Click! Snap! Tote!

A little something I ordered came in the mail today.

I’d been wanting to get one of these for a while – a soft sided case for my Addi Click interchangeable needles. The original set came in something that looked like it should hold my grandmother’s silver service. It was a big hard box with slots for all the needles. It looked nice, but it wasn’t very practical. Mine lived on the shelf below a coffee table near the chair where I do most of my knitting.

This soft-sided case is great. It holds all the needle tips and cords that I have just fine. It snaps closed and folds up much smaller than I would have thought. I practiced wagging it around under my arm like my grandmother used to do with all of her handle-less and strap-less handbags. She did this even when she used a walker, which bothered me to no end. But I’ll probably just end up carrying it around in my knitting bag.

As purchasers of the original set may be aware, they didn’t come with size 5 tips. So I ordered a set while I was at it. The first two or three projects I made after getting the Clicks required size 5 needles. Now that I have some, I probably won’t need them. But it’s nice to know they’re there.

Larkin Baby Blanket

Last night I finished all but the 15-stitch garter stitch graft to join the two ends of the border, and this morning, I spent way too much time grafting and weaving in the ends. The whole thing is blocking on our spare bed and will be ready to hand off to the wee one soon.

About that grafting. I’d never done garter grafting before. It’s actually easier than stockinette grafting. Rather than having to switch which stitch you do for the dropped of stitch as you work back and forth, you always knit and drop, then purl and keep – for both sides. Easy, right? Unless you’re me. After looking at several explanations of whether you should see purl or knit stitches on the two needles before getting stared, I must have started the grafting four times. Turns out the instructions in the pattern were accurate! Imagine that? When in doubt – trust the designer. It wasn’t that I doubted you, Snowden – it was more like I second-guessed myself. This trait (among other things) is what would make me such a bad contestant on The Amazing Race.

I’m quite pleased with how this turned out. As I’d mentioned earlier, I didn’t have a lot of experience with lace knitting. It was great to see how what kind of looked lumpy and misshapen turned out so orderly and symmetrical after a good soaking. This is getting me excited about my upcoming Franklin Habit class.

Beautiful design, Snowden! When Jeff asked me to knit a baby blanket for his department’s administrative assistant’s new granddaughter, I though of this right away. It was inspiring to see the examples that both Snowden and Abbe knitted. I’m so fortunate to be surrounded  by such talented knitters and designers!

If and when I get a picture of the little one snuggled up in this, I’ll be sure to share.

Knitting Everywhere

Today was an awesomely knitterly day. I started the morning by getting the dogs walked and then riding my bike downtown. The men’s chorus I sing with was in charge of the national anthem at Austin’s first ever Pride Run 5K. It’s not often that I cover 5 miles of walking and running before 9:30am on a Saturday. And because it’s so humid these days, I probably did a little swimming as well – so let’s just say I did a mini-triathlon.
  Then I headed off to meet some fellow knitters for Saturday morning knitting. Which, as usual, was awesome. We celebrated the penultimate spring birthday in the group and did our usual knitting, chatting and chowing down. But today, we had basenjis !
We met at Staci’s house. Staci is the wonderful person who fostered our Pona during his convalescence before we adopted him. All three of his foster brothers were there – Ike, Abe and Tippy. Tippy was a little eager to partake of the donuts, so we all took turns keeping him occupied. I love how he’s perfectly happy to sit in laps – very different from our dogs. Stephanie took several cute pictures of the dogs, too.
Staci was also downsizing her knitting book collection and I got a couple of titles at bargain basement prices! I managed to snag Meg Swansen’s Knitting: 30 Designs for Hand Knitting. It has a lot of great Fair Isle patterns and a nice men’s cardigan I’d like to try. I also got  The Best of Interweave Knits: Our Favorite Designs From the First Ten Years. I have my eye on a nice fair isle sweater pattern in it, too.
After I was all caffeinated and full of carbs, I headed over to take a gander at  the new digs for my LYS, The Knitting Nest. They’ve moved only a short distance away, but it’s a larger space with better natural light. It’s also easier to get to traffic-wise, and it has a roomier parking lot. I’m looking forward to much shopping and knitting here. While I was there, I signed up for Franklin Habit’s class on knitted lace edgings which will be held on Saturday, June 19th. Just two weeks away!
And now, to see if I can finish up the knitting on that baby blanket today…

Ooh, Baby Baby

I hear all kind of stories from knitters about babies not arriving until the knitted projects created for their impending arrival have been completed. But the future recipient of this gift couldn't wait.

Jeff got word that she arrived early last week. However, knowing that she is here has really goaded me into knuckling down and finishing. It's gone much faster than I thought it would -- hard to believe I've only been working on this for 9 days. Granted, they've been vacation days -- but still...

I'm using a larger yarn and needles than called for in the pattern, but I bought the same length of yarn. I should have bought a ball more, because it became apparent as I progressed that I might run out of yarn. I decided to stop short of the total number of repeats called for in the pattern. With blocking, I should end up with the dimensions (32"x32") called for, so it's all good. I started knitting on the edging Thursday evening, and I've already made great progress. I don't know that I'll have it finished before heading back to work on Tuesday, but if not, it should be done soon after.

Please pardon the yucky colors for this picture. Blame it on indoor iPhone photography.

Knitting on the Road

I thought I was all prepared, knittingwise, for my trip to the in-laws' in north Texas this week. I stopped by my LYS to get some dpns that I thought I'd need for putting the edging on the baby blanket before I left town. But somewhere in my muddled brain, I think I interpreted the 6 inch length of the needles on the packaging to mean "size 6 needles." After getting up here, I could clearly see that I had bought a bunch of size 5 needles. Oh, well, I can always use them later, right?

Plus, I now had a legitimate excuse to make a 70 mile round trip to a yarn shop. I'm sure you'll all understand. I went to Jennings Street Yarns, near downtown Fort Worth, housed in an old dry goods store, complete with the original (and peeling) stamped tin ceiling.

I zoomed on in some size 6 dpns pretty fast -- 7.5", but size 6! -- and then did some shopping. This shop arranges a lot of its yarn by color, rather than by fiber or weight. As a librarian, I find this confusing organizationally; it's the equivalent of shelving all the yellow books together, which, although it's been done, isn't as useful to someone like me who is more goal-oriented than serendipitous in his shopping habits. The effect here was beautiful, though. Don't think I didn't gasp in amazement and longing at the shelves of green, brown and gray yarn all together with similar shades. It was a cool thing to see. Somehow, I was able to resist temptation and stuck to my dpns.

This shop had more pattern booklets out on display than I think I've seen anywhere else. The staff was friendly and helpful, gave me some ideas, and were not at all weirded out by the unshaven hulk shuffling around their store. I'll be sure to stop in again the next time I'm in Fort Worth.

Oh -- and a quick update on the Men's Argyle Socks -- they're now Women's Argyle Socks. Or rather, a particular woman's argyle socks. I finally had to own up to the fact that these were just too snug for me and not likely to see much wear. While in Houston last weekend, my friend Shelly was admiring these, so I had her try them on. Shelly's mom is a knitter so she knows from handknit socks. They fit like a charm and they're now hers. I'm glad they're going to get used and I'm glad they're being appreciated by such a good friend.

And Now for Something Completely Different

 

Some time ago, Jeff mentioned that the administrative assistant for his department was about to become a grandmother for the first time. This happened to coincide with the creation of a lovely baby blanket design by my friend Snowden. Having finally put the argyle socks to rest, I can now take advantage of these two events and merge them together in what’s shaping up to be a very satisfying knitting experience.

I don’t have a whole lot of experience knitting lace. I’ve done a pair of socks, and I took a beginning lace knitting class from Franklin Habit when he was in Austin a year or so ago. He’ll be back teaching a class called Lace Edgings: Before, During and After at my LYS next month. I’m seriously thinking of taking it, although I haven’t done much homework between the two. But who can pass up something like that?

In the meantime, I’m enjoying this project. To paraphrase Freddie Mercury – bad mistakes? I’ve made a few. Luckily, they were early on and the worst I’ve had to do is tink back three or four rounds. Now I’m reading the pattern better and it’s easier to see where all the leaves fit into each other. I love the rhythm of this kind of knitting.

I am changing things up a little – I’m using a superwash light worsted (Cascade 220 Superwash in Lime Sherbet) rather than the cotton blend called for in the pattern. And I’m knitting on the smallest needle size recommended on the ball band rather than the size called for. But it’s just going to be a big square right? Thanks to Stacy for pointing out this color to me – I think it’s going to be perfect for the little one – even if it’s a bit bright for me!

Addendum 5/22/10. I can’t believe I didn’t mention what this project is! I’d made a note on the pictures at Flickr, but neglected to say anything here. This is the beautiful Larkin Baby Blanket designed by my good friend and fellow librarian, Snowden Becker. I believe Janna is working on one of these, too. Thanks, Suzy, for pointing out this omission!

Argyles Complete

This morning, I completed the second of the pair of Argyle socks. I’ve been working on this pair for six long weeks, and I pretty much did 3/4 of the work in the past four days. So any of my projects seem to end up that way – at some point I reach a “this is it” moment and all I want to do is just get it over with.

That makes it sound like I wasn’t pleased with this project. Overall, I was. But I found I was dependent on the pattern instructions throughout the whole process – constantly consulting them wore me down. Then there was the bobbin issue. For the cuff, this  involved 9 separate live knitting yarns to keep up with. Also exhausting. The gray background color needed to be carried through the whole sock, so it wasn’t in bobbins. I tried to use rubber bands to manage them, but it seemed like every time I picked this project, I spent the first half hour just untangling everything.

On the other hand, it was kind of mathematically soothing to watch the lines and angles growing and shrinking, moving back and forth across the fabric. Overall, argyle is not that complicated a concept – but you do have to pay attention. There were several times I had to tink back a row or tow after finding a mistake. And I could never quite figure out how to avoid holes at the tops and bottoms of the colored diamonds where typically several new strands of yarn were introduced. I just decided to handle it while weaving in the ends, which I was more or less able to do. These are still a bit snug. I’m going to block them later – but I’ve got months and months to go before I’ll actually want to wear these.

For now, I’m pleased that they’re finished, mostly happy with the result, and ready to tackle some more projects. Some of my knitting friends have been laughing about pregnancy being contagious since there were so many fecund friends and relatives were making announcements about soon-to-arrive bundles of joy. And then Jeff’s mom called with news about his cousin. Time to peruse the patterns…

Progress

The past week was very busy with the usual end-of-the-semester madness coupled with intense evening rehearsals for a men's chorus performance on Saturday. But that is all behind me now, and I can concentrate on these argyle socks.

Not much to report -- just wanted to show that I'm getting something done. I'm having trouble concentrating -- my mind keeps wandering to potential new projects -- but these past few days I've hunkered down with a stream of unwatched PBS documentaries on the DVR and got to work. So while I learned about The Doors, the origins of Earth Day, and the My Lai Massacre, I got the cuff of the second sock done. The fun never stops around here.

Now I'm facing many fewer bobbins and a simplified pattern -- hope to have these done shortly!

Still Knitting

Just checking in to keep the blog alive and let you know I'm also still among the knitting.

I just haven't done much knitting in the past several week, so I don't have much to post about. I did manage to start the second sock last week, but didn't even touch it during an out-of-town trip last weekend. When I met my fellow knitters this morning it was the first time I'd picked up my needles in well over a week. But now that I'm getting back into the patterning, it's coming back to me quickly.

Not to worry -- knitting is still a big passion. It's just taken a temporary dip while I work through end-of-the-semester craziness. I've got some free time coming up soon and I'm hoping to jump-start into some new projects. Please stay tuned!

But in the meantime, the Argyle socks endure.

Be-gyled Again

I'm feeling so much better about these socks. Because the first one is finished -- mostly.

I was in a funk about these all week. I decided that, to determine whether these would really fit, I should seam it up to the point I'd knit so far and try them on. Because I knew I'd need all the circumference I could get and didn't want a thick seam, I tried seaming along the middle of the selvage edge. Tricky, under the best circumstances -- darn near impossible on such tiny (and sometimes quite dark) stitches. So there was that. Then, I had to get the triangles and cross hatches to match up along the seam. So there was also that. And then I tried it on.

A bit snug! This morning, with the encouragement and support of my fellow knitters, I went ahead and did the side seams and decided that, while snug (about as snug as the patent stitch socks I made recently), they would still work -- especially after a little hard-core blocking. When doing the side seams, I didn't pay attention to making them end on the same row along the sole. I'd overshot the sole a bit thinking I could rip back, but because I had room, I ended up with one seam taking up more of the sole than the other. So I ripped that one back. I still may have been a few rows off, but I finally got it back in the round and finished off the toes this afternoon.

Ye of weak stomach might not want to look at the second photo in this post. Yes -- those are just some of the ends that must be woven in. Some have already been done and some are hidden on the other side of the sock. This could take some time.

I'm back in the swing of things with these, though, and hope that all I've learned on this sock will make the second one fly by. I do know that I need to count the sole rows ahead of time, and then I need to divide the gray better this time around. I also know exactly how long to cut the yarn for the bobbins for the color parts, too.

I've really had a mood swing on this project. I was down in the dumps about it just a few days ago, but now I believe diamonds are a boy's best friend.

Puke of Argyll

Wikipedia, which never lies, tells me that the argyle pattern is derived from the tartan of Clan Campbell of the Argyll region of Scotland. Now, one of my 5th great grandparents was a certain Mary Campbell, who lived from 1783 to 1873. So one would think I would have at least a trace of a genetic affinity for this pattern, it being a remote part of my heritage and all. But we all have 128 5th great-grandparents, so it appears the strain has been watered own a bit.

I was so looking forward to getting back to these socks after putting them on hiatus for the past month or so, but as soon as I picked them up again, I started having problems. I miscalculated the lengths of yarn I needed for bobbins. I dropped stitches. I crossed the wrong strands. I had to stop for hours while untangling unruly yarn. I somehow added a stitch at one point. I just can't seem to get back into the swing with these things. I'm also a bit worried that I might be running out of gray yarn. If that's the case, I can always make the toes a solid color (either the navy or burgundy), but I'd like to use the gray.

I'm not giving up on this project by any means -- I just wish it would flow more smoothly. This sock does a lot of things differently from normal socks, and I suppose much of my frustration comes from the feeling of doing something for the first time. I need to remember that these aren't ordinary socks, and let go of the assumptions and habits that I've gotten used to in my sock knitting. That's one of the points of trying something new, isn't it?

It could be that my Campbell-ness is just too watered down for me to take to argyle naturally.I suppose I could contact Torquhil Campbell, the current (and 13th) Duke of Argyll to see if he has any tips. But Wikipedia also tells me he is the captain of Scotland's national elephant polo team (!), so perhaps he's best left alone...

Night Gulls

I haven't posted in over three weeks because I've been on a secret mission. But now the cat (or the sea bird, rather) is out of the bag, and all can be revealed.

Behold, a new sock pattern -- Night Gulls -- created by my good friend, fellow librarian, and fellow knitter, Janelle. Aren't they cool? And Janelle chose me to test knit the large size. So much responsibility! But Janelle was thorough and kind and carefully considered all suggestions. I was a little nervous about it -- not knowing whether I would be able to be objective about a friend's pattern, wondering whether I would be able to be thorough (I tend to gloss over some parts of patterns) -- but the whole process was fun. A lot of hard work (especially on Janelle's part!), but extremely rewarding.

As Janelle mentions in her pattern notes, the socks have a kind of sampler feel. The top has a slipped gull stitch pattern that leaves the effect of a flock of seagulls (no, not that kind), and after a garter ridge divider section, a diagonal rib stitch that brings to mind rolling waves. So if your interest is piqued, check it out. If you do decide to do this, I can highly recommend using Dream in Color Smooshy. It was awesome to knit with.

I should say that I haven't spent the entire preceding month working on just this project, although it is the only knitting I've managed to accomplish. The weather here has warmed up considerably and our poor yard, much neglected after a couple years of intense drought, needed some attention. So weeds have been pulled, plants added, bamboo eradicated (as much as one can -- sigh), and ibuprofen ingested. All of this pulled me away from knitting and I didn't get to spend as much time at the needles as I would have liked. But the yard's under control, the Night Gulls have flown, and now I need to get back to those Men's Argyle Socks -- if I can even remember how to do them anymore.

More posts soon -- I promise.

Arggggh!(yle)

I made some progress on the Argyle Socks while at the in-laws' earlier this week. The days were filled with many activities (musical theater, family reunions, museum exhibitions), so I didn't get as much done as I would have liked. And, I ran into problems.

I've found that the bobbins don't always naturally drape on the side that you want them to. Especially the ones at the opposite end of the needle from where I'm working. Several times, the bobbins have fallen on the wrong side and caused quite a bit of confusion. I managed to figure it out when it happens -- every time but once. And oh, that one time.

I got to the end of a row and found that the bobbin had flopped over to the other side and I had just blithely knit past it. So I had a strange navy loop that ran from the front of the sock, around the selvage edge, and then to the back. I had done this about ten rows back. You would think a mistake would be easy to see, but with all the bobbins bouncing around, it must not have registered. I had two choices -- tink back much of a day's work, or pull the needle out and rip back.

Naturally, I thought the former would be best, but after the first row it was driving me nuts. So, I went with plan B. I got all spread out on the kitchen table (the knitting I mean, not me) pulled the needle out, and then just methodically frogged, color by color, untwisting at the color changes as I went. It was very unnerving, but it worked. I even managed to get all 70 stitches back on the needles in the right combination. I sweated bullets, but I had the whole thing done in half an hour.

As you can see from these pictures, the construction is kind of weird in order to accommodate the intarsia. It's knit flat to the heel, and then joined for the heel, with the gusset decreases being knit on either side, also flat. The sole is knit out to where the toes start, and then the patterned instep will be knit, with the seams on either side of the foot. Then everything will be joined in the round at the end for the toe decreases. As if there weren't enough ends to weave in already.

But the Argyle Socks may be delayed a bit as I've taken on a semi-secret project. A dear knitter friend is entering a contest, and has asked me to knit one of the samples in a man-size. I don't want to let the cat out of the bag until she's had a chance to blog about it, but I do have her permission to post pictures. I've only barely gotten started, but here's what's happened so far. I think this is going to be wonderful, and I can't wait to see it develop. More pictures as I make progress.

in-ˈtär-ʒə

Clearly the editors at the Merriam-Webster Dictionary online are not knitters. Check out their pronunciation of "intarsia." You can click on the little speaker symbol to hear it. Weird, huh? Or is this the way it should be pronounced? I've never heard it like that.

I had my partner the speech professor correct it to the way I pronounce it. Now that I can say it, let's hope that I can do it. Because I've launched into the argyle socks that I've been planning.

The electric blue is out altogether after consulting with some fellow knitters. I was convinced that yellow was the way to go. And despite my aversion to wearing the brightest of bright colors, my fellow knitters were right. This was definitely the color to use. It really pops, but not in an obnoxious way. The yellow is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Sunflower, which is noticeably thicker than the Lang Jawoll Superwash that I'm using for the other colors. I think the cross-hatching lines would be neater and tidier if they were of a similar size, but it's not too bad.

I've done only one other intarsia project in my relatively short knitterly life, and that was with thicker yarn -- and many, many fewer color blocks. I wasn't really planning on using bobbins -- I thought that I could get by with just making some little butterflies at the back. But now that I have the bobbins, I'm very grateful for them.

And this is how this particular sausage is made. Terrifying, no? Because there are parts of five solid diamonds being worked at any time, and there are four yellow one-stitch-wide lines traveling across the fabric, this piece requires 9 bobbins across only 70 stitches. It's a lot to keep up with. I'm really only using 7 bobbins, though. Since the gray yarn doesn't have to be broken, I'm trying to just knit those two sections off the ball of yarn. Believe me, there will be plenty of ends to weave in without them.

I know this looks scary, but it's actually kind of fun. The most difficult thing about the process is remembering to twist the yarn when switching colors. It doesn't help that twisting looks different on the two edges of a color block. But it's really not all that complicated. You only ever have one strand in your hand at a time, and you don't have to be nearly as conscious of tension issues (not to mention carrying floats) as is required in stranded knitting.

So far, so good. Spring break is coming up, so I hope to have some time to devote to this.

For Me?

Someone knit something -- for me!

And that someone is my super-talented knitting designer friend, Snowden Becker. When Snowden is trying out new design, she often uses some of her fellow knitters as models/guinea pigs. I was lucky enough to be the recipient of her first design for men. It was inspired by vest worn by Jon Hamm in a GQ magazine photo spread some time back. She assured me that I would like just like him when I wore it. I'm not going to hold her to that promise.

Like all of Snowden's designs, this one is full of all kinds of neat little details, from the herringbone pattern that gives the entire thing a woven look, to the functional pockets with i-cord trim. The small rolled collar is a nice touch, too. I'm amazed that she was able to take a few quick measurements and then just whip this up. For me to try something like this for someone else, I'd be sleeping at their house, waking them up every hour to try something on, then ripping back....just ask Pona.

If it looks a little wrinkly, it's because I've barely taken it off since she presented me with it Saturday morning. I wore it to an event last night where I received many compliments, even though I had some competition in the stylish clothing department.

I just can't say enough nice things about this well-crafted design and this thoughtful gift. I'm grateful to be able to learn and bounce ideas off of talented knitters like Snowden. Her designs are really taking off, and she deserves all the attention she's garnered. I promise to take good care of this. I imagine this vest is going to be on a table in the front of a class someday, with awe-struck students fingering it gently, and whispering to each other, "This is the very first one."

Thanks, Snowden!

Patently Snug

patent stitch socks, started on a snowy Christmas eve, are finally finished. These shouldn't have taken so long, but they were my backup project and I ended up only working on them on Saturdays when meeting with other knitters. Last weekend I hunkered down to get them finished. This week I've managed to forget to take pictures of them while there was still daylight until today. Here they are!

This is a fun technique which I can highly recommend. Like a lot of new knitting methods, it takes a little getting used to. If you'd like to try it, take a class from Merike Saarniit if you have a chance. A friend of mine who took a class from her recently mentioned that she is going to have a book about patent stitches coming out soon. Can't wait!

These turned out better than I thought they would. They look very different off my feet than on -- the ribbing really stretches out, revealing a cool pattern that you don't see when the socks are lying flat. While I like the effect, it's doubtlessly enhanced by the fact that these are a bit snug. I would either knit this up needle size next time (these were done on size 0 needles), or maybe up the number of circumference stitches. If you've been following along at home, I cast on 2/3 of the normal 72 stitches (48) that I usually start with, because the first time I started these they were enormously wide. I think I got closer, but next time I might shoot for 3/5 of the stitches or something a little bigger. I can still get them on, but they are snug. And you can see that the ribbing pulls further down the heel than it probably should.

Next up -- more sock. I may have mentioned this earlier, but I've got the urge to try my hand at argyle socks. I've wanted to do an argyle pattern and try some intarsia knitting which I haven't done in a while. Rather than do a sweater or vest (which I'd like to tackle sometime), I thought starting with socks would be better. Since intarsia virtually impossible to knit in the round, these socks will be knit flat with a seam down the back and, yes, down the middle of the heel and sole. Should be interesting.

I ordered some yarn from the Simply Socks Yarn Co. this week that I thought might work. It arrived today. The gray, which I was pleasantly surprised to see is heathered, is the main color. My original plan was for the navy and the blue to be the two other diamond colors, with the burgundy as the cross-hatching color. But that was before I saw how electric the blue is. Now I'm thinking of using the navy and the burgundy as the diamond colors and the electric blue as the cross-hatch. Or maybe I should just ditch the idea of the electric blue altogether and see if I can find a white, pale yellow or tan that will work? Please readers -- advise me!

I'm going to start swatching this weekend. The pattern I will be using is the Men's Argyle Socks pattern in Retro Knits, based on an old Bernat pattern from 1945.

Not a Slave to Fashion

So here is the result of round two.

I had plenty of yarn to just re-knit this, without having to unravel the shreds of the first sweater -- those shreds that didn't end up passing through Pona's digestive system, that is. I think he looks quite proud of it in this picture.

I really veered off the road with the pattern this second time around. Rather than the clever horizontal armholes that Staci originally wrote, I decided to steek a couple of vertical armholes. I crochet them before cutting (I have zero sewing skills) and then added an applied I-cord. The I-cord doesn't really stand out -- it just adds a nice sturdy edging to the armholes that stands out only ever-so-slightly. It doesn't pull on the front of his legs nearly so much as the first version did.

The other major change I made was to move the mono-raglan decreases to the center of the back. Since the armhole steeks were running vertically over 20-something rows only 16 stitches apart, I didn't think there would be room to run the decreases down the center of the chest between the armholes. So I moved the decreases to the center of the back. This did result in a very slight bump where this started, but it worked.

Now, if only he liked it.

We went on a walk this evening after work and not too far into it Pona started hanging back on his leash, which is very unlike him. He kept hunching over. I don't know if the back of the sweater reaching all the way back to the end of his tail bothered him, or if the ribbing where the sweater as switched to working in the round was chafing him. I do know that when we took it off of him, he pranced around like his normal self. That's gratitude for you.

Unlike humans, I don't think dogs should suffer for fashion. I won't make him wear it if he doesn't want to, even if he does look cute in it and it would keep his bony body from shaking during chilly walks. On the upside, I practiced some cool techniques and figured out how to alter a design on my own. And those are good things.

Pona's Second Sweater

I suppose if Nina Garcia ever needed a night off on Project Runway, Pona could fill in for this often-blunt critic of fashion. Pona know what he likes, and as far as his new sweater goes, he chewed it up and spit it out. Literally.

It was my own fault. After taking it off of him one evening, I left it on the piano bench and sometime the next morning he plucked it off and gnawed on the collar a bit. Not a big deal at that point -- I had been planning to re-do the chain bindoff with a sewn bindoff anyway since it was a bit difficult getting it over his head. Later in the week, though, it got moved off the relatively safe dining room table and was once again within fang's reach. This time, the damage was a bit worse.

Again, though, I'm going to try and make lemonade. Because of the way Pona's front legs lie, I think rather than doing armholes that run horizontally across the front of the sweater, I'm going to try to steek some vertical armholes. I think this will keep the sweater from pulling down in the front, which was a bit of a problem before. And rather than ribbed "sleeves," I'm thinking of applied I-cord piping. I've discussed this with the designer, and she approves. As you can see, I've made a start on Son of Dog Sweater this afternoon. It should go quickly. And luckily, I've got the yarn to make another one, with only a little cannibalization from the old one.

Today is a gorgeous day for outdoor knitting. In contrast to yesterday's cool fogginess and drizzliness, today dawned clear and warm after some overnight showers. It's 76-degrees out there and I'm determined to enjoy it while I can. It's supposed to be freezing again within a few days. Maybe the second iteration of Pona's sweater will be ready again when the chillier weather returns. And maybe I'll do a better job of keeping it away from his mouth when he's not wearing it.

Sweater Boy

I finished Pona's sweater last night. I'm quite pleased! Pona is too, after a fashion.

After a couple of false starts, this turned out well. First of all, I cast on too many stitches at the beginning. Staci advised scaling the cast-on number back a bit, and she was right. I did 30 instead of 50. I probably could have gotten away with 25. Instead of increasing to 100 stitches around, I increased to 76. I wanted a snug fit. It's perhaps a bit too snug -- a bit difficult to get on, but luckily, Pona is quite patient with being manhandled. Next time I might go out to 86 or so.

I'm also considering doing piping (applied I-cord?) around the armholes rather than knitting short sleeves. Pona's shoulders "catch" a bit on the edge of the sleeves. This made him walk a bit funny at first, but he soon adjusted. They look really nice, though. I've explained to Pona that sometimes we have to make sacrifices for fashion. I'm not sure he understood.

These pictures were taken this morning when it was quite chilly out. By the time we got our act together to go out on a nice long walk, it had already warmed up to 65 degrees. So the sweater is off for now. I'd like to make a girlier version for Kate (I'm imagining something more low-cut in front!) but this warm weather sure isn't very inspiring.

Not sure where I'm going to go next, knitting-wise. I've got a pair of socks to finish up, and I've always got that piano cushion that's been lingering in the background for a couple of years. Lately, I've had the hankering to try my hand at something Argyle-ish, perhaps a sweater vest, or maybe even a pair of socks. Something with multiple colors. Who knows?

For today I think I'll catch up on weeding (for you librarians out there, I'm talking about the kind that takes place in the garden, not the stacks!) and podcasts -- and watching our dogs stalk whatever it is that's driving them crazy in our bay laurel tree.

Pona's First Sweater

In my last post I mentioned getting a book about knitting for one's dog. But before I delve into that, I'm going to make Pona a sweater using a totally different pattern.

My good friend and knitting designer wiz Staci fostered Pona for five long months after he was brought in to the BRAT breed rescue organization. She saw him through many surgeries and treatments, and he spent a long time bonding with her three dogs. She recently designed and knit a sweater for the eldest and alpha of her pack, Ike. And, wonderful person that she is, she posted this pattern for free at Ravelry. So I'm going to take crack at it. How often do I get to knit a breed-specific pattern by a knitter that I know personally and who has a strong connection to one of the critters living in my house?

Pona is a bit smaller than Ike (and most other adult male basenjis, I would imagine), so I had to do a bit of measuring -- with Jeff's help. While Ike is 22 inches around the chest, Pona packs a much punier 19. So instead of increasing to 100 stitches from the cast-on 50, I only increased to 86. I'm already at the point where I start knitting in the round. If I'd gotten an earlier start, I might have even finished this today.

I'm using leftover Knit Picks Swish Bulky superwash from the Whitfield Jacket I made in the fall. I figure it should be easy to maintain. But I'm knitting it on size 8 needles instead of the size 10-11 that the label calls for, so this should be pretty dense and snug. Lord knows this skinny dog could use the help on chilly walks. As you can see in the photo, Kate's a little more interested than Pona is. I suppose she'll need one too...