Why, hello there! Nice to be back. It's been a while, I know, but I went on a bit of a crafty hiatus for most of the spring/summer, and didn't get a lot done in this regard. I finished up at the college, and I had a lovely job working with the Youth Ventures program for the summer (helping young entrepreneurs start up businesses), and now after a trip home and a big move back into Dave's parent's house (we will be house-sitting for a year - gotta love the lack of rent!), I am sitting here unemployed for the moment. It is strange to be out of school in the fall for the first time, but I look forward to what the future brings.

I have recently been crocheting a few scarves. I love working with the open lacey stitches - things work up so fast! Here is an early Christmas present (I rule!), being modelled by our little gentleman, Nigel. He's got that bored model look down to a science. I think it suits him.

And for those of you who like that sort of thing... a close up shot of the fibre and stitch:

It's a fishnet stitch on a large hook (6.0 mm) in a lovely yarn called The Cat's Meow brand - Paradiso (I'd link to the website, but it doesn't appear to be working... I picked this yarn up for $1 a ball at Wallmart, so maybe it is discontinued. You should check it out to see if it is available in your area. A great deal.) The colour is called Mauves, and it is a wool blend with cool serger-type stitches throughout. Pretty hip. This scarf used 2 50g balls. Easy as pie.

Our stuffed toy family has grown, as Dave and I adopted a couple of quirky vintage (1940's, or so we are told) stuffed animals at an antique store in Corner Brook.

Aren't they awsome? I would love to try to replicate these styles myself, so maybe I will try one of these days.

We also now have a tank full of goldfish (since we can't adopt a cat while we live here, this will have to do). I received these guys as part of my payment for tutoring a girl over the summer. She was moving, so we struck a deal. I recently fixed up the tank and decorated it a bit. Dave and I weren't too keen on the "underwater paradise" background image, so I made a backing out of some flowery fabric, which I think looks pretty fun and colourful. I also added that little glass fish (a present from my Aunt G a few years ago). Cute, eh? 

My friend, Lana (of Knitting Collage), was recently visiting Stephenville, so we took her to see the alpacas and llamas at the Alpacas of Newfoundland farm, a favourite local attraction of mine, you can imagine! Here are a few photos from that day. I love the bottom right shot - it totally looks like the llama is a family member posing, and would make a great family pic for the wall.

They sell a lot of really lovely Alpaca yarn at the craft store there too. I am really wanting to get enough alpaca to knit the Marseilles Pullover from the Summer 2006 Interweave Knits. It's pretty pricey, so I'm hoping that Santa (or Dave) will bring me some. Dave thinks that he'll seem lame for buying me yarn for Christmas again, but obviously, no knitters will think that this is a lame gift, and those who don't know are just missing out.

Hurricane Florence is currently heading straight for Bermuda, so let's all hope and pray that it doesn't hit them too hard. I was talking to Jay a little while ago, and they are preparing for a bad one. I certainly hope that they are not "doomed" as he put it, but this is hopefully an exaggeration. They were hit pretty hard a few years back (extensive damage to property, beaches, and even the causeway), so let's hope it's not a repeat of that. I'll be thinking of you guys! Good luck.