Meet Leo:

He has that innocent look about him, but don't be fooled. Not for one second.

When I got home from work a few nights ago, I noticed Leo was not on the couch, like normal, but I got into doing other things and forgot. About 5:40 I went out back to call him and asked the boys if they had seen him. Boy A proceeds to tell me that they (him, Boy B and the Babysitter) had kind of looked for him, but did not know where he was. The Babysitter did not mention any of this before she left...(she apparently thought he just went under the deck).

Shortly after realizing that Leo must have gotten out of the fenced-in back yard, Boy B starts the tears and moootzing and the, “I waaaant LEEEEOOOO.” I suggested we drive around and look for him. The boys and I got in the van and started combing the neighborhood. We drove over to the office where the Babysitter was (DH's office) and went in to find out when she had last seen him. She figured about 4:30. She and her mother decide to go out looking too.

So, we keep driving around, the boys keep mooootzing and eventually we head back home because friends were coming over for a quick meal, some knitting by us women and a meeting for the men. It ended up that the Babysitter and her mom stopped and asked someone who was out with their dog if they had seen a little black and white shaved shih tzu. YEP! They had him and had called the number on his tag (our old phone number, which is disconnected) and figured they’d call the vet’s office the next day.


Leo was home before we got back there and did he ever sleep hard that night. He was literally passed out on the chair when I went to bed at 10 p.m. And the Babysitter's mom commented that at least her daughter only lost our dog, not our child. Good one.

FOs (finished objects)

Prefelting:

Postfelting:


This would be why these were made. The plum and grey are made from Patons Classic Merino wool. This was the first time I have felted this wool and they shrunk very quickly. Love that. These are made from that classic pattern (if it is not a classic pattern, it should be) which can be found here. If you have not made a pair of these (or a few more) you should. The pattern is ingenious and the results are wonderful. Comfy-cozy, warm but not itchy or sweaty and just plain cute. Go on, you know you want to make them.

May the road rise up to meet you

Whew! Boy B's blanket is finished. He loves it and refers to it as "The Road Blanket." Remember me saying that this yarn was in my stash and that I had lots of the royal blue and once he decided upon that, asked him what other color he wanted with it? He announced, "yellow." Of course, the one color I didn't have. Happily I went to Knit Night (this was last fall/winter) and word got out I needed some yellow. Low and behold a fellow knitter had this yellow, and plenty of it. She happily handed it over and Boy B said, "yes! I like that."

The evening I finished off his blanket and told him it was done, save the blocking process (no time for that) he decided he was not, in fact, all that crazy about the yellow and asked me why I chose that color. And people say girls are fickle!

Don't get me wrong. He LOVES the blanket. As previously mentioned he calls it The Road Blanket and often uses it to drive Hot Wheels and Match Cars on it. Shortly after gaining full possession of said blanket, he said, "mom, thanks so much for making me this blanket, I love it." Everyone together now: Awwwwww

Incidentally, The Road Blanket is not straight, the gauge is terrible and since it is not blocked, it curls under, it curls over, it's just downright awful! Although, the positives about this blanket include (aside from Boy B loving it and that is really all that matters) is I made up the patterns myself. All four patches are different sizes on purpose. I did use a stitch pattern from this book, the Aztec-like yellow portion. A pattern I would use again if given the opportunity.

Today my youngest brother-in-law, Matt (Monk) is legal and it cannot be possible. I first met him when he was a wee 4-year-old. We have watched him play a lot of basketball, meet a lot of girls, graduate from high school and move on to college. Now a junior studying occupational therapy and an all-around nice young man. I know, he's cute too.

I had to be fair and had to upload two pictures from this summer. One with Boy B (first photo) and one with Boy A (second photo). These were taken at my inlaw's home in northern Michigan and the "boys" were enjoying milk and sweet treats. One of the many things I have always been able to count on with my husband's family is they can exist on milk and sweets, such as cake, brownies, cookies, etc. I will have to share some of the other things that I know to be true, but tonight is all about our new drinking-age brother. Have a great one, Matt, and remember to give away the keys tonight!

First fishing trip

Several weeks ago, Dear Husband needed some extra, extra quiet time to write his grad work papers so I took the boys and picked up a friend and headed north a couple of hours to go fishing. This was the trip where Evan was acquired.


The fishing could not have been better if I had planned it myself. Only seconds after dropping their lines into the water, they would catch a fish. It was ridiculous and exciting!


Boy A is proudly showing off his first catch. While Boy B enjoyed fishing he especially enjoyed "fishing" from the live well on the boat. Thankfully, my friend loves to fish and she handled all the murdering of worms and removal of hooks. The weather cooperated beautifully and the hospitality of the folks who opened up their home, boat, and Gator to us were wonderful. It is truly a blessing to have good friends.

(For those of you wondering, while Dear Husband did not finish those papers that weekend, he did accomplish quite a bit and they are, thankfully, finished now. He has already begun the new semester's class too.)

The boys are back!

Full day kindergarten is truly a joy. They had an "out of uniform" day the first day of school and it was a half day. They began wearing their uniforms the second day of school and I could not believe how grown up they look. Like little school boys (duh)!



Their uniforms have to be navy pants (or shorts), either white or red shirt (long or short sleeves). Thankfully, Boy A's favorite color is red and Boy B doesn't care what he wears. Whew.

Now for some true colors to show:



And now for the long awaited...knitting!




Finished socks for Dear Husband and a Broadripple sock (free pattern here) started for me using Cascade Fixation. I have since turned the heel and am past the gusset. I had a night of making fleece tie blankets for the boys' rest time in the afternoons. They could not take their bedtime blankies and leave them at school so grandma bought them new fleece and I cut and tied them one evening. That hacked out some serious sock knitting time.

To add insult to injury, it is looking like the sock is not going to fit me. I am liking the way the pattern of the top looks to be a fingerless mitten though. I feel a conversion of pattern coming on. Still, the disappointment of the sock not fitting me is deep. Two options have occurred to me. One being I could add a few stitches to the lace pattern, but to make it turn out correctly that would be several stitches and I have heard that a few stitches can make a big difference with a sock and its ability to stay up. The other option is to go up a needle size. These options end up not really being options at all when I only have two balls of this yarn and fear that I am not going to have enough as it is let alone after monkeying around.

To any experienced sock knitter out there, what would you do? I should just accept the fact that someone else is going to enjoy these nice socks, shouldn't I

Darn swatch goddess. She really isn't joking around. (Graphic content: to those reading, I did not do a swatch. GASP! End of graphic content)