Taking it Easy, yah Right!

I've been really busy for someone who's been taking it easy. A new dog will do that. I had a dark day of doubt because of how badly Dexter behaves on the leash with other dogs. We took him to the dog park though, and he did okay there. He seems very protective of us already, and it seems another dog trying to approach me or the kids triggers his aggression. I've signed us up for doggie obedience classes that start this weekend. I see no purpose to waiting, because I don't want this behaviour to escalate.

The other thing keeping me busy, but in a fun and happy way, is cooking for Dexter. I've done some reading, and I've decided that this is the best option for us. For the most part, he'll just get a specially prepared portion of what we're eating. Right now though, I've been having fun creating my own recipes for him. Such has a hamburger hash that I did up in the crockpot. It was oatmeal, low-sodium beef broth, hamburger, carrots, frozen green beans and some thyme from my garden. He gobbled it up. Most of my reading came from the Natural Dog Food website and I've ordered Carol Boyle's book. It just makes good sense to me that healthy ingredients make for a healthy animal.

Of course, I've been busily knitting along. I'm still loving the Frost Flowers and leaves shawl, but I don't have much to show you. It's bigger. Woop-de-doo. I've turned the heel on the sunbeam socks. Hoo-rah.

I started scanning in some pictures of my old Paton's patterns, but it's just too much like work. I did a few before I copped out though. This book has directions for side-ways socks and some other neat designs that I'd like to try one day. I scanned in the back cover because it shows you all the designs that are in the book (plus, the front is missing).

click for bigger

I remember my mother using this book to create mittens for us, but never socks.


My mother once said she'd make me mittens or gloves, just the way I wanted them. She told me gloves would be harder though, so of course I wanted those. Then she asked if I preferred moss-stitch backs or plain, and of course, I wanted moss stitch. Plain sounds so, well, plain. I wanted the special ones. They were done in a pastel, variegated, acrylic. I can't imagine that they kept me warm, but I relished those mittens because I knew my mother had put the extra effort into them for me.

You know, now that I think about it, I'm glad that I'm putting the extra effort to go all the way, and do all the repeats in Frost Flowers and Leaves shawl. It's huge, but I'm sure I'll relish it.