Stash Buster # 1...

Janette, if you're reading this, could you look away for a little bit? I haven't decided what I'm going to do with this particular project yet, whether I'll send it to you now or later. I'm sure I'll have it figured out by the end of this post.

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Alright. Well, first off, it's Hank day, so here's the obligatory puppy pic:



Such a handsome devil.

Last night was the first night of puppy school! Lexa and Jewel and Hank and I all piled in the Jeep together and after a brief stop at the wrong location, we got ourselves straightened out and managed to eek out a few basic exercises. Hank finally got to meet Jewel, who is just as sweet and cute as can be, and I realized upon meeting her that I need to get Hank around more dogs more often, just to be reminded of how huge he is. I was expecting Jewel to be at least comparable in size from the pictures on Lexa's blog, but she's just wee.

My brute on the other hand, with the exception of a large Collie that was there as an example dog, owned by the trainer, will shortly out weigh every other dog in the class, and maybe already does. He's not taller than all of them yet, but it certainly won't be long. You wouldn't know it to watch him though. I keep forgetting that despite his size, Hank is still very much a puppy, and he likes to stay pretty close to 'mom'. The training exercises only last about five minutes or so, and then the class gets to play with one another. Hank hung around the outside of the group, wanting very much to play and join in, but just wasn't too terribly sure. Another girl puppy was having a grande old time, wanting to play with Hank, but I guess she was just a little too aggressive with her sniffing. Hank's ears went straight back, tucked his tail between his legs and ran up against the wall.

Since he wasn't too sure about joining the group, he went and had a drink of water. And he drank. And he drank. And he drank. You would've thought I'd never given this dog water in his life. But this is what he does. We've been over to friends houses, and he drinks their dog bowls dry. I don't get it, but it's his quirk. As odd as this may sound, he almost takes after me. When I was younger, I was very much a wallflower. I'd be off in the corner, trying to look very engrossed in something else. Is it possible to pass on one's neurosis to another species?

Anyhow, the whole thing was a hoot. We got to do sit, down and recall, which really wasn't a problem for Hank. The trainer held his collar while I walked across the room, like 20 paces mind you and Hank freaked the frack out. He was positively despondent over the prospect that I might be leaving without him. You're supposed to call the name once and the command once, as in "Hank! Come!". I think I got out the 'H' sound and he was already upon me. It's nice to know I'm loved.

Towards the end of the class, Hank was starting to come around. He and Jewel were starting to really get into the puppy wrestling and as he is such a big lumbering lovable lug, he took one swipe at her head with his paw and totally had her pinned. She's feisty though. I have no worries. Anyhow, Thursdays from now on should be a lot of fun and I just love that Hank gets to socialize with other dogs. And is completely pooped when we get home. Oh, and PS: I let it slip the other day that Hank is a knitting term...the constable was not amused. Tee hee!

Now, onto the knitting content. Here is my first stash busting FO (finished object);



Pinwheel Baby Sweater by Shelley Mackie from Elann.com. Knit with 5 mm needles using all Patons Classic Wool. I call this one my Cherry Chocolate Pinwheel, cuz it reminds me of, well, cherry chocolates.

I had a tonne of Classic Wool left over from the tams and the slippers I knit and even though I bought different colours for different projects (the variegated for a tam, the rust and brown for the hubs felted clogs), they all went together really nicely. I'd had my eye on this project for a while, and tried it a few years back with double pointed needles, which just didn't work. This time I did the magic loop method, and this project just flew off the needles. To give you an idea, I started it last Sunday, Feb. 17/08. I worked on it all day, realized I'd made a bunch of mistakes, decided I'd be okay with that and just make an afghan, changed my mind, ripped it all out and started again Sunday night.

As is usually the case, I didn't read far enough ahead in the pattern to realize that you do the I-cord as your casting off, so I cast off and then did the I-cord. I wanted to this twisty thing with two different colours, so knit two lengths of I-cord, started sewing, realized I didn't have enough, ripped that all out and just attatched the one colour of I-cord, which I could've knit in as I went anyway, even after casting off. The hubs is always chastising me for taking short cuts, since it nearly always creates more work that it avoids. It still hasn't sunk in. I'm getting better with regards to sewing patterns though. I nearly always follow the directions as written now, since ripping seams is my very least favourite thing to do. But I digress...



I can't tell you how much I love this little sweater. I think it just may be my favourite thing I've knit so far. It's simple, easy and fast to knit, interesting construction and I love the colour combo's I picked. And it says in the pattern that it's supposed to fit from infant to toddler, around 4 yrs. We shall see. Mine looks a little small to fit a four year old, but then again, I have little to no reference for children's sizing. That being said, I doubt I'll wait to send it to Little Miss K, as I'd like it to get as much wear as possible. It needs a good blocking before it goes though, and I still have a little bit of brown left, so I plan to knit some more I-cords and attach them to either side of the front for a little tie. I'm kind of into knitting I-cord. It's kinda fun.

This stash busting thing is going pretty well so far. I've figured out what I want to do with that pink and white Shetland Chunky, thanks to the suggestion of a few faithful readers. I think it may become a little Lopi sweater, we shall see. And whilst knitting this Pinwheel, I thought up at least two more projects for yarn I have in my stash. Progress reports on those to come as they happen. I feel as though I am yarn abundant at the moment, which is quite nice. Should help keep the yarn purchases at a minimum for the next little while.

And as I've rambled on long enough, we'll end here for now. Have a lovely weekend y'all!

Until later...