More stash

Yesterday in the mail I received the silks from Victoria Clayton Hand Dyed Fibers that I ordered on Monday - I love what I picked out but I still can't seem to find one for my Cirque des Cercles. But I think I have finally figured out what I don't like! I'm picking out colors that are way to busy and have quick color changes. I think I need to start to look for much more subtle colors - maybe a monochrome color that just goes light to dark. And I think a drive to the local needlepoint store is in order. I need to see a wall of thread to really know what I want. I've been trying not to go there because I spend way to much money on fibers. And they are never on sale. Bummer. So I'll plan on just picking up a couple of single skeins and then purchasing what I need from Drema or Stitching Bits and Bobs during a sale. It's not like I'm in a huge hurry to start this BAP. Like I need another one of those right now. Aren't these pretty? I especially love the one on the far right - Country Roads.

My extra Fire Dragon was also in my package so tonight I'll start on finishing up my Heart and Hand piece. It should go really quick because it's all letters - one over two. And I'll finish up my Winter ornament on the train home today (just the background left). Even though two out of three of my finishes this week are ornaments, I'll have quite a week. :-) But a finish is a finish so I'll take it! Maybe I'll even complete part 2 of Marquior be Sunday evening. OK, OK, I know that pushing things a bit. LOL!

Yesterday I did order the five Weeks Dye Works threads I need to start Blackbird Designs, Moonlit Garden. I have a piece of 32 count Golden Wings from Silkweaver that I think will be perfect. If it's too dark of a linen for this piece I also have a piece of 28 count Antique Gold that also might work. I'll do a toss when I get all my threads together and see what's what. I probably won't have the chart until late next week at the earliest so it will be a while before I get started. But I will stop whatever train project I'm working on to start this project. But who knows? I've said that before and maybe I'll be working on my Quaker Sampler so I won't want to quit.

Last night Clancy had agility and he had a blast. That little guy is so fast I had to run him off leash a couple of times because I was holding him back. I think I'm going to have to teach him contact stops at the end of the contact equipment (a-frame, dog walk, teeter) so he doesn't blow the contact.

I will now translate that previous statement for you non-agility people. :-)

In agility, for their safety, dogs have to hit the yellow areas (in AKC rules, contacts are painted yellow) at the beginning and end of certain pieces of equipment - these pieces are called the contact equipment. When a dog is really going fast, it will have a tendency to just jump off the equipment before the end of the piece or as we say, blow the contact. So you teach your dog to pause for a fraction of a second at the end of the equipment. There are numerous methods to do this. I will teach Clancy the two-on/ two-off method. He will learn to pause with his front two feet on the floor and his back two feet on the equipment before going on. I don't have to do this for Molly because she doesn't go fast enough to blow the contacts. She just saunters around the course. :-) It's a fast saunter but a saunter none the less.