Catching up

First off, I got my fiber for the scarf exchange:

It's a nice pumpkin color, and it's got a few shiny gold bits of mylar or something carded in with it.  (You can't see the shiny bits in the photo, alas.)

It's a little different from what I thought I would get.  It's not especially fine wool.  I was doing a little pre-drafting, and I'm afraid it's not going to spin into a very soft yarn.  It's also got a lot of little neps in it, so it will be hard to make a smooth yarn with it.  But I may be premature on that, since I haven't actually started spinning yet.  I'll let you know how it goes.

And here's the finished hospice afghan:

Once again, I prove myself queen of the unartistic photo. 

Here's a closeup of the stitch pattern, with the yarn looking much lighter than it actually is:

Easy pattern, not at all boring to work.

In other news:

Yesterday was my dad's 81st birthday.  Dear Robert, me, my sis and bro (SIL was sick and couldn't make it) all trooped down to Forsyth to celebrate with him.  Here he is with his birthday dessert at Shoney's.  (I know, but it's where he wanted to go.)

Here's Dad, me, and Dear Robert:

And the birthday cake my sis made (I helped):

The "19" is a family joke.  My dad used to tell my sister he was 19.  She believed him for a long, long time.  And after a while, who's counting anyway??  And the missing coconut at the lower rh corner is deliberate.  My sis left it off for Dear Robert, who is not coconut's biggest fan.

My bro:

Ain't he sweet?  He's all about RC airplanes these days.

And my sis. 

Don't you just hate it when the photographer catches you with your eyes closed??

Speaking of my sis, she had new doors installed at her house yesterday.  She called me to come see them and get copies of the new keys.  I asked if I could bring Jasper and she said yes.  So I leashed him up and got ready to head out.

Now, Jasper's still learning not to bolt outside as soon as the front door opens.  We went through the drill of opening the door, making him sit (this had to be done multiple times) and wait till I gave him the release command.  What I failed to account for was the speed he would attain after the release command.  I said "Okay," Jasper leaped up and sprinted out.  He hit the end of the leash.  His momentum spun me around and pulled me over.  Fwap -- I hit the porch on my tailbone.  Jasper's still moving.  My leash arm shoots out as he pulls the leash off my wrist.  I end up scraping the palm of my hand on the cement porch.   Luckily, Jasper turned around to see what was keeping me, and ran back when I called him. 

Here's the damage (not for the squeamish):

It's all red around my thumb because the blood soaked into the multiple band-aids I put on it before I went to my sister's house.  At least the blood isn't running into my palm anymore.

Now my hand hurts, my butt hurts, and my never-really-happy-these-days neck hurts.  Owie, owie.

But on the other hand, nothing's broken, the Atlanta Knitting Guild meeting is tonight, and this morning we watched Shrek 2.  So things could be worse!

And my sister's doors look great.

Comments

[Catherine D.]

Might I recommend a Bungee Puppee from helpingudders.com? And if none of your favorite rescue groups is an affliate, I'll put in a plug for the Keeshond Sunshine Rescue Foundation :)

[Sandy]

OOh I feel your pain. I have a Viszla and when he was a pup, he did the same thing with me.

Some day I'm going to make the Knitting Guild meeting. Some day, when I don't have hockey games.

Beautiful work on the afghan.

[Jane]

ouch, ouch, ouch!! Hope that heals up soon. Your blanket looks wonderful. I'll be at knitting guild next month (I hope.)

[Beth]

The slow takeoff is a hard, hard lesson. I'm afraid I've failed at teaching it to Pearl. Sounds like the birthday boy had a nice evening. All that coconut! Yum. :)

[kathy b]

First time to your blog. Do you blow the dogwhistle or something when a new reader reads???? Happy Birthday to your dad. His dessert looks wonderful. Your hospice gift is incredibly beautiful and so thoughtful.

[General Ginger]

Ouch! That looks aweful. No dishes for you for a while. Happy birthday to your dad. The Hospice afghan looks fantastic.

[Karen]

Oh Jasper, I'm a little disappointed in you. You have to learn to "relax", you're going to go. Look at my Asio, 4 years old and he still does what you just did!

Go give Janice those big ol' puppy eyes and big ol' kiss to make her feel better. She'll forgive you, she's a sucker for a cute face....like we all are with you.

Tootles~