Saturday, February 28, 2009

SO your FO

It was another busy Saturday in the store-I'm not complaining. Here are some pictures of finished objects for you.

Lisa was very excited last week because her cardigan was done and she needed buttons. Here it is. She wore it in this morning and wasn't happy that I made her stand outside in the freezing cold to get a picture. The cardigan fits her perfectly-according to Lisa the best fitting item she has knit. The design is Martha from Rowan 37 knit in 4ply cotton.

Bev came in wearing Clapotis knit out of Silky Wool from Elsebeth Lavold. She didn't want her picture taken but the 10% off her purchase today got her outside quickly.


Marg is wearing the shrug knit out of Silk Garden Chunky from Mini-Knits from Jenny Watson. Very cute and can be worn dressed up or dressed down. See more pictures on Marg's blog.

Don't forget that Celebrity Apprentice is starting tomorrow night. What a weird group of people. Joan Rivers? That is going to be interesting.

Is spring coming soon?

We are ready for spring in the store. Mom and dad are away until the middle of April and one of dad's many jobs is changing the flags. I didn't want the winter flags up in April so we have the spring flags up a bit early. A cheery sight on a freezing cold day.
Diana came in last night wearing this great scarf knit in Kureyon Sock. The pattern is The Lace Ribbon Scarf from knitty.com. Diana wasn't going to mention the scarf because she didn't have her receipt. If you have knit something from the store we aren't worrying too much about receipts right now. I know that most people don't keep their receipts but hopefully you will from now on.

At class on Thursday night Phyllis was telling us about a new shoe store that has opened in Dundas-David Williams shoes on King Street. I will definitely be checking it out.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Road Trip

Annie Adams was displaying her wonderful sterling silver shawl pins at TNNA in January. I ordered some and received a call today that they are ready. She is located in Buffalo so I am going on Monday to pick them up. Cheesecake Factory!!


Keychains and magnets. These will make great gifts.

Cookie A, Fiona Ellis and Wannietta Prescod October 15-18 at The Bayview Wildwood Resort. Watch for more details.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

'Soak'ing

Well, it lasted a couple of weeks and then yesterday I didn't post. I worked in the store all day on the computer cleaning up the website and adding new pattern books and featured patterns-including Blue Sky Alpacas patterns that customers have been requesting. When I got home I thought about posting but really didn't have anything to show or tell.

Last night I washed my Noro Transitions sweater 'Holly'. If you come into the store you will recognize this because I wear it all the time-hence the bath.

Laying out on the bathroom floor. It is now in the bathtub rolled in towels trying to get the excess water out.

Soak was the wash of choice. The bottle says one capful in a gallon of water. I used more because it was in the tub but then I was concerned about the bubbles. I didn't think there should be any but this morning when I looked at the Soak site there is a picture of a girl washing her teddy bear and there are lots of bubbles. I feel much better now. Check out the Soak website which details the uses for the product-knitting, quilting, lingerie.

My choices from Idol last night are Adam, Allison and Megan Joy. Why do some of them come out and sing such boring songs? Wow me!!

Tonight I have class followed by Survivor and Hell's Kitchen.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

SO your FO

If you live out of town, you can send me pictures of your FOs like Susan did. We do ask that the projects be fairly recent-sweaters you finished 15 years ago don't qualify.

These cute mukluks are a free pattern on Ravelry-go to patterns and type in Suede Booties.
The Baby Tulip cardigan from Dream in Color. Susan used her left overs to knit a matching hat.

Two baby blankets knit out of Buttons from Naturally.

The jacket and booties are for her granddaughter who is arriving very soon. The blankets are for a friend's granddaughter who is also on the way.

Beth is very upset that we don't have American Idol tonight. However, not quite as upset as she was last night. She has been waiting for the finale of The Bachelor when DeAnna comes back. Who you ask-DeAnna was the Bachelorette last season and Jason proposed to her. She turned him down but apparently she will be showing up on the final episode-does she want him back now?

Monday, February 23, 2009

Pets

Mom emailed this to us this morning. It is very fitting because we had people over on Friday and Saturday night. The dogs raced everyone down the stairs and tried to get into the bathroom. All visitors left covered in dog hair-why do they wear black to our house?

The following was found posted very low on a refrigerator door.

Dear Dogs and Cats:

The dishes with the paw prints are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.

The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Racing me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.

I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort, however. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It i s not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other, stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out on the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.

For the last time, there is no secret exit from the bathroom! If, by some miracle, I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge in an attempt to open the door. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years - canine/feline attendance is not required.

The proper order for kissing is: Kiss me first, then go smell the other dog or cat's butt. I cannot stress this enough.

Finally, in fairness, dear pets, I have posted the following message on the front door: TO ALL NON-PET OWNERS WHO VISIT AND LIKE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT OUR PETS:

  1. They live here. You don't.
  2. If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. That's why they call it 'fur'-niture.
  3. I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.
  4. To you, they are animals. To me, they are adopted sons/daughters who are short, hairy, walk on all fours and don't speak clearly.

Remember, dogs and cats are better than kids because they

  1. eat less
  2. don't ask for money all the time
  3. are easier to train
  4. normally come when called
  5. never ask to drive the car
  6. don't hang out with drug-using people
  7. don't smoke or drink
  8. don't want to wear your clothes
  9. don't have to buy the latest fashions
  10. don't need a gazillion dollars for college
  11. if they get pregnant, you can sell their children!!!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

I've been hiding something

Today was spent relaxing watching golf, Nascar, The Amazing Race and now the end of the Academy Awards.  I pulled out Lizard Ridge but wasn't in the mood to knit on it so I pulled something out of my room.  Something that I haven't told you about. I knit Holly last year and started it again a couple of weeks ago. It is easy to knit and I love wearing the finished sweater.  Noro Transitions is the yarn and this version will be mauves, beiges and black.  Fits nicely into my wardrobe.  Now I am in a rush to get this done so I can wear it while it is still cold out.

Mark the weekend after Thanksgiving on your calendar.  We have something planned and will tell you more in the next newsletter.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

SO your FO

In my last newsletter I talked about SO your FO-show off your finished object. Wear in your finished garment (from yarn bought in the store) and we will take your picture for the blog and give you 10% off your next purchase. This is Marie and Helene in their finished garments. Marie (on the right) is in an Elsebeth Lavold design-Iris from book 8-knit in Cable Cotton. Helene's jacket is my design knit in Naturally Vero.

These are my kids. They wanted to make funny faces but I told them they had to play nice for the first picture.


Our waitress last night was named Beth. She has served us with the kids before so she knew what to expect. When the kids were signing for their supper she sat down and graded them. After dinner everyone came back for some Wii. The Wii was the best investment we made-it can keep the kids busy for many hours.

Sarah worked today and I was supposed to leave an noon but we were very busy-thank you all who visited-so I was there until closing. We picked up Beth and went for dinner. They are now at a movie. I can't sit through a movie in the theatre for a couple of reasons. The first is that I can't go that long without using the washroom. The second is that I get bored sitting there for that long without knitting.

Thank you for all the kind comments on my afghan. It will be in the store for a bit yet. I think I will pick up Lizard Ridge again and get it done.

Friday, February 20, 2009

DONE

I worked my fingers to the bone and got it finished. The pattern can be found on KathyMarie's blog. Twenty balls of Noro Kureyon for the squares and I did the border in four skeins of Cascade 220.

Survivor last night was great. Right now I like Taj. She is there to win!! Her husband being Eddie George doesn't hurt either. Gotta love a blindside. Why don't these people learn to keep their opinions to themselves? Talk too much and you will get voted out.

Beth and I are having dinner with our friend John and his three daughters and another friend Lynda and her daughter. The four girls call us Auntie Beth and Auntie Julie. Very cute!! The oldest two are ten and the twins are eight. Last time we ate out Beth started a game with them. Before they could say anything they had to say "Auntie Beth, Queen of the table, may I ask a question?" The kids loved it (and so did the staff). Tonight she is going to make them sing their questions. We are eating at Jack Astor's and have the Elvis table reserved so it is very fitting.

More snow tomorrow-where is spring?

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Punta Yarns

More yarn arrived today. This is called Merisoft Hand Painted from Punta Yarns. The yarn (from Uruguay) is hand painted merino wool. There are 180m on a 100gram skein-enough to make a hat or cowl. Sorry, I didn't write down the colours we received but as you can see the basket looks inviting.

I am just about to start picking up the last edge of the blanket. Survivor and Hell's Kitchen are waiting for me so I am off to knit.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Missed a post

I said last week that I was going to post every day now. Then yesterday I missed a post so I have had to make a new rule. I will post every day except days when I send out a newsletter.

Knitwhits Easter Egg kits are back in stock. You will receive the yarn and pattern to knit and felt the eggs and basket. Two colourways are available.

Idol was interesting last night. Some of the song choices were horrible. The good thing about sitting down was that progress was made on the afghan. I am almost done the second edge-two more to go. Hopefully by Sunday.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Family Day

It was great to sleep in this morning. Dad and I met at the store to fix the flags hanging out front and to discuss an urgent matter. We are going to do some renovating of the store in June. The store is really too small but we can't add on so we need to move some things around inside. We might need to close for a couple of days in June to knock out some walls but I will talk about that closer to the date.

Since I was in the store I decided to do some work. The Cotton Classic from Tahki has a new home. I love this cotton. There are over 125 available colours-we don't have that many yet but there will be more colours added throughout the spring. Korey will be adding this to the website over the next couple of weeks as well.

Beth and I had dinner with the parents tonight. They brought over some gifts. This mirror was made in Hawaii and now it needs to find a special spot in our house. We also got hats and shirts for golfing. Is the warm weather coming soon?

Dad held my afghan against the wall it is going to hang on. We decided that it doesn't need to be any wider so I can start on the edging tonight.

I spoke to my other mother (Bev) tonight as well. She is in Vegas and couldn't find a slot machine Beth recommended so she called me to find it. That counts towards Family Day as well.

Amazing Race is on again. There are a few promising teams this season-it will be interesting to see how things go over the next couple of weeks.

Y&R-did anyone watch today? I don't get to watch it very often but after running to the post office (Shirley your parcel is in the mail) I turned the TV on. Nikki and Paul-GROSS!! It is almost incestuous. They have been friends forever and now this.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Log Cabin

I am just in time getting today's post done.

After knitting all day I have finished joining the four strips. Now I am in a quandary-should another strip be added to make the afghan wider? This will be decided tomorrow after dad comes and holds it up against the wall. Beth tried to do this but she is a tad short and it didn't help much.

I will do a longer post tomorrow-it is bed time now. Tomorrow will be a long day. The store is closed but I have to get mounds of paperwork done.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Happy Valentine's Day

Last Friday I sent yarn to my knitter Lynda. I thought it would take her a while to knit but an envelope arrived today and here is the finished project. This is the Clapotis knit in Lion and Lamb from Lorna's Laces. I talked with Lynda yesterday and she told me she couldn't stop. 'The pattern was fun and I loved the yarn' was what she said.

Mom and Dad arrived home safe and sound but not without more problems. We arranged for a limo to take them to the airport and pick them up-our friend Frank owns a limo company in Ancaster. Frank called just as they were about to land and his car had broken down. Now what do we do? There is no way to contact the parents or their friends-no one took their cell phone (Why would you take a cell phone with you?) Beth jumped in my Expedition and took off for the airport. Just before she got there Dad called and said they were fine but where is Frank? Then we found out that one of their suitcases didn't make the flight so hopefully it will arrive tomorrow.

The Carpenteros (the group my dad goes to Honduras with) are hosting a Valentine's dinner tomorrow night in a school gym. All the money goes to help the people in Honduras so it is a very good cause. Beth and I start the evening out running the coat check and then will be serving dinner. After desert we are back to our post and handing out coats. It is a very long night but it's for a good cause so we don't complain.

Have a good Valentine's Day. Don't forget-Daytona 500 tomorrow at 2pm!!!

Friday, February 13, 2009

Norah

A shipment arrived this morning from Berroco including the much awaited Norah Gaughan Volume 4. Preview the book..

One of the hardest things for us to order for the store are buttons. I can order blue but it might be the wrong shade or I can order red but they are the wrong size. A parcel came yesterday of some wooden buttons from One World Buttons that are hand made in Nepal. There are five different sizes and six different styles. These are perfect for hand knit garments. One World doesn't have the buttons on their website and I tried to take some pictures but they didn't look good-trust me though, these are great buttons.

Customers have been looking for some patterns from Blue Sky Alpacas-the following just arrived

  • Baby Bobbi Bear
  • Leafy Beret
  • Knit Chickens

I hope to have these on the website soon.


Mom and Dad made a quick phone call to Beth this morning from Vancouver. Their flight from Honolulu was late and they missed their flight home. Air Canada put them on the next flight but their trip is now an hour longer-not good for those who don't travel well. This is the first time they have flown on the red eye so it will be interesting to see how they are when they land.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

New Kid Crack Haze is in the house

A box just arrived with the new colours of Rowan Kidsilk Haze and the latest Studio magazine-#14.

I haven't accomplished any knitting so far today but am working on the website adding new Rowan yarns and magazines. The Gatorade Duels at Daytona are on so the Slingbox is working hard. Now you probably have 2 questions-what are the Duels and what is a Slingbox. The Duels are two races to see who will race in the Daytona 500 on Sunday-very important TV. The Slingbox is the coolest thing in the world. It is hooked up to my TV at home and I can log into it from anywhere in the world and watch TV on my computer.

New Survivor tonight. Unfortunately I have class so I won't be able to watch it until 9-thank goodness for DVR. Then the next expisode of Hell's Kitchen.

After reading this it looks like I watch a lot of TV. This is true but many times I am just listening and knitting. It makes a great excuse for sitting down and knitting when there are other things that should be done like dusting.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Losing my mind

Mom and dad called from Maui this afternoon. Today is their last full day in Hawaii. They took a tour of the island yesterday and are going to the aquarium today. I think they will be going back again next year-little hints have been left like the beautiful golf course my dad didn't play and how they can fly directly from Vancouver into Maui. I guess Beth and I will be giving them plane tickets for Christmas.

My first two strips are sewn together. There are two pictures because I couldn't decided which to use. The more I work on this the more I like it. Now I really, really want it done so I am going to watch the second half of Idol and knit. Okay, not really knit but pick up stitches. It takes a bit of time to get them all on the needle.

I am starting to think that I am losing my mind. I wound the first ball of black Cascade 220 for the border. When that ball was done I grabbed a new skein off the shelf in the store. I finished putting the squares together and picked up for the first strip. Guess what? I had put a bag of black away at home and the two dye lots don't match. I asked the expert today (Bev came for a visit) and she couldn't see the difference so I am finishing with the second dye lot. NOTE TO SELF-ALWAYS PUT AWAY ENOUGH YARN FOR A PROJECT AND REMEMBER THAT YOU DID IT (AND WHERE YOU PUT IT)!! I probably shouldn't have told this because my Thursday night class thinks I am perfect and now they will know better. LOL. First the story about my taxes and now this. It is true-once you hit 40 things do start going down hill.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Income Tax

Posting every day is proving to be difficult on days like today.  No knitting was done so I don't have any pictures.  Two boxes of yarn arrived but the details of those are being saved for newsletters.

I am going to tell you about a piece of mail I received today.  Before I had a yarn shop I went to university to studying accounting in a co-op program.  I had five work terms (four months each) in an accounting office and was the 'tax queen' of my office.  All the hard returns were put on my desk.  I also checked all other tax returns before they were mailed to the government.  Today a letter came from the government that I made a mistake on my tax return.  WHAT?  I entered the wrong amount of tax.  I paid $3000 in tax but entered $2000 on my return.  Luckily it was in my favour and my letter today included a cheque for just over $1000 (don't forget the interest).  Maybe Beth should do my return the is year.

Monday, February 09, 2009

Family Day

Next Monday, February 16 is Family Day and the store will be closed. I wasn't aware that it was such a big deal but the banks are closed and so is Limeridge Mall.

If you are falling behind on your knitting then you should start a blog and make a rule that you must post every day. I am struggling to have new pictures every day for you. :)

Here is Red Earth-40 rows were knit today. I have run into a small problem. The suggested needles are 5mm but I am using 4.5mm. My stitch tension is correct but my row tension is out. When I reached the armhole shaping on the chart my front wasn't long enough. I have decided to leave out the armhole shaping and knit straight up. When I get to the shoulder shaping I will need to add some rows (past Kaffe's colours on the chart) which means adding colours in whatever order I want to get to the required length. My other decision is that I am going to make 3/4 length sleeves. That way I can wear the jacket longer in the year.

I'm off to write some newsletters.

Sunday, February 08, 2009

Clapotis

I didn't feel like knitting on the afghan today so I took out my Clapotis. I am using Silk Garden Sock in colour 84 and am almost finished the first ball and will work at least another half ball before I consider it being done. I want the scarf to be really, really long so I can wrap it around a few times. On Friday a parcel went out to Lynda so she could knit it in Lion and Lamb from Lorna's Laces.

We are starting to plan for the Knitter's Frolic-only two months away. Jane is leaving tomorrow for Florida and will be knitting a shawl out of Mountain Colors Winter Lace.

I have to go now. The Grammy's are on. U2 is a favourite of mine but the song they just sang was awful!!

Saturday, February 07, 2009

Meet Tui

Sorry that the picture is fuzzy. I would take another picture but the afghan is currently in use. Here are the four strips done. The strip on the far left has the black border down the right edge. I am about to pick up the next edge.

This is the princess known as Tui. If Melo or Roko thought about lying on my knitting I would freak out but Tui can get away with it.

Tui is a Shar Pei and does display many of the typical Shar Pei traits.

Mom and Dad just called from Hawaii. Their trip is going well. They are now on Maui for a week. Last night was whale watching and dad is golfing tomorrow. I have a feeling that they will be going back next winter.

The weather today was great and hopefully the rest of the week is the same. Gotta run-watching the Nascar and I need to get working on my knitting.

Friday, February 06, 2009

When I went to bed last night (very late because I got caught up in my knitting) I had three strips complete and the fourth almost done. I finished the fourth at closing time tonight. Now the fun begins. I need to pick up the whole length of a strip and knit six rows. Those stitches are left on a holder and then the whole length is picked up on the next strip. After knitting six rows the two strips are joined by a three needle bind off. Luckily I like to pick up stitches.

I have many customers who I have never met in person. There is Phyllis in Whitehorse who has been a customer of mine since I opened. She found my name in the back of the Rowan magazine and we haven't looked back (there is yarn in my truck for her right now). One day we will meet!! About two months ago I received a desperate phone call for some Noro. Christina was in need of yarn and couldn't find it near her. A few weeks later she called from Florida. She was on vacation and finished all her knitting-HELP-send yarn. We speak on the phone once a week and this morning she made the drive to the store. It is always a joy to put a face with someones voice. You always have a picture in your mind and I was very close with Christina. Thanks for visiting today-did your husband see the yarn? Hopefully the day will come when I can meet all my long distance customers-there are a lot of them around the country-thanks for remembering my phone number when you need yarn and knitting advice.

How about Hell's Kitchen last night? Why did Ji quit? I would have waited until the morning to see how I was feeling.

The weather here is supposed to be warm tomorrow. Enjoy!!! And don't forget that Nascar starts tomorrow night :)

Thursday, February 05, 2009

Calling all Y&R Fans

Yesterday afternoon I turned on the TV and watched the Y&R. I haven't watched in a while and wanted to catch up on Katherine. Boy was I shocked to see that Brad had died. Well, my interest was piqued so I watched again today. Colleen was talking and said that her dad had been a Navy Seal. Does anyone remember this? I remember when he came to work for the Abbott's as a gardener and am fairly sure there was never any talk about the Navy.

Every so often I go through a period where I don't want to knit. I think that period is over and I am ready to knit again. Last night while watching American Idol I picked up the Log Cabin Afghan. I continued knitting through the new show Lie To Me. What a great show. It stars Tim Roth and I would highly recommend it. He is a doctor (psychologist maybe?) and is able to tell when people are lying and is hired to do this (last night in a murder investigation and also to investigate the crash of a NASA airplane). Each show is its own episode so you can miss a week and aren't really missing anything.

I finished attaching four of the five squares in this strip. Today in the store I finished that strip and finished four of five of the next strip. I'm hurrying with my post so I can go watch Hell's Kitchen and knit. Now that I am knitting again I can't stop!!

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

What is lenpur?

This is more of my moving around. The front window is now bright and cheery.

Rowan brought out a new yarn for spring called Lenpur Linen. It is a blend of 75% Vilenpur™ and 25% Linen. Lenpur is the hot new yarn for spring - a renewable fibre made from tree pulp. It is soft and drapey, similar to bamboo. Come feel the finished product.

There is a whole magazine dedicated to this yarn. We hope to have this on the website soon.

The front room is very tidy right now. Many yarns have been moved into storage for the tent sale. This will make room for the new spring yarns from Tahki and Stacy Charles. The yarns should be here tomorrow and the books next week.

More American Idol tonight (and more mailing). Have a good night and stay warm.

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Snow

What happened to our nice weather? Yesterday was beautiful and then I wake up this morning to more snow.

It is very pretty snow though.
When I got home from work tonight the snow in the driveway was over my ankles.

Since it was snowing today the store was slow. This gave me lots of time to start rearranging. Here is the start. I decided we needed to move all the cottons to prominent places in the store. The colours are happy-we all need happy after the long winter. This is the dyed cotton from Blue Sky Alpacas right when you walk in the front door. New colours arrived yesterday. More should be coming any day (along with new patterns)-Blue Sky sent two boxes but Canada Post only delivered one.

There are more pictures but I need to save them for later this week. I don't like doing a post without pictures and my new law of posting everyday is going to take some planning.

I don't think I will get any knitting done tonight. Canada Post and I are going to be busy getting parcels in the mail. I love the fact that I can do the postage online and just drop the parcels at the post office in the morning-no standing in line or at the counter while they weigh and measure every box.

Anyone watching American Idol? Now that they are in Hollywood we are getting the better singers.

Monday, February 02, 2009

Kaffe

I was reading the Yarn Harlot's blog on Saturday and realized that she posts almost every day. That has inspired me to try and come up with something every day for you. We'll see how long that lasts.

This is the partially finished Tumbling Blocks afghan that will hang on the wall of my great room. Jane started this in November and is over half done. Now the fun begins-the border needs to be knit.

I emailed this picture to Beth and she called half excited and half disappointed. She thought this might be for someone else but when she heard it was mine she was very happy. The picture doesn't do the work justice.

Jane didn't want her picture taken but I told her she had no choice. She absolutely loves sitting with a pile of different colours and thicknesses of yarn and working on a Kaffe design.

Here is my Red Earth with a bit more knitting done.

Unfortunately no knitting got done during the football game last night. Tui sat on me the whole time. No more will be said about the game.

I was in the store at 8am this morning to wash the floors. The tile floors are great on most days but not when they are covered in water and dirt. My day continued with a trip to Toronto-I picked up the new Debbie Bliss magazine at the suppliers today. Reserved copies will be put behind the cash register tomorrow morning. Unfortunately I forgot to bring a copy home so I can't tell you anything about it. In some ways that is good news because now there is something for me to write about tomorrow.

Have a good night. The Bachelor is about to start and I am going to get comfortable.

Sunday, February 01, 2009

Super Bowl Sunday

I know that you are all excited about the Super Bowl later today. I want Arizona to win and Beth wants Pittsburgh. Should make for an interesting afternoon.

I just couldn't stop myself. This is Red Earth by Kaffe Fassett from Rowan #45.
Summer Tweed is the yarn used which is a blend of Cotton and Silk. There isn't much give to the yarn so I went down half a size needle to make a tighter knit. I like the look so far. This picture was taken Thursday afternoon and I have completed another 20 rows since then. There are going to be a million ends to sew in which doesn't make me happy. If I was knitting in wool I would knit the ends in but with the cotton these will be noticeable.

Mom and dad arrived in Hawaii on Wednesday evening and are having a great time. They like to call home and tell us the weather there is warm. Thanks. Flying isn't something they like to do or so they say. They flew business class to Hawaii so they had more seat room, closer to the washroom, etc. Friday afternoon (morning in Maui) my mom calls and they are going on a plane to see Maui from their air. A small plane. What?? (Yes I did say something more explicit to her on the phone). When she called yesterday she said they all enjoyed it.

Beth has moved into their house to look after their dog Tui. Mom was very concerned that Tui wouldn't eat while they were away (the dog could stand to lose some weight) but so far she is doing fine. However, she did not like going to Beth's warehouse on Friday. The whole time they were there Tui cried which almost made Beth cry out of rage. Beth and the dogs are on their way over to watch the big game-hopefully our house is acceptable to the dog.

Go Arizona!!!