Life LackaDaisiCal

For my closeup! While Lackie only got to go "on set" once.... I think he would do well "in the movies"! Here he is wearing his new Christmas Scarf!

A major ice storm blew through a huge area of Southern Ontario on Saturday night. At 8:30 or so, our house lit up like a Christmas tree, we could smell burning and the lights were flickering..... Hubby quickly started unplugging things and turning our power off... It seems the pole that supports our line to the house had been hit by a huge branch and had snapped.....hydro soon went out on the street as limbs were falling everywhere... It has been 4 days....power has been restored to our neighbours, but not to us! So we have had to take refuge with a neighbour... When the sun sets and lights up the ice and snow, it is beautiful.....but it will take days perhaps weeks to get back to normal. This is the view from the neighbours....their pole is still standing :)   Stay safe and warm.  

Daisy and Lackie join me in wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas (or Holiday of your preference) and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year ! This year has been a whirlwind for me in many ways.  Hubby and I have had a great year of retirement with good health, great friends and wonderful opportunities. I've been blogging for many years....it all started April 2006.  I've written 754 posts, this will be 755!  That's over 100 posts a year! All this time I have been knitting away......when I was "She Ewe Knits", then as a civilian knitter, and now as a "Rowan Ambassador". Somehow I have neglected to blog on a whole lot of good stuff this year.....so.....forgive me if I adopt a new format here.....I am going to try to post more often....possibly just a photo or two......and it might not be current.....but it will be something that I was intrigued by enough to take a photo of.....so it's going to be a a bit of a mish-mash.....bu...

My Swatch Cowl Trilogy is complete! This K4 P4 cowl really compliments this yarn.... This photo shows how this shade, Bachata 551  looks in stocking stitch.... (go to KnitRowan.com to see how the other shades of  +RowanYarns  Fine Art Aran looks in stocking stitch!) Sometimes it is hard to visualize how a skein of yarn will knit up.... that's why I highly recommend buying a skein or two and swatching.... you can always use a simple cowl to add to an outfit.... and they make great gifts.... with Christmas coming up fast, that can only be a good thing!

Daisy hasn't been on the blog much lately....but here she is on a frosty morning this week! Today she went for grooming....she doesn't look like a miniature Highland Cow any more!

While I was waiting for the Rowan Yarns Fine Art Aran mini collection to come out....I've been knitting up one-skein "Swatch" cowls. Trilogies are all the rage - The Lord of the Rings, The Hunger Games, The Chronicles of Narnia....for more great books written in trilogy....go to  Goodreads  here... There are Trilogy movies too.....like the Jason Bourne series, the Mission Impossible movies and the Lord of the Rings trilogy! so I had to do one more to complete my own trilogy, a Trilogy of Swatch Cowls! This time I'm using a fabulous neutral shade called Bachata (no 551) Surprise, surprise.... I just got an e-mail from my LRS to advise....that.... the Rowan Fine Art Aran mini collection booklet has just arrived! (ahead of the January 15 release schedule!) Mini-collections are "vintage" designs reworked in new yarns... This one called "Dali" - it was Chippy by Kim Hargreaves from Rowan 27  This is the fabulous Lowry by Martin S...

To these quick one-skein cowls... super simple... This one is done in seed stitch.....knit circularly, k1 p1 all the way round and round... makes it totally reversible.... so when it folds over, it looks the same! Yup, this is another one-skein cowl using  +RowanYarns  Fine Art Aran - this time is shade 545, Conga! This skein came to me as a Rowan Ambassador sample... yes, I am extremely fortunate to be sent yarn to play with, to swatch with....to get to know in depth.... Go to  Rowan's Fine Art Aran  page for more details! This yarn has already arrived at my local Rowan stockist  The Needle Emporium ...has it reached your LYS yet? Rowan plans to release a collection of favourite designs re-knit in this new luxurious yarn....but of course, you can use it for any design that knits up to the 19 sts and 25 rows to 10cm gauge in stocking stitch!  ( My first cowl "swatch" just proved that! ) #RowanYarns #FineArtAran #Knitting #swat...