It's Getting Long!

This is my scarf exchange scarf. It's growing! I spent a lot of time knitting this weekend. I knit on Saturday as we watched the draft. (What? You mean all knitters don't watch the NFL draft? It's required viewing in my house--at least by one person--so I took advantage of the time to knit on the scarf.) I knit on Sunday while watching a movie. Now the scarf looks like this. Actually it's even longer because I took the pictures while there was still daylight then I went in and knit some more. My ball of yarn is now about the size of a golf ball. It should be finished soon! Here's a closeup. I'm loving the yarn and the scarf!
In other knitting-related news, I am reading Crazy Aunt Purl's Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair. It's making me laugh.

Then & Now

My Dogs on Thursday post is just a couple of pictures. That's Lucy and me, last July 28, when we were about to bring her home. She weighed about 12 pounds. She was adorable.



This is Lucy and me in March. She now weighs 75 pounds. She's still adorable. Please excuse the dorky look, windblown hair, and tilting-to-the-left grass. The photographer/boyfriend didn't check for these things before he took the picture.

Lest you think this is turning into a blog of just my dog, I will take knitting photos this weekend and post them on Monday.

Knitting Content

I am liking my scarf exchange project so much that I decided I needed one too. This is the beginnings of it. Again it's Seasilk in a colorway called Popsicle. That's a good summer scarf name. Since I am on a deadline, I have been putting most of my effort into the blue (Seafoam) scarf for my pal. I didn't take a picture because it doesn't look any different from the last one, just longer.

One More

"No, Mom, I don't want to get out."
I should have included this picture in the last post. Lucy has a windblown ear and it looks like she isn't ready for our ride to end.

Lucy -- Topless!

When we first got Lucy at the end of last July, she was a teeny tiny puppy. I had to decide how to transport her around town to the park, vet, etc. I had a Saab convertible and an old pickup truck. My sweet puppy certainly wasn't going to ride around in the back of a pickup! So I got a soft-sided travel crate and pushed the passenger seat back as far as possible and she rode around in the crate in the Saab. That worked for a while. But the crate hung out over the seat and Lucy would sit in the front of the crate and tip. She's be unstable and block my passenger side rearview mirror. So I sold my truck and bought a Jeep Cherokee. Lucy then (and still does) rode around in the cargo area, on her L.L. Bean dog blanket, with lots of toys to chew if she got bored. She is a very good passenger. She loves when the sunroof is open and fresh air rushes in. She points her nose skyward to enjoy it. I thought if she liked that, she'd surely like to have her whole body in the wind. She'd love to ride around in the convertible! But I didn't want her to be tempted to jump out. So I researched and found a dog seat belt called a Batzi Belt. I bought this and a harness to attach it to. I also got a new dog blanket to keep as much hair as possible and her toenails off the leather seats. This past weekend we went for our first ride in the Saab!

Here she is, belted in and ready to go! See her nice new blanket and a toy in case she gets bored with the scenery.

We had such fun cruising through the neighborhood. Lucy really enjoyed the wind in her ears. Look at that puppy smile! I can't wait to do it again!

That's my Dogs on Thursday report.

Update of Stuff

Here's a picture of Lucy that I like. I know a lot of people do Dogs on Thursday and even though I'm not an official member, I thought I might join in once in a while. At least it will make me post once a week. This picture was taken a few weeks ago. I'm not sure who she's giving a kiss to. Yes, that's mud on her hip. She found a mud puddle and laid in it before I could stop her.
I don't have much knitting progress to report. One evening I gathered a bunch of yarn from its hiding places. It was yarn for specific future projects, random pretty yarn from the store or vacation, yarn from swaps...let's just say there was a LOT of it. It nearly filled up a big plastic bin. I do not need to buy more yarn! I feel a bit more organized now.

My scarf exchange scarf had a mistake in it. I got off somehow and ended up with a kink in the pattern. I was a bit discouraged to have to rip back a few inches. It was time-consuming. But that's done and I am back on track again. This picture shows the mistake that I had to fix. I still love this Seasilk and the pattern!

Completely Random Observation

Last night I was watching "Sweeney Todd". When Johnny Depp first went back to his old apartment and his landlady moved the floorboard and handed him his old razors, he was wearing knitted fingerless gloves. I'm not sure if they are the popular style on everyone's blogs, but he had some.

First Sweater (Circa 1988)

For a long time, I've had this sweater sitting on a shelf in my closet. It's way too big, but I keep it because it's the first sweater I ever made.

I learned to knit from a friend's mother. I'd been wanting to learn for a while, but my mom didn't knit nor did anyone I knew. Then in 1986, after my sophomore year in college, I flew to Connecticut to visit a friend then keep him company as he drove back to Colorado for the fall semester. His mom taught me to knit. I don't remember asking her, but I must have, because she taught me. I still have the mitten (one) I made. I learned to knit, but I really didn't for a while. I was in college--there were too many other things to distract me and a lack of money for yarn. But I did buy a lot of knitting magazines. I have an extensive collection of Vogue Knitting from those days. I remember looking at this particular magazine (not Vogue) and loving a lot of the sweaters. I'd look at it during boring parts of my Latin American history class (a "humanities" elective I took my senior year 1988, last semester, at my engineering school). After I graduated and started working, I had a bit of money, some free time, and I was in Houston far away from my family. So I decided to knit myself a sweater.

The pattern is from Simplicity Knitting, Spring/Summer 1988. I think I chose it because it was simple and pretty and basically just two squares, seamed at the sides and top with holes left open for my arms to go through and a hole for my head. I could handle that! I still didn't know anyone who knit so if I had a problem, I was stuck. I taught myself how to do a yarn-over and knit 2 together and slip a stitch and pass slipped stitch over. In the past few years I've read a lot about knitting lace. I think I was doing it in 1988 without realizing it.

Here's a close up of the stitch pattern. It scalloped on its own and that amazed me.

This sweater is 44" in circumference. I am not now, nor was I ever, 44" around. I obviously didn't get the concept of gauge. I wore the sweater, despite it being too big, for a long time. I remember telling myself if I knit it again, I'd make a smaller size. This is me, a few weeks ago, modeling the sweater. When my arms aren't stuck out, you can tell how big the sweater is.

I still like this sweater. It's funny, but as I look at the magazine now, the sweaters that appealed to me then still appeal to me now. Don't take that to mean I am stuck in a fashion rut though!

Scarf in Progress

This is what I'm making for International Scarf Exchange 6. It's the Montego Bay Scarf from Interweave Knits. I've got a ways to go, but I'm liking what I see. It's for a person who lives in a warm climate.