WhiteStar

Why do we blog?

I think there are a number of reasons why people choose to blog. For some it's a way to express themselves. I believe others are seeking approval from their peers or those they admire. Some people want to feel part of a community.

When I blew away this blog yesterday afternoon, for a few minutes, when I realized I had blown away the wrong blog, I thought I had blown away Aliy's World. When I realized it was this blog, I was upset, but not nearly as upset as I would have been if I had lost Aliy's World. It got me to thinking about WHY that blog was so much more important to me than this one.

I decided that the documentation contained in that blog was valuable to me. VALUABLE. To ME. Almost every post was important because it was the history of Aliy's pregnancy and the birth of the pups and their first 9 weeks. In that blog, I have instructions on how to build a whelping box. I kept track of Aliy's temperature chnges, I inventoried the equipment needed for the whelping, I kept track of when the pups were born and how much they weighed and when they first got teeth and when their eyes opened. Maybe not important or even interesting stuff to most of you reading this, but for me, this record is irreplaceable.

This blog just wasn't as important. I was putting up the kinds of posts that I thought others might want to read. And I was posting pictures I thought others might want to see. Personally, I don't see the point of putting up stash enhancement pictures unless it's something really special. I don't mind looking at others stash pictures, I just don't want to make the effort to photograph MY stash.

I started this blog becuase I wanted a place to track the progress of my projects. this looked like more fun than a spreadsheet and more interactive than a journal.

I've found that blogging about projects keeps me excited about them and keeps me from forgetting about them. I do that. Start a project I really love, then start another one and another one and forget about the first one until I discover it weeks later at the bottom of the basket. Having it in writing on the blog, in the sidebar, keeps me from burying things.

So from now on this blog is for ME. If others find it interesting, I'm glad, but it's mostly for ME. Expect to see more doggy stuff, especially pictures of new puppy Babe! Expect to see more posts, but maybe not pictures every time. I felt OBLIGATED to have pictures in every post... so sometimes I'd not post 'cause I didn't have time for pictures. No longer. THIS BLOG IS FOR ME ME ME!

Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming....

This was two days ago:

And this is today:

The main beadwork is FINISHED!! I glued the parts down to ultra-suede today, tomorrow I can begin the edging. BTW, the two smaller pieces are not earrings, they are parts of the clasp. Isn't it pur-ty????

That's all from the high plains today!

Anne at 8:12 PM

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Well. This is fun. Not.

The template is back. Sort of. Took me hours.

Still can't believe I was so stupid.

If I was going to blow away a blog I'm glad it was this one and not Aliy's World. If I had lost that it would have damn near broken my heart.

Anne at 10:23 PM

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I AM SUCH AN IDIOT!!!!!!!!!

I deleted my blog. NOT on purpose.

WHAT AN IDIOT.

sigh

Guess what I'll be doing tonight instead of knitting?

Anne at 5:02 PM

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Finished Stuff, Old Stuff, New Stuff

Wendy says she likes pictures in the blogs she reads, well boy-howdy, I have pictures galore today!

Where have I been the last week or so? Finishing old projects, starting new projects and most heart-wrenching of all, sending puppies off to their forever homes. Bonnie and Domino left on Sunday, Mia will be leaving soon and Babe gets to stay right here.

Finished Stuff

First we have a finished Oakley shawl/scarf out of Berroco Suede:

Interesting note on Oakley... the Berroco pattern book calls for 5 balls of Suede. Their is an errata on their web site saying it takes six, and I know several others out in blog-land have either run short or felt the fringe was skimpy with only 5 balls. I made the shawl to the exact dimensions of the pattern. My gauge was perfect. And I had an entire ball of Suede left over from the 6 I purchased. I wrote and asked the nice people at Berroco, they said the reason is that some colors seem to have less yardage than others because of the way the yarn takes the dye!

Next in the Finished Department we have a Confetti Cowl...

I'm still loving Lion Boucle and Fun Fur for quick easy and CUTE small projects!

More detail on these two items can be found in the WhiteStar Knits Gallery.

Old Stuff

What else has been taking up LOTS of time? My SCA Specialty art show entry. Making mega-progress which is a Good Thing as it MUST be completed by Septemebr 17... and I will be gone EVERY weekend between now and then.

New Stuff

Now you know it would not be me blogging if I didn't have another new project started, right? I couldn't resist any longer so this past week I cast on some Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora for Rosy. One sleeve down, the other started, this stuff knits up fast and is soft beyond belief.

I've heard some talk that the Cotton Angora sheds. Don't ask me. With all these big white fuzzy dogs around do you really think I'd notice a few stray angora hairs???

And of course we have had stash enhancement...

On top, three different colors of Berroco Suede. I said I was going to acquire more and I did. The rose color is to make this, and the hot pink and olive green are for this.

At the bottom, my first ever purchase of Cherry Tree Hill hand dyed sock yarn. Can't wait to try it out! In the meantime it joins the ever growing pile of Opal, Regia, and Lorna's Laces sock yarn.

And just for fun...

Berroco Quest Colors and berroco Sizzle. No plans for these but they seem to be telling me they want to be a scarf.

Spindle of the Day

I love the color of this spindle. The first time I saw Yellowheart I thought it looked fakey and dyed, now I love all the beautifully and naturally colored heartwoods. Unfortunately, soon after I bought this spindle I dropped it on it's hook. The hook survived but is loose and pulls out of the shaft. My attempts to reglue it have all failed so this spindle just sits around and looks pretty. :( :(

Maker: Greensleeves Spindles
Model: Queen's Sceptre - Catharine Parr
Wood: Osage Orange and Canarywood whorl on Canarywood shaft
Weight: 1.4 oz
Purchased from: Bountiful

Anne at 3:40 PM

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Really, Really, REALLY Good Weekend :) :)

Some Sunday nights you get back from a dog show and wonder why you do this to yourself. And then there are Sunday nights like this :)

Yesterday morning Ilsa took her fourth 4 point major to FINISH her championship. But not only did she win Winners Bitch and Best of Winners, she also won Best of Breed over 7 finished champions! She requests that everyone now please call her CHAMPION Shaman's Play It Again Sam HIC!

Today Kelly took Winners Bitch for her first major. 11 points to go! And Ilsa again won Best of Breed. :) :) :) :)

Anne at 9:27 PM

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Making Progress!

The beadwork is coming along nicely! I can only work on it when I am wearing my glasses, I have no idea why. My contact lens prescription and my eyeglass prescription is the same, but I cannot see the beads with my contacts, so I usually only work on this for an hour or so a day.

Sweet Suede

Meanwhile the Cowgirl Poncho is done! See...

There is a bigger picture (and stitch detail) in the Gallery if you are interested.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Suede yarn from Berroco that this is made from. The Oakley Shawl I'm working on now is made of Suede and I am going out to enhance my stash very soon with MORE SUEDE. I NEED to make this, only longer, in the Texas Rose color.

As Deb said in the comments recently "I love this yarn. It looks way more expensive than it is. (not that it's cheap)." She is oh so right. I wasn't sure about it when I bought the first few balls, now I'm addicted.

Pupdate

Earlier this week a good friend, who is also a terrific photographer, came and took pics of the puppies... here is one of the cutest...

copyright Scott Vail

Spindle of the Day

This is the first Cascabales spindle I bought. Not the greatest spinner, a little on the slow side, but since then Gabe has improved his spindles tremendously and the new ones spin like a dream. I lust after one of his Native American Basketweave spindles.

Maker: Gabe Jaramillo, Cascabeles Spindles
Wood: Unknown wood with brass inlay
Weight: 1.7 oz

Anne at 12:58 PM

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Dog Days

Kelly, Ilsa and I went to a dog show this past weekend... Ilsa *almost* came home a champion...only one other dog, an 8 month old puppy, stood in her way... sigh.... there's always this coming weekend to try again.

I could not believe how much I missed the puppies while I was gone. It was only for 48 hours but it seemed like so much longer.

Yellow Naps

They will be leaving in less than two weeks, I can't stand the thought of it and I still don't know who I will be keeping.

Anne at 10:34 PM

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How Long is a Poncho?????

I finished the knitting on the Cowgirl Poncho today.

I decided to block before adding fringe. Off the needles it was pretty small, but since it's garter stitch I know it will stretch a LOT when blocking. I wet it down, rolled it in a towel and began laying it out.

Widthwise it easily blocked out to 42 inches. It quickly became very obvious that here was NO WAY I was going to get it to stretch to the length measurement specified on the pattern.

The pattern calls for a 38.75 length. Mine was about 18 inches unblocked, with serious stretching I can get it to about 26 inches. How could my row gauge be so far off????

After measuring and studying the pattern I am now thinking the length measurement HAS to be wrong. 38.75 inches would put the poncho down to well below my knees... that sure is not how the picture looks!

Do you think that width measurement is the TOTAL length, front + back? But then, isn't 19 inches awfully short?? HELP!! Tell me how long ponchos are supposed to be!!

I'm Lovin' It!....

THIS is what I have been spending most of my time doing the past few days...

Whatcha think???

Spindle of the Day

I feel luck to have gotten this "Mouton du Mois" recently as they are no longer made!

Maker: Tom Diak, Grafton Fibers
Model: Mouton du Mois - Suri Alpaca
Weight: 1.2 oz
Purchased from: Carolina Homespun

Anne at 8:21 PM