Tag Archive | pets

A Greyhound Snood

You’ve seen the photos, I’m sure, of the dogs wearing the hooded cowl-type things? Well, that’s called a snood and they’re popular for greyhounds because apparently they get cold more quickly than other breeds. I got a request for one the other day, and it’s been a fun project so far. It’s unusual and different, and I like the idea of keeping a puppy warm! I chose a machine-washable yarn since even though the dog is “reasonably clean dog” (what does that even mean? My dogs don’t speak that language!), she’s still a dog. I’m using the Pointy Greyhound Hood pattern. Most of the patterns were just the cowl/neckwarmer but she specifically wanted a hood, so a hood she’ll get! I cast on last night and it’s going quickly so far. It’s cool because you start with the ribbing in the round, which is what goes around her face, then you take part of the stitches and knit flat for a while, then you join in the round again for the pointy hat part. It was also interesting to see how much my tension differed from knitting flat on straights (lower portion) to knitting in the round on DPNs.Yep, I used the same size needles. Big difference, huh? Anyway, once I’m done with the pointy hat bit, I’ll go back to those open stitches (the ones at the bottom still on a circular needle), pick up some more, and knit in the round again for the neck portion. It’s a nifty design, and I can’t wait to see it on the pretty pup! Not my pretty pup, though. I’m afraid it wouldn’t last long. He may look docile but when he and Grace get going, they’re pretty crazy.

I wish you a happy Friday, and Jack wishes you happy napping!

Oh Grace

Sep25

This is not what you want to see when you’re out in your unfenced, corner-lot-on-a-busy-street yard. The puppies were playing, running, chasing. They hit the end of the chain, her collar snapped, and Grace kept going. She ran the perimeter of our yard for a few minutes, ignoring me of course, before running into the neighbor’s yard. I followed her into their side yard which is thankfully blocked off with brush and fence, and was able to grab her neck. Then I carried all 65 pounds of her back home.
I’m still kind of freaked. I mean, aside from the busy street, she didn’t even have her collar with the tags! Ugh. This fence can’t happen soon enough.

Adventures in Chart Knitting

Sep24

I cast on for a new cowl yesterday. I had that lovely Mochi Plus in shades of blue and found this perfect wave cowl pattern called Clemence. I downloaded it and cast on, and then realized the stitch pattern was in a chart. See, sometimes knitting patterns use charts with little symbols to represent a stitch, like shorthand or something. And sometimes they write out each line. It’s just personal preference. I suppose charts take up less space or something, which is especially important in complicated lace patterns. In any case, I prefer written patterns. It’s hard for me to remember what each little symbol means, so I’m always looking down at the key to figure out what I’m supposed to be doing. But I love this cowl and it was just right for this yarn, so I did the first row without problems.

At least I thought I did. Then I re-read the instructions and realized the chart is meant to be read bottom to top and right to left. What is this craziness? I texted my knitting SIL to vent and she pointed out that you knit bottom to top and right to left. Stumped, I had to agree she was right. But still, I said, I read left to right. Her response? “Pretend you’re Hebrew.” All righty then.

I ignored that first (wrong) row and just started the next row doing the chart properly. And once I figured out how simple the pattern really is, it was fine. I even took it with me for car knitting during the girl’s flute lesson and worked without the chart and didn’t mess it up (I don’t think.) And I’m glad I kept going because I think it’s going to be gorgeous. It’s knitting up quickly and I’ll have enough yarn left over to do matching fingerless gloves and a hat.

Here’s a fun puppy photo from the other day. We took them to the dog park on Sunday and they wore themselves out big-time. That night Grace crashed on the couch and the kids thought it would be fun to wrap her up in the blanket. She didn’t care a bit. She looks like she belongs in Star Wars, like she’s Obi Wan Kenobi or something. Funny dog.

Yoda All the Time

Sep16

This week has been all about Yoda. If you remember, I got my new batch of Yoda green yarn (aka Knit Picks in PeaPod) in the mail on Saturday. Sunday night I started knitting hats, and Monday afternoon I listed them on Etsy again, available in three different sizes. I sold one pretty quickly, soon got a custom order for a bigger size, and then got two more orders! I spent all day yesterday knitting, finishing and mailing three different orders…and I loved it! It made me feel like my little business is going in the right direction. I think it’s safe to say Yoda’s a pretty popular guy right now, so I’m going to keep making those hats until my yarn is gone again. If they don’t sell on Etsy, I’ve got two big craft shows coming up this fall and I’d love to feature Yoda.

Last night was a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra at Chipotle, so we met my sister and her kids there for dinner. Eat a yummy dinner AND benefit young musicians? No brainer! My nephew ran across the restaurant calling my name when he saw me, and that always makes a girl feel good. So yeah, the food was great, company was great, and then we came home. What do you know, the pillow exploded! Sigh. Apparently Grace needs a new toy or two, along with a fence in the backyard. She’s getting bored. She got another pair of the girl’s shoes the other day, and now the pillow. Super. I love my dog. I love my dog. I love my dog.

The Hitchhiker is DONE!

Jun4

Now I know why everybody has made one: it’s FABULOUS. The pattern is so simple, but the end result is just stunning. It’s absolutely perfect for variegated yarns, but it would look equally gorgeous in a solid too. I loved knitting this, didn’t get bored or tired of the endless garter stitch. It was perfect TV knitting, and even though Rafa lost (so sad!) I was happy because I finished this! The photos aren’t great, sorry. It’s raining and very wet outside, but someday I’ll get better pictures. I guess I need to paint my craft room so the walls are a better backdrop color. I wanted purple, but maybe I should consider white. Or maybe a very pale gray? That could be cool. Anyway. Love my Hitchhiker. Already perusing my stash to figure out which yarn to use for my next one.

Last night I decided I needed a super-fast instant gratification project, and I wanted to use my new Marblez straight needles. I chose this Leafy Washcloth pattern and it was done within an hour. I wasn’t crazy about it at first. But then I got it wet and stretched and tugged and flattened, and voila, it became a leaf!Mine’s not as dense as the photo, so I think I’ll use smaller needles for the next one. And as much as I love knitted washcloths and dishcloths, there will definitely be a next one. This is a fun, unusual pattern.

Our new sod is enjoying the rain, I think, but the puppies are not. They did get a walk yesterday but Grace still woke up with plenty of energy for mischief.
I’ll be going out today to buy a cheap rug for her, and she will be sad because she’s a spoiled little princess who thinks she needs a cushion to sleep on. Well, too bad for her! I’m not giving her anything else that can be torn open and have its innards removed.

Today is the women’s semifinals of the French Open and I think I will work on my black and white chevron scarf. It’s becoming the neverending project! How do the rest of you find the motivation to work on those projects that seem to take forever?

Two More WIPs Finished

May28

I’ve been on a roll lately! In the last couple of days I’ve completed two more WIPs, bringing me down to only three still on the needles. One of the new FOs was my Mother’s Day project, the Chocolate Cherries shawlette with the Baah wool. It hasn’t been blocked yet, so the yarnovers aren’t as open as they will be. I’m also hoping I can block it a bit longer, because I wanted to be able to wear it like this: I absolutely loved knitting with this yarn. The colors are so gorgeous, and the yarn is perfect, soft without being limp. It has great stitch definition. I have another skein of this, and I’m looking forward to finding the right project for it. My Ravelry project page for it is here, or you can go directly to the Find a Penny pattern page.

My other FO is another Oh, Helen! mesh scarf. This one I made in a silvery-gray Berroco Weekend. It’s a worsted, not DK, so I cast on fewer stitches and used size 9 needles. I rather like this one better than the first, pink one. It doesn’t roll quite as much so you see the pattern better. I made this so I’d have something versatile and lightweight to wear when I do craft shows so I can model my wares! I haven’t been knitting as much the last few days, though, because I’ve had another project going. For the first time in my adult life, the first time in the almost 18 years I’ve been married, I have an actual bed with a headboard and footboard! We’ve always just had the metal frame that comes with the mattress. We waited at first because of money, then the husband wanted to make them. I think he would still like to, but he’s got a lot of things going on, and it probably won’t happen for a while. Then a friend of mine mentioned she wanted to sell her bedroom set with a bed, dresser and nightstand. It just happened to be oak and the Mission style that I love and that matches the nightstands the husband made several years ago. She was asking a fair price and it just seemed like too good a deal to pass up.

The downside was that it meant quite a bit of manual labor, to move them home then clean out the bedroom and set up the new furniture. I took apart the old bed and set up the new one ALL BY MYSELF (okay, the boy helped a little bit) but I needed the help of the husband and brother to move heavy dressers. Last night it was all set up and I could appreciate my new grown-up bedroom! The dresser has a matching mirror, but the husband was too tired to attach it last night. Maybe tonight. Anyway, I’m delighted with it.

And last but not least, here’s a recent puppy photo. Remember the new dog bed Grace tore up? The one I mended and sprayed with the bitter apple spray? Yeah. Here it is. I give up. I mean it, I really and truly give up. No more new dog beds. At least now I can look at this and chuckle. This was Monday, and nothing’s been destroyed since then. Fingers crossed we can make that trend last a while!

The sun really did come out tomorrow!

May23

Figuratively, anyway. We’re still stuck in a long stretch of gray, rainy days. Thanks to those who cheered me on after my rough day! Yes, after my (very) early start yesterday, things got much better. I had a lovely long lunch with two great friends. Funny how something like that can improve your outlook so quickly. I came home and got out the chewed up dog bed to further inspect the damage. Here’s what I saw. That’s all there was, the rest of the bed was fine. This was doable, especially since it didn’t have to look nice. I trimmed the rough edge of the zipper and re-threaded it so I could zip as much closed as possible. Then I just sewed it all closed, making sure to sew around the zipper a bit to keep it closed. I won’t be able to open it for washing, but at least the bed will last a while longer. It’s not pretty but it worked.Once that was done, I sprayed it all with the bitter apple no-chew spray and set it aside to dry. Then I moved on to the other bed, the one that had been soiled. It needed a second run through the washer but came out nice and clean. By the time bedtime rolled around, the pups had two good beds again!

But wait, it gets better! I got to sleep until 6:40 this morning AND nothing was chewed up overnight! *CHEERING* Yeah, I got this. These puppies aren’t gonna break me!

Oy, What a Day I Had

May22

Yesterday was not a good day. Yesterday was pretty close to a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day. It was the last day of school so it was going to be my last day of peace and quiet, and I had high hopes which were quickly dashed. I woke up to find the 2-day-old $30 dog bed now had half its insides on the outside. Not only that, the charming dogs had also chewed up one of my smaller tote bags. Thankfully, it was a $2 bag from Goodwill, but still.

After breakfast, I had to cancel an Etsy order. I messed up when I created the listing, which was for multiple sizes, and I had no idea which size the customer wanted. Three emails had gone unanswered, so I refunded her money and fixed the listing. Maybe she’ll reorder. I hope so. Until then, there went that money.

I didn’t have time to sit around with tea and yarn, because I had an errand to run and I wanted to get it out of the way. The boy’s school said he still owed money on lost library books, and I had proof I’d paid for them a year ago. I get to the school…nope, I need to go to the elementary school since that’s where the fine was accrued. Fine. I went to the pet store and spent $60 on new puppy toys to hopefully discourage the darn dogs from chewing on inappropriate things. I went to the grocery store to get milk and bread for the mother, and discovered it was the day for everyone and their grandmother to shop. Seriously, so crowded, and they all moved SO SLOWLY. Plus, they didn’t have the exact bread the mother wanted, and she’s picky about her bread. One phone call later, bread was selected and I was on my way. I dropped off the milk and bread and got my first pick-me-up of the day: she’d made No Bake Cookies! Whew. One was consumed quickly and several were packed away for later. Off again, this time to the elementary school. Thankfully, they were very nice and took care of the problem quickly.

After that, the day improved for a good long bit. We had a nice dinner, started watching Shrek, then discovered one of the pups had an upset tummy and had been eating A LOT of grass. A fight ensued over which puppy would get to re-ingest said grass before we ushered them outside so we could clean up. Two more small puddles and a movie later, we went to the kitchen to get ready for bed and discovered the one remaining dog bed had a very large puddle/pile of…unpleasantness on it and next to it. I swear, what the heck was wrong with these dogs?? I was pretty sure it was Jack, since he was the one looking sad and pathetic. Dog bed cover was thrown in the washer, towels were laid down for them to sleep on, and off to bed we went, with hopes that surely things would look better in the morning.

Well. I certainly didn’t mean at 4:45, but that’s what the puppies thought. I really think it was Jack. He was probably starving after emptying the contents of his stomach last night. But, at least they hadn’t chewed up anything overnight. Small victories, right? Sigh. I am discouraged. Discouraged and frustrated. I’m trying to tell myself that I survived small children, so I can survive this. I’m trying to remember that my pups bring me lots of joy and love, they really do. I mean, look at this sweet guy. So let me end on a high note. My collection of chair socks has grown significantly. 18 made, only 14 to go! My sister’s project bag has been knitted and has handles attached. I bought the fabric for the lining and it’s GORGEOUS so now I only need to line the bag and it will be done and I can show it to you! And best of all, yesterday I booked a room for a short getaway next month. I get to go meet a dear Facebook friend who I’ve never met in person and I can’t wait! It’s only one night but it’s better than nothing and I think we will have a marvelous time.

Now, if you will excuse me, I’m going to go find a quiet place to play with yarn. I need to restore some sanity.

Today I Like My Puppies

Apr30

Yes, my puppies are crazy and tear things up sometimes. But I don’t want you guys to get the wrong idea. I love my puppies, truly. They are adorable and sweet and affectionate. They love it when I sit outside with them, like when I’m done with my workout and I go outside to cool down. Jack comes to visit frequently. Grace, well, Grace just loves to be outside.And while I’m on the subject: working out is not my favorite thing. Lena Dunham recently made the point that she’s exercising for the mind, not the body, and that is so very true for me. Anyone who struggles with depression or anxiety or stress (so basically, everyone, right?) knows intellectually that exercise will help. Doesn’t make it easier to do. But still. I’m trying again to make it a habit and I’m not completely hating it. Fingers crossed it sticks.

And speaking of sticks (haha!), I love that my puppies can share sticks sometimes. They love love love to chew on wood, so rather than my house or my chairs, I give them sticks in the backyard. The best ones are the really long ones. They each get an end…until one steals it from the other and it turns into a game. Let me brag on them: behind our house is a yard with two dogs, one big and one smaller (maybe some kind of collie?). These dogs are Crazy. Whenever they’re outside, it seems like they spend all their time barking at my dogs, digging at the base of the fence, clawing at the fence, and just generally going nuts. You know what my pups do? They run up, stick their noses up to the fence, sniff a bit, and run away to resume their games. Do they bark at these crazy dogs? Not anymore. Jack did at first, but we trained him to stop. Grace doesn’t bark too much anyway. They don’t dig to get at them or anything. They’re just like, “Oh, hey, it’s those guys again. Hi, guys. HEY! LET’S RUN AROUND SOME MORE!!”

So there you go. I love that Jack is so eager to please that he’s a trainer’s dream. I love that he and Grace have such a good time together. I love that Grace will let my son squeeze and hug and generally maul her without batting an eye. Sure, I wish she didn’t feel the need to chew on everything, but I know that’ll get better eventually. I get a lot of pleasure from watching them interact with each other and with the kids, and of course I love the puppy snuggles.

Some Selfish Knitting

Apr29

Thanks to a doctor’s appointment and a grocery story trip, I didn’t have much knitting time yesterday. But with the time I did have, I worked on two projects for ME! They’re both ones that have been hanging around for a while, and I’m getting eager to wear them. One is my black and white chevron infinity scarf. I met a fellow crafter for coffee on Monday night, and took this with me. I thought it would be easy enough to knit while talking, but I didn’t do well. Last night I had to frog back about 10 rows to get rid of stupid mistakes. I was going to try to live with it…but, no. So now it’s back where it was and I’ve got the pattern set in my head again. I should have taken this super simple mesh scarf I’m making with some Pima cotton. It’s just a YO, k2tog repeat. Hard to mess up, though of course I have. It doesn’t look like much here, but blocking will work wonders, I think. This was my waiting room knitting.I worked a little bit on a bag commission too. This was my “sit outside with the puppies in the afternoon” knitting. This is the one that will mostly be a secret, but since this is just the bottom of the bag and it doesn’t look like much, I don’t think I’m giving anything away.I’m getting to the good part now, where I can start working the nifty pattern and where I’m working in the round. Maybe it’ll go quickly!

And the puppies. Oh, the puppies. Bit of backstory: we have a large patch of dirt in our backyard. We’re in the process of getting it prepped to lay sod, but until then, we have a lot of dust and dirt being tracked in the house. It’s a mess. Add that to two puppies who like to get on the kitchen table, and I’m washing a table every day. Plus the dirt and puppy paws are hard on the table. Easy solution, I thought. I went to Big Lots, bought a cheap vinyl tablecloth, problem solved. Right. Here’s my tablecloth after the doctor appointment. Jack says it’s not HIS fault.And I tend to believe him. It’s this one who’s the troublemaker, and she was on a roll yesterday. Ate the plastic pulls off the kitchen window blinds, ate a long plastic straw out of the dish drainer, tried to eat the hose and sprinklers in the back yard (multiple times), dig dig dig in the peat moss and dirt, ate the hostas…sigh. Alex and I finally took them for a long walk after dinner and it was a good thing, because only then could I remember why I wanted puppies. They’re so much nicer when they’re calm and cuddly. So fine. I’ll try to walk some silly puppies today.