Knitting With Dogs

For Christmas last year my sister gave me Sox Stix, 5 wooden sock-size needles in a cute little fabric bag with a drawstring. It was a much appreciated gift as I certainly knit enough socks and one is always misplacing those tiny little skewer-like needles. As a matter of fact (sidebar) once when visiting a friend for a few days, and, of course, knitting together, she told me that she found one of my sock needles in a kitchen drawer. Her housecleaner had found it and assumed som dope had left a skewer in the living room.

Back to this story: a few days after last Christmas. I had put my new Sox Stix in my knitting bag in anticipation of making yet another pair of baby socks and my knitting bag was in my home office. I was working (or playing) on the computer and I gradually became aware of a noise that sounded like a dog chewing wood, not a sound I ever wanted to hear. I turned around and there was Luka chewing on my brand new bag of Sox Stix! I yelled, grabbed and she ran from the room. She had actually gone into my knitting bag, rooted around under several skeins of yarn, taken the little drawstring bag out and was happily (and somewhat daintily) chewing on them through the bag. After my initial surprise I examined the needles and found them remarkably intact. The bag was fine (a little soggy) and there were a few minuscule dents in the needles. All in all, no harm done although I certainly was puzzled as Luka had never shown any interest in my knitting before.

Fast forward to last night, eight month later. I am using the Sox Stix to make a pair of Almost Fingerless Gloves. http://fiberfiend6891.blogspot.com/2007/12/almost-fingerless-gloves-free-pattern.html I am using 4 of the 5 needles and the remaining needle is in the bag on the coffee table two feet in front of me along with the usual detritus, phone magazine, notions box, TV remote. The gloves were in my lap and I was talking to RG, not paying attention to the coffee table. Out of the corner of my eye I see Luka’s head on the coffee table. I quickly turn my head and see that she has ever so carefully taken a corner of the bag in her front teeth and is s-l-o-w-l-y pulling it off the table. I yelled. She jumped. What is it about that little nylon bag? I told her to go away. She did. And about 10 minutes later (I guess she gauged it the optimal amount of time for me to cool off) she came over and all 70 pounds of her climbed into my lap and she was contritely licking my face. Sigh. Knitting with dogs, always an adventure.