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.

My Pet's Pets

My husband, as a measure of his undying love, consented to build a custom squirrel feeder for me. You might think I decided to give the little pirates their own feeder in the hopes of preventing the above assaults to my bird feeders. The rationale that follows is far more convoluted, bear with me.
My dog Pedro loves to watch the squirrels. Mostly he just watches and sometimes he tries to sneak up on them. Occasionally a chase ensues. So far, the squirrels are way ahead of him, anticipating all his movements. It is however, a perilous journey for them to reach the tree from the fence line, requiring either a death defying jump or a run across the canine patrolled ground. I don't want to encourage the hunting of wildlife in my backyard. It is however a very long day for a dog and being that he is unable to read or knit or watch movies this gives him something to do other than sleep ALL DAY!
So to protect the squirrels and provide endless hours of entertainment, they now have a nut box on the fence. The squirrels figured it out within hours of it's installation, possibly due to their presence for the entire duration of its construction. The first squirrel actually opened the lid with his head. I wish M had snapped a photo of that!
They are still treating my seed feeder as a first course but at least now they have a safer option should they be smart enough to choose it.

Weekend Ramblings

We had a lovely three day weekend with cooperative, sunny weather. The dogs got to get out and about as did we.

We saw a lot of wildlife including a Red-tailed Hawk that perched very close to us and eyed the dogs with great apprehension. I was so mesmerized watching I forgot to take pictures.

Quite a bit of cooking and knitting was enjoyed.

Swimming and Fetching

Uh oh! I smell a new hobby on the horizon.

I made my maiden voyage to Fabric Depot. They were having a sale! It's reputation is well deserved. It was overwhelming, full of budget busting perils and really fun!

Kung Fu Fighting Canine

Despite the still sensitive looking wound on his front paw, squirrel lust overcame Pedro and he broke one of our neighbors fence boards in half.

No one witnessed this so it is hard to say which part of his iron dog self went careening through the wood.

It was an older, somewhat rotten plank with a knot in the center, inherently weak , so says the man of the house. Karate chop! What will that dog do next? It amazes me how such a gentle, loving creature can be so powerfully destructive. 80 Lbs. of pure love!


On another front, the Shetland Shawlet is progressing nicely. I saw some folks on Ravelry had made cute mini versions using 1 skein of Malabrigo lace and 14 pattern repeats.
Since most women I know seem adverse to actually donning a 'shawl' I'm thinking I can sneak these into their wardrobes as 'scarves'.



I wanted to make my friend a hat for her birthday. I picked out the perfect yarn at Twisted, a lovely colorway of Silk Garden Lite that I knew would complement her long, auburn hair.
I looked at hat patterns and debated and knit on the shawlet and read this months book club selection and generally procrastinated. Then I remembered Calorimetry and cast on.
It turned out well and the fit was perfect, she loved it!



It was such an easy and fun knit and I had half a ball of yarn left so I knit a second one for myself.
I rode my bike to work this week and it was the perfect thing to wear under my helmet to keep the cold wind (and hail) out of my ears. I might need to knit some kind of neck gaiter too.

Such a fast and easy pattern and a great way to use up those 1/2-1/3 skein leftovers and stray buttons.

Lagoon Monkeys and Slough Puppies

I finally finished a new pair of socks for Morgan and the weather was cooperative so we shot some pictures this morning.

Then we took the kids, often referred to as 'the monkeys' to the park by the Columbia Slough. There was much swimming and wrestling and rolling in the grass.

I love Teasel!

Tempest had a good day at the park!

Spinning Into Fall

This is an amazing tapestry that was an entry at the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival this year. All of the yarns were dyed with plants. Isn't it gorgeous and inspiring?


A gratuitous photo of my Hemlock Ring Blanket, in natural light(finally)!





My new toy!
I purchased this Clemes and Clemes wheel from a woman named Sonya on Craiglist (the best way to shop and the only way I could afford to get into spinning). Sonya bought this wheel new in the 70's and it has been used and loved but she moved on to a newer wheel and the Clemes and Clemes has found a new home with me.
I have never spun before and need to do a little research and give the wheel a bit of TLC before I start. Fall is here and I look forward to many cozy nights of spinning while the hubby studies.







Of course I picked up some magnificent roving at OFFF. Wish me luck with my new hobby!




I started a second Hemlock Ring Blanket yesterday in Cascade Eco Wool 'Mocha'. It is much easier with stitch markers. The Eco wool in natural colors is much finer and softer than the dyed Eco Wool + of the last HRB. Pedro modeled the HRB, much to his displeasure.

Pedro Gets a New Shirt

The Hemlock Ring is still drying on the bed, I put a fan on it so hopefully it will be truly dry before bedtime. considering how many mistakes I made in this pattern really early on, it was quite forgiving. I can see them but the overall 'experience' of the blanket is great. I am looking forward to test snuggling it on the couch.
I'm making another one in 'Mocha' hopefully with fewer mistakes this time.







Pedro got a new shirt from his Grandma today!




Vote for Pedro! The cutest Mexican American Staffordshire Terrier ever!