Three pets, one bed

Here's a portrait of the power struggle going on in my home every day. Poor little Sofie is sick, so I put a heating pad on the dog bed for her to curl up on. Of course Aurora wants to be on the heating pad too. And Marie's nose is out of joint because the cats are on her bed, even though she rarely lies on it. (She much prefers a human bed.) So this is a common scene. What you can't see in the photo is Marie's butt hanging off the bed cuz there's simply not enough room for three. Oh, and when Aurora slowly nudges Sofie off the heating pad or, when that approach is too subtle, Aurora sitting on top of Sofie.

Candy cane dreams

I have been very remiss with my crafting and blogging. To be fair, I've spent a lot of time shovelling. And I've got the sore back to prove it. Here's yet another festive pair of earrings for my mom.

Thanks for the inspiration

While enjoying one of my favourite hobbies - ogling crafty goodness on etsy - I stumbled on a handmade orifice hook for a spinning wheel. "What a great idea! Why didn't I think of that?" I blurted. Of course that inspired me to try and make my own. Here's what I came up with. Sadly for me, I don't need a hook for my wheel. Luckily for my mom, she does. Now the tricky part is putting this beauty away for Christmas. Although maybe it could be a belated Sinterklaas present. Hmm . . .

Ho ho ho, holiday earrings

My mom found these little Santa beads and asked me to make her festive earrings. They're pretty cute, even if you're a curmudgeonly grinch like me.

Pretty (and) sweet

Here are my two sweeties, Marie and Sofie. Sofie was sleeping on the dog bed, and graciously allowed Marie to curl up on the edge.

Aurora was busy nibbling on a marshmallow she nabbed from Marie. Marie really needs to learn to stand up to those kitties.

How novel

Here are my experiments with novelty yarn from last week's spinning class. They're pretty cool, I say. Although I must admit novelty yarn sure does disguise inept spinning (let's call it a spinning spaz).


On the left is a yarn with slubs - where you let one of the strands twirl around the other while you're plying. On the top is a yarn with beads added. Some blend in with the yarn, others dangle. On the right is core-spun yarn with mohair. Those little curly locks are fun to work with. Mine didn't go quite like the teacher told us to do it, but I think it's a neat variation.

My favourite is the one in the middle. Here's a closer look at that . . .


It's made by adding tufts of fibre while you ply. It's so fluffy and soft - and would make a great scarf.

Dip in

My few loyal readers were all at this party, so no big surprises here. Four of us got together for a dip party - meaning we all brought dips. That may sound a bit boring, but the dips got quite inventive.

The line-up:
Hummus
Chicken meatballs with satay and hot sauce
Chicken with peanut satay sauce
Avocado dip
White bean dip
Curried carrot bean dip
Artichoke cheese dip
Anchovy olive oil dip
Nacho dip
And, for the finale, chocolate fondue with fresh pineapple, raspberries, apples, marshmallows and graham crackers.

Mmm . . . dip.