Ta-Da!

I finished Mom’s sweater in record time and it looks great. The pattern is February Lady’s Sweater from Ravelry. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/february-lady-sweater#

The pattern is Pamela Wynne’s adaptation of Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitting Almanac baby sweater, which she generously posted on Ravelry. Which my California, former new Jersey, former Michigan knitting friend told me she was knitting and I just had to make one. The Ravelry pattern calls for 3/4 length sleeves, but I knew my always-chilly mom would want full length sleeves. I particularly like the detail just above where the garter stitch meets the gull pattern. And of course the gull pattern is great. And so much fun to knit. You can see I don’t have buttons yet. My local Conglomo-Craft Mart has a lousy selection of generic buttons and there are no close by nice little knitting or sewing shops. Ebay to the rescue once again.

My new box of dreams will be here soon. Translation: yarn order. Can’t wait.

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.

Finally

Finally for a couple of reasons. First, I FINALLY finished my Sweet Allysum shawl. And I love it. It is cuddly and warm and really lovely. And I have decided that I really like lace knitting. However, how many shawls and scarves can you use or foist on your family and friends? So now it’s time to pick out a new pattern and buy some more yarn, always an exciting proposition. I think I am going to make a turtleneck with a pattern of leaves along the bottom hem and a little border of leaves on the turtleneck. I also think I will buy a couple more skeins of kid mohair and make something. I really just love lace knitting. I won’t get sick of it too fast as I can only do it during the daylight. And I have made countless socks and I am far from sick of sock knitting.

The other finally is that I finally got on line. Excitedly, I downloaded the pictures from my camera this morning so I could put them on the blog. My personal computer tech has told me a million times that I have to tell the computer that I am removing the outside device so it (the computer) doesn’t get confused. So I did. Then when I tried to get on line again. Nope. Tried and tried. No luck. So I waited for my personal tech guy to get up. Turns out I disconnected my broadband connection, not the camera. So I am not a computer tech I can knit and spin.

The Luka Chronicles -chapter 3 - Who Is That Good Dog?

It is October and the tomatoes are all picked, the houseplants are ready to come inside, and I am totally uninspired, so its time to pull out the old Luka Chronicles. So here goes:

Luka had her third class last night and I knew it was a red-letter day when we WALKED into PetSmart. It is the first time EVER that we walked into the store. Actually it is the first time ever that we walked anywhere in a calm & sedate manner. On all previous occasions I was sliding in on my heels as Luka dragged me. I felt quite grand just walking in with my obedient and alert dog at my side.

For another milestone, Luka's teacher used her as a demo dog for "come." When there are treats in hand Luka "comes" very well. This has nothing to do with the new harness, but I did not mention that. And Luka's teacher does have the best treats. She had liver bites and lamb trachea crunchies. (I really didn't like being in the same room with lamb trachea crunchies!) But what self-respecting dog could resist? On the subject of treats, the cat treats were also a hit with Luka. I had thought to try them because they are tiny & stinky. And despite my son’s concerns, the other dogs did not make fun of her.

Luka only barked a few times and, miracle of miracles, she was not the worst dog in class. There was a long-haired Chihuahua who was cutting up quite a bit and making trouble with his neighbors. But not Luka!

We practiced “come” and “down” and “settle.” These “come” and “down” are things Luka really knows well and if bribery is involved, she is quite amenable. When we were practicing "settle" our neighbor Snoopy was told by his mom to look at how good Luka was!

Still glowing with success,

Patty & Luka

Luka's Big Adventure

Sigh. Nothing else to say about that. I am not one of those people who look forward to the leaves changing, the frost on the pumpkin, and all that crap. It will get progressively colder and the days get shorter & all you can do is hunker down in front of the wood stove in your long underwear. And wait for spring.

A friend of mine came up with the best description of Luka. I can only wish I thought of it. I sent her a picture of Luka dancing around with Sophie. She said Luka looks like a slightly chubby ballerina who ate too many Dunkin Donuts. In this picture she is wearing a Mobius scarf I made and she does look like she stuck her head in a stray tutu.

Anyway……On to Luka’s Big Adventure. Poor Luka had one of the worst night of her life last night. Our basement is ¾ finished, carpeted recess ed lights, ¼ is unfinished, cement floor, water heater furnace, boxes, boogie man. Luka is very curious and always the first to dash through any opened door. Unfortunately, last night she forgot to dash out. BG & eldest son were searching for a large bag of rice that disappeared (don’t ask) and of course the dogs were helping. I got up this morning stumbled to the back door, let Sophie out, let Sophie in, And said “Wait a minute. I have two dogs.” I checked the garage. No Luka. Maybe she ran away last night when the garbage was put out on the curb. No she would have been waiting by the front door. She knows were her kibbles live. Finally I went down stairs and Sophie ran to the far door to the unfinished part of the basement and I let Luka out. Sophie proceeded to jump on her and bark at her as we tripped up stairs. Then Luka climbed into my lap on the sunroom loveseat (strictly forbidden) and told me about her horrible night on the cement floor with the boogie men. Life is very scary and uncertain for Luka.

In my continuing canning adventure, I canned pickled green tomatoes this week. I did not taste them, but they smelled like my friend’s bread & butter pickles so I have high hopes. Another cooking adventure: I made reconstructed chocolate chip cookies. I truly think that the traditional toll house chocolate chip cookie is pretty close to cookie perfection. I make lots of different cookies, but always come back to chocolate chip. But I always experiment and I thought I would melt the chocolate chips and swirl the chocolate into the batter. Sounds pretty good. I made the batter. I melted the chips in a double boiler. The melted chocolate seemed a bit clenched so I added some cream and it smoothed out nicely. When I added it to the batter it just melded into the batter and I got chocolate cookies with a few caramel colored swirls. The cookies came out really flat, but surprisingly good and chewy. I think next time I will add less cream. All in all a very good experiment.

Mid September Corrections

BG recently (finally) checked out my blog and he pointed out that I did not mention him in my profile. I corrected this oversight this morning. He is my rock start, the love of my life, my best friend, my boyfriend and my rock. And he does his best to drive me crazy, which is only fitting as I do the same to him. He also pointed out to me that the profile page sounded like I was looking for a date and if I put down that I was 14 years old I would get more hits. I am not 14 years old, nor would I be 14 years old for anything. Some things may not be great about being in your 50s, but being comfortable in your own skin and having the perspective of half a century (did I say that?) is priceless.

I am making green tomato pickles today; I have never made them before but I have high hopes.

Time in Dog Years

One of my friends recently informed me that one of her dogs just died and it made me think of how our lives are defined by the dogs who trot by our side. I don't have pics of my other dogs on the computer, something I will have to rectify. When I was single then first married and with little kids were the Rozie years, a sweet retriever mutt who used to follow me into town with a kid in a stroller. All the shopkeepers in town knew her as she would eagerly wait at my side and then grab my bag to carry home. All the people in my mom's neighborhood knew her as she used to visit all the houses on the block (never crossing the street), particularly when they had picnics. People used to drive by and great her by name and I would ask my mom who they were. She didn't now either, but they were friends of Rozzie. Rozzie also was the shadow house, whose greatest pleasure was to stand outside on a sunny day and chase bird shadows. Also, she smiled. A big, toothy silly grin. Rozzie was a sweetheart.

Britty was my spirit guide. She came into my life and truly guided me past some crossroads and through some very difficult times. She was the dog the kids mostly grew up with. And I couldn't think of a better dog for two boys to grow up with. She was very, very special. I often told the kids that she was going to be the dog they told their grandchildren about. We were all with her when she died, one of our last times together, and we were al heartbroken. I still miss her guidance and calm presence.

Sophie & Luka - well we have the Luka Chronicles. They are good girls and keep me laughing and happy.

Here's to the dogs of our lives.