Dogs On Thursday

Frisky: A Dog of Many Moods

Alert:



Vigilant:



Hyper-vigilant:


Yeah, he's a little high-strung...when he's not napping.

Happy DOT :)

How to Find the LYS...

...anywhere! Have you seen KnitMap? I just spotted the link at Crochet Me and thought I'd pass it on. I wish I'd had this on my last vacation!!

Finished another hat in Plaid (see it on Ravelry) Love this yarn! Must get more on closeout at Webs...

Mad about Plaid!

I bought this skein of Rowan Plaid while in Montreal at a conference over a year ago because I loved the sample hat the shop had on display. It came from the Plaid pattern book, which I decided not to buy as it was $15 and the hat was the only pattern I would have used.



I've looked at this skein often, loving the colors and the feel of it and wondering if I should just give in and buy the pattern. Yesterday, I finally decided to improvise instead. All I really wanted was a cable/rib look. It was pretty easy and now I'm wondering why I waited so long. I guess I was worried about the decreases at the top and how that would work with the cables, but it was actually pretty intuitive.



I'm not sure how closely this hat resembles the one in the book, but I'm really happy with it :) This yarn is fabulous for cabling - and it's discontinued, so it can be had for about 1/2 price! I'll be picking up a few more skeins for sure.



Fight the power! lol

Four Words...

...seamless top down raglan! After years of not being a "sweater knitter" I'm convinced this is my sweater salvation. Now granted, my red one is temporarily on hold due to holiday knitting, but at 70% done it's the closest I've come to finishing a sweater in years. And look! A real live baby sweater:



Unblocked, and a bit washed out by the sun. It's actually a celery green.



Knitted in about a day for my overdue neighbor. Check out the pattern here, and my mods on Ravelry. So easy!

Jacki has also just come up with a version for bulky yarn, shaped even more like a tiny Japanese kimono. Cute overload! I may have to keep this top-down raglan vibe going - my husband's cousin just had a baby girl and I'd love to whip up one of these in lavender.

Next up: I'm casting on for a Malabrigo pattern that I can't blog about (but I'm posting the details on Ravelry) and the felted backpack. Also, the men's neckwarmer man-ia continues, see below. Holiday knitting, ho!



Note artful staging featuring "manly" colored backdrop. Brown yarn is Misti Alpaca Chunky, green is Malabrigo Chunky in Olive. Man alive, this is a quick project!

Boston area knitters, please click!

If you are in the Channel 2/WGBH or Channel 11/WENH viewing area, click this link to request that the TV show "Knit and Crochet Today" be added to the lineup. It's a bit dated, but episodes feature Amy Singer, Kaffe Fassett, and Lily Chin, so why not? Beats another 1/2 hour of Teletubbies...

Dogs on Thursday on Friday

Caution: Dog-Only Post. Cuteness will ensue.



"Cold weather afoot - better start hibernating now!"



"Are you still here? Go find your own couch!"

And later....



"ZZZZZZZZZ..."

A Loverly Bunch

Lots of knitting and some insanity happening here. Want to see?

(Come on, sing it with me…)
"Oh, I've got a loverly bunch of wips and fos...


(Muffler that boy #1 asked for this am - yeah, I'm good.)

There they are just standing in a row...


(Psst, here's another shot.)

Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head...


(It is a little big - "comfy," we'll call it.)

Give 'em a twist,
(But don’t drop that stitch)
And now I’m off to bed."


(The scarf that is, as Erickajo puts it, "endlessly entertaining.")

And so with my selfish knitting winding down, the Christmas countdown begins - did someone say 42 days?
-Felted backpack for nephew
-Double thick earflap hat for dh
-Ripple afghan for the 'rental unit
-Monkeys for my boys (monkeys, not socks - don't ask)

Also, overdue baby sweater for overdue neighbor. The kid's even giving me a little leeway, and I'm still not finished!

So, how is your holiday knitting going? Are you frenzied, relaxed, or abstaining this year?

It's Starting to Look Like Something!

Looks a little like an actual sweater, yippee! Keep your fingers crossed for me. It's been a long time since I actually finished a sweater - 3 years - and that one ended very badly. Ook. Before that, it was about 20 years. So finishing would be good.

The multidirectional scarf is also growing, and I still love the pattern:



Next in the queue is this:



Also from Knitting in No Time, it's knit side-to-side in one piece. With this:



Isn't he cute?! He also came to me from England, all 400 grams of him. He's so big he needs his own chair! Yo Yo: I adore you (even though you are acrylic.) Apparently, one of him is enough to make the whole sweater!

In the "Any Minute Now" queue is this quickie shawl I'm crocheting for my mother's elderly cousin:



She is in a nursing home and is always cold.



I also knitted her a fluffy little scarf which she's hopefully received by now. It's so nice to knit for people who really need it :) Speaking of which - is it Knit Unto Others Time yet?

Glittens!

Good heavens, I think maybe I have posted every day this week! Extreme work avoidance - great for the blog, yes?

If you like to knit mittens or gloves and are looking for something new, run, don't walk, to Kathy's blog to see her fabulous glittens pattern! Be sure to check out the pictorial, and scroll all the way down to see the gauntlet version. Great job, Kathy! The chihuahua is pretty cute too :)

Knitted Stamps! And Dogs on Thursday

Look at these!!



Don't they just make you want to mail all your handknit gifts?!

And in the DOT department, I give you: "Portrait of Small Dog in Autumn"



"Brrrr! Sure is chilly in here, Mom!"