Sunday, November 23, 2008

Week 14: Alpaca Fumes

As an avid reader of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, I am well versed in the hazards wool fumes pose to knitters (heaven knows I've even gone a little crazy in a yarn shop myself once or twice)

I was unprepared, however, to learn that alpaca can have the same effect on dogs.

When I washed my alpaca skirt, Stella was obsessed. She couldn't stop smelling it when it was outside, and when it came in, she even hopped up on my bed to get a whiff.

Mum was not pleased, particularly not when Stella wanted to inspect the next load of (non-wool) laundry in hopes of finding the skirt.

When I had made the skirt, I lengthened the waistband to help it stay up, only to discover that a strand of beading elastic did a better job. This was finally my impetus to snip the extra piece off (no worries, it was knitted separately) and unravel it.


I was intrigued by the sproingyness of unraveled alpaca.


Stella was (and is) intrigued by the finished product.


Specs--
Ollie the Octopus catnip toy (Ridiculous name; Stella's is called Hubert) from The Knitter's Book of Yarn
Less than 1/2 skein Blue Sky Alpaca Sportweight (color unknown), held double
Size 6 dpns
An excellent pattern--my only modification was to make the legs shorter than called for, so there was no danger of Stella choking if she attempted to eat one.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Week 12: Happiness is a Warm Puppy


Sin dudo.

This is Stella, and although happiness is undoubtedly a warm puppy, the little angel has caused a minor derailment of basically everything.

Case in point: those Christmas socks? On hold for an entire weekend because the poor baby needed something to keep her warm outside.



Warm Puppy (or dog) Cape:
Just over 1 skein Lamb's Pride Bulky in Onyx (out of stash--woohoo!)
Size 10 1/2 needles
No pattern
Two vintage buttons out of button tin

I started with a cape because I couldn't imagine getting a dog into a turtleneck, but Stella's such a good girl she'll let us slip the cape over her head with the front tab buttoned. I see a world of knitty possibilities opening up--I just need to resist temptation long enough to finish my classes. And those socks.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Week 11: First

We have a new President. This was the first national election I was able to participate in, and at the end, we have the first African-American President of the United States. How cool is that?

I heard so many complaints about our voting process--"I have to wait how long?" "Why can't I drop my ballot off here?" "What do you mean they're closed?" But c'mon, people. Voting is the crux of democracy. We can make stuff happen by filling out a piece of paper. As one of my coworkers so astutely noted: "And we don't have to worry about anyone shooting at us."

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Week 10: Socktoberfest Spoils



No, it's not a whole sock. Yes, it is 1 of 2.



But it's rawther trellisy, and has nothing whatsoever to do with Mayas or Hohokam, which I appreciate.