WhiteStar

RIP IT!

Well after trying everything I could to make myself happy with Rosy, I decided it is silly to waste this beautiful Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora Yarn on a sweater I will NEVER be happy with. So Rosy is gone. I picked up 5 more balls of the yarn at my LYS (Holly Berry Needleworks in Colorado Springs) yesterday (Rosy took 10, Jess takes 15) and am starting Jess instead. They have Jess made up in the store, I tried it on and I LOVE it!

New Books!

Also picked up two new books while I was out yesterday. Lavish Lace and Scarves! And two magazines...the latest issue of Belle Armoire and the latest issue of BeadWork. All will acompany me as I head down to southern New Mexico for a 4 day dog show at which I have very little chance of doing much as I learned the only other class bitches have pulled thier entries this weekend. And there is only one class dog so there are NO POINTS available. I hope Ilsa can make it interesting by earning a Best of Breed or two. Bummer.

The Temptations of Noro

I finally actually started on Klaralund. Wow! It IS a fast knit as other have said! Already halfway done with the first sleeve. I'm knitting in color 84 and I'm lovin' it. Pictues when I return from New Mexico.

Now I've fallen in love with Butterfly. I have enough of both a Silk Garden color and a Kureyon color to make it, but both yarns were slated for other projects. Now I need to decide if I like Butterfly more than Tilt or Rosedale or if I just need more yarn!

National News

Interested in what I was doing in Topeka? I've been posting updates to The Babe Blog this week detailing some of what went on. Check it out if you care to.

Anne at 1:59 PM

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Back, But Only for Minute....

We had a blast in Topeka! My dogs did way better than I ever expected or hoped they would. I kind of thought this might be the year we came back from a National with no ribbons, but instead Icer got a 4th in Veteran Sweeps, a 1st in regular Veterans and Kelly got a HUGE 3rd in Open Bitch. There were 41 girls in her class! WHOOOOO-EEEEEE. Read more about our adventures in Topeka on Babe's Blog.

And then of course there was the art show. All three of my pieces got ribbons, a 1st for the embroidered bead collar, a 2nd for the charm necklace and a 3rd for the spiral necklace. WHOOO-EEEEEE again!!!

The girls and I leave for Alamogordo New Mexico on Thursday evening for yet another dog show. 4 days this time. Yes I am completely nuts.

Not Happy With Rosy

I didn't get any knitting done at the National. I should have known better.

I finished the knitting on Rosy last night and started sewing together. It looked icky-poo-poo. So I ripped out the sleeve cap and finished it with short rows. I left the live stiches on the needle. Meanwhile I picked up stitches around the armhole and knit the sleeve into the armhole. Still not loving the way it looks. In fact I'm not loving much about Rosy right now except the yarn and the fabric. I am VERY tempted to rip the whole thing out and knit Jess instead. Or I could just buy more DB Cotton Angora and knit Jess TOO.....

Anne at 3:36 PM

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We're off to see the Wizard....

... the wonderful Wizard of... Topeka???

Kelly, Babe, Ilsa, Icer and I head out tomorrow morning for a week at the Samoyed Club Of America National Specialty in Topeka Kansas. One week of nothing but 1000 Samoyeds all in one place. YOu might find it hard to believe, but this is better than Stitches if you are a serious Samoyed fancier.

In addition to showing my dogs against dogs from all over the country (and even some from other parts of the world!) there will be a weight pull, an art show, a black tie top 20 Invitaional, a huge auction of sammie related items and an awards banquet. Not to mention time to catch up with friends that I only see once a year.

This years theme is Chasing Rainbows so I imagine there will be a lot of Wizard of Oz themed stuff going on. If you are at all interested in keeping up with what we're doing while in Kansas, check out the SCA 2004 blog that a few of us are working on.

See y'all in a week or so!

Anne at 6:52 PM

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Two Days and a Wake Up.

Kelly, Ilsa, Icer, Babe and I leave for the Samoyed Club of America National Specialty bright and early Saturday morning. I've been beyond busy this week trying to get everything done. That includes packing the van, shopping for banquet and Best of Breed clothing, finishing my art show entries and oh yeah, I work a full time job that usually ends up being time and a half whenever I'm getting close to vacation time!

Donna's Necklace
I finished up the last art show entry today. This piece was actually commisioned by a good friend. She had seen a necklace I made last year for the show. It was big and blold and had charms and beads hanging off of it all over the place. She liked it, wanted to use some charms she had, but wanted it toned down a bit. Here is the result...

Elizabeth asked if I'd be selling these pieces at the national. The answer this year is no. Actually I never sell my work although I do barter and have donated work to the various charity auctions that go on at the National. 3 years ago I donated a beaded Christmas ornament that sold for $550. That was a thrill!!

This year, since two of the pieces feature images of my girl Sasha, I will neither trade nor donate them. Sasha is my special girl and she stays with me.... always. And the third piece, the one pictured above, isn't mine to donate.

Hopefully I'll have time to make at least one more post here before I leave!

Anne at 7:08 PM

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As promised....

Pictures of the completed necklace...

A detail of the back....

And the clasp when fastened....

And another little project I was working on last week. Too bad the dichroic glass in the pendent is so hard to photgraph.

And YES, I have been knitting on Rosy. Two sleeves and two thirds of the completed back:

Meanwhile in stash enhancement news I procured enough Elsbeth Lavold Silky Wool to make Obi from Simply Knit. I wanted some seriously mindless knitting to take with me on my trip next week. What could be more mindless than 90 inches of stockinette stitch?

Anne at 1:43 PM

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And We're Off Again

Two weekends ago I was in Cheyenne Wyoming, last weekend it was Greeley, Colorado. I leave in about 30 minutes for Santa Fe New Mexico. Then next weekend I leave for the Samoyed National in Topeka. The weekend after I'll be in Almagordo, New Mexico for 4 days, then the weekend after that, Las Lunas, New Mexico. Yes, I've lost my mind. The thing with dogs shows, especially in this part of the country, is that when they are there, you have to go... it's not like on the east or west coats where you can pick and choose between several shows almsot every weekend. We go months some times of the year without a show within 10 hours driving distance.

Finished!!!

The Necklace is finshed. And it's gorgeous. Much nicer than I had hoped. I was going to take pictures this morning but my flash card is full and I just didn't have time to clear it off... next week I promise. It's worth a trip back here to see it.

Meanwhile....

The sleeves on Rosy are done and the back is half done. This Cotton Angora is REALLY easy to knit with. I'm taking Rosy and Klaralund (and Fuchsia and a scarf) with me this weekend. We'll see if I get anything done or if I jsut spend the time catching up with my friend Mary who I haven't seen since April, shortly before she was diagnosed with Hodgkins disease. She's doing really well and the reason I'm making this trip the weekend before the National is mainly to see her. That it happens to be at a dog show is just a bonus :)

Anne at 2:58 PM

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Yes, I AM Knitting too!

I finished the second sleeve on Rosy this evening... and then realized I'd made a mistake in the decreases and had to rip it out to the start of the cap shaping. Boo-Hiss.

I also finished swatching for Klaralund, I had to go up to a size 9 needles anthe fabric is very loose, I'm assuming this is what the designer wanted so I'm forging ahead.

The necklace is almost done. I decided to fringe, with two kinds of crystals and two pearls. Slightly graduated in length. One side is finished the other WILL be done Monday, then I just have to attach the clasp.

Meanwhile, Ilsa, Kelly, Icer, Babe and I hit the road early tomorrow morning for the Denver Samoyed Association Specialty show and the weekend Evergreen KC shows. Wish us luck!

Anne at 10:52 PM

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Say What You Will About Blogger....

.... but for me, I am impressed.

People, keep in mind this is a FREE service.

When I blew away my blog last week I figured that was it. Well, the very good people at Blogger restored the old blog and I managed to merge the old posts and the new posts together with the new template. The only thing missing is the comments which have been made on the new posts over the past week. I am not complaining!

I've never lost a post on Blogger, a complint I've heard other people have. In fact the couple times it appeared to "come down" while I was working on a post, I later discovered the post has been saved, even though I never saved it. As I said, I'm impressed.

Anne at 12:20 PM

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1) To Fringe or Not to Fringe???

That is not the only question...

2) If I fringe do I use this fringe:

3) Do I use shorter fringe?
4) Longer fringe?
5) Graduated lengths of fringe?
6) If I don't fringe, do I leave the netting?
7) Or do I let it go naked?

I am not good with these kind of decisions. One thing that will help with Question #2 is whether or not I can buy more tanzanite colored crystals at the bead store this afternoon. Oh yeah, here's how it's looking now:

I figure it will be done by Monday. It would be sooner but I will be at the DSA Regional Specialty on Friday and the Evergreen KC shows on Saturday and Sunday.

The Beautiful and Elegant Ilsa

Isn't she gorgeous? She is WhiteStar's latest champion CH Shaman's Play It Again Sam HIC. She is named after the character Ilsa from the movie Casablanca. Ingrid Bergman played Ilsa in the movie and I think she was one of the most beautiful and elegant women to have ever lived.

This is a case where the dog certainly lived up to her name. I've often thought you need to be careful what you name a pet... more often than not it's as if they grow into the name. Hmmmm.... wonder what that says about the future for new puppy Babe... WhiteStar's Ready For Anything.

Anne at 8:21 AM