Snow Days Skirt.

So I spend a solid percentage of my life doing and redoing and redoing the same things over and over again. With a toddler and a puppy it's easy to feel like you're on an endless treadmill constantly running but never getting anywhere. So when we were on day 4 or so of it looking like this outside:


And me receiving yet another "I'm working past bedtime" phone call I decided SCREW IT.  We're in survival mode. And for me the fastest way to get off the treadmill and feel like I'm actually being productive is to do something, anything, that won't be undone in 10 seconds. So I turned to the google, found this tutorial from Sew Much Ado, pulled some shirts out of the bags to donate, and within 15 min had turned this:


into this:


Yay scraps! About an hour and a half after I finally got her down I had this:

Cute, easy, basically free, possible to accomplish after even a late bedtime, and best of all not going to be immediately undone.  Exactly what I needed to feel human again.
 


Of course I violated the cardinal rule of "always let the toddler pick out their own outfit" while trying to photograph it so what I really ended up with was this:

yeah.

NO CHEESE. OFF. (translation: stop taking pictures of me in my misery and get this skirt that I did not choose off of me)

Luckily I remembered cardinal rule #2 "distraction can cure almost any woe".

Look it's my doggie!

I love my SLEEPY DOT.

By the time we got home from our adventures she straight up loved the skrit. Twirling around in it and saying WOW. It's all about choice these days with her.

The sunglasses (aka EYES) were clearly her own choice.

Also she is currently obsessed in a way that only a toddler can be with helicopters. I got her her very own matchbox one thus BLOWING HER MIND.

COPTER BOOM WEK (translation: helicopter, boom, wreck. she says this every time she drops it. hilarious)

And that's about all I've got for right now. Tomorrow? There will be yarn.

Oh and I'm trying to participate in the online blogging communities more so....

Snowed In

So right.  We've got snow.  Alot of snow.  And when there's snow it just makes sense for Matt to take the car that's better in the snow and me to stay in.  Wants vs. needs and safety and blahblahblah beinganadultsuckssometimes.  Add to that the one two punch of Matt working all weekend (and late this week) and a toddler who's both teething and battling a cold and I'm starting to look like this:

Only larger.

So before I wrote an entire blog post of "ALL WORK NO PLAY MAKES JEANNE A DULL GIRL" my mom came and did this:

Although the toddler didn't really like the whole sledding thing very much:

NOPE

I'd rather pull the sled thankyouverymuch

I think the only one who really likes the snow is Dottie:


She likes being Poofed - thrown into the biggest snow drift possible.  It's pretty hilarious.

Although the one plus of being snowed in is that I filled 5 garbage bags with crap to donate today.  FIVE.  That's an insane amount of clothes to get out of our house.  And it would have been more if I didn't know the potential of used dress shirts.  Also does anyone know of any cute "patterns" for refashioning tshirts to kids clothes?  'Cause I've got lots of those, too.  So that marks the first and only step I've taken to get ready for this other kid that's going to be here in t-minus 11 weeks.  GAH.

Hope you're enjoying the weather!

Dancing Queen

So I have lots to blog about. Sewing projects and knitting projects and nights out at trendy new Cleveland bars… but… instead:


Yeah. Normal blogging will resume once spinning around until we’re so dizzy we fall down go BOOM is no longer the most hilarious thing in the world.


It might be awhile.

Destination Yarn Shop Update Monday – Trunk Show!

So there’s no shop update today because all of my inventory is at River Colors. It looks a little something like this:

So. Much. Yarn!

The show on Saturday was great. I had a super fun time, met some wonderful people, and ate a delicious chocolate chip and sea salt cookie from Blackbird Baking Company.


Thanks to everyone who came! It was so nice to meet all of you – even the stalkers out there (HI! Waves!). I wish I had thought to take pictures of actual people but I was too busy giving my schilling yarn:


It’s fun at a show like this because every one of my colorways has a story behind it.  So there’s lots to talk about.


The Cleveland Craft Coalition’s show was pretty awesome, too. So much creativity in the area! It’s inspiring.


Shannon Okey was also there Sat signing copies of her new book.   Really a great day all around.



But – the Destination Yarn Trunk Show isn’t quite over yet! The display will be at River Colors through Saturday July 24. Here’s 3 reasons to check it out...

Day At the Spa – a new kettle dye from the Travel Experiences Series:


Surfing Lesson – another new kettle dye from the Travel Experiences Series


Annie Oakley – I dyed this specifically for a store. They no longer carry knitting supplies so I’m free to sell the colorway wherever. It’s available for the first time outside of that store now at River Colors!

All three of those will eventually make it up on the Etsy site so if you aren’t local don’t dispair!

The etsy shop will be down until next Monday when there will be a giant huge mega update. Until then I’m enjoying some serious knitting time!

Excuse me?  Knitting time? Aren't you forgetting someone here?

Or... toddler / puppy time. They are quite the pair.  My child’s latest word is OUT. So she goes to the back door, stamps her feet, and screams OUT OUT OUT OUT.  Because there’s nothing more fun than playing outside with your doggie.

You're not supposed to drink the water!  You're supposed to splash it.  Like this.


Yeah I didn't really want to get in there either.


What should we do now?

Introducing…

Dorothy Jane:
 
Dorothy (Dottie for short) is a 1 year old Jack Russell Terrier / Basset Hound Mix.  We adopted her through the Multiple Breed / Jack Russell Rescue in Elyria, Ohio.

They had a really cool place for the dogs with a great big fenced in area that looked a little something like this:

So. Many. Terriers!

Honestly, though, the terrier thing was pretty hard on both of us. It was like seeing a field full of almost-Dexters. Very heart-wrenching. One little guy in particular really did us in:

The one on the left. His name is Romeo and he’s still up for adoption if you’re interested in bringing a super fun lapdog into your lives. I can speak from experience here: Rat terriers are the best.

But we didn’t want a Rat Terrier this time. Because then the comparisons would be inevitable. They already sortof are. But we’re not going to be able to replace Dexter.  He was too big a part of our lives and our story to even attempt that. Instead we needed to find a different type of dog that will fit our situation now:

Like me!

The hound in her means she’s a very different type of animal than we’re used to. She’s all nose:

Where’s the bunny. I smell a bunny.

Yes.  Her ears are lopsided.  I have a feeling that's one of those Velveteen Rabbit things that once we love her will destroy us with the cute.

It already kindof does.

The big thing – the most important thing – is that our daughter loves her. The first time we met Dorothy she immediately went for her and licked her face. Giggles all around. The ride home was hilarious, too…

SEE! DOGGIE!


Where did my doggie go?! BRING BACK MY DOGGIE!!!!


Ooooh there’s my doggie. Want a hairclip?

She won Matt over, too:

Let’s just walk awhile and get to know each other before we make any decisions…

I kindof get the feeling that she’s going to be his dog. She definitely thinks he’s the alpha in our little herd.

She’s such a chill dog.  Perfect for a family.  I love this series of pictures where Dorothy is in exactly the same place while the little girl is all flailing about:

This is my doggie.



I be nice to doggie.


Pet Pet Pet.

Her backstory is that she was a puppy in a household with two other dogs. One of the dogs beat up on her. So she wound up in the pound. Luckily she’s awesome and the people at the pound loved her. So she stayed alive long past her time. Then she was rescued which lead her to us. Her only apparent issue from her past is that she’s a bit skittish around her food. If you get near her when she’s eating she RUNS AWAY GAH GAH GAH. But I’m sure she’ll get over that now that she’s an only dog.

So far what we know about her is that she’s super playful – but not obnoxious. She’s very agile for being so squat. You wouldn’t think it to look at her but she’s got mad hops. Definitely half terrier. She loves playing fetch with either a stick or a tennis ball. She disembowels stuffed things fairly quickly:


And she’s incredibly food motivated:

What. The kid wasn’t eating her breakfast so I thought I’d try to sneak in her place.

Also she matches our child.

Yeah. I know that I unconsciously match myself to the kid pretty frequently – I’ve been doing it since the beginning and I’ve finally just accepted that I’m a color driven person. Some days I feel like purple, others green or whatever so we both end up in that color. I didn’t think that extended to matching our pet to our child, though:

Yay Redheads!!!


We are going to be the best of friends.

I think we’ve found our dog.

Grief

One week ago today we lost our little dog Dexter – the coolest dog ever – to cancer.

To say he is missed is an understatement.


I still don’t really have the words to express our grief.  He took care of me and watched over his girl.

The first time they met.

He made Matt a dog person and kept our feet warm at night.

Shortly after we adopted him.



The best napping accessory.

 He was family.  Hell he made us a family.  He was our “and dog makes three.”

His first bath at his new home.

 
The first sweater I ever knit.  It even has a D on the back of it.

Especially heartbreaking is that his girl keeps looking for him. She crawls to the stairs and screams her pterodactyl doggie call, points up and says “DA”

She cries every time she’s put in her playpen because her dog isn’t there to keep her company. I didn’t even realize he did that. But when I had to switch laundry or run upstairs for something he would keep an eye on her for me.

And now I don’t know how to tell her that her best friend is gone.