A Bit of Fun Knitting

If you haven't read Jenn's account of her mother-in-law's house fire, I recommend it-a heart rending story.  Jenn had seen my post about all my sock knitting and asked if I would make her MIL's Yorkie a new sweater since his was lost in the fire.  Dog sweaters are something I haven't attempted because Westies are hot little dogs, even after a close haircut.  I looked up a pattern, made the extra small size and sent it off to her.  I didn't feel that it was small enough-so far Jenn hasn't complained-so I tried it again, with pink veriegated yarn and smaller needles.  My thought was to make the small size and give it to my oldest son for their Pug, Daisy.  I think it's still a bit on the big size so I tried it on my Westie, Chloe.  She likes wearing it, but boy she would get hot.  I tried it on Merlin but he got really wound up and I had a heck of a time getting his legs through those little leg holes!

She really thinks she's hot stuff!  Like I said, I'd let her keep it but I'm afraid she'd get too hot.  Merlin was pouting at this point but he got over it when I tried to put the sweater on him.  I think I'll still try it on Daisy, that poor thing shivers all the time.

BTW-right now it's 0 Fahrenheit, with blowing snow.  I think I want to wear Chloe's sweater.  My trip to Mazatlan can't come soon enough to suit me!

And They Say Mexico Isn't Safe!

Two weeks ago, several people had their houses and cars broken into, including our son's car.  Then last night 75 homes were either robbed or the attempt was made.  I think ours was missed this time, but maybe we just haven't discovered what was missing yet.  Here is the article from our local news station.

It cracks me up, because people think we're crazy for going to Mexico, because "it's so dangerous!"  We live in a town of 1500 people and 75 houses were hit last night....  Not to mention the Highway Patrol officer who was gunned down just 10 miles from here about a month ago.  Now just where is the danger?

Spanish

My hubby gave me the Spanish version of the Rosetta Stone for Christmas 2009.  What with all those people moving in and out of my house, I installed it on my laptop and set it aside for a more interrupted stretch of time.  Yeah, funny joke-there's never such a thing!

But I decided do or die-I'm gonna learn this thing.  So I started on Monday after everybody left for work, school and fishing.  Why did I wait so long?!!  What a cool way to learn a language.  I set it up on Latin American Spanish and went to work.  I think I just might learn a bit of Spanish before my next trip to Mazatlan.  Of course, the only really effective way to learn a language is to go where they speak it and beg for patience, which I hope I can do.  The people of Mazatlan are so hospitable and accommodating that they speak very good English, so I might have to ask them to practice with me.  I have two months to learn enough to actually practice with!

Well, done with the lesson for today and I just got called in to work, so I'd better brush my teeth, eat something and get going.

Two Months and Counting

Knowing that we make frequent trips to Mazatlan, friends have been asking when our next trip is.  I was checking out the timeshare website when my daughter-in-law and I started chatting on Facebook.  Don't ask how I got from the timeshare website to Facebook, but nevertheless...

Wonder if the resort iguana will still be hanging by the pool.

Anyway, she was talking about getting away.  I asked her if she thought it was feasible for her and my son to go with us, and she said, "As long as we go during spring break."  I got on the phone with the timeshare people, and then spent three hours on the Web tracking down plane tickets.  We are set to go and I'm not sure who is more excited-my DIL or me.  I am so excited that at least one of my kids gets to see my "other home!"  I said their four kids might be mad, but we agreed they would get over it!  And when their parents get back with all the stories of the fun they had, they'll be ready to go the next time.

Two months from today we'll be sitting on the beach, watching the sunset.  DIL sent their passport applications yesterday and is now on pins and needles hoping they come back in time.  I have no doubt that they'll get here on time-I bet they take less than 4 weeks.  One nice bonus-usually we have to fly out of Billings because it's always been more expensive to fly from Bozeman.  We both happened to trip over a better price from Bozeman, so we won't have to drive over the day before we leave and come home the day after we get back.  Cheaper and less stressful-we all know flying is stressful enough these days.

A view of our timeshare-nice place, huh!

Now I Can Show You

Okay, now that Christmas has come and passed, I can show you the knitting that has been taking my time.  First, I decided to make wool socks for all my immediate family:

Center:  Gracie; starting at far left and going clockwise:  Sam, Laura, my sis Judy, Sydney, Millie, Isaac, Steve, Christopher, and Jim.  A good year's work.  Stan's?  Still on the needles-I am working furiously and have just turned the heel on the last sock.  They're blue and gray like Jim's.  Both Jim and Dad are conservative dressers.  I plan on tying a ribbon around Stan's and leaving them on his pillow.  Should put a note, "Last but not least!"

Then I got a bee in my bonnet to make hats for all the kids, including the great nieces and nephews.  What I made for the boys:

I made a pattern that used a double strand of yarn for warmth.  The three littlest boys got the camo; Ethan, 7, got the blue and gray; Chris got the red and black Atlanta Falcons color; and Isaac got the blue and orange Denver Broncos color.

For the girls:

Inspired by the movie, Golden Compass, I knitted these hats with a triple strand of yarn.  They should be super warm and look really cute!

The kids were on a dead run, so this was the best I could do to get them to hold still for a picture.

And for Gracie's doll, the one I made clothes for?  She loved it.

And I did finish all the pajamas, a week late, which was OK because the flu delayed our celebration.  The three young ones spent the night on New Year's Eve and HAD to wear their PJs.

The big boys wouldn't model, darn it!

A good Christmas, but I'm glad to move on to other things, like filling out my Etsy shop.  I put one of the hats in the shop, we'll see if someone else thinks it's as good an idea as I do!