DogGuide Open House, A Reunion & Knitting Lessons

well, the Anisette Wrap is done, blocked and dropped off. oh my gosh, I'm SO pleased with how it turned out (as you can tell by the number of pics I've included !!). not much more to say about it. I stopped by the foundation this morning while everyone was getting ready for the OpenHouse, and handed it off. I'm looking forward to hearing how much is brings in ..... if you're in the Oakville area today, please come by and BID HIGH !!!

well ..... I decided it bring Betty with me on the short trip to the foundation. she left the DogGuide program last August, so has been back home for less than a year. Betty's Trainer, Brenda was wonderful, and truly loved her. we get to the Foundation, park, get out and are walking around talking to friends, seeing lots of people and DogGuides (in various stages of their training ... from young puppies thru to ones ready to graduate). as we're walking down the hall toward the lounge, I see a number of trainers gathered, and there is Brenda ... they all see & greet me, but I wink at Brenda .... "OH MY GOSH, that's not who I think it is, is it ??!!" Betty had been as good as gold up until this point, walking so well, and not really being distracted by any of the other people or dogs ..... that is until she smelled Brenda's hand. WELL .... she started wagging, and jumping up ... i dont know who was more excited Brenda or Betty. Even Leah was happy (the Senior Trainer for Betty) to see Betty and got lots of kisses in return. it was wonderful to see how happy Betty was to see Brenda (and visa versa, of course). I think the only person that Betty would happily leave DD and me for would be her Brenda ... and I suspect Brenda would take her in a heart-beat.

OK ... enough goofing off .... time to jump in the shower and get headding out for my day. going to stop by PakMail to see Wendi for a bit, then it's off to Hamilton. I have a knitting machine lesson @ 2:00, and will hopefully be able to fit in a coffee with my Mum sometime while I'm in the area.

To Block, Or Not To Block

ok .... so I'm blocking ..... this is the Anissette Wrap (sorry the pic is blurrey for some reason). I'm very pleased with how it has turned out, even if I haven't been able to take a picture that does it justice. I dont see colours well, but this mohair is a lovely shade of dark blue, with almost a metalic twinkle. the Lions Foundation of Canada DogGuide Open House & Silent Auction is Saturday, so if all blocks well, I should be able to drop this off Friday for them to add to the silent auction.

it was a hard decision what to do with this project ... my original intent was to send it to one of my Pay It Forward recipients, but my heart goes to the charity and I'm really hoping that my wrap will help bring in some well needed funds to the program. the cost of raising and putting a DogGuide out to work is between $20,000-$25,000. the foundation doesnt get any goverment funding, all money is raised thru private donations .... and then they turn around a give the trained working dog to the client at no cost to them. I'm honoured to call a few people with working dogs my friends, and when you see how these dogs enhance their lives, the choice is easy. between DD and myself, we're on our 6th foster puppy.

1. Hasia, a black lab, was in training for SSD (Special Skills Dog) but then transferred to the Breeding Program. in May 2006 she welped 10 of the cutest puppies you've ever seen, all of who went into training. we've had 1 pass away, 2 graduate in the SSD program, and 3 disqualify (but one has been adopted by a Senior's Home, and is "working" in her own way). after retiring from the Breeding Program, Hasia went in to train for the CVC (Canine Vision Program), but at 3 years old decided that she'd rather come home so that's what she did, and we're happy to have our "forever" puppy.


2. Neung, a Thai Ridgeback, was one of a test group for the foundation to see how the breed would work out ..... let's just say they didnt, and leave it at that. Neung is now living with a wonderful couple in Toronto, and is enjoying being spoiled by them


3. Betty, a black lab was recalled and went into CVC training. ironcially, it was her class that Hasia joined. training was going splendedly, but unfortunately, as happens with some dogs, she stressed out from being in kennel, a month away from possible partnership and graduation. Betty was DD's favourite, so needless to say, she's been adopted by DD and now we have two "forever puppies"


4. Fawn, a chocolate mini poodle, was DD's first foster puppy on her own. she was recalled into the HED (Hearing Ear Dog) program, and graduated in December. Fawn is now living in Montreal with her partner, and we hear that they are doing great.


5. Maisie, a chocolate standard poodle, was recalled in October of last year. coincidently enough she has the same birthday as Betty, and they are the only 2 dogs we've had home for their 1st birthday. Maisie is currently in HED training, and I've got my fingers crossed for her (I want one of MY puppies to graduate !!!)


6. Emmett is an apricot standard poodle .... he's a HUGE 10-months old, and DD's 2nd foster puppy. he's also, the clown of the group. we dont know when he'll be recalled, or what program he'll be training in, but we have our fingers crossed that he'll do well.

so .... if you're one of my PIF people, and were hoping for this wrap ... I hope you'll understand why I've decided to donate it instead. I think you can see why I have a passion for this charity.

Family Day .... and Anisette Wrap ~ take 2 ??

what a lovely long weekend !!! yesterday was Ontario's first "Family Day" ... now, I'm not going to argue about a day home with DD, but there was a bunch of contraversey about how this new holiday was going to work for many union employees. for the most part, I think everything was closed up. DD was a social butterfly, Wendi & her clan came for a visit which gave me a break from my house cleaning. we had a nice visit, and the dogs all had agreat romp together.

I came home Friday evening to DD and her g-friend over for the evening, so I picked up a pizza on the way home. it was a quiet evening of TV and knitting my CWS where I finished week-4, but continued on so that I could catch up to Wendi.

Saturday was dedicated mostly to running errands, but one of the fun bits was a trip to a new LYS ~ The Needle Emporium. (well maybe not new, but it was new to me) OH MY GOSH .... what a packed stash from heaven. I went to find some Handmaiden's Casbah Sock yard for a new friend in the UK, who cant get it over there. (DD was being very strick, reminding me of my HUGE stash at home, and that I really didnt NEED any more ... so I behaved myself) Charlie had posted in Ravelry asking if someone could pick her up some, and I was happy to do it for her. I bought Charlie 2 skeins, one that she wanted and one that's a surprise (I hope she likes it). after spending some time in "heaven", we headed over to see Wendi @ her PakMail store, to package-up Charlie's yarn and get it ready for posting pick-up today.

Sunday was a slower day. puttered around the house, then headed to the mall for a while, for some window shopping and to give our latest Dogguide Foster Puppy, Emmett, some work on open stairs & escallators. planned on a quiet evening infront of the TV, when we got an invite to watch Wendi's DS play hockey .... an offer we couldnt refused, so after dinner up we went to Milton. it was an excellent game, but came to a sad conclusion about my current project the "Anisette Wrap". it was a hard lesson to learn ... dont just look at yarn weight, consider yardage. the Annisette pattern requires 1 or 2 25g balls (depending on if you're makinng the scarf or wrap). no problem, I have 2 50g of the Opal Mist mohair, so there should be plenty ..... NOT !!! unfortunately, what I missed was the pattern used a lace-weight, while I was using a fingering weight, so although my skeins were twice as heavy, they only contained half as much yardage ...... so, that means I do have enough for the scarf, but I'd knitted the wrap width.

now we're back to where this blog started, Family Day Monday. like I've already said, Wendi and her clan came by for a visit. her DD brought her knitting along too (like Mum like Daughter). she was just finishing up a very cute pair of legwarmers for her to wear to dance class. I took her down stairs for a shopping trip to "Della's Wool Emplorium", where we went thru my stash and found some more yarn that she liked for some new/future projects. while we were "shopping", Wendi and her DS were VERY PATIENTLY frogging out my Anisette Wrap (mohair is almost as horrible to frog as it is to knit with). we looked thru my mohair stash together, and found a nice replacement for the original colour, one that I have more than enough of (hopefully). so I spent the evening starting all over again, but I think the wrap is going to be lovely! will keep the original mohair handy, for the scarf version.

3rd snow storm in 3 weeks, but it's not all bad

well, we're digging out of our 3rd snow storm in as many weeks. I was really good at timing for the last 2 and was able to work from home and avoided most of the ugly associated traffic, unfortunately this one I wasnt quite as lucky. it took me over 90 minutes to drive my usual 20-30 minute drive, and another hour to dig ourselves out this morning. the drive in wasn't great, but could have been worse, and the school busses weren't cancelled this time so DD went off to school

well, because of the storm last night, it was decided not to tackle the highway again to take DD to dance. this made for a nice relaxing evening of a homecooked chicken pot pie dinner, and a night of knitting. I finished the 1st section (rows 1-27) of my mohair Anisette Wrap project. it's really turning out lovely, I cant wait to see how the next section is going to look. Tuesday is also the night when Wendi & I start our next week/section of the Civil War Shawl together. we weren't together in body, but were together in spirit. I stopped at row 74 before calling it a night.

ok .... thru sleet and snow and rain and hale and dark of night etc. ok you know the postman thing .... well he came thru just fine for me. I received a package from my Ravelry World Yarn Swap buddy, Kat in Mississippi. she sent me some beautiful hand dyed yarn from a local shop, and a scarf pattern to go with it. I'm really looking forward to knitting it up. I've never worked with this type of yarn before. It's so soft, and the colours are perfect for me !!! Kat was also thoughtful and sent some "plastic yarn" for DD and included a pattern for a belt or bracelettes. I dont know how Kat knew that red was her favourite colour, but DD was thrilled !!! filling all the spaces was all these wee happy-face candies, that hopefully I can get into before DD gets at them all. Thanks so much Kat .... you made my first swap very special !!

Busy Weekend, with not so much knitting

well, I finished week-3 of the Civil War Shawl. there was some time of panic when I thought that I was short 2 stitches per repeat ... but fortunately cooler heads prevailed, and thanks to Wendi, I think I'm ok to begin week-4 with her on Tuesday.

I didnt get a chance to wind the skein I wanted, so my entrelac socks are on hold for a bit. I went thru my wound sock yarns and patterns, and decided that I'd do monkey socks next ..... but my heart wasn't in them.

so .... I decided to go thru my stash (of which there is quite a bit) and see if anything struck my fancy. I have a bag of mohair upstairs, that I'd like to trade/sell, so it was the easiest stash to rummage thru. turns out I found a nice shawl pattern that's easy, and doesnt use too much ... so, tonight's cast on is the Anisette Wrap using Opal Mist Mohair by Bouquet. Wish me luck !