Wow...a DOT again! Together Tags and Doggie play time.

Ok, so as you can tell I've been a bit distracted this past week. I did get a podcast out last weekend, went to a spinning guild meeting, took a trip to an alpaca farm, and managed to be completely full of endless snot from my allergies. :) There my recap. But I'm sure that's not all you came here for.

For this weeks DOT post though, I'm going to talk about the Together Tags.
I got an email about these from Dogster this week and I really want to order them. Both my two are microchipped but these tags seem to go one step further. Dogster has partnered with the American Red Cross and created the Together Tags. The great thing about these tags are the information needed for the person who finds your dog is on the tag. So, they would simple call the 800 number or logon line and see your pets information. My thought on this is that most non-dog people don't really know that dogs are microchipped. I still come across people who do own dogs who have never even thought of it. So...if that person finds my dog they probably aren't going to take them to a local vet and check to see if they are microchipped. Microchips work great for all of us who know this exists.

So, why not a regular tag that has your information on it. Well, this tag also has more information so when they log in they will have other information for your dog, such as an additional emergency contact information. If they still can't get a hold of you they have additional alerts that go out to local shelters, local together tag members, and users on Dogster. This seems like a pretty good addition.

I will admit I have not enrolled my two dogs yet but plan to before the end of the month because Dogster is runing a $5 off discount until March 1st. There is a one-time fee of $24.95 which covers your cat or dog for life and they give discounts for families of more than 3 pets.

Ok..now about my dogs.

Aren't they cute! Well..they almost gave SK a heart attack this weekend and surprised us both. While I was on my way to the Alpaca farm this weekend, I got a call from SK. He told me the following story.

SK has been cleaning the house and doing laundry while I was away for the day. He let the dogs out and grabbed the laundry and sat down to fold clothes. About 10 minutes later, he gets up to head out to his truck to grab something. As he walks out he looks over to the left neighbor;s house, and lo and behold he sees our two dogs playing with the neighbor girls in their front yard. Yes, catch that THEIR front YARD! He was so freaked out that he wasn't able to really form words and started making load noises at them and both dogs looked at him and ran into the open gate of our back yard that SK had forgotten to shut when he brought in the trash bin. He said he shut the gate and came inside and his heart about beat out of his chest.

I thank God for the neighbor girls who probably started calling them when they saw them come out and they went over and played with them. I don't even want to think of any other situation that could have come up. I just know that they are both safe and that SK will be more careful with the gate from now on. I also thankful that they didn't try to run off when they saw SK. I'm glad they chose to come into the backyard. It was funny because the next day when I was getting Jackjack to take him out the gate to give him a bath in the front yard at first he wouldn't even come to me by the gate. Good boy. I'm glad he likes being in our yard and with us.


Well, I hope you enjoyed my Dogs on Thursday post and please go over and read the other DOT posts this week. We've got a great review from Chan on the blog about some hot spots in Outer Banks. Also check her blog for more tag information. :)

Dogs on Thursday

I can't believe it's Thursday already. This week has been a long one but has flown by. Work has been a bit stressful so I've been tired and getting in bed early all week but not able to sleep through the night. I've also been spending as much time on my spinning wheel as I can stay awake for. :)

Well...I just have one thing for you today. Videos!!!

Jackjack usually will let Abby have stuffed animals until one day he decides to do the following. I like to stay by him and make sure he doesn't eat any of it especially the leather on this armadillo.

And just one more. I took many videos of him doing this but will spare you.

And last..this is what Abby was doing while Jackjack was destroying army. :)

Hope you enjoyed a peak into my puppies lives today.

Things are going well with me. Last night's Obedience class was pretty good. We kept working on the formal finish. It's when Abby is sitting in front of me after a recall and I tell her to go around and she goes around and sits down in the heel position. She's getting better at this but I think I need more motivating treats for this one. We also did good on our sit stay!

We only had about 4 people in class this week, so we got to do more training and more talking too. The Intro to Agility class has been changed to Mondays and it's starting later in March so we have a couple more weeks before that begins which won't hurt. I want to find some instructions on how to build the jumps out of PVC so I can get her started on those sooner and be able to practice more.

This weekend should be fun. I planned a trip to an Alpaca farm that's inland. It's in Zephryhills which is about an hour away. My sister Fleas, her family and I are heading over there on Saturday afternoon. We'll take pictures to share! I love alpacas! I am hoping to come back with roving or a fleece.

Ok...off to work. Hope everyone has a great Dogs on Thursday! Give your pups some lovin from us and make sure to check out all the other DOT posts.

Sunday Spinning...

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Valentine's day weekend. I had a great weekend! Well, since last post, I have actually spun up 2 singles and plyed them together to make my first yarn! Ok..getting ahead of myself for the pictures...so we'll start with Saturday night, Special K and I watched a movie. It was My Best Friend's Girl and it had it's moments but overall not that great. We still had my sister's dogs...and as you can tell they make themselves right at home at my house too. :)
I set up my wheel in front of the tv and spun.
So, here's a picture of one of the singles on the wheel.
After finishing both singles...which to figure out how much I'd use for the singles I just split the 4oz. Each single took up about 2oz of fiber. I had seen online that someone had used a shoe box for a lazy kate so I searched the house and found a shoe box and grabbed two of my long aluminum knitting needles. And tada...a makeshift lazy kate. This will definitely work for now.
And while watching Secret Life of Bees, I plied them...here is my 2 ply BFL yarn! It's about 95 yards. I think it looks great! What do you think of my first yarn spun on the new wheel?

It's already been soaked in wool wash and is now hanging to dry. I'm thinking of making my sister Felicia a hat out of this because the colorway is Felicia. The yarn is from yummyyarn.etsy.com. I'm a big fan of her colorways and will admit this is 1 of 3 of the ones I have.

Well...I think I have a LOT to learn but I really enjoyed making my first yarn on my wheel. I didn't really stick to a single way of drafting for this yarn as I was really just getting to know the wheel and getting comfortable with it. I need to pick one and go with it next time. I'm planning to do some research on what is the best drafting method for different fiber preparation. I know I've seen some stuff on it.

Ok...I'm off to bed. I was up at 7am this morning because a doggie scratched at my bed to wake me. I decided to just get up and not wake up Special K that early two weekend days in a row. I ended up using this early morning time to clean the house before my friends came over to knit and hang out. It was fun to have them over and Lucky and Roxy were well-behaved. :) Abby was too much and pretty much made sure everyone had plenty of her hair before they left and pet her until she was done! :)

Well...Happy Spinning, Knitting, and Dog lovin!!!

I only wish I didn't have to go to work tomorrow but I'm glad I have a job to go to. Sweet dreams.

Happy Valentine's Day! My Spinning Wheel is home!!

Happy V day! I hope everyone is having a great day! Today was very exciting for me. Special K and I woke up and I cleaned up the house a bit and then we headed on our way. First stop was Uncommon Threads in Palm Harbor, where we payed off and picked up my Spinning Wheel!!!

It's a Majacraft Pioneer and I think she's gorgeous! Yes, she's a she. Not sure why but I keep calling my wheel a her. Now I need to come up with a name. :) Have any ideas?

The first thing I did was inspect her. She has been set up at the yarn shop since I tested her out back in Nov. so I was sure she's been tested quite a bit. She seems to be perfect. She is missing a little silicon pad at the bottom of one corner but I'm sure I can find a replacement. I registered her online at the Majacraft site.

The next thing I did was get to know her. I practiced taking the bobbin off and on. Then I practiced treadling.
Like my socks!! These are my favorite Bellatrix socks and I like the shot of my wheel. I also like how the bobbin on this wheel are big and plastic!

Well, I'm sure you will hear plenty more about my wheel as the days come! I'm very excited to have her home! I'm now off to actually spin fiber. I have practicing having the leader take up and played with the tension.

We also stopped at Sam Ash a music store and bought me a guitar stand. Then we stopped at a golf shop and got Special K some golf stuff. We also tried to find him some new work boots to no avail so we ordered them online when we got home. Last stop was grocery shopping! I was supposed to make dinner tonight but Special K wants to cook instead. I came up with baking some chicken and potatoes and he is now taking over. :) Not a surprise as he loves to cook!

Hope everyone has a great day! We have two puppy visitors of Lucky and Roxy for the weekend and my two are enjoying their company!

Happy Valentine's Day

Gnat

Dogs on Thrusday!! All Abigail!!

Ok...so this week since Abby got neglected in the previous post and Jackjack sneaked his way into the background on a pic in last post....it's Abby pictures galore!

For starters, just an update on our Obedience class. She is still doing really great. Her recall exercise was spot on and we learned to do a finish where she walks around us from sitting in front of us and sits next to us. We are learning so she'll need loads of practice. And we also have to work on her sit stay. She laid down during the sit stay this week. It was just like she got tired and laid down. Well...she really isn't supposed to just decide to lay down when I asked her to stay in a sit. So, we need to work on that this week.

We also signed up for an Intro to Agility class that overlaps this class but is on Thursday nights so we'll be going to the training club two nights a week. I think it will be fun! Just going to take up more of my nights and I'll miss knitting group for a couple weeks until it moves back to Wed nights.

Ok...so now pictures!! These are all of Abby while she's over at my sister Fleas. My dogs make themselves right at home there. We actually are taking care of her two dogs this weekend and I'm sure they will do the same here. :)
This is Abby making herself right at home on my cousin's son's lap. I love her ear. See where Roxy finds her spot? Must be nice to be a small dog.
She makes herself comfy with their toys. She hordes their tosy and makes sure that no one else can have them.
And then back on the couch...and see Roxy again! :)

Well..hope you enjoyed Abigail Grace! She sure is a cutie!

And you know I can't help it...Here's one with Jackjack making sure he is comfy at their house too. :)And to show that I am the leader and I make myself at home just like they do. :)
Have a Happy DOT and don't forget to go read all the other great posters and their adorable dogs!!

Pictures!! Brother-in-laws and my sock!

So, I promised some pictures and then I've been busy or lazy or distracted...you name it. First off this week has been good...just tiring. My allergies for one have been making me have a runny nose every morning but I've started taking my meds every night so it seems to be helping. Last night, I had guitar and I'm learning to pick and bend strings so the tips of my fingers are sore but I'm LOVING it! I'm learning to do a solo!

Ok...so now some pictures to catch up with. While my dad was here for the world series, his girls and him played a good game of cards. We played one my families favorites, Russian Rummy. Here's a picture of us all playing cards. We were only missing Cristina, who lives in CA.

Well, Cris made it for the wedding and the holidays...so I guess we can include a picture of her. This is a picture of Cristina and me, doing something over the stove. :) A lot of people say we look a lot a like. It's hard to see how we all look so alike yet so different. :) For one thing, I'm the only one with wavy hair. I like this picture for some reason. I think it's cute.And now the pictures I was promising. My dad told me while he was here and after he watched that movie the Bucket List with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nickolson that he was able to cross of two things off his Bucket List. First was going to a World Series game and then watching his youngest and the last of his biological daughters get married. That made me tear up. One of my biggest fears growing up was that my father wouldn't be there at my wedding. It was really big that he got to walk me down the isle. It wouldn't have been the same if I didn't have a parent there. My mother was missed a lot at the ceremony and always but I'm so glad my dad was here.

Well...since the Martinez's girls as we are known are now all married off. He wanted to make sure we got a picture of us all while we are all together. Cristina's husband Kevin and her live in CA so we don't see that all that much. The rest of us all live pretty much in the same neighborhood...so we see each other plenty. :)

So...all the brother-in-law's from oldest to youngest...shortest to tallest. (left to right)

And all the brother-in-laws and their wives. It's pretty amazing that we all married younger men. Some months apart and others longer. Special K and I have the biggest difference with about 4 years.

I hope you've enjoyed the pictures. I haven't forgotten the Spam post. I'll try to get that up this weekend!

I'm off to lay in bed and work on my Entrelac sock. I'm having so much fun knitting it! Here's a progress pic.

Happy Knitting, Spinning, and loving on your pups!!

Fair fun, a cast on, cute clean pups, and a new episode!

Yesterday, my friend Chris and I headed to the Florida State Fair! We both were going for the animals and the fair food. We first started by heading to the 4H dog contest and I saw a girl from our Obedience class. We then headed over and saw the Prue Breed Dog tent but decided to head back when they were doing the agility course which was fun to watch. We then headed over to the Sheep and Goat Tent...which turned out to be all goats! But they were so cute!!


The goats were my favorite other than the spinning demos! We also saw a lot of Cows, rabbits, and chickens and roosters. :) We had corn dogs and split a funnel cake! Let's just say we had a great time! Well, when I saw the spinning demos, one had weaving too and I met the president of the Pinellas Spinners and Weavers Guild and decided to join. I'm planning on going to a meeting this month. I'm excited because I should have my wheel soon!

Like next weekend!! YEAH!! Special K and I are driving up to Uncommon Threads in Palm Harbor and paying it off and picking it up for Valentine's day! I'm so excited I could scream!! WAHOOOO!!!

Ok...well..back to knitting to calm myself. I had casted on the Entrelac Socks by Eunny Jang this weekend. It's my first entrelac pattern and I'm really enjoying it so far! I love how they are looking. Red and pink for V day. :)

And since I have all this cute pictures of my dogs...Let's see them!! Ok...here is Jackjack keeping me company while I knit away on the couch.
Here's Jackjack hoping Kenny will share some of his snacks.And again Jackjack...I know...it's all jackjack. :) But look how cute he is here. I wrapped him up because he was shivering from his bath in the cold. He's so darn cute!
Ok...and now here's Abigail...oh with Jackjack. Ok..I'll get some Abby pics for another post later this week! :) but look how cute they are on the love seat. :) They aren't spoiled are they?
Ok...well, I hope you enjoyed the picture filled post! I'm off to finish off the dishes that Special K didn't get to and pull out the brownies I've made. Special K cooked dinner while I podcasted(New Episode up now) and then I baked dessert! Ok...gots to go!! bye.

My first Calorimetry and more!

So, yesterday when I got up and was getting ready for work after I walked the dogs, I realized I had finished my Wedding Week Cubbie Socks the night before. What do you think? Forgive my green pijama pants. :)
Having finished them...I realized I had NOTHING else on the needles!! Nothing..no more socks...no dishcloths...nothing!! I have already decided what my next project would be but I wasn't getting the pattern until Saturday. So, I quickly thought on my feet of what I would knit during lunch. I figured I could do a Calorimetry which I've been wanting to make. So, I wound some of my handspun into a ball and quickly printed the pattern and headed to work.

A cast on during lunch, and recast on at knit night at Panera because I was told that I shouldn't follow the recommended cast on. I only cast on 100 and I think I could have cast on less. Well..I knit it at knit night and then in bed later and I finished it! It was a quick knit and worked wonderful with handspum. Edit: just wanted to let you know that the yarn was spun and plied on my homemade spindle.

So...this morning it was cold again with frost on the ground so I decided why not wear it. I had not sewn the button on so I used ribbon to fasten it. :)

Here I am during lunch today! What do you think?

Another pic of me at the post office mailing some pictures to Sharimom and SK's grandparents!
Well..I'm very happy with it. It kind of looks like I'm wearing a hat if I have my hair back but right now my hair is MONSTROUS!! I need a trim or a cut soon. It's getting long and giving me headaches!

Well...next I have a survey for you to do. Yesterday as I was leaving work, my co-worker and I got into a discussion of the age of people who knit. I was telling him, he would be surprised that many younger people knit. So, to prove him wrong...I set up a survey. Please go over and answer the 2 question survey! :) It's quick and you'll be surprised at the survey results already. Please only fill out if you knit, spin, crochet, or craft!

Edit:If you don't craft and want to see the results check here.

Thank you!

Hope everyone stays warm and safe! Special K and I are staying home tonight and having a good dinner and then tomorrow if the Florida State FAIR!! fun!! I'll try to take some pictures to share with you!

Have a great weekend!!!

Gnat

The Ultimate Super Bowl Pawty on the news!

On Saturday, Special K, Jackjack, Abigail and I headed up to Clearwater to check out the Ultimate Super Bowl Pawty at Coachman Park. I'd heard about the event and thought it would be fun to check out. It was so much fun! I had been nervous about taking Jackjack because I haven't taken him to an event like this in a long time. Special K has also never come with me. So, he took care of Jackjack and I had Abigail. We worked as a team to keep him from being able to focus on other dogs but he sniffed and did passingly greet other dogs. All calm and all very nicely. I was so proud of him. After walking around and buying a little box of homemade treats, we sat and watched the training club I'm taking Abby to do the agility courses. It was so much fun to watch the dogs and Special K was even interested in it. I can't wait to get Abby good enough to be able to do some of these events! I think she'll be great, Special K thinks she'll get too distracted. I'm out to prove him wrong!

Well, as soon as we got there this news lady asked us if Jackjack was wearing a Steelers bandanna. We told him it was just a yellow one...so she moved on. But later while we were watching the Agility course, she came over and said oh well...it may not be a Steelers bandanna but it's close. :) So, she interviewed Special K. She wasn't the greatest interviewer and asked SK some stupid questions that honestly I as a dog lover would have just answered but to a normal person he was like ummm I guess my dog is a Steeler's fan. :) She also asked if Jackjack gets excited about the games. SK just said he barks when I get excited. Well...all of this was great and all but SK decided to fib a little and told the lady that he named Jackjack after Jack Lambert, his favorite Steeler's player from the 70s. It was funny because she was like Jack Linebacker from the 60s. :) We just laughed and he corrected her.

After the interview, we sat around and watched agility some more and SK noticed that there was a football player over in the corner so we went over and it was Daneal Manning from the Chicago Bears. SK shook his hand and he admired Jackjack's shininess. :)

After that , we grabbed some lunch and then I went over and asked the camera man when the spot would air. He said the 6pm news. Well, guess what!! They made it on!! Check it out. The video is courtesy of my brother-in-law who is a genius with DVR and computers. :) Thank you!

Hope you enjoyed the news cast! I think it's funny the one thing he fibbed about was the one thing that made the news. For those of you who don't know, I got Jackjack way before I met SK. :) He got his name because he was Blackjack and I didn't like that so I cut it to Jack and then became Jackjack.

Well...thanks for watching. I'm off to relax and knit some. My shoulders and back are killing me. Not sure what happened but I woke up sore today and can't seem to loosen up.

Happy Tuesday!!

Abby's week! Please go vote!

Thank you!

Go Steelers!!

So, last nights game was awesome! It got nerve wracking there for a bit but in the end it was great game!! I ended up having a runny nose ALL day...I mean all day! It only stopped around 7:30 mid game. I woke up my nose ran and it just wouldn't stop...so I had to miss my co-worker's superbowl party. I ended up going with Special K over to his dad's and spending the night there. I was planning on leaving for a quarter or two and spend time at the co-worker's but that just wasn't happening with my nose running. Ok...well..enough about my nose.

So, let's talk about SewCrazyDogLady!! Now...here is an awesome site! I've seen her collars for some time now and have been wanting to order the day I saw them! Well...I saw she did another team custom collars for someone so I emailed her and asked if she could do some Steeler ones for my two. :) She said of course and the process began. It kind of took me a while to figure out what kind I wanted because Special K doesn't like martigale collars and I do. We ended up deciding on a modified martigale collar for the two of them. She ordered the fabric and got it last week and we were both hoping that they would get here this past saturday but no luck. Anyway, we got them today and let me tell you they are AWESOME!!!

I went home for lunch today and I quickly took pictures as soon as I put them on. We had originally planned for the white to be Jackjack's and the black to be Abby's but Special K thought this looked better. Aren't they cute!!
My boy Jackjack is rockin it!! :) He's so adorable!!
And here's a close up of Abbs. I had to get a picture of her's before she rolls in the mud! I plan to take it off before letting them in the backyard because she's a mud diver!
Hope you liked the pictures of the collars! I'm sure you'll see them more and hopefully I'll get better pictures of them! They are so awesome! She did a great job and the quality of them are very nice! I'm very happy with them and anyone looking for cool collars for your dogs PLEASE go check out SewCrazyDogLady's site!!

Ok...have a good day! I'll post more later! I'm hoping to get video of something awesome!!

Oh just because it's important! Jackjack did so great at the doggie event on Saturday! I'll talk more about it in the post about the event but just had to tell you he did so GOOD!! :) He's such a surprisingly good boy!

Gnat