New Yarn

Gosh, I haven't blogged in a while. Not much to say I guess. Been busy with the everydayness of life. The Thanksgiving weekend was warm but gray where I live. I painted the kitchen and sun room during my vacation. Not very exciting but work that had to be done. Cleaned the garage one last time until spring, brought all dog jumps inside before they froze and broke, more boring but necessary jobs to complete before the cold hit. I rewarded myself with a trip to my favorite yarn store, Knitter's Palette. I hadn't been inside a LYS in close to four years before I found this place. One bad experience where as a customer I was treated like an inconvenience sent me shopping on the web for all my yarns and patterns. It sure is nice to go back to a yarn store, to touch all the yarns and see the actual colors before you buy but especially, to ask questions and get advice without feeling belittled. The Knitter's Palette is just a great place.

I know I said I would knit from my stash this winter but the temptation was too great. On the left is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn in color River. I enjoyed knitting the multi-colored socks and thought I'd like to try the Lorna's Laces yarn so many others rave about. Haven't decided on a pattern yet but think I'll make a pair for my mom out of this yarn. On the right is some of the Mission Falls 1825 Wool I hope to use for the Nantucket Jacket in the Winter 2006 Interweave Knits magazine. I feel in love with this sweater as soon as my issue arrived. Can't wait to get started on it. In the back row are two skeins of Misti Alpaca. This is such a soft, luxurious yarn and it knits up quickly on larger needles for those last minute Christmas gifts. Here's a scarf I complete from the skein of natural colored Misti Alpaca. Love the ruffles on the ends.

Finally, a big congratulations to my friend JayellWilson on signing two (!!) book contracts. Getting published is a goal she has worked towards for as long as I've known her and she's a great inspiration for setting a goal and working each day toward accomplishing your goal. Way to go J! "Romance with a touch of gray" - isn't that great? Can't wait to read all her books.

Busy Weekend

I don't think I've had the chance to show a picture of Whisper standing up! Doesn't she look great? Ok, so her front legs have been shaved for two different IVs and her belly shaved for 3 different ultrasounds and, though you can't see it here, the back of her neck has been shaved for a spinal tap, but I can see past all of that to a happy, healthy looking dog. Of course we still have to wean her off the prednisolone and finish her long course of clindamycin but she sure appears to be on the mend. (Yea, yea, that decking is a mess but the dogs love it so it's fine with me.)

It was a busy weekend around here. Saturday was a dog show and JJ picked up his first major win. He's on track to finish with all points from the Bred By Exhibitor class. I was thrilled with the win. JJ could care less. He was the best little show dog until he saw sheep. Now he thinks shows are so boring... I just need to keep him interested enough in showing for a little longer. I promised him once he finishes his championship it will be all sheep (or ducks) all the time.

I spent Sunday catching up on all the fall outdoor work I didn't get done over the weekend Whisper was at the University. Now that the weather is nice I'm finally ready for winter. Later on Sunday I attended the Freeborn County Kennel Club Christmas party. None of this left much time for knitting. I thought I'd made good progress on my bi-color cable sweater but it does rather look like the last picture I showed of it doesn't it? Still, I've completed the back and the front arm hole shaping and made a start on the neck shaping. I tried to show the cabling in this shot and also the knit-in button loops. I just love that I won't have to pick up and knit a button band as part of the finishing work. Yes, I'm knitting both front pieces at the same time. I always try to do that if I can. The sweater is in desperate need of a good blocking but overall, I'm happy with the way it is coming together.

Neospora caninum

Neospora is a protozoa and it's the only one of Whisper's tests that came back positive. Her neurologist just received the test results today and called me this evening. He didn't seemed very alarmed, Whisper will start a 3 week course of clindamycin and stay on the prednisolone for now, but reading about neosporosis on the web doesn't sound very positive. I'll have to ask more questions tomorrow. Meanwhile, Whisper is doing very well, jumping up on me, running up and down the few steps to go outside, eating, gaining weight, no neck pain and holding her head in a normal position. From what the neurologist told me, it's not certain how dogs become infected with neospora but he did mention possum as a possibility.



So how about some pictures of knitting progress? I've made a little, not a lot but you can see I am at least not suffering from second sock syndrome. I've actually been knitting the second sock, started the heel tonight while I waited for blogger to upload photos. I wish I was a better photographer and this picture was in better focus. The camera says it is an "auto-focus" model so I think it should do all the work for me. Yes, I know I'm a technical gal but after spending my work day resolving technical problems I almost never want to spend my evenings doing the same.



And I've made progress on my IK Winter 2005 Bi-Color cable sweater. I'm almost done with the back and the front pieces should go quickly. Still have the sleeves to knit though. I usually do sleeves first, both at the same time, because I hate doing sleeves at the end of a project. However, I was so intrigued with the cabling on this little sweater that I started the body first and now I'm wishing I hadn't done that...

I mentioned Crystal Palace Iceland yarn a few posts back and at that time blogger would not let me upload a picture of a sweater I did in Iceland from the Vogue Holiday Issue, 2004. This sweater has become my wear-around-the-house sweater. I wear it almost all day, everyday during the cold weather and I'm so impressed with how well the yarn has held up. There's a little pilling under the arms but that's about it. Iceland gets two thumbs up from me. I wore this sweater all last December through March and just had to stop and admire the condition of the yarn when I started wearing it again this past week. No affiliation, just appreciating a good quality yarn.

Sheep!

I realize the picture is not good but that's me and my Pembroke Welsh Corgi Dusty at an AHBA herding trial this morning. We were competing in the HTAD I Course 3 today. Yes, that is SNOW on the ground! About 7-8" fell on Friday morning and there was probably 5-6" left on the ground this morning. The temps this past Wednesday were in the 70s. Weather is never a dull subject in MN. The snow made for tough going for my short legged herding dogs but they did well. Shamrock managed a qualifying run so that was exciting.

You can't tell from the far off picture above but I'm wearing another reversible head band I knit last night. I'm getting serious about using up my stash!


One side of the head band is 3 strands of GGH Soft Kid and the other side is Rowan Big Wool in white and green. The head band was knit on 10.5 Addi Turbos. Love those Addi Turbos.

An actual FO!

An actual Finished Object! And it took all of 1.5 hours. It's a reversible head band intended for Whisper's dedicated weekend vet during Whisper's stay at the University of MN Veterinary Hospital. Whisper says we should give the doctor a gift card from a local supermarket too. I think that's a good idea. I remember being a grad student. Food was always welcome.

The fuzzy side is 3 strands of GGH Soft Kid, two in white and the third a reddish brown. The other side is Crystal Palace Iceland, a yarn I love. Mixed in with the Iceland are some left over pieces of a brown chenille which I've long since lost the name of or even remember what I used it for. I did warn you I'm knitting from my stash this winter!

The head band itself is inspired from the head band in Homespun Handknit. I purchased this book not long after it was first published, looked through it and thought "Ho Hum". This was quite some years ago when I thought only big, complicated projects would make me a credible knitter. Thankfully I've become a lot smarter about knitting since then. My copy of this book is now well worn and dog eared. I find this a marvelous book for small projects, easy or difficult, an excellent book for using up your stash and a great inspiration book. You can look through the book and come away with a new project idea of your own. I just love this book and have even thought of buying a new copy before the pages in my first copy start to fall out.

Whisper is improving, not by leaps and bounds but with slow and steady progress. And that keeps me happy.

What An Ordeal!

Whisper is finally home after spending 5 days at the U of MN Veterinary Hospital. It is so wonderful to have her back home though it's unfortunately clear to me tonight we have not completed our journey down this road and where it will end is still uncertain. Whisper was diagnosed with meningitis, cause as yet unknown. Tests are still being done on the fluids and serum collected on Monday. Bacterial, fungal, tick borne, at this time nothing can be ruled out. Whisper is on meds to cover all the bases. We will adjust the medications and treatments as test results come back and we are able to better isolate the cause of her meningitis. Some are treatable, some are not and some though treatable have a poor prognosis. Whisper's prognosis is still uncertain. At least she is home and much more comfortable than she has been. It broke my heart to visit her this weekend and see her in so much pain.

I have such gratitude for Whisper's weekend vet, Dr. Sarah Helmond, who took extraordinary care of Whisper and went out of her way to communicate every detail with me and patiently answer all my questions. I believe without Dr. Helmond's extra care, Whisper would not have made it through the weekend to Monday when she could get the needed tests.

So there's no knitting content in my blog tonight, except to say I will definitely be knitting from my stash this winter. You can bet there's a bit of a hole in my savings account after all this and there will be no extra funds for yarn for a while! Though I have to confess before all this happened with Whisper I had gone back to the store having the 40% off on all yarns sale and picked up 10 more balls of Cascade Cloud 9 in a beautiful lavender color. No need to feel sorry for me, I have plenty of stash to knit from. If you have any pattern suggestions for Cloud 9 be sure and point me to them. I hope I like knitting with it, I bought a lot of it.

Whisper is still not out of the woods so I am appreciative of all healing thoughts and prayers you send her way.

It's Been One Of Those Days

I'm sure you've had them too. I couldn't do anything right at work today. It was the machine's fault, it was the test's fault, it couldn't possibly be my fault or the fault of my code. So I'm smart enough not to train dogs tonight. I'm going to make a nice dinner and watch TV. Alas, I left my pattern for the BiColor Cable sweater in the RV which is in the shop getting fixed and winterized. (Gosh, I hope it is winterized by now otherwise it's toast, or more accurately, iced. It's cold out.) So I'm forced to start a new project. Darn.

I will definitely cast on for the second sock tonight and I might cast on for Ariann also but I can't make up my mind which yarn to use. I went into town yesterday and happen to see a shop - not really a yarn store but a funky clothing store - had their yarn on sale for 40% off. I had to stop and shop. I picked up 8 balls of Lana Grossa Point in a beautiful aqua blue color and 10 balls of Cascade Yarns Cloud 9 in peach. There's enough of the Cloud 9 to make Ariann.



I had originally purchased Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran for my Ariann.



What do you think? I swatch them both this evening and the Cashmerino is spot on for gauge. The Cloud is 9 very close, it would work. I wonder which I will use.



I added a link to Craft: this evening. Why? Oh please, a magazine with a pattern for a knitted Swiffer cover...I just had to do it.

A Sock, A Sick Dog

We have a sock! Despite a very busy, RV problem plagued, dog show successful weekend in Sioux Falls, I managed to complete one sock. About time I'd say. Had a good weekend in Sioux Falls where Addie picked up 9 more points toward her Championship title. Addie won a 5 point major on Saturday by going BOB (Best Of Breed) over 3 Champions and a 4 point BOW (Best Of Winners) win on Sunday. Yeah Addie! She now has 11 points in 3 consecutive shows. Quite an accomplishment. Addie will be returning to her co-owner later this month. I'll miss her. She is not only a joy to show but a fun dog to have around.

I managed to finish my sock while spending time with my good friends Sherry and Sally and seeing friends Barb and Deb who also brought their knitting. Deb is knitting a beautiful blue sweater on size 3 needles and Barb a stylish beaded scarf. Just 2 more treatments to go Barb. You will do it! It will not be easy but I will be thinking of you often and I am planning on seeing you decked out in your scarf and good health at the shows in January.


Unfortunately, any excitement over my dogs' wins this weekend was damped by Whisper's illness. The diagnosis is a tick borne disease, Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Whisper is being treated with doxycycline for the ehrlichiosis and with Rimadyl for the pain. You can see she is not feeling well and it looks to be a slow recovery. I just hope for a full recovery.