Stupid Commercial Jingles...

Actually, it's not that stupid, it's just stuck in my head. Anyone know the Free Credit Report.com commercials? Never mind, I found it for you.

I'm thinking of learning this on the guitar...my life makes me sad sometimes.

I don't know about where you live, or your tv viewing habits, but I watch what could be considered an appalling amount of television. I should qualify that statement; I have the tv on a lot. If watching consists of looking in the general direction of the television, paying a moderate amount of attention to what is going on, then I don't actually watch it. I knit, compute, doze off on the couch in a bored stupor...that sort of thing, all with the tv as my white noise in the background. We have this obscenely large television for the space that it's in (I'd say that the tv would actually be a sizable fraction of our living space) so it's very very hard to ignore.

Anyway, my point. The cable channels, like Spike or whathaveyou, loop commercials at a tortuous rate. It's the same three commercials over and over and over again. It's very 1984 in it's design. It actually surprises me that I haven't gone over the deep end by now at how irritating these looping commercials are. It's the ones for the local radio stations that get me. They play this montage of horrible pop songs, and it happens at every commercial break. To top it off, the constable, when he's home, sings along to 'Bringin' Sexy Back' every time there is a commercial break and that frackin' commercial is on. But the Credit Report commercial? These ones we both like (there's two or three different ones). And we both sing along. It's just disgustingly Pavlovian.

But when you wake up with it in your head, you know the evil advertisers have won, hands down. They have bored a hole right into your subconscious and there's no getting them out. I'm still not interested in their product though.

Onto the knitting part:



I have this much done on the alpaca baby sweater. To answer Carrie's question in the comments, alpaca is a dream to knit with. Surprisingly heavy once knit though. Has a little bit of heft to it. But so so soft. I have a pair of fingerless mitts in alpaca and they are hands down (pun intended) my favourites, for their warmth and their softness. I plan on knitting another pair. I saw that Heddy made a pair of Fetching with her alpaca, and I may very well do the same. Sorry for the crappy lighting of the photo, but the flash just washes out the cables.



Feeling a little baby sweater fatigue, I started this Skull Isle out of Son of Stitch n' Bitch for myself. This is going to be Stash Project #4. Two balls of Wool Gatto, one 100% wool (red) the other with a touch of cashmere, both stash yarns. Again, a dream to knit with, but the pink is much thinner than the red, which I hadn't thought of until I started knitting and so the two together are knitting up a little differently. That combined with the fact that I'm using a 3.5mm needle when the pattern calls for a 2.25mm needle and the whole thing is turning out a little loosey-goosey and on the big side. It was pure laziness on my part. I wanted to start knitting it, I had the 3.5mm handy, I didn't feel like rummaging for the appropriate needle size, nor was I going to swatch, so I just started knitting, full steam ahead. The result? I'm going to rip it out and do it again, with a more appropriate needle size. Noodling around Ravelry I've read of more than one person who had some gauge issues with this hat, so I'm thinking that either a 3.00mm or a 3.25 might work out for me. I love how the two colours blend together though, and am uber excited to see the skull chart come together in this uber girly hat.



Then there's this. I've taken this picture 800 times this winter. This very picture. I had an epiphany about this weather this morning. The universe is preparing me for a northern posting someday, where this kind of thing starts in like late September and doesn't stop till sometime in May. I just know it. That has to be it. It was somewhat funny on the CBC yesterday, as I was listening to the local weather report on the way home. The weather dude, in talking about the impending snow, said 'Well we haven't had any for almost 24 hours ya know.' Ha...ha...h-uuuuuuggggghhhhh.

Don't even bother trying to be optimistic or cheer me up about it. I'm wallowing. Okay, okay, we definitely have not had it as bad as most. And the inch that we get will be gone tomorrow. But still...with the jingle in my head and this greeting me as I took the Hankster out for his morning ablutions...h-uuuuuggggghhhhh.

Oh yeah, Hank. He's getting quite possessive of me. Last night at puppy school, he barked his fool head off at any other dog that came near me, which they all did, cuz I have hot dogs for treats. I felt like I had a little band of furry disciples. I was not impressed with his behaviour, and am in fact quite concerned about where this may lead. Not sure what I'll have to do to get this in check. For the time being, he's all bark and no bite. The little collie that is there to be the shining example of a well trained, well behaved dog, was taking none of Hank's BS, and when she snapped at him and told him in no uncertain terms to shut it, he scurried behind my legs and hid. So...ya know. Whaddya do. Silly dog.

Until later...

The Secret to Increasing Knitting FO Output...

I have discovered a revelation. Knit Nite is not only fun, but it can be incredibly productive. Case in point, I made great headway on not one, but two projects last Wednesday night, both of which I was able to finish when I got home. How is this accomplished you ask, when the main goal of Knit Nite is to drink hot chocolate and eat crack-filled cupcakes (they put it in the icing, I swear)?

Have someone else do the knitting for you! One of our esteemed members brought a project that had been put down for some time, and she didn't feel much like trying to figure out where she left off. After a brief stint with Heddy's dish cloth cotton, I handed over my second little sock that I had started and then put down in favour of my newly acquired alpaca. Granted, it is an itty bitty sock, but she got to the heel by the time we left and I was able to finish the foot of the sock (and the crown the hat that I was working on) when I got home.



Did someone mention alpaca? Ah right, that was me. Well, I dropped into the LYS with the intention of just picking up one ball for another pair of baby socks (I'm doing some baby knitting, can't you tell? There are few babies who need knit wear out there in the near future) and I had a bit of a falling down. I found a cute little pattern for a baby cardi and hat, and four balls later, I walked out on a bit of an alpaca high.



I lurve working with this stuff. It's so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend you pick some up. The pattern is SRK 164, Cable Hat and Cardigan and I'm using Luxury Collection Alpaca Peru in sort of a beigey colour. It's delightful. I'm doing the 3-6 month size, and it looks really big to me. Ah well. Whatever!



And no Friday would be a Good Friday without this guy, at least in my opinion. He had his third-to-last puppy class last night and was totally like a kid who just came off of two weeks vacation. Not interested in doing school work, just wanted to play and find out what everyone else did with their time off (we had a week off from puppy school last week because of March Break). Of course, the blame rests squarely on my shoulders as we didn't do as much practising of the exercises and commands that we should have and somewhere along the way, Hank just stopped wanting to do down altogether. I'll even get into a deep crouch and put my hand all the way to the ground and he'll just sit there and stare down at my hand like 'that's nice...not laying down though.' And I have never encountered a dog that is so disinterested in treats overall. At home, yeah, he can get sort of excited about them, but with new treats? He's so cautious you'd think that he was convinced the world was trying to poison him. He rarely takes treats from strangers. Anyhow, even hot dogs weren't tempting him to co-operate at some points last night. He's going to have expensive taste, I can just tell. We'll have to do a little better with our homework before next week. Only one more class before graduation. I kept telling him before we started our training that he'd get a gold star. Can't let the poor guy down. Could you disappoint that face?

Hank and I wish you all a Happy Easter. Watch out for rabbits bearing chocolate.

Until later...

Update; Little Red FO...

Question: How long does something have to be in your stash to be considered stash yarn? Is there a requisite period of time that must lapse? Cuz technically, I knit this from stash yarn, which would mean that I have now a 3rd stash project finished.

I had a lot of the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino left over from my tubey, so I used some to knit this, about three balls or so. Oh, and it's a Debbie Bliss pattern too, Shawl Collar Sweater from Essential Baby. Our laptop isn't very big, so perhaps it might give you an idea of scale. Anyhow, a couple of my regulars expressed interest in seeing a finished product, so I didn't want to keep anyone waiting! A very cute little knit.

PS: If you look closely, you'll be able to see where I am missing my one key, as it was brought up in our last Knit Nite meeting.

Until later...

Not Terribly Chatty...

I haven't really been busy and I haven't really been knitting, so there isn't a whole heck of a lot to talk about today. Not even the dog has done something noteworthy in which to justify an entire Hank post, hence the passing unnoticed of Hankday.

He has pretty much abandoned his crate now though. We were keeping him in there at night time, but about a week or so ago I decreed that he was officially too big for it. Everytime he would turn around or try and get comfortable, the whole thing would shake and I could hear it from the bedroom (which, granted, isn't all that far away). And I came home one afternoon after he had been cooped up for an extended period of time, something I wasn't a big fan of doing, leaving him in the crate, and he had chewed big chunks out of the cardboard that sits on top of the crate, acting as a makeshift side table. I figured that was a clear sign.



I could also hear him panting heavily at night and I felt terrible. He's a big fluffy dog and all I could imagine was him wanting a drink or looking at the door longingly, knowing there was a nice cold draft coming in there and if he could just get to it, he'd find some relief.

There wasn't a big weening period, just one night we invited him in the bedroom to sleep beside the bed instead of putting him in his crate. He brought Rosco, his crate buddy, and the rest is history. It's pretty cute. He fusses and fidgits, playing with his chewy or licking the bedframe (?) until we put the light out, and then it's all about the sawing logs from then on. About eight in the morning is when I get the snout at the side of the bed, seeing if I'm up for taking him outside. Works for me. I feel much better about this. We'd decided when we first got him that the crate was only temporary, for housebreaking only, and I'll be glad to be rid of it altogether at some point. It's ugly and I'd rather not have it in my house somewhere. Hank barely goes in there anyway, although it does seem to be a good spot to have a quick day nap from time to time.

On the knitting front, I did finish these...



...some time ago and sent them off to their intended recipient, a friend of mine from back home. I was going to put a photo here of her wearing them, but for some reason, the picture was miniscule, so this will have to suffice. She assures me that they fit well and she loves them, so that makes me happy. Anyhow, they are knit from Regia Mini-Ringel, 2.75 mm needles, your basic sock pattern. Put in the black heels and toes cuz I didn't want to disrupt the striping pattern. These are the tallest socks I've made cuz I was facinated by the striping and just kept going and going to see what colour would come out next, despite knowing there was like a four colour repeat. Anyhow, simple minds.

Right now, I am knitting this...



...perhaps the tiniest sweater I've ever knit. It is only one small part of a large project I have in mind, which I suppose I shouldn't be blogging about as I'd like it to be a surprise, but, ya know, meh. Surprises make terrible blog fodder. And if I knit and then can't blog about it...what's the point? Ravelry only supplies so much gratification. Not enough feedback. I'm a comment whore, I'll admit it. I like it when people tell me what I'm knitting is pretty! Besides, I'm not sure how much the intended recipient read the blog anyway. Guess I'll likely find out over the course of the project.

So I guess I was a little chattier than I thought! I think I might try to finish up little red there and perhaps do some spinning today. The hubs has the whole weekend off, which has been lovely as I've felt as though I haven't seen him a whole lot lately. We were total slugs yesterday, pretty much didn't move off of our respective couches. We were so sedentary in fact that by eleven o'clock, I was actually exhausted from doing nothing. The weather helped too, as 2008 seems to be the year of perpetual winter and we got another snow storm. I remember when I was in 8th grade, and we had this really unusual weather year. Spring just never really came. It was chilly and grey and I remember the closer it got to the end of the year, the more it seemed like summer would just never come. And this was in a part of the country where shorts and t-shirts were very much the norm for March break, even if we did get another cold snap after that. Anyhow, I remember being in the school yard one recess and telling this classmate of mine, a very sweet but apparently gullible girl, that they had cancelled summer. She had a very concerned look on her face, and I'm pretty sure, if only for the few moments that we were torturing her, she believed me. Today, I feel like her. If someone made an announcement that the rest of the seasons have been cancelled for this year and we should continue to expect snow storms ever week from now on, I wouldn't batt an eye.

Oh, and plow guy? Thanks for taking out the mailbox.

Please Pass the Kleenex...

I have a cold, I'm cranky and I'm tired. But this totally made my day today. It's a package from Chicken Betty. She sent me a belated birthday box of goodies. I got cards and pencils and crafty bits. But check this action out peeps...

Beautiful, lovely, soft, warm, gorgeous, cozy hand crocheted fingerless gloves. With hand embroidery and oh so pretty buttons. And they fit like a--well, glove! I put them on when I took them out of the box and haven't taken them off. In this needy/whiny/sicky-pants state, they're acting as my stuffed animal (there is another one to match the other, but it was taking the photo).

Just a little close up of this crazy bag of roving. It's yummy too. I want to spin it right now, but the Dristan is kicking in and I'm finding it difficult to spell properly.

So there you have it. Thank you again Betty!

I'm going to go curl up into a ball and die now. Yes, with my mitts on.

Oh What a Beautiful Morning...

Before I forget, Heddy has been very busy rustling up some contests. I entered a couple, one of which was over here. It's a St. Patrick's Day contest for knitters/spinners. Tell 'em I sent ya for an extra entry on my part, if you decide to stop by. Or you can mention Heddy, as that's where I heard it from.

That's really all I've got for today. Until later...

Here's Mud in Your Eye...

I rediscovered this photo when I was organizing my picture files. The breeder kept us up to date on the litter prior to us taking our puppy home. We didn't know which one we were going to get, so seeing Hank in hindsight has been fun. Here he is with the breeder's pet Dasch---Dachsun---Weiner Dog, Trixie!

Hankday started with a trip to the vet's office. He's had really red eyes for about a week now, which the constable and I thought might just be a result of some sand that was causing some irritation, as we take him to the beach quite often. Last night at puppy school, Hank's eyes were almost completely red, which caused me a great deal of concern. This morning they were more pink, but his one eye has been weeping pretty badly, and as gross as it is to say it, turned into a very discoloured puss over the last few days.

His trainer suggested that it might be a food allergy, but I wasn't totally convinced. The hubs came home last night from his shift and said that he could see Hank's weeping eye from the doorway, in the dark. So we thought it best he take a little trip to see the doctor.

The first thing they always do is weigh him. He's 58 lbs. Fifty----eight. I've never really parented a dog all on my own before. My mom had a Lhasa Apso when I was growing up (small dog), which they said they bought for me, but it was clearly my mother's dog. Then the constable got Maury, the wonder Jack Russell ('nother small dog) when we were dating and though I wasn't directly involved in his care, I was around a lot. I mostly just played with him! So good 'ol Hank here is my first dog that is entirely mine. Well, ours I should say. And he's 58 lbs, at not quite five months old. This just blows me away. I don't know how my husband talked me into getting a small horse as a house pet.

I knew he was in the fifty-odd pound range, as it's been getting quite unmanageable when I take him out for his business trips on the leash. But I had no idea that he was breathing heavily down the neck of sixty pounds. It's a good thing we're in training. Though you wouldn't know it from this morning's performance at the vet's office.

There was this sweet little black lab puppy sitting there, being good, and the minute Hank walked in the door, he went practically apeshit with the barking. And he's got a big, bad bark. I knew he was being playful. He was just saying hello, in a very unavoidable and attention getting manner. Had he been off the leash, I don't know as he would've barked like that. After seeing his behaviour at puppy school these last three weeks, I'm starting to learn more and more about his behaviour and dog behaviour in general.

Then another dog walked in and Hank's mood changed dramatically. To me, his bark and his stance changed. He seemed to get a little more aggressive. Which I did not like at all. The woman with the new dog was quite gracious about it, and waited outside until Hank was no longer in the waiting room.

So he's darting all around the waiting area and barking like a mad fool and I am just mortified. I get quite upset about this kind of stuff. I know he's only a puppy still and we're working on the behaviour, but ya know, I want my good natured Hank to be a model of good behaviour when we're out in public. I might know that his bark is benevolent, but it sure doesn't sound like that to everyone!

Getting his eyes checked was a bit of an adventure. He's still very bitey, which I also don't like at all, and neither did the vet. He's quite soft about it, but definitely too old to still be doing it.

So, as Hank is on March Break next week from puppy school (the trainer also boards dogs and has a full house next week) we have a few issues to work on. One; separation anxiety. We did a hand off exercise last night which did not go very well for Hank. I feel very badly for the other participant who were dragged around the room by a very stressed out and desperate dog wanting very badly to get back to his mama.

Two: watch me. This is an essential first step to controlling all other behaviour problems. He's fine in the house of course, so we need to step it up a notch and include some distractions. Once he knows to look at me before making a decision on how to behave, we'll be away to the races. This should help with barking at new people and new dogs.

Three: walking using the Halti. I tried out his Halti head harness last week for a quick walk and Hallelujah, what a difference. We bought it when Hank was little wee and of course it didn't fit his head. The whole point of the Halti is to discourage pulling while walking, as it fits around the snout. If he starts to pull, his head will automatically turn, and he stops pulling. He's not a big fan of putting it on, and fusses quite a bit while we're on the walk, but he really likes being out, so there's more progress than regress.

Four: mouthing and biting. This has got to stop. As evidenced today, I've been putting up with it for too long. He's gentle, but you just never, ever know. Not sure how to remedy this one.

I'm off to get some really irresistible Gucci dog treats. Something that he absolutely can't ignore. Maybe he'll get a little something special for having to get salve in his eye twice a day for the next week. Poor Hank.

Eeek! Steeks!

So I'm in the grocery store, waiting at the checkout, looking at all the magazines. You know the ones I'm talking about, the Diabetic Cookbook one and the Get Organized one and the Archie and Jughead double digest one...and they're all about that size. Then my eyes land on the quintessential supermarket checkout magazine; The Complete Idiots Guide to Healthy Relationships.

...

Sure, why not.

Anyhoo, I wasn't entirely forthcoming about my WIP in my last post. I had plans. Big plans. Scary plans. Steeking plans!



Here's the steeking prep, a crochet edge on either side of the stitch you want to cut.

I'd be remiss if I didn't pause here and explain to my non-knitting readers, if you've hung in this long, that steeking is a process that instills great fear and confusion in knitters. The whole thing is counter intuitive. The whole point of knitting something properly, is so that it won't fall apart. For you see, steeking is where you knit something, a complete something no less, and then you cut it up. Be forewarned, the rest of this post is heavy on the geeky, knit-technical content, but feel free to stick around.



So I did the crochet thing, cuz that's what Eunny Jang told me to do (the steeking instructions were from a Eunny Jang pattern that I hope to knit in the future...hence trying out the steeking thing now, rather than on $50.00 worth of yarn that I really really care about) and then made my cut. And it wasn't all that bad. I was a little nervous, but as this is an experimental sweater anyway, I was willing to deal with the aftermath.

Which to be honest, was a bit of a mess. I'd neglected to factor in the floats from the colourwork just hanging around back there, on the wrong side of the sweater. I suppose if I were the kind of person who didn't dive into things headlong, without any regard for rules and the proper way of doing things, I might have consulted a reference (hello? Ravelry?) or two before, ya know, cutting through the floats. Or, I suppose I might have secured them with the crochet process as well. Nuh-uh. I just cut 'em. I had planned on picking up the stitches a few stitches over from where I had cut, so I figured they'd be pretty secure anyway. Which I did, and they were...sorta...but then they all kind of became loosey goosey and, well, parts of the colourwork, ie. the nice white patterns on the right side of the sweater looked like the dog's breakfast.

So anyway, yadda yadda yadda, I tacked down the facing from the steek on the inside of the sweater and picked up the stitches for the edging I wanted to do.



I cannot tell you how many times I have done this. I'd done the right side completely, knit, bound off, sewn down only to clue in that perhaps I had picked up a few too many stitches. Had to knit the left side in the correct number just to be sure.



Seeing as I wasn't going to be able to block out the obvious discrepancy, I had to rip it all out and do it again. Much better. I plan to sew in a zipper here, so please pray that there is one out there that is the correct size.

I'm also going to knit a collar and then block the snot out of it, as it's really rather bunchy. But a nice sturdy sweater. And Dorothy? It's supposed to be a size 2, but it looks bigger than that to me, so I dunno. Then again, I can't really reference kids clothes all that well.

So...that was my adventure in steeking. Steeking is, to my understanding, only supposed to be done with 100% wool, and I know that this Shetland Chunky that I knit the sweater out of is most definitely a wool/acrylic blend, which may account for some of the sts coming loose. But anyway, glad to have finally tried it. The funniest thing is, when I picked up this wool at the thrift store, I sort of saw something just like this being knit out of it. It wasn't a clear idea, but I thought it would make more of a jacket than a sweater. Kinda neat.

Until later...

Stash Buster # 2; WIP...

I'm really quite lucky in that I can shirk all responsibility for an entire Sunday and just sit and knit.

Remember the bag of yarn that I wanted some advice on what to do with? Well, a few people suggested doing a Lopi type sweater, and Heddy just happened to have a couple of patterns, which she kindly lent to me, and so while the dishes and the laundry went undone and the poor dog was practically crossing his legs at various points throughout the day, I dove in and got this much done:



I added the stripes half way through there. Here's my best critic evaluating my work;



His only opinion is that my knitting is tasty.

Anyhow, this is my first yoke sweater, and so far so good. I should be done the knitting part tonight, as I actually made myself do all my work today, though it was tough! I kept wanting to go back and just do a little more.

That's it. Just a quick update. I'm loving this stash busting thing. It's yielding some great results and now when I consider projects that require new yarn, I'm not feeling nearly as weighed down. I've got two projects in mind for more stash yarns. Stay tuned!

Deja Vu, All Over Again...

I'm home on a Saturday night, my own choice. I've had this hermitting instinct for the last couple of days. It happens, from time to time. I just want to stay home, curl up, be by myself. It works out well when the constable is on night shift. I get to pursue my alone time uninterrupted.

I have very little trouble keeping myself entertained most of the time. I knit, I read, I organize, I clean...it all amuses me. While doing all of this, I have the tv on, mostly for background noise. This evening, after organizing and doing a little cleaning, I've been curled up on the couch pouring over a slow cooker magazine, planning out a few recipes for the upcoming weeks.

Trying to find something decent on tv, with only basic cable mind you, on a Saturday night is always a challenge. I had the race on for a bit, the NASCAR Nationwide series. I enjoy watching racing, and it's really great for filling that background noice quota. You don't have to pay attention or follow along and the roar or the cars is a nice, constance hum. It put me out for a little catnap.

I was rudely awakened by a large snout to the face, and when I woke up, I actually felt like watching something. So I flicked around. I landed on the History channel, as they were showing a program I watched almost a year ago to the date, about the Shag Harbour UFO incident.

I distinctly remember sitting in my in-laws living room (as I lived with them for a time), with my MIL, watching this program last winter. The constable wasn't a constable yet, he was still in Regina at Depot and it was getting pretty close to the end. I was knitting the edging row of a scarf that I had started around the time that he left, in September. I started it with the intention of wearing it at his graduation.

I had bought the yarn at Value Village. It was a huge ball, very fuzzy, almost laceweight, bright red. And cheap! I'm still not too sure what it is, but the way it behaved when I was knitting it might suggest that if it isn't 100% mohair, it's definitely a mohair blend.

Anyhow, I wanted this scarf to be special. I wanted it to be long and intricate. I wanted it to take a long time to knit. I swatched. I measured. I did math. I picked a lace pattern that I thought would be quite pretty. And this is the finished product:



This was taken at the aforementioned grad, so I got it done in time. I have blogged about the scarf before. That night, almost one year ago, watching the same program, I gave the bind off edge a tug to try and ease a little of the tightness and broke the yarn and the stitches wide open. I froze and I think my MIL stopped breathing. I almost cried. Thankfully, it was only the edging stitches, which I had picked up, so they could be repaired without permanent damage to the rest of the scarf.

Anyhow, I just thought that this whole full circle moment was kind of neat. In watching the UFO program the first time, I knew by then that we were headed for Nova Scotia. The fact that Canada's biggest UFO case happened there only made it that much cooler! I never posted pic of the scarf, so now I have.

In other knitting news, I'm knitting socks. Which I really should be working on, as it's craptacular...again...outside and I've got nowhere else to be!

Until later...