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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!