Guest Dog

After I knit the socks for the Musical One - I had a ton of yarn left over. So - this time I spooled enough out to make the stripes line up and wait for it - - wait for it - - wait for it - - are you waiting? I knit them from the top down. Granted they are short ankle socks - but still - top down. I knit these for a friend. Unfortunately, she has been home recovering from a work injury. So, as soon as I grafted the toes closed, I popped them into an envelope and mailed them to her. Her lovely pup Lula wouldn't quit sniffing her feet. Do you think they might have smelled like my pack? Maybe - just a little?

Not a Sock

Can you believe it? I knit something that wasn't a sock. I know, right? This is the newest trend in scarfs/shawls going through the blogosphere. It's a long, narrow triangle scarf, but it's rather shawl-like in that you can drape it around your back and shoulders with enough "tails" to hang from your shoulders. The pattern designer shows it as modeled by Lou in the first photo. With the point in the front, the tails wrapped around behind and tied in the front. This one is make from a red/pink Malabrigo worsted weight yarn. It's lovely to knit, fantastic to wear. This was knit as a gift for a friend who's favorite color is the combination of pink and red. The birthday party is tomorrow. Finish just in time.

Are You Bored Yet?

Welcome to Fall. In honor of the season - these are my pumpkin socks. Pattern is ladybug socks - but I made them out of orange yarn and they are now pumpkin socks. They took me forever, through no fault of the socks. I got them cast on, but then because they needed concentration they kept getting put aside for knits that needed less thought. Once I actually started working on them - I was able to commit the pattern to memory and even work on them on the bus! I know, right?! They have all my usual specks - toe up; two at a time; gusset and heel flap. I do increase the gusset to 20 stitches per side and I like them much better that way, but I need to remember to start the heel earlier - about 3.5" short. While they fit fine, I think they will fit better if I start the gusset increases earlier. These will be fun to wear this year with my jeans. A nice bright pop of pumpkin peaking out when I sit or walk.

Stash Enhancement

Through Ravelry - I joined a new group ~ Sock Knitters Anonymous or "SKA." Every month there is a challenge. This month there are 3 - (1) to knit any yellow sock, (2) to knit any Wendy Knits sock pattern (there are tons of free patterns on her blog), or (3) to knit the mystery sock (designed by Nancy Bush) in yellow. Well - Can you believe I didn't have enough yellow yarn to make a pair of socks. I didn't! So - yesterday I stopped by VYT to purchase some yellow sock yarn. I bought two balls of a lovely soft yellow panda silk and still haven't decided what to cast on. I'm not knitting the mystery sock because they are 3 clues in and I don't love they way it looks.

But - VYT is getting ready to move and they are having a moving sale. So - I manged to pick up three hanks of Manos del Uruguary worsted to make colonnade from the current issue of knitty. It was on sale for right about $6 each. I wish they had more colors - but this is a really pretty raspberry pink and will be lovely.

While I was walking around waiting to check out. I found this hank of Fleece Artist Sea Wool. There is 350 meter in the one hank. It is a much darker red than photographed. I think I will make a second smaler colonnade from this - just using smaller yarn and needles. At least that's the plan for now - we'll see what really happens. Then, because the owner of VYT knows that I'm a sock knitter - she pointed out that there was a bunch of sock yarn on sale. So of course I had to take a look - even though JB is no longer handknit sock worthy - I still knit socks for him. Mostly because they are mindless and I can knit them in my sleep. He tends to like subdued socks - so I picked up these two balls of Lana Grossa Meilenweit sock. Both are self patterning - the one to the left is black, grey and red. The one on the right is in shades of brown.

All together - I spent less than 60 dollars for 8 balls of yarn. Not too shabby.

Belated Thanks!

Again - I'm late saying thank you. Last week I got home and there was a package on the kitchen counter for me. Along with a very nice note and some tea was this lovely hand-died sock yarn from GypsyKnits. Over the summer we started chatting and developed a friendship. Anyway - I had asked her to send me something and she included this lovely yarn.

I love brown and cream mixed with just about any soft color and this blue is perfect. It's such a lovely colorway - now to come up with the perfect pattern for it.

thanks GK - I love it. If you love it too - you can purchase your own by going to link for GK and then clicking over to her etsy shop. By the way - she has a lovely big dog named Mr. Bettis who she claims is always up to no good. In fact - he has his own legal staff constantly at the ready!

Dorset Buttons

I've found a new obsession and I'm not sure what to do with them.

Got left over sock yarn? Some little plastic rings? You too can make your own buttons.

These are so easy to make and they really don't take much time or materials - about 4 yards of left over sock yarn. You can also make them using embroidery thread or DMC cotton.

Carolyn I really want to send you some of these - what is a good neutral that you would use and how many? Off-white? Tan? I could actually see you using these on a cardi or as an accent.

The top one is traditional Dorset button construction where I went over the spokes properly. And then in the bottom one I played about with how many spokes I went over. Like I said - these are fun and addictive.

Pretty in Pink

I have had all the materials to make this apron for months. With any luck it will go out in the mail this week - finally - it's long overdue to it's recipient.

It's another version of the Flirty Skirty apron and I've made it reversible again. I use the reverse side as the ties and pockets on each side. This time I put in two neck ties so it's easier to adjust and fit.

Alabama Fiber Dreams

Over at ravelry I started a group. It's the Stash Sock Club and it was started on the premise that you would knit 12 pairs of socks from your stashed yarn during 2009. Of course there are those that believe that sock yarn doesn't count as stash, however, since it takes up room in my studio - I think it counts. Anyway - I had been doing fairly well not adding yarn and just knitting up the fabulous and lovely hanks that had been accumulated. But I was getting bored. One of the group "rules" was that if the yarn was gifted to you - you could knit it up and count it toward the goal. Anyway - what better way to add to the stash without spending money, getting some fabulous new yarns and getting to know new people - then to organize a swap. So that's what I did.

BubblesKnits was my spoiler and she did a fabulous job. There was a box waiting for me last Wednesday. First her timing couldn't have been better - second it was completely dog themed. Perfect! The box contained 2 half yards of fabric (to make more Momma bags), whoppers!, dog treats, dog themed magnets, Paw's Rule needle gauge, dog stitch markers, a wonderful weekly menu pad, and two hanks of yarn that I have never used before. Numma Numma toasty and some Alabama Fiber Dreams Emily. (Truth be told, I sorta begged her for the Emily and offered to send her a project bag and needle roll in exchange.)

Thank you - it's perfect. The socks I make from this yarn will forever remind me of the scare I had with Beau and the fact that the emergency vet (once again) fixed my heart.

Beauregard James

Last Wednesday morning when we got up - Beau was acting weird. He ran straight upstairs and jumped on our bed. Dogs are not allowed in the bedrooms in our house - but it was obvious something was wrong with him - he was crying. Seriously, crying. I rushed him to the emergency vet and then lost it! They gave him IV fluids and prepped him for surgery. By 9:30 he was having major abdominal surgery and by 11 I had the phone call that surgery had gone well. See - overnight or sometime early Wednesday morning, Beau's tummy had flipped. This is called bloat or torsion. Unfortunately - it's rather like SIDS - nobody knows for sure what causes it, they can just tell you what to look for. When I felt his tummy Wednesday morning and it was hard and swollen - I knew. I was pretty sure that by this I would give you all a very different report. I'm happy to tell you that he came home on Friday. He was a very good patient until Sunday overnight and now he's just my normal, stubborn, bull-headed obnoxious boy. He's still taking thing easy on his own, he's leaving food on his plate (his favorite right now is scrambled eggs), however he's finally figured out that I'm slipping pills in his treats and he doesn't like it. I've resorted to sitting on him (literally - well okay, he sits and I straddle him to keep him from walking away) and putting the pills as far down his throat as I can manage. Tonight he bit me and I was less than pleased. But I'll take being bit over the alternative.

Some Knitting

Well this first pair of socks doesn't count toward my "use up stash yarn" goal. While JB bought the first ball of the Paton's Stretch Sock, I bought 2 more. JB wanted a pair of socks from it and we have a friend who wanted some socks. Basic, boring toe up socks. Both worked at the same time, ribbing around the arch, no-wrap short row heels and only about 1.5" tall after the ankles.

Next up - a pair I finished for The Musical One. This was an unidentified ball of sock yarn. I know from the texture while knitting it that it's most likely not a superwash wool - but is definitely wool.

Again - toe up, both at the same time, no-wrap short row heels. These are a bit taller than I usually make for her - but she likes them.

Goldilocks

First I want to thank everyone who stopped by and sent well wishes for Beau. It's helped, he's home now and doing better - but it's still scary. The worst part now is he's starting to feel better and still has to be kept quiet. For anyone who didn't read Fudge's report - Beau had bloat. He had surgery last Wednesday and came through fine. Now we are dealing with recovery. Before last week's crises, I had been sewing. I'm still in craft sewing mode and that's okay. I had seen some little rectangular knitting bags at my LYS and decided I wanted to try making some. I wanted a bag that would hold the necessary supplies for knitting two socks at the same time. As you can tell - I was feeling a bit like Goldilocks. The first bags I made were too small. They would be perfect for holding one sock - but not a pair. The second bag was a bit too large - I think it would be perfect for holding a lace project or possibly a scarf - but there's a bit too much room for the yarn cakes to roll around and get tangled in the bottom of the bag. I made a third bag - which I think is just right, but it didn't get photographed - of course. These next couple of bags were made for Golden Tracks. She had seen some similar bags on a website and thought the idea was great. She wanted a couple of bags to put in her big knitting bag to keep things from getting tangled. The inspiration bags had weighted bottoms. Because GT lives in a dog house I wanted the bags to be washable - so I made bean bags that fit in the bottom. Hopefully they are the right size and will do the trick.

Finally - all three bags together.

I do like the size of the one in the back - the Daddy bag if you will. I will use my Baby bag and I mailed off three others so hopefully they will get used as well.

I have a few more crafty things to get out of the studio and then I'm ready to start making clothes. I wasn't in the mood most of the summer - but I'm itching to get back to garment construction. I think my weight is probably stable - whether I like it or not. Hopefully my life is stable for awhile too.

My Heart Broke Today

Fudge wrote all two fabulous posts about the morning that Beau and I had. It was a very tough morning, but the good news came about 11. Beau came through surgery just fine.

This is one of my favorite photos of Beau - he just looks so confused. He's my heart. As Golden Tracks said today "I would do everything I can for any of my dogs - but I would lay down and die for him." (She was referring to her Nut.)

I'm so glad you are going to be okay my stinky, goofy, slobbery boy.