Puppy Love

Feb17

I have been distracted from my knitting the last few days. The only thing I’ve completed is a simple ribbed hat that my son requested. I do have a new project on the needles and another that I’m about ready to cast on, but it hasn’t been in the front of my mind.

See, I want a dog. Another dog. I have a fabulous puppy named Captain Jack. He’s a shepherd mix, just a little over a year old, and he loves to play. Of course we like to play with him, but we’ve decided we’d like him to have a sibling. A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine decided she needed to rehome her Siberian Husky, and I got all excited. I love huskies; I think they’re gorgeous and sweet. So I talked my husband into meeting her. (And it was HARD too! He really thought he wasn’t ready for another dog. He was wrong.) We went out there with Jack … and it was a failure. She was bossy and aggressive with him, guarded her water and wouldn’t let him drink, and he wanted nothing to do with her. I’ve seen him with lots of other dogs and he’s never responded that way before. He always tries to get the other dog to play with him. My gut said she wasn’t the right dog for us.

I started browsing the local shelter websites and it didn’t take long before I fell in love with the picture of a goofy-looking Chow mix. I wasn’t sure whether my husband had come to terms with the fact that he wanted another dog, so I didn’t do anything for a week. By the time we went to visit this dog on Valentine’s Day, he was on hold. Oh, we met him, and he was fabulous. Gorgeous and sweet and funny-looking, and so strong and playful. We put our name next on the list, but he was adopted that night.

Moving on, I found a shepherd/Shar Pei mix at a smaller shelter. I filled out the application and waited, only to find out that he too had JUST been adopted after having been at the shelter for over a year. Okay. There were two fun, young dogs at yet another shelter, and one was another Shar Pei mix with a delightful squishy face. Another application filled out, and another reply that both the dogs I liked had applications pending. Not quite a firm No, but not too optimistic either. I let them know I’d love to be second on the list.

Now I’m waiting. This morning I found two beautiful gray/black shepherd mixes at a volunteer-run shelter right by my house. They’re both male, around 8 months old, and they’re litter mates. I showed them to my husband and he really likes them too, which never happens. He usually has to meet them before expressing any interest. This was another extensive application, and they do a vet reference check before contacting you, so I’m waiting. And I think while I’m waiting I would do well to stop looking at dogs. I would really love one (or both??) of these dogs to be Jack’s new playmate. So if you feel like it, send me some good juju, okay? I would appreciate it! And next time I’ll share some knitting-type stuff too.

Have a little Courage

Feb13

Who here is familiar with Courage the Cowardly Dog? I was not, so when my aunt asked me if I could make a Courage hat, I was a little unsure. My first instinct was to check Ravelry for patterns, and I found one, but we weren’t crazy about all of it. My aunt and I shared a few photos back and forth and I said I would do my best to replicate the image of Courage she liked the best. There was a lot of improvisation and modification going on! For fun, I decided to document each step of the process, so non-crafters could see what goes into making a detailed character hat.The basic beanie is the easiest part. It takes maybe an hour, 90 minutes tops.Now it’s time to start adding little bits. Each piece only takes a short time to make, but there’s a lot of them! I start with eyeballs.The black centers of the eyes are simple.A nice brown triangle noseNow some pink half-circles for Courage’s…what are those? Jowls?Brown eyebrowsDarker pink eyelidsBrown ears. They need to be stiff enough to stand up. Now I have all the pieces laid out, and it’s time to weave in all the extra ends and sew it all together. This is the most time-consuming part, since I work hard to make sure the placement is correct and everything is sewn securely. Each piece is sewn on individually.The final product. I may not be familiar with Courage but I sure like my version of him.I think I did a pretty good job of replicating the picture my aunt sent. What do you think? Her friend was pleased, and so was the daughter who ended up stealing the hat!

Guess what? I don’t like cables.

Feb12

Okay, they aren’t terrible. But they weren’t a lot of fun. See, I made a hat yesterday. And it had a cable zig zag, and I’ve avoided learning cables to this point but I really liked this pattern and I thought it would be perfect for my dark blue/black Dream in Color wool. A one-stitch cable? Fine, I can handle that. It was also my first time knitting from a chart, but I could handle that too. And I did! It wasn’t even that hard, but it was awkward and it slowed me down. I like my hat-knitting to zip along along but I kept having to stop and put a stupid stitch on a cable needle. I’m sure it’ll get easier with more practice, and I will try again because the result was really cool. This is the Wanderer Cap from the book Weekend Hats. It’s my first project from that book but I’ve got several others marked. This is a generous size, large enough to fit my big-headed husband, but the brim is snug enough for a woman to wear it as a slouch hat. It used about 155 yards of the Dream in Color, color Peacock Shadow. It was strange because this skein felt a little different than the grey Dream skein, which makes me think they changed it a bit at some point. It still had great stitch definition but it felt a little crisper, almost coarser. But it’s not itchy and it should be nice and warm!

As soon as that hat was done I started on my next one. This will be a tam for St. Patrick’s Day, and I’m loving this yarn. It’s Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd’s Wool Worsted in Lime Green and it’s super soft and squishy.Here’s hoping I can get this done before my craft show on Saturday!

Headbands for Runners

Feb11

Not that long ago, I mentioned that I was partnering with a runner/blogger about my knitted headbands. I sent her two headbands knit with Berroco Borealis, accessorized with a crocheted flower, and told her to keep one to try and use the other one as a giveaway on her blog. Well, today her review is up and thank goodness it’s positive! Apparently she loves it! Please, take a moment and check it out on her blog at The Everyday Warrior.

You’re back? Good. I hope you take the time to peruse her blog a little bit. She’s passionate about living a healthy, badass life, and while I’m not a runner, I definitely admire her commitment and positive attitude. And I love that my little headbands can give her, and other runners, a little bit of pizzazz! Now I need to knit some that are less traditional and more…badass. Hmmm. What would that be, exactly?

I Fought the Yarn

Feb10

So I was making this hat. It’s an awesome hat. I was using the dark gray Dream in Color Classy yarn left over from the purl ridge cowl I made recently, and … Okay. Wait. I just went back and was looking for the post about this cowl so I could link it and couldn’t find it. How did I not share this cowl?? Well, we’ll just do that first.

A week or so ago, I went to my LYS for one specific skein of yarn and found some amazing yarns in their sale section, including Dream in Color at 50% off. I grabbed two skeins, a blue/black and a gorgeous Grey Tabby. (I won’t lie, I grabbed a few other skeins too.) I loved the grey so much I cast on the next day, and out came this fabulous Present cowl.This was my first time using the Dream yarn, and it’s fantastic. It flows smoothly on the needles and it’s soft but just crisp enough that it has marvelous stitch definition. I’m in love. It’s yarn like this that makes it hard for me to go back to cheaper yarns. So anyway, this cowl used a little over half the skein, leaving me with a tad over 100 yards. I decided that had to be enough for a hat.

After much perusing on Ravelry, I decided on the Thank You Hat by Purl Soho. Everything about it was right: weight, yardage, color. And you can’t go wrong with one of their patterns. I got most of it done yesterday, and then picked it up this morning after I got rid of all the extra people (kids, husband, who needs ’em?). I just had decreases left and my yarn was dwindling. It was time to play Chicken.Faster and faster I knit, eager to get to the end before the yarn was gone. And maybe you more experienced knitters are looking at that photo and laughing because you know what I didn’t but soon would…I had PLENTY of yarn left to finish this hat! I’ve got a good yard left over. And I am so in love with this hat. I want to find every skein of this yarn and buy it all for me. I just love all the subtle variations in the color, the different shades of gray…Oh god. No. Don’t say it. Don’t even think it. Pretend that didn’t happen. Just look at the hat. It’s pretty. So pretty.

My Dilemma is Resolved

Feb9

Thanks for the helpful comments on my troublesome hat post! After sleeping on it, I decided I had to make an effort to re-knit the brim since I love the yarn so much. I frogged and got the stitches back on the needle without too much trouble, then knit a round and decreased six stitches, and knit a new brim with needles two sizes smaller than the body of the hat. And it worked! I don’t love it, but I like it well enough, and I know it’s so much better than it was before. And this experience has taught me how to make pleats (me likey) and how to make hats from the top down (me no likey) so it wasn’t a waste of time. I’ll put it in my stash of things to sell this Saturday at the local craft show, and maybe someone will fall in love with it.

I Have a Dilemma

Feb8

I finished a hat this morning. I loved the pattern and I love the yarn and they go really well together. What’s the problem, you ask? Well. Somehow the brim ended up too big. It’s a little loose on my head, but then again, I have a slightly smaller head. Here, you look and see what you think.This one’s not too bad. I like the pleats. That was a new technique for me, where you slip stitches onto DPNs and then knit them together with stitches on the circ, and keeping hold of three needles was tricky. But I did it and it’s cool. See, those aren’t terrible. It looks okay when you’re wearing it, especially if it found a big-headed owner. But now, look at it by itself:Poor stupid hat. The brim is just big, and I did Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy bind-off which seems to come out a little big and floppy anyway. So now what? I haven’t finished any tails. My choices as I see them: 1) frog the brim, decrease a few stitches, and bind off with a regular bind off. 2) Leave it and hope someone with a big head wants it. 3) The yarn is Tuhu, which is llama, merino and angora, so I could experiment with felting it a little bit.

Help me! What do I do??

FO Friday Part II: Red Valentine Hat

Feb7

Thanks to decongestants, ibuprofen, and fluids, I’m feeling much better than I was this morning. Or maybe it was getting to make this hat that fixed me. Who knows?

Finished Object Friday: Slouchy Hat

Feb6

This will be a short post today. I’m trying really hard not to get the cold that my son passed to my husband, and the sinus headache I have is telling me I’m losing. So I’m grumpy, and it doesn’t help that I have a To Do list that feels a mile long. See? I’m not fit for company right now, so I’ll just share my pretty hat pictures and go away until I can be nicer. Fantastic one-skein hat pattern: Springtime Picholine Hat. Yarn is Cascade 128, and the adult large used every last bit of the skein.

Two Finished Knitted Cowls

Feb5

I know I have neglected you, dear readers, but I have been busy making things to show you. Plus I have been busy with other non-yarn things. (I know, what’s wrong with me?) But yesterday was all about yarn, and I finished a project that’s been hanging over my head for months.

A few weeks ago, I posted about a lace cowl WIP that I had picked up again, and I had to frog it and start over. I tried really hard. I got around 10 rows done, set it aside to make a hat…and could never bring myself to get back to it. Apparently, I HATE fingering weight yarn with a passion. And fingering weight yarn with a lace pattern? That is my nightmare, clearly. I messaged the friend who’d requested it and asked if I could modify the pattern by holding the yarn double. She was chagrined that she’d asked for such a difficult pattern, but I assured her that was not the case. Really, the pattern itself is quite simple. There are many knitters out there who would love to make a long lace infinity scarf with 360 stitches in fingering weight yarn on size 4 needles. It was just a combination that I had no idea I would dislike so much. She gave me free rein on the cowl, and I had it DONE by the end of the day. Seriously. Started and finished in one day. Now, that’s mostly all I did yesterday, but in the previous incarnation, I *might* have gotten a third of the way through. Can I say it again? The cowl is DONE. And I love it. I love how it turned out. I’d bought three skeins of Premier sock yarn in Hot Lime, so I held three strands together, took the Spring Lace Infinity Scarf pattern (which really is quite lovely) and cast on 108 stitches. Then I just knit in the lace pattern until it looked tall enough. It came out at 7 1/2″ tall, so I could have gone at least another repeat or two, but for a spring cowl I think it’ll work well. Whew! I’m so glad to have the done so I can send it off!

I also managed to whip out a cowl for another friend. I had one skein of Plymouth worsted alpaca in dark grey, so I used the Darkside Cowl pattern, and I made that in less than a day. It’s a fantastic pattern; I’ll definitely be making more. It’s super cozy, the way it hugs the neck. Mmmm. I need to make myself one.

I enjoyed my little cowl-knitting break, but I think I’m ready to get back to hats. I’ve got a spring crochet scarf to finish up, but then I’m breaking out the circs. I sold a hat on Etsy (WHEE) so now I’m motivated to replace it and add more. And we have cold, snowy weather here today so the best thing to do is snuggle up with the puppy and the yarn.