Learning to sail

What's OTN???????

 

 I haven't posted about my knitting in
a while. I'm not a very prolific knitter. Since the beginning of this year, I made a nice thick warm double layer hat for my husband.

I used some really soft baby alpaca and a pattern I improvised so that it will come down over his ears.

I made a black scarf for our son from the Dryad pattern by Jared Flood.

  I love cables. This pattern is well written and the cables are quite fun and challenging.

Then I decided to knit for myself. I had some lovely purple Kidd Silk in my stash and had been wanting to knit Shui Kuen Kozinski's Dancing Cranes. I decided the two would make a lovely scarf/stole.
I must have been on a Kidd Silk roll. In anticipation of March Madness, I pulled the Carolina Blue yarn out of my stash and knit the Genevieve Cowl. I needed something to wear with my white down jacket.

 I always wear a scarf with it to keep makeup off the collar. Of course, now that it is finished, the weather is too warm for it....always next year.

My next project is still On The Needles. I am currently knitting Lily Chin's Reversible Cabled Rib Shawl. It is an easy pattern, just a 2 x 2 rib with a huge cable added.
I chose Filatura de Crosa Superior cashmere. It is quite different from anything I have ever knitted before. It has an interesting halo and is sort of a thick and thin from cobweb to laceweight. It took a little bit of getting used to but now I love it. I have never felt such a soft fiber, ever! It will be lusicous wrapped around my neck when it is finished. Can't wait!
What's on your needles??????

Happy Birthday, Big Guy!

Today is Jackson's birthday! He's 10 years old today. It is so hard to believe he is ten. He certainly doesn't act like it. He still has the energy and drive of an adolescent; but with the mellow disposition of an adult....most of the time. That is, unless there's a female in season in the area, or if he thinks he's not getting enough attention. Even then, he only becomes a pest, never destructive.

 He is a super dog! He loves to go for a walk. I can credit him for working about 20 pounds off my butt and improving my cardiovascular health. No mater the weather, he is ready for his walk. 

He is incredibly smart, acing his Rally Obedience title, 

and scoring a High In Trial when competing for his AKC Obedience title. My husband trains and shows him but Jackson is my buddy 

and Sunny's constant companion, from the time she was a puppy

 around the house

 at the lake

on the boat

or standing watch.

I can never say enough good things about Jackson. He's quite a dog! One of a kind! 

Happy Birthday, big guy! May you always be young.

March Madness

March Madness began at my house on Friday with the ACC Tournament. As a die hard Tarheel basketball fan, I was near cardiac arrest on Friday and Saturday with huge come from behind wins by UNC. Sadly, we lost to our arch rivals, Duke, on Sunday. It wasn't just a loss it was horrible. My explanation is that aliens abducted the real Tarheels on Sunday morning. The aliens were bribed by the Blue Devils so the Tarheels would lose and lose badly. To make matters worse, I have family members that are Duke (also read as "Everybody loves a Winner") fans. They used to pull for UNC during the years before Coach K started winning. They jumped ship with Duke's first NCAA championship and have been there ever since. They pull against other teams and talk huge trash. I shouldn't let it get under my skin, but I do. I refuse to watch games with them.My Tarheel obsession has gotten worse the older I get. Working at Duke only made it worse. Many, many of my co-workers were Tarheel fans. The Dookies would strut and crow on game day; but let them lose a game and the next day the halls of the Medical Center were completely devoid of any discussion of basketball what so ever! Very poor sports they are.

My spouse is a native of Kentucky and a graduate of University of Kentucky. Tubby Smith was the UK coach when my husband and I met. My family followed the team when Tubby was in college and I knew him from that time. I pull for Kentucky as long as they are not playing UNC. I always thought my interest in basketball and University of Kentucky helped in the beginning of our relationship.

Sunny, my velcro dog, heart dog, best friend, HATES basketball. She doesn't understand the excitement and talking to or yelling at the television. (I told you I was a rabid Tarheel fan). Poor girl! She drops her ears and seeks refuge behind furniture. Then she gets in my lap, in my face trying to ask me what's going on. It is funny, but I feel sorry for her because she doesn't understand.

So my morning has consisted of pouring through the newspaper and online sports sources to fill in my NCAA tournament bracket. My girlfriends and I are playing together for the fun of it. Gmarie doesn't believe me, but she has as good of a chance of winning the brackets as any of us. :)A lot of it is luck. Depends on how many teams get abducted by aliens.....

GO TARHEELS!!!!!

Longer days

Dawn came early this morning. Daylight savings time started today. That means spring is truly here. The sunrise over the lake was gorgeous this morning. The water is still too cold for a swim but it won't be much longer now. I know the dogs will be happy for that. They don't care if the water is cold, but I do when they shake off :)
My day will consist of a little knitting..and a lot of basketball..more about that later.

Dogs On Thursday ~ Snowman

Here in our part of the world, we don't get very much snow.  Snow is a treat for us. We love to play in it. Sadly, it appears our chance for a big snow....or any more snow at all, this year is slim to none.
We did have one decent snow this year, so Sunny and Jackson and I took advantage of it and built a snowman.  There wasn't enough snow in the yard, so we had my husband bring us the snow he was shoveling from the driveway.

I had plenty of help for a while

but then they found things more interesting under the snow

and snowballs to chase..."where did it go?"

There were interesting things under the miscanthus grass.

and up the street..."I KNOW I'll get in trouble if I go check it out..

"so, I'll bother my sister instead."

We eventually finished the snowman, our only snowman of the year. 

Now on to springtime!

Have a great day and remember to make some time for your dog today.

Trying to be a baker

Of late, I have been trying to perfect my baking skills and decided to tackle pound cake, a Southern staple. It is a great way to use some of the farm eggs a friend has been sharing with us. I made pound cake 3 weeks ago. The recipe had little flavor and the cake was quite dry. Since I had two dozen fresh eggs, I made another stab at it today. To add to the complications of baking, my mother-in-law was a great cook. I have her legacy to live up to but usually without the luxury of her recipes. I have some of them but we have no idea where the majority of them went. I used her Good Housekeeping Cookbook from 1939! This version is much better than the last one, but still needs to be moister. My husband does science and research and is usually all for making 'lab notes' in the kitchen and go from there next time. With the pound cake thing, he wants me to keep trying different recipes. I think I'll never get it right if I do that. Oh well, they will be eaten. No danger of them going to waste. Perhaps I'll try it again in a few weeks.