blogdogblog

Knitting up a storm

We have a plethora of small projects happening here on multiple sets of needles. Yet we have no photos. Maybe tomorrow! In the meantime, taking a break from getting the pattern established in a laceweight mohair piece, we came across this excellent website on Oriental Carpets. Now, we are not about to begin knitting these extraordinary things, but we're big fans of the explanations and illustrations of symmetry and asymmetry found at the website. What a wonderful site for thinking about patterns in stranded knitting.

Pups

A sunny weekend was very much enjoyed by all. Mike was especially happy about the abundance of rays. Here's the happy beastie.

And yes! He did need a bath after all that enjoyment! Did you have a lovely weekend? Were you able to roll about in the sun? How's your week going so far? What are you knitting? Did you buy exceptionally fabulous knit-gift tags? I did, and they are so cool that I'm not sure I will be able to bear to part with any one of them :-) Simply fabulous!

We're wishing you a lovely Tuesday with plenty of knitting time. Cheers!

Friday

We hope you've had a pleasant week; it's so wonderful when Friday rolls around again! I have the day off so the pups and I are going to take care of some overdue projects and do a little more holiday knitting. Many stores here will have been open from midnight on—can you imagine?

My holiday knitting includes some hats and some boot socks, because Sister found a place in Austin that can distribute these types of items on a regular basis to the people who are living on the street. My dear league of knitting volunteers? You'll be so happy with this place! It's practically perfect.

My gift knitting is going to be delightful to anticipate finishing because I've ordered some of these fabulous gift tags. Fabulous!

The pups are glad we have some time off; it's been hectic lately. Here's our favorite fursons deciding whether to allow a photo:

I guess they took a secret dachshund vote:

Happy Friday to you!

Lace for Holdups

Beautiful-Sister helpfully modeled the completed Flared Lace Smoke Ring that Cassie inspired us to knit.

Here it is as a glamorously functional cowl:

And here it is as a tubular lacy scarf, glamorously functional for holiday liquor store holdups:

All-righty! Theoretically, we should have dressed/blocked it first, but Laura was handy and so there you have it. Cassie wrote earlier that this was a fun pattern, and it really is. I enjoyed working on this during free moments. I'm casting on for a version in laceweight wool now that I know the pattern repeat.

That Splendid Cynthia Does it Again

Cynthia's Art for Housewives is my must-see web journal every day. Now she's found textiles from Tajikistan. Scroll down this page to see the artistic knitted socks and gloves (with pompoms on the fingertips), and then scroll back up and follow the link to the elaborately emroidered skull caps. Amazing! Mille grazi, Cynthia!

Pups

We're becoming rather sullen here because it has been raining for several years. Well, perhaps we exaggerate. But is has been raining for days and days. And we are rather sullen. Here are Della and Mike in sunnier days:

Sullen, even surly, we still wish you the happiest day. Enjoy!

Bargaining Session

A proposition for you, dearies, bearing in mind that I like you! (Even after a week of clicking that red button, I still adore this link.)

Nearly 2000 homeless veterans here in Austin. I can knit pretty fast when I put my mind to it, and I can approach this as warming-up-one-homeless-vet-at-a time, but I thought I'd offer a trade with you. If you'll knit one cap, fingertip-less pair of gloves, or scarf with at least 25% wool content for Austin's local homeless, I'll knit a similar-sized item with similar specs for your local needs. I'll also be very grateful for your help. Let me know in the comments, or email me at knitdogs at austin dot rr dot com. I'll send my address. Deal?

Completely!

I was completely surprised and completely charmed by a completely unexpected package just full of Goodies Unlimited on Friday. And it was full of my favorite green fragrance things: Peppermint and Tea Tree Oil soap, and everything-balm, and lip balm, and body polish, and glide-on lotion!

This was the nicest surprise! And after delightedly sampling everything twice, I can say that everybody should have some of these goodies! Thank You, secret blog sister! I smell and feel fabulous!

Rainy Days and Mondays. . .

. . . never get Mikey down. He puts his best foot forward no matter what.

Cheerios-dearieos; happy day and happy knitting!

Drive-by Blogging

Hiho dearies, we're still in high gear here, but we're starting to get used to the pace. How's your week been? Here are some updates from ours:

First, we have no new dachshunds. We have hope for more dachshunds, but it's still a wait and see thing with the ambivalent owners.

Second, we've been checking into Austin's homeless population. It's true that nearly every other one you meet is a veteran. I've been doing research on this and will let those of you who've asked know what's what. I have to tell you about the Homeless Task Force people that I spoke with yesterday—I asked the administrator to give it to me straight...would a cash donation be better than something handknit? Her reply moved me to tears and will move me to tears again if I repeat it here! So let me just say that anyone who knits something warm and useful for the homeless in Austin can rest assured that socks, mittens, hats, or scarves are appreciated in ways you can't even imagine. In ways I hope we never have to imagine. I'm still collating data and responses, but I'm going to shift my knitting rotation to allow for some small woolen needful things. Local readers? Send me an email if you can supply some tender mercies.

Third, we've been doing quite a bit of fancy knitting but for one of my blog readers, so I can't show you just yet.

Fourth, oh dear! I've forgotten! I'll update later when I remember :-)

Fifth, if you've had a tough week, feel better here. I like you!

Here's my beautiful nephew giving Mikey what everybody needs more of: backrubs and kind words. Isn't he a great kid? Are we lucky or what?

We wish you a happy Friday and a lovely weekend—ciao, babies!

Fly-By

Hiho all, just checking in. It will be a day or two still before I can concentrate on knitting. When I can, I'm working a round or two on the Flared Lace Smoke Ring that Cassie has inspired me to covet and envy. Mine is even pink, like hers! So look for progress and photos in a day or two...another excellent reason to use an aggregator like bloglines. (See the Bloglines button in the sidebar.)

Troops

Since I've moved to Austin I've been troubled by the large number of homeless people, mostly men, who panhandle politely on every corner at every intersection. After making thoughtless comments on Nanette's blog regarding donations, I decided to check around and try to discover who these panhandlers are. In Austin, 40% of them are veterans: Vietnam predominantly, but Gulf War veterans are beginning to join the ranks in increasing numbers. I'm researching ways to humanely address this; local knitters, let me know if you'd like the information I gather.

Meanwhile, in some email correspondence with Jean, who has a husband in the military and a son in Iraq, she offered some suggestions for things to do for troops who are engaged in Iraq now. (You'll also see some beautiful lace there.)

Further, with the holidays upon us, it seems natural to mention to you that (according to Calivoter), the number one request of wounded and injured soldiers being cared for at Walter Reed Hospital is for phone cards. Last month they used 55,000 minutes. Many of the soldiers will be in the hospital through Christmas, a particularly lonely time to be away from family. Here's an address if you find that you need one: Medical Family Assistance Center, Walter Reed Medical Center, 6900 Georgia Avenue, NW, Building 2, Third Floor, Room 3E01, Washington, DC 20307-5001.

Pups

The pups were busy over the weekend; we had expected to meet those two dachshunds, but scheduling conflicts pushed that meeting back bark bark. Instead, the pups had company in the shape of the brilliant and beautiful Susan.

Yes! This is a poor-quality photo. But this house is dark and it was a dreary rainy day, brightened only by Susan's visit (she brought cookies, too!). Luckily for us, a day brightened by Susan is a day that stays bright. We wish you could all meet her :-)

Back to my deadline; have a lovely Monday!

YarnOvers

I love how questions I have about knitting are answered so quickly by knitbloggers! Thanks to Cassie and Elka and MTs comments, none of us need fear YOs in our Flared Lace Smoke Rings. Cassie's even got photos! Thanks, you superlative knitters!

Since BonneMarie has decreed a season of cowls, I have to say that I feel Chicknits-worthy by working on this smoke ring. If I can successfully make the YOs look better, then I can see myself making several of these. They are useful and pretty. And fun to knit! However, if you'd rather knit something else, go over to I'm Knitting as Fast as I can and persuse her right-column list of 1-2 skein holiday knitting projects. Brilliant!

25 Sweaters from the '80s

The Kevin F. Sherry Sweater Project (via BoingBoing)

Pups

No decision yet on extra pups, but thank you all for your interest. I am meeting with the owner tomorrow to set up a pup-visit to see how my dachshunds take to two more dachshunds. Meanwhile, Della has agreed to pose again. Mike and Jack are still in a photo-free mood.

Cheers, everyone! and Happy Wednesday!

P. S. For Kerstin, with our compliments:

The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and hesitate to tell the truth that is in us, and from motives of policy are silent when we should speak, the divine floods of light and life no longer flow into our souls. — Elizabeth Cady Stanton

No Photos Please, We're Tinking

Some days the dachshunds don't want their pictures taken. I wonder if they think they are having a bad fur day? No amount of coaxing will persuade them to look at the camera.

We've tinked our Flared Lace Smoke Ring and have begun again. Why do yarnovers get so big sometimes? Is there a trick I don't know about double yarnovers? Cassie's beautiful smoke ring looks exactly like the photo on the pattern, while mine resembles messy spider webs. I'm using a fingering weight blend of alpaca, merino, and cashmere from Elann, by the way.

Tuesday. Some of us are knitting. Cheers!

Scarf-o-matic

We continued to work on the "Backyard Leaves" scarf from Scarf Style over the weekend, and we're about 2/3 through the first half. Della helped by holding the book open and drooling on the chart.

The scarf by itself isn't as cute as Della, but here it is, nonetheless:

Like "Ruffles," this is a fun scarf to knit once you get the hang of the pattern. (See last week's entries for hints and tips on "Backyard Leaves.") This version is being worked on slightly smaller needles (US6) and a slightly finer yarn (Rowan Wool Cotton). My scarf will be about 1/2 in less wide than the original by Annie Modesitt. I think I could have finished it over the weekend, but I decided to do a little Christmas knitting and cast on the Flared Lace Smoke Ring instead. Hey KIM! Why are they called Smoke Rings?

In less than a month, I've gone from mostly sneering at scarves to having a lot of almost-mindless scarf satisfaction. Knit-live and learn, right? We had slightly cooler weather over the weekend, so Sister agreed to model the first three scarves for posterity. You can see the photos here in the BloggyKnits. There are a couple of other scarves in Pam Allen's book that I may work on until my big fat horrible hairy deal research project for the semester is finished :-)

Pups

We have been approached about adopting two cute little miniature dachshunds that need a new home—one is a red short-haired and one is a black and tan with long curls like Mike, Jack, and Della. The thing is, the two are very close pals, so they really shouldn't be separated. The idea of having five dachshunds running about in the house is rather mind-boggling to me, so I haven't agreed to anything. Yet. Dachshunds are big committments. Well, I suppose all pets are. The problem with dachshunds is they don't understand that they are d-o-g-s. If I had five dachshunds, I think I would feel as if I should train them to do something, then charge admission. Hmmm. Perhaps I could retire early.

The pups-in-residence enjoyed their weekend very much. Nice weather, plenty of sunshine, and all the outside toys dried out from last week's rain.

We hope you had plenty of playtime over the weekend. It's Monday! Rise and shine and enjoy your day. Cheers!

Leafblower Secret

Pssst! All those who have despaired over the pattern for "Backyard Leaves" in Pam Allen's Scarf Style: Annie Modesitt's design really is as clever and easy as it is beautiful!

For those who are having trouble, as I was, here is the fix:

1) Place marker at the point in your stitch count that corresponds to the green line in the chart.

2) Work the odd rows of the chart (1, 3, 5 . . . ) by reading the chart right to left. Work the even rows of the chart (2, 4, 6 . . .) by reading the chart left to right.

You'll be making a gorgeous scarf in no time at all! Thanks again to Cassie for helping me through this pattern. You can see a photo of her scarf in progress here, and it's a beauty!

Cheers! It's Friday!

You've Got Mail

Thanks to a splendid e-mail from Cassie regarding "Backyard Leaves" plus my newest favorite trick, we are raking in those lace repeats as if we were being paid for it. Cassies helpful advice was to place a marker at the center (as the pattern directs, too!) and to mind the stitch count, since it changes at nearly every row. Thanks, Cassie!

My favorite new trick is to get big yarn (in this case, Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride) and bigger needles and work a few repeats until my fingers "see" what to do next. Because the pattern is suddenly super-sized, it's easier for me to see the skeleton, as it were, of the lace structure. Success! (But no photo today. Sorry.)

Dear Terri

Will you and the Big Fella come and get me and the pups now? I promise not to be a craptastic citizen and to adhere to your high standards of cleanliness.

much love,
Lisa, Mike, Jack, and Della

P.S. Could you get me a Big Fella in a Canadian National Park of my own?

Pups

No charge in the camera battery to prove it, but the Pups Are All Right. Today we'll have one of my favorite photos of Mikey, in which he looks for a phone number for the Knit Fiend.

Be of stout heart, everybody.

Pumpkinhead

We feel like pumpkinheads this morning because we stayed up too late and got up too early. How are you doing? Hang in there!

I cast on for Annie Modesitt's design "Backyard Leaves" in Scarf Style last night, since Sister's "Ruffles" was finished. I'm using some Silky Wool in that curry color, and while I love the crunchy feel of the yarn, I'm not sure it's quite right for this project. Has anyone knit this beauty? I'm having a bit of trouble with the stitch count. I'm sure it's me and not the pattern--I confess to feeling a bit distracted last night, confusing electoral vote counts with stitch counts. While Interweave Knits has posted an errata sheet, this particular scarf is ostensibly error-free. I hope I can figure it out, as I think it will be a lovely lovely lovely scarf. Send advice if you've knit it already, please.

Pups

Della is sniffing around for Friday already.

We wish! And, we wish you a happy knitting day. See you tomorrow!

US Election 2004

Be Citizen Knitter today! Find your polling place and try to get there early. The League of Women Voters has "Five Things You Need to Know" here.

Scamper off, now!

Fall Back

The time change is so unsettling to me; I wonder why I don't get used to it after all these years? Instead I feel disoriented and confused for days. Perhaps it was the time change that had me dithering over whether to finish the "Morning Glory Vest" by A. Starmore that has been languishing since I don't know when, or casting on the Poetry in Stitches sweater that needs something like 368 stitches in white knitted for an interminable measurement, or winding wool for the recharged version of Meg Swansen's "Knitted Stitch Pullover." Because I couldn't decide, I wound up simply knitting a few more feet of Laura's "Ruffles" scarf from Scarf Style.

It puts me more in mind of fusilli than ruffles. I expect to finish this scarf today, and so Sister will have a regular scarf festival going on.

Pups

It is getting more and more difficult to get candid dachshund photos. My little fursons are so eager to please sometimes that when they see the camera, they all line up and smile. In this photo, Della saw Mike and Jack getting ready to say "Cheese" and came running from across the yard to get in the frame. Silly pups.

Dazed and confused, we begin a new week. We wish you a happy Monday. Cheers!