Lots Of Updates

I am a person who likes loose ends tied up, the kind of person who wants closure, someone who needs to know how the story ends. As I was looking back over some previous posts, I realized that I don't always tie up the loose ends. So, for those one of you readers who might also be this kind of person, I am going to use this post for a few updates.

First on the agenda: Greensburg squares:

59 squares from my wonderful knitting group friends

This weekend, I am going to go through my comments and compile a list of who has entered the contest, along with the numbers that have been reported to me so far. If you haven't posted pictures of the squares yet, you still have time!

Update 2: The puppies:

They are now 6 months old, and have they gotten big!

Annie (L) and Bonnie (R)

Annie and Bonnie have come a long way from the flea-bitten, terrified little ragamuffins we took in a couple of months ago. They are incredibly gentle and sweet as well as rowdy and mischievous. Last Sunday, Annie was adopted by a fantastic family who fell totally in love with her. They had to euthanize their elderly dog recently and were ready for a new princess to spoil rotten. Annie will be a full-fledged member of the family, will attend all extended family gatherings and holidays, go on vacations with her family, and will sleep in her new mom and dad's bed. Good thing her teenaged siblings love her too! They have sent us thank-you emails every day so far, and would love to have us visit. Annie is definitely a Lucky Dog.

Before rescue

After becoming spoiled house pups

And now it's Bonnie's turn. We are taking her to a home visit this weekend, to meet a potential family who is interested in adopting her. Based on their application, it's not likely , but we figure it's good to get her out and meeting new people. She figured out Annie was gone very quickly and far from being distressed, has become much calmer and people-focused. She is either in her crate in Mr C's office, in her playroom, or in her crate with our regular posse up in our bedroom.

Update 3: New LYS

The Needle Nest

I found out about this combination quilt/yarn shop recently and couldn't wait to visit. So last weekend, I had a free afternoon and decided to take a little roadtrip since it's only about 30 minutes away. It's all packed inside this cute little old house. And I do mean packed in. If I was a quilter, I think I would have liked the store more, since the main rooms are crammed full of bolts of fabric, while knitting is clearly an afterthought. The yarns are crammed into 1 teeny little room and one teeny little nook. There is no rhyme or reason to the organization and even the same yarns are not all together in one place. There is very little variety in terms of colors - they overwhelmingly favor dark, muddy colors. I was very disappointed in the lack of variety, too, lots of duplicate yarn types and colors. They did have a small selection of locally grown and spun alpaca wool, but again, the choices were severely limited to light brown and darkish brown. *yawn* About 1/4 of the space alotted to yarn was taken up by what seemed to be hundreds of balls of Lopi worsted and bulky. They may very well have every color offered. I thought it was very coarse and rough - the only thing I can think it would be good for is felting. Anyway, bottom line: unless you are a Lopi-lover, you may as well drive an extra 20-30 minutes into Olathe or Overland Park and visit the KnitWit or Yarn Store and More for a more satisfying stash-fattening experience.

Here is a belated thanks to Faren, for nominating me as a:

Faren is a sister prairie girl and has an adorable babykins (check out his picture on the July 7 post). I am looking forward to meeting her at the Greensburg seaming party! I don't know what I did to deserve this but I'm very flattered! I am supposed to nominate 5 more rockin' girl bloggers, but I have made so many many new blogpals that I don't want to leave anyone out! So here's the deal: If you are reading this and you have a blog, please consider yourself chosen! You may put the official button on your blog and tell everyone Criquette said so!

Some more quick updates:
The spider bite finally healed so I am back in thongs again. Yay! And guess what I found making it's nasty, evil little way over to my bed the other night? And guess what happened to it and where it ended up? Ahhh, revenge is so sweet.

I took a bit of a break from the closet (alright, maybe I took a month or 3 off) and the office is still a horrible mess, but the stash looks great and is so easy to get into.

I am actually making progress on the Baby Albert jacket and have now learned how to pick up stitches to knit in a different direction. I'm also making progress on the blue-green cotton kimono, but I don't care for the feel of the fabric - it feels rough and it doesn't have much body. I'm going to finish it, but I don't think it will be given as a baby gift. I've made a couple of mistakes with the row counts but I think it may work out. I guess I won't know for sure until I get ready to seam it.

And I finally have an FO, after what seems like forever! One of the souvenirs I am sending to my Virtual Vacation Swap pal is a bar of delicious soap that is made here in the KC area. To dress it up, I thought a cute little soap scrubber bag would be fun. So I found a pretty little pattern online which I knitted up this afternoon using some cream-colored Sugar & Cream cotton. I've made my first ever i-cord for the drawstring. I'll post the picture soon.

Okay, so that's it for the updates. I'll close for now and get busy so I have something worth posting.