I promised more knitting photos, and I can deliver! I knew I was pretty close to finishing a little project I never even had the opportunity to mention. It’s a handspun Royal cowl.

This was a nice easy pattern, I loved the braided cables. It was an easy pattern to memorize and an easy pattern to work on in my spare moments. Easily picked up and put down again. Since it was such a terrifyingly busy work week, this was exactly the project I needed.

I would certainly make this pattern again, but I would not do the icord cast on and bind off. Well, the bind off wasn’t too bad but I really disliked the icord cast on. I could do better just making an icord and then picking up the appropriate number of stitches around to achieve the same look. It would be more seamless than doing this on the needles.

I would actually like to do another of these with a long infinity type cowl, the pattern is pleasing and I really prefer a long cowl that is easily doubled.

I took the dogs out for a long walk around a lake yesterday. It was Rose’s first time at the lake. She did pretty well with passing people, much better than when we first got her and she’d refuse to move if someone tried to walk by. But, yesterday the challenge was bikes. These were new for her and terrifying. I am happy to report that after an hour and a half walk with multiple bikes passing by, she was able to come to the conclusion that bikes aren’t that terrifying after all and will probably leave her alone if she’s walking nicely by my side. This brings me to the conclusion that our method of exposure therapy for her is working. We just keep doing what we do with our dogs and assume that she’ll realize it isn’t that scary after all. We definitely need a few more trips around the lake to solidify this lesson.

After that, we ended up with some tired doggos!

Here’s Rose all balled up so much that her tail is touching her eye. Such a cutie!

I was able to get a nice nap in and then it was time to work with Miss Butterfly on getting ready for her first homecoming dance! It took her all day long to get ready, she probably spent 3 hours total on her nails. She had a notebook full of a list of her plans on what to use and what she needed to remember. She’s definitely my kid! In the end she looked great.

She did not have a date, she just went with her best friend. So, her father, stepmother, Mr. Ink, and I all took her out to dinner beforehand. Her father and stepmom drove her to the dance, and Mr. Ink picked her and her friend up after I was fast asleep. This morning she tells me she had a great time, it was super fun, and she even danced which is completely surprising.

Oh, and I did her hair! She had two tiny braids connected in the back to keep her hair out of her face, and then I curled the rest. For the makeup loving folks, I used morrocan oil texture spray, as I had a sample size, and it really held her curls in beautifully! They still look fantastic this morning.

Here’s a close up of her telling me off because I wasn’t taking photos at the correct angle. Gives a closer look at her makeup game which was amazing. She really wanted to wear RED lipstick, and it looks really nice! She’s wearing bare minerals liquid foundation, and on her eyes, she’s got the too faced chocolate bar palette on. Not that you can see it, but it was a nice neutral look with a tiny bit of shimmer and it looked wonderful.

So, that was our Saturday excitement. Now it’s Sunday and we’ve got a lot planned for today as well. But, I was able to sleep in! Mr. Ink took the dogs out early before they started making enough noise to really wake me up. Then they settled back in very well and I was able to stay in bed. What a lovely moment that was! Today we start some formal training classes with Rose, and we’ve got a trip to the dog park planned before that. And of course there’s all those pesky weekend chores to complete! But, I also plan to start another project today, I just have to decide what that will be!