Pit a Pat

So many things happening that have had my heart racing...London with Number One Son, new adventures with Hudson...and now, after almost 8 months, we're finally headed back to the cottage!

I've been working on posts about much of it but they've been so meaty they're taking forever.

Next week will be short and once again jammed with fun stuff. Nonetheless I'm hoping to hit the "publish" button on something.

In the meantime...this...

Which had my heart pounding the second I saw it.... evidence of Hudson paying full attention in a competition ring! (And the hundred other shots of the run show him maintaining that focus for most of it!)

Literally, years of effort paying off, all summed up in one photo!

"Pit A Pat" indeed!

And this why I need a dog...

The FO's of recent months have led to piles of patterns, receipts, remnants, labels and valuable project notes cluttering up my space and my brian.

Yesterday, I finished filing the whole works away into my little archive, clearing the decks and my mind for spring/summer knitting, travel and yet-to-be-thought-of new projects.

Ahhhhhhh....

Early this morning, feeling newly free of creative encumbrance, I dove into researching yarn shops in London ahead of our trip there in May. As I surfed I was sucked into a swirling vortex of inspiration that quickly escalated into crazed clicking and planning where, in less than half an hour from starting to research British yarn I was mentally sewing myself a new wardrobe from scratch.

Because here's the thing...

Big British brands like Debbie Bliss and Rowan have long been in our LYS's and now, newly available breed-specific British yarns are for sale in Toronto too.  So I do not need to spend time in London shopping with British pounds to buy yarn I could pick up with Canadian dollars half an hour from home any time I want.

Plus...

London shops are featuring yarns from this side of the pond. Again, I'm not looking to buy yarn in London dyed by Torontonian Viola or Koigu from Ontario or the likes of American Quince and Co. either.

None of this will stop me making a trip to Loop for goodness sakes but for that all I need is a map to the shop from our hotel.

Instead of doing that and saying "job done" I pour another coffee and start looking at British fabrics... which lead me to Merchant and Mills... which led to their "Workbook" pattern collections... which led to the idea of a home sewn wardrobe...

Time to step away from the computer.

And as I reluctantly do, there he is, steadily staring his silent reminder what we need to do is exercise. There may be only so many hours is in a day but at least a couple of them need to be spent moving.

I may want to spend all my time on other things like trying my hand at making this oilskin jacket in this or yardage of dress weight Irish linen  and maybe an indie British pattern to go with it but what I need to see to first is that I spend a good couple of hours up and out and moving briskly in fresh air every day.

If I do, I can actually make more stuff because being fit and healthy gives me more energy and it means what I make is smaller/cheaper and quicker and so for less money.

And this is why I need a dog...

Off we go!

Spring

Around here snow on the ground doesn't always equal winter. Hudson and I were out for 2 sun drenched hours yesterday morning trudging through in a fresh snowfall that made me and apparently everyone we ran into feel like Spring is in the air.

I'm not saying it wasn't cold...I was bundled up in wool and down and wearing windproof pants over my clothes...

Looks like I was going for a Michelin Man look and nailed it! Hudson was of course wearing nothing but his collar. Dogs really are superior creatures in many ways.

Anyway...

The sun was high and strong.

The snow in the shadows was a violet-blue you don't see in winter.

Best of all there was lots of springtime birdsong filling the air. What a treat!

While the change feels hopeful and fresh it's sure not close to warm out so it doesn't make you want to veer away from wearing or knitting warm woolly stuff. Its the stuff of a perfect knitting season.

I've been working on a few things as I try to follow my post op instructions to "take it easy" (2 hour walks over hill and dale were a bit much and I did "pay" for the exertion later. "Lesson learned" as they say but it was too beautiful out to spend the morning inside!)

One of the projects had an almost medicinal affect. (Okay, maybe the drugs I was on brought that feeling to the "party" but I really enjoyed knitting this stuff.)

Lofty-soft, thick and thin worked to the hollow clunking sound of the 15mm wooden needles it demanded and now...

...the unbelievable heft of the pre-blocked piece. I think it could use just the slightest drape to make it feel a bit more refined and finished so I've got a soak in the tub and gentle stretch planned for it.

Thanks for dropping by today!

Answer: "Pressure".

Question:

"How can stitching creamy cables for Number One Son be a soul sucking chore?" 

I've got to find a way to enjoy this despite the urgency to get it done!

'Something to think about while I take a certain someone on their morning walk.

May's Perfect Combination

Three weeks jam-crammed with activity and mindless rounds of go anywhere stockinette - an ideal pairing of knitting and life!

My 40" "Elmont"-styled EZ seamless raglan has many miles on it since casting on three weeks ago.

First there was to and from the cottage for the opening at the first of the month...

 and then a second lovely weekend just past...

Between cottage jaunts, a trip to New York City for a fun few days with my aunt to catch a series of wildly successful events featuring my (pseudo-sibling) cousin's art. The need to kind of "save our strength" for the art events meant we stayed in town and minimized our tourist activites so we enjoyed knitting time before, between and after the scheduled activities with Pseudo-Sib and his family. Then there were the hours spent in airports. Honestly I do not know how non knitters remain sane while travelling!

Things have also been hoppin' in the house...

..."Excavating" a large poodle from his winter "wear", (A two day affair)

Delivery of some furniture ordered back in the midst of the desperately cold winter. I'd almost forgotten we bought the stuff. Of course new pieces arriving means others have to depart! Followed closely thereafter with a feeling of "wow that looks so much nicer we should really also upgrade the 10 other things surrounding it" syndrome.

Then there's been the usual seasonal work on the garden, the house and the wardrobe and our family cluster of birthdays to celebrate. Lots of to-ing and fro-ing to sort it all out, after each day of which its been wonderful to indulge in a bit of easy knitting.

While easy knitting isn't always what I want the roughly 30,000 stitches contained in the body between hem and underarms may well have driven me crazy were I not simultaneously enjoying the distractions of a busy month.

Especially so after working the re purposed Aran yarn so quickly into the (still- to-be photographed) seamless yoke in April. Beside that project this knit is sub-snail's pace. Without the benefit of markers tracking increases and decreases I'd be hard pressed to detect any day to day progress.

With another week to go in the month and a fair amount still planned to jam into it, I've finished the body knitting up to the underarms, have worked out the details for the sleeves and cast on a relatively scant 52 stitches for sleeve one. I'm hoping, in comparison to the body, the sleeves will seem to fly into completion!

Today I've got window washing to do - I'd better "fly" off and get that started. Thanks for dropping by!

Slimming Down for Spring

Before...

After...

About 7 hours total time invested and eating treats throughout the process too!
 Oh that it were so easy for  us "lowly" humans!

Double Knit Mat (Dog bed) by Elizabeth Zimmerman FO

Pattern: Double Knit Mat

Source: Knitter's Almanac by Elizabeth Zimmerman

Yarn: All of 8 Skeins Briggs and Little Super yielding a 40"x 30" mat

Colour: Khaki

Needles: 10mm circular

Start: June 7 Finish: November 1, 2014

Modifications: None

Not sure if this was firstly a double knitting project or demonstration on the importance of a single dye lot. What a difference between the two I had to use. Maybe its mostly a lesson in buying all the yarn you need at once rather than going back at the half way point for more.

I do find it oddly satisfying that by knitting all of the four skeins I bought each time the dye lot change appears almost planned as it cuts across the dead centre of the piece. Hudson hasn't mentioned how he feels about it one way or another!

Now I did need an insulating pad for the dog to use in cold weather on the floor at the cottage and this project, in this nifty technique, were just the ticket. 'Amazing how tough it is to remember to slip every other stitch rather than purling once the knitting gets automatic.  I made the error a few times but its of no consequence for this project and again the dog doesn't mind. You can see a couple of spots in the shot below - the stitches that appear larger than the others.

Just as EZ promises I got a remarkably light, soft and warm pad out of my double knitting efforts. But more than that he likes it! He really, really likes it. The first time I put it down after casting off Hudson marched right over and lay down across the middle of it. He likes it so much I brought it home from the cottage for him to use here over the winter. In our room at home we have a carpet on the floor. The mat sits atop the carpet and he sleeps the majority of every night on it. The same could not be said of the mat he used prior to having this one.

To produce a garter "frame" for the pad that will lie flat despite differing row gauges between the double knitting and garter stitch edging EZ instructs the knitter to work to the edge only 4 out of every 6 rows (turning back before the edging on the other other two) The result is a truly flat edge without the slightest wave to it - even without blocking the edge is as flat as the wood floor 

Not sure who finds that more satisfying - me or Hudson!

Poodle Project

You know how it all starts - you have some time to kill and an idea for a project.

If you're a poodle and your knitter has had the audacity to go get her hair cut and maybe do a bit of yarn shopping while she's out and you are left all alone you wonder how to pass the time and come up with a great idea - How about chewing off a small benign bump from your toe!


As with many projects though the thing takes on a life of its own and it turns out the mess you make necessitates a trip to the vet and sedation the next day to repair the damage to toe and/complete the removal now underway.

Inc. 3 sts.

"At the same time" (Oh dear, we all know how tricky "at the same time" can be!) another wee bump on the flank gets removed.

Inc. 3 sts for a total of 6 sts.

But knitting friends we all know how frustrating it is to have stitches you just aren't happy with...how they nag at you until you rip them out to do over...

In the case of this "project" despite the presence of "Bitter Yuck" generously sprayed around the wound on the flank to discourage licking, over three nights while your knitter sleeps, remove flank stitches. 

3 sts decreased. 3 sts remaining.

Monday, back to the vet, 3 stitches to re-close flank wound. Oral antibiotics started. New "extra long" cone substituted for obviously inadequate "large" cone. We all know sometimes it takes a few tries to get the right gauge for the project!

 Inc. 3 sts for a total of 6 sts.

Tuesday, I had to go out without him for one hour. (You can guess where this is heading.)

While alone (again for second time in a week!) remove sock covering foot wound, held in place with vet wrap by stepping on toe of the sock with other foot while lifting the one with the stitches to step out of sock. Then using new extra long cone as a kind of scraping tool apply downward pressure on the cone against foot until nose and tongue reach wound to remove stitches.

3 sts decreased. 3 sts remaining.

Hudson kindly demonstrated his technique for me, that's how I know what he did. Just like a knitter - always happy to help show someone else how they accomplished something tricky!

Back to the vet's.

To recap the varying stitch count then...

3+3=6 -3=3+3=6-3=3

and that's where we are now with the addition of vet-recommended surgical tape to "hitch" sock to fur way up on leg preventing "step on" removal - kind of like putting underarm stitches on strings.

Finally put your feet up and have a good sleep. She might go out again for a bit today and you want to be all rested up and ready in case you get another bright idea!

Hudson's Fly-In Play Date

We spare no effort to arrange play dates for Hudson over the summer at the cottage...

... "Norm" 's transport to our place without a road is particularly fancy! 

These two boys get along very well although Hudson cannot understand why Norm keeps jumping into the lake when no one is telling him to!

Norm likes to fly as well as swim and is happy to wear a headset like everyone else on board to protect his sensitive hearing...

 He looks sad here because its time to go home and he was having such fun

Can  you see his face there in the back window...

'See you at your place in the fall Norm- but we'll be travelling by car!

Bye Norm!

On Line Knitting Fun

'Went through my "favourites" on Ravelry getting re-aquainted with some lovely possibilities.  I discovered a surprising number of things once favourited but since knit and things I don't even like any more.  Out all those characters went!What a useful, gratifying exercise!

We opened the cottage last weekend and as this coming long weekend approaches I've been perusing the site for the new Indie Dyer "Georgian Bay Fibres". I could easily head in there from the cottage on Saturday, if she's open, and see her stuff first hand as I didn't attend the Frolic where she had a booth. I've been musing about what I might like to make in one of her Georgian-Bay inspired colourways. (Hence the trip through the "Favourites" file!)

My New York cousin put me onto Wool and the Gang. Nothing particularly new here for long time knitters but it is fun to see how the "Cool Kids" are presenting knitting for fun, profit and to maybe even  to save the earth!

I finally forced myself to break down and take a few pictures to update my Ravelry page and start posting again. I've been putting it off waiting for Darling Daughter to take some pics of my Sockhead Hat on my actual head but its taking forever and I want to get on with things so...

(Don't worry, he looks upset but he isn't. Darling Daughter also tells me he looks like a "Hipster" - he isn't one of those either. He's just working at not moving - something he knows will lead to a great fun race down to the treat jar as soon as the hat comes off him.)

All this on-line dreaming and scheming is helping me fire up my knitting mojo again. Before (if) the heat hits, Cottage season can be a most productive time. I want to be ready for it.

Hudson's Spring "Do" FO

Walking around in public with a white, traditionally styled poodle means I'm often approached by dog groomers (probably wanting to get my business) These groomers generally lament that most, if not all their clients, request that their poodles NOT be clipped so as to look like poodles. I get that. I didn't really love their aesthetic but careful research nonetheless taught me the poodle breed is the exact right one for us, so that's what we got - and a white one to boot!

So I figure, I've got it, may as well flaunt it. Why pretend he's something other than he is so my family is quite used to seeing him "clean shaven" around his face feet and tail and they've watched with reserved acceptance as he's variously sported a moustache, short, shaved ears, been close cropped and covered in curls as well as fluffy to the max.

Last Friday, however, when the "troops" came home there was all out disgust at my latest efforts. My first attempt to "Set" a bonafide pattern - in this case, a modern take on the "Dutch" clip - a look that I understand was almost the universal poodle clip of the 1940's and 50's.

The modern version trends away from the super puffy legs used in those days to evoke traditional Dutchmen's Trousers but maintains the idea of the Dutchmans' "jacket" and "pants"...

The pattern is set by clipping lines according to the relative position of "landmarks" of the poodle's body - rib cage, hip bones, shoulders etc. then tweaking them to make the dog look like an ideal specimen - fooling the eye where necessary. Finally once its all set, the edges are bevelled using sheers and the overall length of the full sections hand scissored to 1" all over to give that signature poodle puff ball appearance.

Then you check for balance and symmetry not only as the dog stands but sits, lies down and moves.

 The impression should be that dog is squarely built, elegant, smart and well proportioned. 

In my  view, further to that, the dog should feel great all clean and free of his heavy winter "wear". I easily took >3" of length off his upper body. It kept him comfortable during hours of walking with nothing extra on but his collar while I was swathed in knits and down this past frigid winter. Now, though, one of the great things about the poodle is, we can "change" his outfit to something that better suits the season.

Just check out that poodle smile - whatever the others say, I know he feels good and he's happy. (BTW except sometimes right at the end he's generally pretty happy while I'm clipping him too - there's no place on earth where he gets more or better treats than when he's on the grooming table!)

Tonight at Obedience Class we'll see a couple of groomers who have poodles of their own - there will be scrutiny for me but liver and salmon treats for Hudson so probably more poodle smiles too!

Thanks for dropping by!

Weekend in the Ring

Hudson and I spent several hours early Friday evening then much of Saturday and Sunday at our first big dog trial.

There are many dog "sports" offered at Trials. The ones we entered this weekend were for judging traditional obedience - demonstrating (or in our case trying to demonstrate) Hudson and I can work together, despite the many distractions and self imposed pressure presented at the trail. What's judged is the dog's ability and willingness to comply with Handler commands - commands being prompted by the Judge.

For example, in on leash heeling, we set up so Hudson is sitting close to my left side, his front leg lined up with my thigh. The Judge says "forward", I give the command "Heel" and Hudson and I begin walking, hopefully together, until instructions from the judge such as "Fast" or "Slow" prompt me to change speed or we're instructed to turn one way or the other or "Halt". At every change of speed or direction he should stay with me.  With his level of intelligence, if he stays in position, with his shoulder beside my thigh he should be able to "read" my movements with his peripheral view of my leg while having a very enjoyable walk alongside me.

For many handler's performance in the ring is the goal. For me, its to have a dog - a big dog - that despite his size and power we can take anywhere - including a busy, crowded city street, a dog who will move easily and happily along with us. Trials, insofar as they prompt me to train him, are a means to that end.

Of course there are many other skills tested at trials other than heeling, all of which, once mastered will make for a happier, more portable dog and for Hudson, a more enjoyable life with us. At the level we're at (aka the bottom) just attending the show is a huge learning curve for both of us. Imagine being in an arena (ice is gone for the summer) with four trial rings and at least a couple of hundred dogs milling about waiting their turns or dozing in their crates around the edges but if you close your eyes you can't hear a single bark.

The dogs learn to leave each other alone in that context. Its really amazing to see and really challenging to help an inexperienced dog learn how to handle the situation but invaluable when living in a big city with lots and lots of dogs.

Once you've navigated the arena and enter the ring the dog should have a great time in there so the Handler needs to be relaxed, using clear commands to keep the dog at ease and being successful. (No food inducements or rewards are allowed - you need to personally motivate the dog.) Some breeds - like herding dogs bred for generations to respond to human cues are very, very good at this stuff.

Poodles can be good but not because its instinctual for them. Rather because they want to please you and enjoy working together with you.  Poodles also very much enjoy mental stimulation much like a Golden Retriever wants you to keep throwing a tennis ball over and over. For Hudson it provides an opportunity to think. I just have to keep it from getting boring. No endless hours of routine practice and no flat, uninspired commands in the ring. If he's bored he'll disengage and we'll be toast.

I find this endlessly amusing because it really creates the need for a great relationship between us and the need for us to understand each other beyond just living together.

Now I know this stuff isn't every dog owner's cup of tea and because we're just starting out we may stink at obedience and it will become a passing fad for Hudson and I but yesterday afternoon as I stood waiting for our turn to come up again in the ring I was talking to another poodle owner I'd met the day before and you'll never guess what she told me. She said..."in addition to working with her dogs she's just recently undertaken learning how to knit. Really? I said, I knit as well". Really!? she gasped then turned and over her shoulder called to another handler "hey Cheryl, this lady knits too!"

You know as much as I like it so far there might be benefits to this "world" of dog obedience I hadn't even dreamed possible! What if, in addition to hundreds of dogs in that arena there are also dozens and dozens of knitters?!

I'm sure you can understand how my mind was racing at the possibilities! So I had a great weekend. 'Hope you did too!

I'm off to do my baking for tonight's Craft Group Meeting...thanks for dropping by!

A Day at the "S-Paw"

The Process starts with Hudson awaiting the inevitable knowing downstairs in the "S-Paw" (aka Laundry Room) are these tools...

Including his "Blow Dryer"...

And the Grooming Table...

Now combed down to the skin and ready to hit the shower...

Post bath flat head...

Fluff dried and ready for clipping...

Ta Da! Lapsed time a record breaking 3.5 hours!

Back on look out duty 5'2" of clean fluffiness!

Its DKC night tonight! If you're in town, 'hope to see you there!

Wild Week

Unloading photos from the camera, just realized why I failed to post last week.

There was a birthday (celebrated twice!)...Skiing...A screening of the Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts...A Pancake Party...Valentines Day...A Black Tie Event...Sniffling people staying home with colds...Beethoven's 9th at the Symphony...The Auto Show...Number One Son (with laundry) arriving home for Reading Week....Multiple subway trips downtown and back and then yesterday, the Family Day Holiday.

None of this was good for Ranger. It did, however, provide an excuse to work up my own DK version of Veronique Avery's Fingering Weight Pinion mitts almost to completion (you called it Mary!)

And add a few inches to my subway travel receiving blanket.

Back onto Ranger now enjoying the looooong straight rows. Lovely and so cozy draped across my lap, its going to be a light, warm cardigan. Immediately ahead are the second set of 10 short rows adding length to the back then the decreases will start as I head for the collar - 30% or so of the knitting is all that remains - the end clearly in sight. My Beloved will have it on in no time (she types optimistically!).

The plan for the dark and dreary day ahead is a bath, blow dry and scissoring for a certain creamy white fellow I hang around with. (Start to finish its probably a 4 or 5 hour event!)

Then tonight its still all Hudson all the time as we head off to his Obedience Class. I hope to start Obedience Trials with him next month. Its something I've always wanted to do so we didn't stop with basic puppy training classes, we've kept up weekly lessons for the last couple of years. He's really gaining control of himself now - undoubtedly the hardest "trick" of all - so its time to put that "steadiness" to the test by putting him through his paces in an arena filled with a couple of hundred other dogs!?! (It will be the first Trial for both Hudson and ME! I'm working on my "steady work" because the speed with which my energy travels down that leash to him has to be seen to be believed!) Cesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer says "... you don't get the dog you want to get the dog you need." Interesting to think of it that way!

Thanks for dropping by and catching up!

Happy Friday!

I'm hopeful for more knitting time at the cottage this weekend than last. This week we have no company and as is always the case, I will have a diligent "helper" in Hudson who is never far away!

I meant to post a link earlier in the week for this Italian Plum Tart on Rosemary Shortbread Crust that I made and we so enjoyed last weekend. The recipe was in the Globe and Mail last Friday so I grabbed it and a wee basket of Ontario prune plums and boy was I glad I did! (btw the Rosemary's influence was undetectable but probably still contributed to the overall flavour - if you try it don't leave it out for fear it will be too strong!)

The crust really is like shortbread so don't try this in a regular pie pan - you need the removable sides of a tart pan to get the thing out for serving.

Tart or no tart, have a great weekend!