Saturday, February 18, 2012

Can't Believe February Is Almost Over!

Incredible! I can't believe February is almost over already! Where does the time go?? I have TONS of knitting projects I'm working on ... lots of new designs, but I'm afraid I can't share any with you just yet. But don't give up on me! I am experimenting with knitting with beads. The other night, I strung over 400 glass beads on my yarn. It was easy to do with a beading needle and some thread, but PHEW! It took a couple of hours. It will definitely be worth the effort, though! The tiny glass beads were so inexpensive ... what a great way to turn a simple knitted piece into something quite lovely.

Meanwhile, I've been spending a lot of time with Sophie the Puppy. She is finally off of goat's milk completely (I was still putting her kibble in it ... guess you could say, I'm not good at knowing when to quit). And she's learning all kinds of things. Things we accomplished this week:
More training with LEAVE IT. She actually left a Kentucky-Fried Chicken breast on the floor and focused on me, instead!
Getting used to her Mutt Mat. I love this! I just say, "GO TO MAT" and she looks at me for a moment or two and then goes to her mat!!! I tried it outside this morning, but we're not ready for that. Too many distractions ... children laughing; airplane overhead; birds singing; trash cans being rolled up; etc. I have hope, though! Eventually, she's supposed to focus on me and not the distractions.
So much to learn!!!
AND, I just purchased a vintage Nelke doll from eBay. He's in poor shape and, gulp, sadly, he's a clown, too (clowns scare me) ... but I have been searching around for the soft, stockinet dolls of my dad's babyhood for some time now. Evidently, the companies Nelke and Mawaphil were the two for which I've been searching. I'll post a photo of the little guy when he arrives. I'm sure being old and soiled will not improve his creepy clown self, but he is still a little piece of nostalgia.