What's New?

What's new is waiting and more waiting for both DH and me to hear back from places that offered us jobs without firm start dates. In my case, it's no less than 3 part-time jobs for firms in competition with each other. Meanwhile, I'm doing my free-lance book chapter, and I've been selling vintage costume jewelry on a couple of sites. I had amassed quite a collection years ago. The market may be soft now but for the vintage silver pieces, it's pretty good. Also, I can repair costume jewelry, so if I find something for very little (and I have picked up pieces for less than a dollar than just needed a rhinestone replaced), I can sell it at a discount and still make money.

Also new is my baby bird Estella. Right before I went to LA in June, my little budgie Pip got his wing caught in his cage soemwhere and broke it. A family friend who's a vet and frequent guest was over on successive Fridays, and looked at it and thought he was slowly getting better. But while I was on jury duty he died. Poor Pip; I really liked that little budgie. His cagemate Merry went into a decline and stopped eating, even though Duncan the cockatiel is his other good buddy. So DD#1 and I went bird shopping. We found this adorable little hen pulling the other budgies to her so she could preen them.

I thought that meant she might have a good nature to temper Merry's more fiery one, and it turns out I was right. She's sweet and docile, and Merry has become more so.
DH shot several photos of her, including this one- and she posed for the camera. Don't believe me? Take a look:


Now Merry had to get into a photo, something he used to disdain:


Yesterday we went to Collie Gathering at Terhune Park (site of Sunnybank, home of Lad and the Sunnybank collies), where we met LASSIE!!

That's Skye looking totally unimpressed in typical Skye-fashion to be posing next to the most famous collie of all (and he's usually a ladies' man- go figure!). Because it was thundering in the distance, Rocky wanted to find somewhere to hide, rather than meet Lassie.

The last new thing is my father is moving from my parents' house in 2 or 3 weeks, so I have to book a mover to move the living room and dining room furniture to NJ. It's sad that my my father should have to reduce his belongings to what will fit into a sitting room and a bedroom. But maybe he's happier not to have to bother with the upkeep of a full house. Once he's decided which photos he wants to hang, I'll have the others sent to me. I couldn't bring myself to take down the family photos and leave my father with empty walls.

I have been knitting in fits and starts; I keep forgetting to take photos of what I'm making! I need a camera upstairs as well as downstairs so I can always have one at the ready.

Skye the Circus Dog- Tah Dah!

No, Skye is not practicing for Ringling Brothers.

We went on a new hike yesterday (before the heat of the day kicked in). "We" consisted of DH, DD#1, DSiL, and myself, plus the three collies. We'd heard there was a trail to a waterfall in a nearby park (in reality, a dam overflow, since that part of our county is not on a fall line). DH wanted to see it, so we all piled into DD's Equinox and headed there.
First, the view from atop the dam:

Now the waterfall:

Niagara it ain't.

The collies were encouraged to frolic in the stream to stay cool. Skye decided that following DD across the log was the better option.


Coll was shown by Rocky how to ford the stream (I would not let Rocky, who is 10 and a half, on the log you see- the risk of injury was too great). Rocky forded so quickly we could not get a photo of him doing so.

Just like Lassie Come Home fording the River Tyne, right Coll?

Rocky deigned to pose at the end of the hike. He is head collie, after all.


In other news, I was picked for a jury; judges here have a strict definition of what constitutes personal hardship. Fortunately, the trial should end mid-week, so not bad. DH has no fewer than 3 job offers IF the folks who offer have money. They won't know until next month or thereabouts. I can't schedule interviews until the trial is over, so my job search is more research into potnetial employers right now.
I keep intending to pick up needles and finish the baby gift for my niece, then start some just-in-case bibs for quick gifts. Plus I need to make myself some face cloths. I really should make those cloths. Inertia, I haz it and hates it.

Iced in Today

It's Groundhog Day (think of the scenes in the movie where BillMurray repeats the previous day over and over again), it's dejà vu all over again,it's winter, it's disgusting, and it's several inches of new snow followed by inches of ice followed by semi-solid precipitation (rain that's almost in a gel state). It's awful. I used to like winter. No more. Even Rocky would rather do this than play in the snow:

On the knitting front, I finally put the finishing touches on DH's new vest. He models it here (he wanted to look very serious and professional for you):

To help me cope with the cold, I'm making myself a cowl out of some lovely Sundara sport merino I was saving for a special occasion. This winter qualifies as special.

The color is Shell Over Cocoa Butter and the pattern is Rivendell by Susan Pandorf. Don't think it ever snowed in Rivendell: Elrond wouldn't let it, I'll wager. I'm using a bigger needles (4 mm in place of 2.75 mm) and making fewer repeats, so my 250 yards just might be sufficient (pattern calls for 300 yards). I did a cable cast-on very loosely and that seemed to be a good choice: you can see how the edging is shaping up so nicely.
Last week I made a beret out of the Venezia I bought for myself. Not for me after all; DD#2 on the day before she returned to college decided she needed another hat (not as if I hadn't asked her for months). One look at the photo of Brambles plus a touch of the Venezia and she begged me (well, didn't take much begging).

Now I need to find yarn - again - to make Brambles for moi. I really liked that Brooks Farm yarn I used the first time; maybe I'll call them and see what colors they have in stock (they don't update the website very often).

Sunday I'm off to Israel (G-d willing). I'll be there nearly 10 days to observe the 30 day anniversary of my mother's passing and to be present at the unveiling of her monument. My father and one brother, one nephew, and some cousins will be traveling from the US. Other assorted relations already live in Israel, most of whom I've never met. I'm excited and sad at the same time. Camera, batteries, local cell phone, shopping list, color-coordinating outfits: I'm making lists and starting to pack. L'hitraot until I return.

Happy Chanukah to all!

OK, I know it's only Day 1 so this chanukiah is not representative (yet) of the holiday.
DH and I ate potato latkes (pancakes) with applesauce last night after we lit, and tonight we will have spinach latkes with plain yogurt (in place of sour cream). Maybe even some jelly donuts (known as sufganyot) for dessert.

Rocky got his Chanukah present; it coincides with when we think his whelp day was, and now he is 10 years old.

We're calling it Schlitz the malt liquor bull. Rocky calls it something else likely, but knows what we mean when we tell him to get Schlitz. He drags it around everywhere. It's bigger than his head so he looks pretty funny trying to carry it. He looks like he's enjoying it and has given it 5 baths at least already. He put it on my slippers last night for safekeeping when DH went to let him out for the nightly constitutional; he only does that with toys he really loves.

Been knitting a lot but had to frog the back of a new vest for DH (oh noes!). Gauge on a small piece- OK. Gauge on the whole piece- ginormous. Have not had to do that in many a year. Better to find out now. At least I'm halfway to the armhole again.

Speaking of DH, guess who discovered he has a hernia over Thanksgiving weekend? Luckily our internist had office hours on Friday and saw DH; surgeon's appointment this Monday. DH wants laparoscopic surgery: small incision, less OR time = less anesthesia time, likely shorter recup time. Best Chanukah present for DH will be getting this taken care of quickly and easily, with minimal fuss.

Have a happy holiday, and don't eat too many latkes whatever else you do!

Collie Show

Yesterday was a cold day, the kind of day we call "collie weather." As if it were planned, the Collie Club of North Jersey's annual show was yesterday. We all went, 4 humans and 3 (that's right, 3) collies. You see, the rescue group called DD#1 the other week to foster a pup. She fostered before for co-op credit in collie and Rocky is a rescued collie from their affiliated group in central Jersey. When a few smoothie pups came their way, DD#1 popped up on their inner radar. So Col, a lively 10 month old that's BIGGER than Rocky, joined our lives. Yesterday was Col's opportunity to shine as the prospective adoptee of the month.

That's Col on the right (the sable). Is he shining enough for you? Skye hopes so. He's gotten so used to being top dog in DD#1's house (though he loves to visit Rocky every chance he gets) that Skye hopes someone will fall in love with Col and take him, please. Col really is very loveable but DH does not want a second dog in the house. I suppose 4 years with Skye (who's a bit of a clown) was enough for DH and so I won't push the issue.

That said, DH did fall for this little fellow. If he had a "Buy Me" sign on him, I think we'd have gone home with a fourth collie.

Last week we took some photos of this house all ready for Hallowe'en:

Well last night DH just had to see it in the dark. Turns out he was not alone...

We couldn't get near the place!

This is the best we could do. Those are FLAMES shooting out from torches flanking the double window, with little ghosts strung on wire from a tree. You can see the red eye of the giant skull peeking out between the branches of the blue spruce towrds the left.

Not to be outdone, these neighbors did their best to recreate Shelob's lair from the Lord of the Rings:

Those are little lighted skulls lining the pathway. No trick-or-treaters at this house. Wonder why....

On the knitting front, Peggy now has a zipper and one sleeve done halfway to the armhole decreases. Next week is a meeting of the local spinner's guild. Guess who is going with a brand-new walnut spindle plus more roving?

Scotch on the Rocks with a Twist

That's Twist, completed and modeled by DD#1 (still in her scrubs, she's so excited to finally get it).

But wait... what's that sneaking in for a petting?

Why, it's Auchentoshan on the Rocks, CGC, aka Rocky. Not one to be left out of the action, the Twist photo shoot turned into this:

and then this:


and finally this:

(he wouldn't sit still for a nice pose).

Best intentions gone awry

Haven't posted in a few days because of Rocky, our smooth-coated collie. Poor guy showed symptoms of a urinary tract infection over the weekend, so DD#1, the vet tech at a major animal hospital for the tri-state area, took him along Monday for a look-see. He came home in the evening with some antibiotics, some disinfectant soap for cleansing- and the inability to move his tail, sit, or lie down. You read that right. He was over DD#1's house for the evening when she spotted his distress; she promptly drove him over to her good friend the vet neurologist J who works with her. J prescribed a pain-killer until a full workup could be done; even on pain meds poor Rocky passed a restless night. He could not negotiate stairs- and our house is all stairs. DH decided to sleep in the family room with Rocky where there's a sliding door out to the backyard, but Rocky knows he's my dog, and wants to sleep near me (why DH didn't get me up to sleep downstairs is testimony to what a great guy DH is, not that I had such a good rest anyway).

The next day Rocky went back to the hospital. Verdict: soft tissue injury to both hips caused by a careless vet tech who forced his legs apart (he didn't need forcing) and tore his muscles (he's over 9; the vet tech didn't check the chart and though Rocky was no more than 5). Cage rest, no stairs, pain killers, and anti-inflammatories were prescribed.

I am angry. I sent a basically healthy dog with a minor infection to the animal hospital; I got back a dog with a still-minor infection but one that is now partially lame. I sent a continent dog to the hospital, I got back a partially-incontinent dog. My big worry is that given his age, Rocky might be left with mobility problems down the road. DD#1 told me she spoke to the vet tech who worked with Rocky (DD#1 was called into surgery, being she's 1 of only 2 who do anesthesia there) and was met with denial (though a lot of surprise at Rocky's real age: "You kidding? He's not five?" No, she's not kidding and why didn't you read the chart?). Yes he looks much younger than his true age: we never over-feed him, give him proper exercise and grooming, and make sure his weight stays in the right range for his size and breed. He weighs only 65 pounds, which isn't much for a dog that's 24" tall at the shoulders. And he has Lassie's personality, like a true collie. People are his concern. When one of us is sick or injured, there is Rocky, ready to take care of us in his own way. Now we're returning the favor. In a few weeks we're all going to the old Terhune estate, former home of Lad the collie, scene of Albert Payson Terhune's many books about collies, and current venue for an annual Collie Gathering. Rocky must be better by then so he can play with his collie friends.

Wedding Update

Remember the wedding dress with the train in its own zip code? The headpiece with veil may reach the Goodyear blimp:


I couldn't fit the entire veil in the photo because I ran out of room in the room.
Excuse the mess please; those are all wedding gifts awaiting their new home (the green towels too).

The bride gets to pick 2 subjects for her ice sculptures. See who volunteered:


Back to the seating chart for now.

Book Report Time Again

My other two books finally came, Wrap Style by Pam Allen and Ann Budd, and Knitting Lace Triangles by Evelyn Clark.

First the rap on Wrap Style. It has gorgeous pictures, clear instructions, but few items I want to knit. Most of them are short tight wraps or capelets, not shawls or larger wraps. I bought it primarily for Evelyn Clark's Shetland Triangle Shawl pattern, though Norah Gaughan's cabled capelet and Nancy Marchant's brioche stitch wrap have me itching to get my needles and worsted wool stash out (no pun intended; I'm OK with most wools, though Shetland wool right next to my skin makes me turn red). I'd make both of these longer though. There are general directions for designing your own capelet, but in general this book leaves me underwhelmed. Page numbers are hard to see: turned sideways and printed in light green ink. Not being spiral bound, I'm having a hard time keeping pages open to the charts I need, and the charts are small to begin with. We'll see how long it takes up valuable shelf space after I knit the shawl and maybe a capelet or two. Recommendation: Buy it if you love the patterns or foresee the need to knit wraps and capelets.


On the other hand, Knitting Lace Triangles is a strategy for, well, knitting lace triangles into shawls or scarves, and includes general directions for knitting the same Shetland shawl as in Wrap Style (though the lace pattern is called something other than fir cone lace in Clark's own book). I like the spiral binding, allowing you to lay it flat as you knit. The charts are very clear and large. The instructions are quite good (that's true of most of Clark's patterns; I was able to knit her sock patterns as a sock neophyte). She gives several methods for starting a lace triangle, and I find that to be invaluable. In the back she gives information on approximate required yardage for several yarn weights. This is great for using up stash yarn. Since she planned the triangles in multiples of 10 rows, it's easy to modify sizes by knitting more or fewer 10 row repeats. if you want to add beads to the points of your edging, there are close-up photos and clear instructions for that too, and the chart in the back tells you about how many beads you need, whether you add 1 or 3 beads per point of edging. If you're getting into lace knitting, this book is pretty good to have. It's not as advanced as other lace knitting books, so you won't be frustrated and will complete your project. The edging is completed on the shawl, rather than casted on separated and then knitted to the shawl; I think this is easier for lace neophytes (at least for this one). Recommendation: A good book for lace neophytes or the geometrically-challenged to own.

To put theory into practice, I used a cast-on from Knitting Lace Triangles to start the Shetland Triangle shawl. I'm using Beaverslide Dry Goods light sport in Whitetail Fawn from stash and size 5 needles (6 would probably be a bit better but my size 6 needles are claimed by other WIPs; oh well). The garter tab at the base of the neck and the first 20 row pattern for the neck are complete:

BTW, this is my first time knitting with BDG light sport, previously I'd only knitted with the heavy worsted-weight yarn. Opinion? Lovely yarn but when I wound all 440 yards into one center-pull skein and tried to start the skein from the center, it snapped. So I'm unwinding from the outside as I knit. It's not plied (it's 1-ply), so joining may be slightly visible if I add another skein. It's called light sport, but fingering weight may be more accurate; it's described on the site as a 20 wpi yarn, 6-7 stitches per inch on a size 2 to 4 needle. I had bought it initially for a pair of socks, but even non-knitting DH (my human swift, who observed the snapping of the center strand) remarked that the yarn is not strong enough for socks. I agree. I think it's great for lace though. And I love the color. Moreoever, the yarn has some mohair and therefore isn't real slick. I think that will be an advantage as the number of stitches grows on the needles. There's a one pound cone of it in this color on sale on the website right now.

Front and back of Milkshake are done. Even after blocking, the back of Milkshake looks pathetic. I'm going to take out the big guns, er steam iron, and see if I can't flatten those seams better.
Pathetic-looking, right? Wait 'til I take the iron to it.

OTOH, Carefree is looking more like something. Lovely depth to those staggered cables, just love them.

A Bit o' Blocking

Rugged is blocking now. I have the front and back pinned to the board:

Sorry for the bad photo; camera seems to have gone wonky on me. I should get, no deserve, a bigger board.
The cables seems to pop even more after blocking. Like a lot of knitters, I hate blocking. Even calling it "dressing" doesn't help. What does help is seeing the cables come alive and the edges flatten down. Then I don't hate it quite so much, and can look forward to seaming in peace. As for seaming, that I don't mind so much. It's pretty mindless, and gives my hands and wrists some change from knitting. Which is good for avoiding repetitive stress injuries. So folks, you read it here first: seaming can lead to more knitting.

Skye (D#1's smooth collie) consented to model this Mystery Scarf that I found in going through winter clothes to donate to Vietnam Veterans of America. I see it's done in garter stitch, in 2 types of wool, and features a pull-through loop. If anyone recognizes it, give a holler, OK?

Happy New Year & Insight on the Channel Island Cast On

Well, it's officially 5768 on the Jewish calendar. Can't believe Rosh Hashanah came and went, and today I am cooking already part of the pre-fast feast for Friday (split pea and barley soup today, to be followed by pot roast later this week, if the butcher ever gets a silver tip roast in, that is). Between work, back to school for DD#2, and getting ready for the holy days, I feel as if I live in a whirlwind. Not to mention helping DD#2 apply for college (she's applying to my alma mater early decision, ED in the lingo of today). AND - most important- DD#2 is concertmistress (Konzertmeisterin, if you're really picky) of the wind ensemble in high school the most elite music group. Not bad for a kid with perfect pitch and absolute pitch......

Some knitting did get done- check out the hats completed for Ships Project:

From left to right, starting at top: out of Lamb's Pride, a 2-color version of Blueberry Waffle and Smariek's Utopia hat out of some leftover Galway. Next row: red Beaverslide Dry Good wool/mohair in Smariek's Asherton pattern, middle is the debut of my own gansey-patterned hat (used the anchor motif I found in Gladys Thompson's book on jerseys, guernseys, and arans; debating how to publish pattern-stay tuned), and last but not least another shot of Claudia in the round.
I'm doing another guernsey-motif hat, but using my own motif, and a Channel Island (CI) cast-on. This truth came to me yesterday, probably because i was up at 5 am to eat before the minor fast and then take DD#2 to Brooklyn for her ACT exam. Since DH had to work after Sabbath, then came home in time for SNL (and had to watch it), I got only 4 hours of sleep before heading to the Big Apple. I just bought Beth Brown-Reinsel's gansey sock pattern (it's at www.theknitter.com, btw), in which she uses a CI CO. OK, I figured I should a CI CO for my new hat. Which is being made out of Moss Magpie from Rowan, once again I deplore Rowan's decision ever to discontinue this marvelous wool. Now, for CI CO, you make a slip knot to secure (remove it later), then doing a little wand, er, needle waving to make the YO secure, then scoop up the multitude of strands wound 'round your thumb. Remember I am left-handed, and have trouble looking at images and doing the mirror-image (try it sometimes, it's not easy). I really, really was not liking my YO's at all. How to make nicer YO's? Well, why make YO's in the first place? Why not just use the ol' thumb- and do the simple CO instead? Or do the same motion with the index finger (the more orthodox CI CO). So I did both ways, and now the YO's come out right, and the index finger does its dance just like in the descriptions, and the little knots I nudged into places and voila! the Channel Island cast-on. Truly, not for the faint of heart.

On other fronts, one new piece of jewelry was completed:
See the nice Czech button of vintage glass used for the clasp again? I love these buttons, I may make necklaces featuring them in front. The purply beads coming from the weaving really match the rest; they are color-change vintage Lucite beads, with exceptional clarity. you'd swear they are crystal, if you saw them. This color change is seen in a lot of jewelry from the '40's and '50's; Swarovski called the color Alexandrite. It's real unusual in Lucite.

And one collie distinguished himself with some pathos:
See Egmont the bunny lying face=down on DD#1 knapsack? Egmont is the treasured toy of the older collie, Rocky, who treats stuffed toys like puppies - bathes them, asks us to let them out for the bathroom, etc. Skye, however, treats stuffed toys like any other chew toy.
See Skye, the younger collie? He spent the previous day with DD#1 at work (she's a surgery vet tech, or animal nurse). Rocky knows where Skye has been (he has a nose!). We think Rocky put Egmont the bunny in DD#1's knapsack so she'd remember to take Rocky along to work.

Oh the soup! Must run.

Fresh Watermelon From Fresh Isle Fibers

With the completion of the Lilacs socks (which I might give to a certain daughter) and in need of a mindless sort of pattern as I sit during tonight's Town Council meeting (more on that later), it was fortunate indeed that my single-ply mixed-breed yarn from Fresh Isle Fibers came yesterday. The luscious cake of yarn will knit into these: Socks that have slices of watermelon on them! I love watermelon, eagerly anticipate the first one hitting the market each summer. It's my preferred dessert during the steam-bath we call weather right now. Simple stickinette st will turn itself into slices of melon, complete with seeds, how clever! The pattern is here; scroll down for the single-ply apttern for the one at top is for the worsted-weight yarn. Marian from Fresh Isles is very nice to deal with; spinning and dyeing are a passion of hers. As before, I did the unjoined cast-on, knitting for 1 rows then joining to work in the round. For this sock, I casted on the 2x2 rib in K-P cast-on, but did it as K-K-P-P cast-on. Seemed to work out from what I can see. And I'm trying out my new Inox Prym needles, since Addis don't come in 2.75 mm and these do. So far I like them, maybe not as much as Addis (certainly not as much as Addi Gold), but much more than the stretchy needles. When the socks are done, I'll wear them with this sweater and this pin
Town Council meeting tonight is in the town east of me; I don't want it spreading west so I'm taking an interest and showing up. The Council will discuss a proposed ordinance to ban all tethering of dogs. Lest you think this is a good thing, just listen to the owner (moi) of 2 large-breed dogs. Even Collies, those near-geniuses of the canine world, do not come equipped knowing every rule of the house. They need training, they need discipline (until they pay the mortgage and household expenses, yes they do). Tethering on a long lead while working in the garden was a method I used to train each dog the boundary of the property; to leave joggers and walkers passing by alone; to ignore cars (and hence not give chase to them). Most towns have dozens of ordinances preventing homeowners from fencing in property. You read that right. I was lucky; my backyard was all fenced in before I bought it years ago, before the ordinances restricting fencing were passed. Nowadays, a homeowner around here needs a variance to put a fence in to protect children - and dogs. Makes a lot of sense, right? You pay over $10,000/year in property taxes (I pay considerably more), yet your property is not your property to protect. The benighted ordinance, moreover, requires a kennel with floor of 10 by 15 feet per dog and with fence of 8 feet high. In a town with a fence ordinance that decrees fences shall be no more than 5 feet high. You don't have to be a lawyer to see that there is a problem here. Kennel with floor- ever put something on your grass for even a day? Ever notice how quickly grass underneath dies? Everybody will want to kill lawns, I'm betting. 10 x 15 feet per dog, that's 150 sq ft, that's over 10% of my total property including house footprint per dog. And renters will be able to do, what? They rent houses in part to own dogs. How many landlords be willing to comply with dead lawns, unsightly kennels, and the rest? Better to enforce existing anti-cruelty laws and go after negligent owners who tether their dogs all day while at work. That's wrong, that's illegal, that's enforceable. And that's why I'll be there, knitting my watermelon sock during the discussion of the ordinance.