Introducing Dillon

Introducing the latest member of our family. This is Dillon who is supposed to be an Akita cross but looks more like a staffy with big ears so we are not quite sure how or what he will turn out like. I mean - just what is going on with those ears? Was his father a bat? He does have a very cute face though. He is staying at my son's at the moment as he is very underweight and has no social skills or toilet training so he will stay with them until such a time as he is ready to either be re-homed or become a permanent member of our family, As you can see in the background Buster is keeping a very close eye on him!

I went up to Bury yesterday. I was supposed to be buying something for my great grand daughters for Christmas but Bury was so crowded and where I wanted to go was across the market and a main road and my knee just didn't want to walk that far. I will try again in the week when the market isn't on and then maybe I can walk without bumping into crowds with my trolley.

I bought more supplies of cotton for dishcloths. I have an idea how to use these dishcloths to incorporate them into the presents but I will reveal more once I have made the first two and see if my idea will work. I also bought some aran and some double knitting with wool.I bought most of the wool from the market stall and the cotton from Habiknit. I have already started the beige wool as you can see. It is going to be a Haru for those of you familiar with Doris Chan's everyday Crochet book. I have done the worst bit that haa all the shaping so it will be plain sailing from now on. It is for a present as you can see from it's tiny 10 size. I am making it for my sister in law to go with some other things for her Christmas present. As you can see I am progressing with turning the aran cardigan for my niece into a long sleeved version and am about half way up the first sleeve. It did feel SO good to sit and crochet last night. All of this knitting is making my hands hurt.

I got a surprise yesterday. My niece came to pick up the duck motif hats for posting and brought me a pair of purple boots that I had ordered from the catalogue ages ago. She gave them to me as the remaining part of my Birthday Present as she said both the Mary Jane shoes and the boots were half price when she came to order them so my nieces decided to pay for them both for me. How cool is that.I had thought the Mary Jane shoes were a lovely present from them both and so was really surprised to get the boots as well. Purple is my favourite colour and so I will enjoy wearing them. I will have to be careful not to wear them in the rain though as suede marks so easily.

Off now for another mammoth knit and crochet session. My housework has gone to the dogs but I will have a really good clean up before Christmas - possibly after I put the Christmas tree up. I have asked my neighbour if I can borrow her teenage boy to reach the tree down from the loft for me but I am not sure when he will arrive to do it.

Which Wood Is Best For An Ark?

I woke this morning to the familiar sound of the rain hammering down on my bay window roof.I seriously contemplated pulling the covers over my head and going back to sleep. I then remembered that next door's cat had come in last night to shelter from the rain and so would be in need of a toilet break so I reluctantly got up and let him out. He was less than impressed with me and stood quivering in my porch as if to say "Do you really expect me to go and wee in this?"

I still haven't showered as I am debating whether to just stand in the garden with the shampoo and body wash or go to the shops first, get wet through and then shower after that. Decisions, decisions. Whilst I decide I will eat some breakfast and hope that the rain decides to give me a break and stop for a while. I need to collect a prescription otherwise I would not venture out plus I don't think that my daughter in law would be too impressed with me if I don't buy her a birthday card.

I try to keep up with other peoples blogs but I must admit that I tend to do it in fits and starts as I follow so many so if I don't comment on yours then it's probably because I need to catch up on my reading. I did catch up with The Crochet Therapy and yesterday she put a link to a song by Michael Buble called I Just Haven't Met You Yet. I think that I will adopt it as my anthem song. If you want a nice peppy song then click on my blog title and it will take you to Bea's blog for a listen. One day I will work out how to add Your Tube links to my blog but I am completely technophobic.

I spent a lot of yesterday trying to ignore the rain and catching up with friends via phone chats so not much knitting was done. I have started a cabled jacket for Charlie from a Sirdar book delightfully called Ooh La La. I will try and find a photo of the front cover for another day.I have no idea what the wool is as it was donated to me in unravelled balls without any labels. It feels like it is either wool or has a wool content so I will try a wash patch test before I pass it on. I would hate to make two jackets and then find out that it is not machine washable without warning the mum first. The pattern has either got a hood or a collar and I have not decided yet which version to knit for the boys. Once again this modern Sirdar pattern is coming out huge even though my tension is correct. Do Sirdar have larger models? I am knitting 1-2 yrs and it looks like it will fit Charlie at pre school!

My niece has decided on a pattern and so I am ready to start once my other niece gets me some wool from the Yarn Barn in Shaw. I found out yesterday that my local Habi Knit in Bury which I though had closed down due to redevelopment has in fact re sited to the Millgate in Bury so I will have another place besides Bury Market to buy supplies from.

The rain has stopped momentarily so I will grab a quick breakfast and hope that it stays away until I can return from the shops. Referring back to my blog title which wood is most suitable for building an ark as I really think that I should put woodworking and ark building on my list of things to do in the future.