains bled vessels and nerve endings, not once, but thrice! Yowza. He's a trooper; didn't make much noise, just jumped up and shot me the stank eye, which kept me from cutting into the quick of another nail for a total of 4x (boy was I on a roll). 

Let this be a lesson to you. Do not trust every tutorial you find online regarding dog grooming! One image I looked at the previous week showed what a properly trimmed nail should look like, and what it would look like as you were trimming when you got close to the quick. Yeah... his nails looked nothing like that! Here's the thing... my dogs have thick, black nails, which makes it nearly impossible to see the quick on each nail. Ok, maybe not impossible, just really, really difficult, and requires a ton of patience (which clearly I do have lots of with the dogs, at least). This equates to total anxiety for me and the dogs on a monthly basis. So 1/16th of a snip here and there is my approach. Tinsley's nails are lllooonnnggg, because clearly he's never had his nails properly trimmed back far enough, and he is a bit of a priss, meaning he is mostly an indoor dog, so he doesn't get his nails filed down from being outside on the pavement the way Riley does (dog on the right). She very seldom gets her nails trimmed, although I check them regularly to make sure they are healthy-looking. The are both equally high maintenance in their own way though... I'll save the "Riley and her damn allergy" stories for another time!

Anyway, I've been grooming my dogs since they were puppies (3 yrs) and usually I'll let the professionals pluck ear hair, trim nails, express anal glands... you know all the dirty work that you'd rather have your dog associate with someone else? Ha! But I like to keep everything in-house (get it?) so recently, I've taken it upon myself to do it all. And by all, I mean all, including expressing anal glands. [Side Bar: Anal gland expressing = $25 for something that is relatively a piece of cake with the right tools. Riley needs hers expressed about 1x a month, Tinsley, maybe 1-2x a year, so you can see how quickly that would add up].

So now the pressure is off regarding the daunting "don't cut the quick" nail trimming task, because honestly, a lot of hype goes into trimming a dog's nails. It makes one almost terrified to do it because it sounds like, inevitably, blood shed will ensue The key is clipping the nails in tiny little pieces, bit-by-bit. Don't go trim happy, hacking off an inch... that would result in unnecessary trauma and bloodshed. The bleeding wasn't bad (remember, tiny pieces) just a little red was seen on the tip of the 3 nails (ew!) which quickly subsided after plugging the wound up with the stypic powder. Apparently this magic powder does work wonders to stop any bleeding as well as acts as a mild pain reliever. This was my first time having to use it. Never cut your dogs nails without this nearby. Oh, also try to avoid using the "guillotine" style nail trimmers. They tend to be a lot harder on the dogs nail, a lot more pressure is required to use them, visibility of the nail gets obstructed, and they can do more damage than good if you don't know what you're doing. So, Mr. furball survived the first casualty and let me finish the job. Also keep the most yummy smelling and tasty treats on-hand to distract from blunders. Dogs are easy ;) Tinsley is a total trooper. He actually sleeps when I trim his nails, go figure. All in all, a successful grooming day, which gets to be repeated again in 3 weeks. Ugh! hahahaaa

On the other front, Mawata, also referred to as silk hankies (100% pure silk), seems to be all the rage right now in the knitting world thanks to fellow knitter the Yarn Harlot, who shared her recent project using lovely hand-painted silk hankies, that left most of us crushing hard and scouring the internet for places to purchase hankies! Luckily, I didn't have to go far. A knitting buddy (aka queen enabler Denise) brought all the Yarn Harlot/Mawata goodness to the group's attention, mentioning she was interested in making a purchase, and of course... you already know. Lately, I've been on a silk kick. Spinning it has proven to be nothing but wonderful, and I'm a sucker for vibrant, rich, saturated colors, and color like that doesn't get any better than it does on silk!

Ok, let me show you the goods. Drooling is absolutely acceptable.

These hankies are from Outback Fibers. They come in 10 gram packs of about 16-18 layers of hankies. You can see the layers on the above pictures. Now if you are wondering what happens next, don't worry... I've done a little research and have asked many questions already, because I was having a hard time wrapping my head around what you do with it after you stop drooling over the colors. So pretty, right? Here is a youtube video showing how to prep it for knitting - you knit it right off the hankie, no spinning required. *love* The sidekick in the video is hilarious :D There is also a new group on Ravelry for support and inspiration. My mawata wants to be something really simple and pretty. Something that will show off the beautiful colors, but something that will be used to keep my poor fingers (or toes) warm and toasty. Still searching for the "perfect" project.

The colorway I have is "Kimberly Blue"... how appropriate right? [Side bar: My name is Kimberly, if you don't know]. The colors remind me of a Macaw (minus the yellow) - vibrant, tropical, full of  life and... colorful! These colors take me away to a warm, tropical paradise. *sigh* Can't wait til Spring. The timing on this purchase was perfect; I was freezing my [fill in the blank with all the above body parts] off in my cold house, digits totally numb making it uncomfortable to get anything done (yes, I'm a sissy and cold-sensitive), and silk is the perfect solution. Silk is warm and insulating in cold weather, very cool and absorbent in warm weather, light, shiny and holds color very well. Having a "Textiles 101" flashback.

Other than that, I'm wrapping up a few projects (check the side bar... I'm almost done with a few). Missed my end of February deadline, but that's ok. My resolutions are still coming along nicely, so that makes me proud. I was out of commission last week and taking that time to rest up, but this week... well, lets just say it's going to be relatively sunny. So you know what that means... productivity will go shoot the roof. Hopefully ;)

Here are a couple sneak peeks into my projects for March...

Will be turning this into a 3-ply sock yarn (hopefully)

Will be turning 2 bobbins of this into fingerless gloves (hopefully)

Until then!