Frogging again

Well . . . I pulled out the Baby Surprise sweater again last night. I found that I was using an 8 needle instead of a 6. Huh? How the heck did I do that??? I would have bet money I was using a 6. Anyway, I bought a 29" no. 6 circular yesterday to replace what I thought was a 16" 6 that I had been using, and realized when I was transferring the needles that I was using a too large needle. To be honest, it seemed really too big. Now we know . . .

In a way it probably is a good thing. I had wanted to chart the sweater as I went along and just didn't do it. But this time I'm charting. I'm about 15 rows into the new sweater (on the 6 needle) and it goes fairly fast. I'm watching the video as I go along (thank you, Susanne!!), so I should be able to get it fairly accurate. I'll pass it along to whomever wants it--we've got to keep these babies warm!

I've been watching for the MVFF lambcam to be up and running, but so far no. Poor Susan must be losing her mind waiting and waiting and waiting . . . poor girl! I wonder what the giveaways are going to be. I love a good contest and winning something is always a lot of fun.

I joined a lace knitting group yesterday. They're going to start a knit-for the newbys to help us learn what we're doin. Fun, fun, fun. Seems like a really sweet group of girls. Should be a lot of fun.

I have a gazillion things to do today, although I did laundry last night. I need to look for a new down comforter today--ours is just worn out. I might look for a new duvet too. I really do need an extra.

Ok. Gracie's at the door. Better go. YIPPEE. Maybe she's figurin out that we go OUTSIDE to potty!!! Geez! :O)

Burglar beware

I was surprised to get a call from the City of Garland today. I wondered: am I past due on my utilities? (no); do I have a book on hold at the library? (no); are my taxes paid? (yes) . . . so I called the number. It was Det. Williams with the Garland Police. Seems he had a couple of rings that he thought might have been taken in the burglary of my house in December--December 9th to be exact--over a month ago. Guess what . . . it was my jewelry. I came home and sent him a copy of the inventory of stolen stuff that I thought my husband had already sent to him . . . either it didn't happen or it was lost somewhere enroute. So he has that now. Apparently the suspect is a 39-40 year-old guy, has a LONG arrest record for burglaries, has been in prison three times for burglarly, and is currently on parole. Bond will be set at $50,000 on this guy when they catch him, so it's clear they want him behind bars and they want him to stay there.

Anyway . . . wish the important pieces had been found. But you never know. I still have hope. I told the detective that Phil want five minutes alone in a room with the guy when the catch him. Det. Williams laughed at that one. I tend to think he's like to participate.

Welcome Gracie

Well, we went and got Gracie last Sunday. I wasn't at all sure if we'd made a good decision or not. She was sooo wild and was so unsocialized . . . it seemed she was too far gone to come around. But a week has made a whole lot of difference. She's healthier acting, is much much more sociable, and plays a lot now. We got her real steer bones at a feed store yesterday, and she's in "hog" heaven . . . she loves them! She got her first bath last night too. She was actually pretty darned good about it. Once she got over the shock of the whole thing, she actually put her head down on the side of the sink and relaxed. She hated the hair dryer, but actually enjoyed being wrapped in a towel and towel dried. She smelled SOOOOOOO much better. She actually might be able to stay now. :O)

I finally cut and sewed squares of the lavender fabrics I bought over two years ago for a quilt for baby Rowan, whose second birthday is about six weeks away. Hopefully my friend Carol will have time to do the machine quilting for me. Otherwise I'll be quilting myself on the machine, and that's not one of the strong suits. The blocks are looking gorgeous. I also threw in some purples and lavendars I used for Riann's log cabin quilt that I made some ten or so years ago. Really added a richness to the blocks. I'll probably have time tonight to sew the blocks together and the top will be ready to be quilted. I'll email Carol tonight and see if she can help me out.

I used my new seweing machine. Man, it's amazing what a nice stitch that little guy gives . . . especially when compared to my expensive White machine. Wow, Brother really knows what they're doing. I also ordered the PED add-on for the machine so I can download embroidery and monogram software from the internet. I saw one monogram I want to put on all my towels . . . about $20 to download the alphabet, but wow--how gorgeous.

I picked up and organized the opera room yesterday (remind me to tell you why my rooms have names . . . the opera room is my mess around room (studying, sewing, reading, etc.)). I have WAY too much yarn and just as much fabric -- way, way too much.

I also had about 40 rows done on the Christmas stocking I'm makin for Rowan but ripped them out. The top binding was too loose and looked strange. When I redo it I might use a 4 needle rather than the 5 being used on the body of the stocking.

Ok. I'm off to Ulta to get some Bare Minerals makeup. I'm totally out and MUST get some today or I'll look like a street person tomorrow.

Brand new baby

We brought home our new girl yesterday. I think she might have been raised in a puppy mill because she totally unsocialized--very nervous with everthing around the house, not housebroken at all, and really smelled bad (urine). But I think she was meant to be with us--we can love her soooo much (and do!). Went to bed with a bad, bad cold. Hope I feel better tomorrow. I cast on and knit two rows of Erin's grape colored Booga Bag. Also pre-washed the fabric I bought in December for the quilt. I bought a new rotary cutter a couple of weeks ago just for the occasion. I need to get with it and cut the pieces--plus I think I'll get out the lavender fabrics I bought right after Rowan was born for a baby quilt for her. Her 2nd birthday is coming up--that quilt might be a nice treat for her. The green one I made for her (just like the lavender) before she was born is almost worn out! Time for a new blanky.

I might have actually figured out how to post a block. Nice. Hopefully I will keep up with this since its' something I've been wanting to do for a long time! :O)

New Westie

Our sweet girl, Coco, was hit by a car and killed on Christmas Day. The driver was a neighbor who was speeding--if he had been going the speed limit (10 mph), my Coco would be alive right now. Of course, I feel responsibility too--I lad cracked the storm door to see if our daughter was driving up the street, and she and Mac pushed their way out the door. I thought they were after a squirrel, but when they ran around the house I knew it was a dog or a cat. But . . . nothing will bring back our sweet girl. We miss those sweet baby kisses, though, so are going tomorrow after church to get a new girl. She's halfway between here (Dallas) and Austin. The owner has one girl, and he's meeting us at a truck stop to deliver our sweet girl to us. I can hardly wait to see her! I'll post pictures soon!