I realized today that the reason I never post to the blog is that Blogger sucks. So I'm moving to Wordpress. http://woolhogpress.com/ Please come visit me there!

2011 Christmas Card Design

After much pondering I finally decided on my Christmas card design and got busy last night. Right now our backyard is carpeted in yellow leaves fallen from our Ginkgo tree and dozens of Oregon Juncos foraging in the leaves. Morgan has been calling the backyard Junco Landing.
I love how Juncos return from the mountains every Fall to spend the winter with us in the lowlands. My grandpa called them "snowbirds". Indeed! Happy Thanksgiving!







Now if we could just get some snow!!

Pedro's Got a Brand New Coat

My dog Pedro has very short hair and almost no body fat. He is cold all the time and seeks out heat vents, beds that are and are not his and shivers pitifully. I attempted knitting a sweater for him twice but due to his big boxy chest had a hard time getting a pullover to fit well.
I found this fabulous pattern on Ravelry. It is called Blaze and is featured in the book Top Dog Knits by Jil Eaton. It is more coat than sweater. Almost like a horse blanket really. This design seemed fitting for my 80 lb "speeding brick wall" of a dog.













I'm hoping that being felted this will serve as a raincoat on our long rainy walks in Portland. Raincoats for dogs his size run upwards of $80.
He certainly looks distinguished and I haven't seen any shivering since I put it on.
I used Cascade Eco Wool in a natural light grey colorway and size 10.5 needles. I used buttons instead of the Velcro called for in the pattern.
If I were to make this pattern again I would check it mid way through the cycle while felting. It is a wee bit too small which I never would have anticipated looking at the pre-felted garment. It was huge.

Muscle Memory

I love it when a lace pattern becomes second nature and your hands glide along knitting fluidly, halting occasionally to double check because something doesn't feel right.

That something about lace that compels you to just knit 1 more repeat and another and then 1 more after that.


This is my new favorite pattern and it looks great in all the semi-solid hand dyed yarns that are so popular right now.


Pattern: Child's First Sock in Shell Pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Needles: US 1, 2.25 mm Kollage square dpns
Yarns: Madelinetosh, Tosh Sock in Mourning Dove, Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in Gypsy and BMFA Socks That Rock Lightweight in Rose Quartz.

Blogland Redux

So it has been forever since I have posted to the blog and there is a huge back log of finished knits to rave about. It is a daunting task so I have decided that I might as well start with the most recent and show you some older projects as time allows.
I am finally working again so there is somewhat less time for blogging and knitting. I'm sure you can guess which activity takes precedence.
Hubby asked me to knit some socks for his dad's birthday a couple weeks ago. He came with me to Twisted and we picked out a skein of yarn with a LOT of yardage as his dad wear size 13 wide.
I knit Holidazed again because it is a fabulous pattern that seems to be very forgiving in the fit department and also wonderful to knit.
These are the biggest socks I have ever made.

Pattern: Holidazed by Anne Hanson
Needles: US 1.5, 2.25mm
Yarn: Punta Yarns Merisock Handpainted, also some Shibuiknits Sock in Ink for contrasting heel and toe.

This skein of sock yarn was an incredible 463 yards and I had some left over, maybe even enough for the heels and toes but I think the contrast worked out nicely.