Scenes from a Weekend

The Lucky Penny family visits Fontana, Wisconsin. Me, on the screen porch, knitting a sweater for Piccolo, using some Cape Cod Fibers Lobster Pot. The Man, napping in the guest room. Nice room, isn't it? It's a lovely vintage quilt on the little mahogany bed. My mom has great taste in decorating and is a very tidy housekeeper. She is a pro at arranging furniture and accessorizing a room. No formal training, just an innate skill.

I learned some things regarding finding lost pets today. In Cook County, they keep records of what animal hospital rabies tags are sold to. So after checking with the county, the animal hospital can hopefully help you find the owner. I passed this information along to my neighbor. The little dog has a 2006 rabies tag on his collar, and nothing else. I'm getting the impression that she's really enjoying her time with this little dog. I know that she gave him a bath yesterday. The other alternative is the city pound, called Animal Care and Control. They told me that after a 5 to 7 day hold, presumably to give the owner a chance to find him, the dog becomes property of the city, for them to do with as they please. Which sounds kind of scary. My neighbor did not really like this idea very much.

Meeting the Neighbors, Carmen Ave. Style

I'm home, about to mix up some brownies to bake for the Man. Breaking my rule about the summer and not having the oven on. The doorbell rings. Neighbors, who I just met tonight, thinking that the little stray dog they found was mine. This is not the first time a little stray has found a way to my doorstep. Isn't it odd? A male Shih Tzu, with a collar and rabies tag on. No identification to be seen. In the best case scenario, he's microchipped. In the second best case, the neighbors three doors down who found him will find a way to make him part of their family. He's not here because it would be a disaster with Piccolo. I loaned a leash, and gave them some food for him. Now, I've checked web sites, all of the shelters say what to do if you've lost your dog, but not what to do if you find a stray. It appears that the best plan would be to take him to Animal Care and Control, because hopefully that would be the first place the owner looks. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this little one.

I love vintage art with dogs. I made this discovery on Lincoln Ave, when on a walk. That's right. I'm trying to fit in some exercise. Not always successful. This advertisement for margarine must be 80+ years old. It was revealed when the building next to it came down to make way for some new condo construction. Soon it will be hidden again, for who knows how long. It makes me happy that I'm able to enjoy it for a little while.

639 Miles

That's how much I drove this weekend. Saturday night we spent at a beautiful LaQuinta in Madison, one of the nicest places we've stayed in. We never made it as far North as I had hoped, and we liked the hotel so much that we checked in again on Sunday. The main reason I chose it is after Monica's tip that they allow pets in nonsmoking rooms. I am forever grateful to her for it. After dinner on Sunday, we talked about a movie. I didn't want to leave Piccolo alone in the minivan for that long, so we rented a movie in the room. If you haven't seen Little Miss Sunshine yet, the Man and I recommend it. A funny, quirky road trip movie, which was just what we were in the mood for.

The Man wants to go to Las Vegas for a few nights, and I've been searching for a package deal. I'm hoping the price will be a deterrent. I'm not interested in heat or gambling! I wonder, are there any knit shops near the strip?

The work in progress is a lace vest from Louisa Harding's book. I had seen it on Kim's blog, and purchased the book for this design. I'm using Cashmere Canapa, a cotton, cashmere, and hemp blend from Hemp for Knitting. I also have another in the works in AllHemp 6, and a third is planned in a alpaca, merino and silk blend from Briar Rose Fibers.

Boyfriend Socks

Thanks for the kind words about Doggie Knits. I had thought it would be out in time for a milestone birthday, and I could do a combo book launch/birthday thing. My fear is that if I throw something like that, no one would show up. I love that photo I posted, the series with the two dogs, Zoey (the tiny one) and ZeeNa, are my favorites. I'm hoping that the art directors feel the same way and find the cover shot from that series. I'm totally in love with ZeeNa, the chihuahua/Jack Russell mix. Her big, soulful eyes, and the marking on her forehead that's heart shaped just kill me. It's difficult to photograph animals, let me tell you. It helped that we had a lot of them, and I had samples in many sizes. All the pets were found on the streets of San Francisco, or from Craig's List, or a posting I made to Pug Village. Piccolo did not model for the book, due to her general fearful nature, and the logistics of taking her to San Francisco and hiding her in a no pets allowed apartment. The project has been a lot of work, some still in progress as the editing moves forward, but I've learned a lot. I think that the next one, which I want to start working up, will be better.
The socks in progress, now past the gusset since this photo was taken, are Mountain Colors Weavers Wool Quarters, color forgotten. I took the pattern stitch from Knitting Vintage Socks. They're for my friend, and photographer for the book, David.

ISBN 9781402730696

It's really a book, people.

Doggie Knits: Sweaters and Accessories for Your Best Friend

Sterling Publishing

release date: April 1, 2008

Suffocating

The last day of a long week. I must confess that I had a little diversion yesterday, after a lengthy business meeting, because I just needed something creative. This resulted in a two hour drive back to the city, and me seeing Piccolo for about a half hour before I headed out to KIP. I felt horribly guilty about that. I'm sort of buried in work, and not the kind I like. It's back to the suburbs for me today. The Man and I are talking about another road trip this weekend.
I'm loving how this project is working out. These cables have so much movement. It's the cover vest on the Debbie Bliss Rialto book, using the yarn. I'm making a modification to the design, armhole shaping. The original design would have too much fabric in the armpit to suit me. I don't think I'm going to use all the yarn recommended. Cables usually go pretty fast for me. I'm past the armhole shaping in the back now.

Scilla 1953

A swatch of the Scilla design from the collection of Susanna Hanson.

We had so much fun yesterday. I actually felt better after I went for a long walk along the lake. My 70 year old mom just kept going, and the Man and I were asking "how much farther?" I was carrying Piccolo part of the time. Have you ever been so tired that you couldn't fall asleep? That was me last night. I watched the newest Sopranos episode. This season was boring until the last two episodes. At last some really brutal stuff. These characters are all really awful, scary people.
A large package from Sweden with some additions for someone is on its way today. And, in other Scandinavian activities, Piccolo's Norwegian friend, Geisha, is a mommy! Piccolo can only have dog friends that live 5000 miles away.

Twisting in the Wind

I can tell that I'm going to be glad when Memorial Day weekend rolls around. I have some extra assignments at work until July, and already it's kicking me in the hiney. I'm aching to do something creative. It feels like I'm stalled on lots of works in progress, and I'm itching to start some new stuff. I'm still behind on photos of my works in progress. This photo doesn't show Piccolo sporting her new hair look. The medication for the yeast infection made her ears incredibly greasy, so the hair on her ears was cut short. She looks like a puppy now.
I don't know what the deal is with my knees. I banged into a desk at work, so the right is bruised, but they both ache and it feels like I have a charley horse in the back of both. So, I'm kind of irritable right now.
I think a lot of people I know went downtown tonight for the Looptopia event. Too much humanity for me, and the project the Guild was promoting (a boa!) just sounds silly. It would also be too much exposure to an obnoxious personality that I've been avoiding.
I'm happy to have the two next days with no real plans. The Man is talking about Wisconsin this weekend, probably Fontana, and I'm up for that.
Next week is going to be a lot of distance driving for work. Not looking forward to it.

Succumbed

I've mentioned before that I'm not doing any classes at Stitches Midwest this year. In my mind, I'm getting a lot of mileage out of it in terms of using it to justify other purchases. I had been thinking about Bohus knitting for the last month. After seeing Miss Sweetfigs picture rich posts about our weekend in April, I caved in and ordered two sweater kits. It may take me some time to get to knitting them. Once knitting, it will take a long time to finish on those size 00 needles. Hopefully the result will be worth it. One of the reasons I got two kits now is that the lady who dyes the yarn is the only one who does it, and when she stops, then it all goes away. One kit is for the jacket version of the sweater in the center, the Large Lace Collar. The entire front of the jacket is that color pattern, and on the black background, it really does look like a lace overlay. I have some other Bohus knitting in mind, but I have to some research to see if I can use some of the color work in the way I have planned.

The Alternative Boyfriend

The thing that's missing in my relationship for the Man is the knitting. I've mentioned this before. He just doesn't get it. The sweater I made for him ten years ago only gets worn on the rare holiday. I knit him socks five years ago that have never been worn. They're grey, baby Ull, and are ribbed to fit perfectly. He says he doesn't want to wear them out. I've told him that he should wear them out, and then I can make him more. I want him to experience Hand Knit Socks. Isn't it true that there's nothing else that feels as good knitwear-wise? I can only hope that the dog sweaters fit so good. My feet are happy in wool. I don't understand why wool gets retired in summer, because I've found that my feet don't sweat in wool. I just wanted to impart happy feet to the Man. So, to satisfy my lust to knit for man, I've chosen my alternative boyfriend, seen here in front of his building, in my second adopted home town/state (now behind Wisconsin). I'm making him socks that are making me swoon, they're so nice, using my beloved Mountain Colors Weavers Wool, and a stitch pattern culled from Knitting Vintage Socks. My alternative boyfriend will love the colors (he's not afraid of color), and I'm sure will carefully hand wash these socks, because he's like that. He's been having some rough times lately, and I want to send some knitted love his way. Fortunately for me, he wears the same size shoe as the Man, so I can use the Man's neglected socks as the template. I'll bet you can't wait to see the pictures.

So, I totally miscalculated writing the line art captions. Multiple steps for 40+ techniques. I'm more than half way through, so hopefully tomorrow can send them off.

Alternative Sheep and Wool Festival 2007

Let's take another look at the flock, along with the herding Pekingese. This is a portion of my collection of vintage mohair animals from Steiff. Maybe this is the year I make it to one of the big festivals. I don't consider Michigan to be very big, and my time there is usually limited because of the Man's short attention span, and how we always forget about the change in time zones. But, my KIP group is formulating a plan for Rhinebeck this fall. I need to devise a painless plan to save my pennies. I guess this will make up for not really doing much at Stitches Midwest this year.

The Mafia presented a great show, that no one came to. The space was really nice, but the location, rather questionable. I think the date was an issue as well. We're having a post-mortem on Thursday evening. I sold a few pieces out of my personal stash, and pretty much socialized and laughed my head off with the other members. I gotta say, that is one delightful group.

I have to get a few revisions done for the technique section of the book done tonight. True to form, I've procrastinated. I only hope that the editors pay as much attention to the designs as they have to this one chapter. Truly, I didn't anticipate that someone would learn to knit using the Doggie Knits book.

Here's a progress report on what's on the needles for my wardrobe:

Central Park Hoodie: 20%. The back is finished.

Cabled Cardigan: 80% knit. I'm almost done with the second sleeve, and have the yoke left to knit.

Lace vest: Pictures to follow. In Hemp for Knitting Cashmere Canapa. 50% done. Design is from Louisa Harding's book. It's the only design I really wanted to make from this $30 book.

Catronia vest from Debbie Bliss' Rialto book. 10% done. I cast on this weekend.

At her last grooming, Sandy suggested that I have my vet examine Piccolo's ears, as she suspected that there had been some scratching going on. Before we left for Wisconsin, I noticed that her left ear was kind of red and inflamed. So, it turns out that Piccolo has a yeast infection in both her ears. I'm now treating it with some medicated drops. Piccolo is not cooperative with this, and her ears look pretty greasy. I'm a crummy dog mom for letting things go on as long as I did. Moving forward, I'm going to clean her ears out on a regular basis.

Cinco de Mayo!

Before you go for that margarita, don't forget the crafts extravaganza!

Chicago Craft Mafia presents: Spring Loaded at the Galaxie, 2603 W. Rockwell, 11 am- 5pm.

At the show, along with dog gear, the Lucky Penny studio is having a stash sale, quality yarns, really cheap!

Sale yarn includes Cherry Tree Hill, Phildar Onde, and other lovely surprises. Cash and checks only for yarn, please.

Being Made

A few months ago, I was invited to join the Chicago Craft Mafia. I had participated in a really well done show that they put together two summers ago. I feel truly honored to be in such good company. Everyone has so much talent, and integrity. They really think I fit in? My bio and link to Lucky Penny has been added to their site. It's testimony to why there's no photos of me up on this blog. Seriously, it's as bad as my passport photo, which I've only allowed myself to look at twice since I got it in 1998. There's a reason people pay for lighting and make up. Nothing against the photographer in this case--I'm just plain not photogenic. So, please, imagine the face of Isabella Rosselini in my place. She's about my age, and I wish I looked like her.

This Saturday, May 5, we're doing a show at the Galaxie, 2603 W. Barry, Chicago, from 11 am-5pm. It's my first event as a "made" member of the familia. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Rainbow House, a local charity, to honor the upcoming Mother's Day holiday.