First of all, let me just say how much I enjoy Thursdays. Thursday is, at our store, “Sushi Thursday”. If anyone is ever in Montreal I really, really recommend Sushi Mooshi on Decarie. NAYY, but it really is excellent sushi. If it’s any testament, I’ve been working with my dad for a few months over a year, and we’ve ordered from SM every Thursday since I’ve been there.

Well, my original plan for the night was to get home, crawl into bed with the yarn and needles for the fourth dog sweater, and knit away to Must See TV. Instead I have a long night of work ahead of me.

My grandmother called me at the store earlier to tell me that she’d gone into the pet accessories store that I’m preparing the dog sweater samples for, and that they’d asked when I would be bringing them some sweaters. Because of the freezing temps we’ve been having lately, people have been shopping like mad. So I called her up and arranged to meet tomorrow afternoon, and I’d bring her the three I have so far. She also told me that she has 2 orders for me as well.

Which means my relaxing night is now a race to finish the following for tomorrow:

-sew buttons on Sweater the Second

-sew “made by” labels into each sweater

-prepare “care info” and “size” labels on computer

-print said labels onto sticker paper

-cut out said labels and a background tag, make a hole, add string and attach to clothing.

See you later!

I wanted to post yesterday, really I did. But you know when you don’t feel like doing anything? After work yesterday I had to hang around for a bit then drive my dad to bowling, but I managed to not be too late to meet Jackie for our weekly Pilates class. Ok, it’s not so much a class as it is us working along with the Windsor Pilates DVDs and making sarcastic comments. Still, once I got home, made dinner, showered, went through a gazillion emails then finally managed to make it, shivering, into bed to knit (it was -34 with the windchill, and I mentioned the shower part, right? Wet + cold = CHILLY)…I just couldn’t do anything. I sat there like a zombie watching The Amazing Race. My knitting was right next to me…I just couldn’t bring myself to lift my arms and pick it up. Too cold. I finished watching TAR with Yannick when he got home from bowling (yes, my boyfriend and father bowl together. Every week. On a 4 player team. The other players being one of my brothers and one of my cousins. Oh to be a fly on the wall….). We watched the Law & Order SVU I’d taped earlier the same night, then I zonked out.

I also found out yesterday that one of my old friends’ marriage has officially been terminated. I knew they were talking about separating, but yesterday he confirmed to me that everything was official, and that he moved out last week- actually to around the corner from me. It’s weird. On the one hand, I should technically be paying homage to some kind of voodoo temple or be secretly happy because it just so happens that this friend is actually my ex with a loooooooong history, and his soon-to-be ex-wife is the girl he cheated on me with, then subsequently married. So really, I should probably be happy he got what he deserved. But I feel sad about it. We’re still friends, somewhat, and still keep in touch. I even went to his wedding with Yannick, and we’ve stayed at their country place one weekend long ago. I guess that even after everything that happened between us, I still always wished him nothing but happiness…and thought that he’d found it. Nobody deserves to get divorced, regardless of what their past was like or what kind of a person they were. I thought he’d finally gotten everything he wanted…his wife, his son…a family. It’s sad that relationships don’t always work out. I hope he meets someone, maybe the right person this time.

Today was very cool on the work front. Yannick was at the store most of the afternoon. I don’t know how I managed to get any work done! And today boasts much better for my abundance of promised knitting. I only had to stop at the grocery store after work and then since Yannick was still at the store I had a nice quiet night to settle in and knit. And I finished the third dog sweater! This one took 6 hours. (The first took 9, and the second is so far around 3.5…but I still have the buttons to sew on. It’ll be under 4 hours, anyways.)

I’ve been searching the mess of stuffed animals we have all over the house for suitable candidates for models, since the dog sweaters look really strange just lying there. I found an excellent model for The Third, in the form of “Lena”, the Gund white tiger I bought Yannick when he went into the hospital for his back surgery. She’s super soft, and growls when you squeeze her tummy. And she looks great in her pink ribbed turtleneck:

I LOVE this picture! I think it is so cute. The pattern is from Fiber Trends and is called the Beaded Rib Sweater. There are also the Hearts Rib Sweater and the Mock Cable Sweater, and I’ll be making those two very soon.

Now I’m off to put together my knitting back for Sweater the Fourth since my addis came in yesterday. I found SUCH a great deal on addi Turbos! I’d signed up with my birthday at RedBirdKnits because you get 10% off every year on/around your bday. So periodically I get emails with news and announcements from Robin of RBK. Well, right before Christmas there was an email that announced a special holiday sale: that current week everything was 10% off, the following week was 15%, etc… until from 12:00am on Dec 25 to 11:59pm Dec 27 (or something like that) whatever stock was left was 40% off. And this is a Canadian vendor. In Canadian dollars! So I set an alarm in my palm to go off, and Christmas Day as we’re leaving dinner with his family, Yannick asks me “why is your palm beeping?” It was 12:03am. I was able to move in for the kill. I got 4 skeins of Regia sock yarn (hot pink for me, brown tweed for Yannick), a copy of Rebecca magazine so I could see what the fuss was about, Fiber Trend’s felted clog pattern, and 4- count ’em 4 addi Turbos. At 40% off, after taxes and shipping the whole order came to less than $85 CAD! At my local LYS addis alone are about $20! So the whole package came in yesterday and I’m so excited to go through it all. Right now I’m grabbing the addis I need for body and ribbing and am preparing my bag with all the yarn, etc…so tomorrow I can start #4. Goodnight!

I’m REALLY tired, but had to come post this pic now or by the time I get around to posting tomorrow it will have changed. So last progress report of the day:

Again I included a copy of Interweave Knits for scale. I keep looking around for something else to use but short of a ruler which wouldn’t show up very well, I can’t think of anything else in my office that’s standard size everywhere. So for now IK is my guidepost. And if they want to give me a free subscription for the advertising…I don’t mind! 🙂

I knitted the last row after the body into a tube and continued that in 1×1 rib for 2.5″ for a turtleneck. As a final burst of effort before bed, I CO the 17 sts for the underbelly panel and did 7 of the 9 req’d rows in rib. Once that’s done I do the body rib patt for the req’d amount of inches then seam it together leaving 2 openings for the front paws to go through. So far this sweater has taken me 5 hours exactly.

Today is both Kristin’s birthday (my brother’s girlfriend) and 1 year since the date my uncle Mel passed away. I wanted to acknowledge both with their own post, not lump them into other stuff. I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to mention Mel here because of the context, but I didn’t want to wish Kristin a happy birthday and not acknowledge the other reason this date has a meaning to my family. So for both reasons, today’s a day to reflect on the good and the bad that can come out of life, even on the same day, or in the same moments.

Thank you to all the RAOK bloggers who let me know my feeds were working right. I’m trying to work out a system to read through everyone else’s blogs so I can actively perform RAOKs. I don’t get internet at work so lately I’ve been “plucking” people’s blogs with software for my Palm and reading when I can, but I would have to be MUCH more consistent with it to keep up with everyone. I’m trying to instill a time of the morning or night to sit down and read through as many as I can. If any RAOKers have tips on how to handle the bulk, or keep up with everyone, PLEASE let me know!

I would have loved to have slept in this morning, but Yannick called around 9:30 from up north looking for computer help. They were trying to install a shower unit but for some reason they didn’t have the installation guide. It was available online, but as a pdf file, and they didn’t have Acrobat Reader installed on the computer. I tried talking them through it but it was very hard not to get aggrivated. For one thing, I was trying to direct Yannick on what to click but without being able to see the screen it was a little hard. Then there’s the fact that they (“they” being Yannick’s parents) have a Mac. I have a PC. I am pretty well advanced when it comes to the PC, which makes me the family’s resident “go to” person for computer questions. Let’s not get into how much longer I have to stay each time I go to my parents’ place and as I’m going to leave I get hit with “Could you just take a look at…..” But I digress. I think I managed to walk him through downloading the reader from Adobe.com, but then it took a while before he was able to find where it was saved. Not knowing Mac, I couldn’t help him on that end. The one time I used their laptop got me frazzled enough that I almost kissed my PC when I got home. And that was with it in my hands. Trying to help long distance is NOT good for our relationship! He finally found where it had saved but for some reason it froze every time he tried to install it. Unless he selected to install it in Asian. I have no idea. He finally did install it in Asian but when he went back to the manufacturer’s website it still said he didn’t have the reader. That was the point at which I gave up. Did I mention this took 4 long distance calls? And that it was detrimental to our relationship?

I did manage to head over to my LYS even though my class was cancelled (hence the overwhelming desire to sleep in). They carried the exact same buttons as in the pics for the dog sweater, so I grabbed them.

This is the photo from the book showing the finished sweater (the one on top, Snazzy Jacket with Faux Fur).

This is a (grainy) shot of the same sweater minus the faux fur (hence, Snazzy Jacket). You can see the buttons they used.

These are the buttons I bought.

Not bad eh? I was glad my LYS carried them. I know from reading Jo Knits that there is a huge button store in Montreal, but I haven’t gone there yet. I had to go to the shopping center that has my LYS anyways ‘cus I had a meeting at 11:00 (so scheduled when I still thought there was a class). I don’t want to get into the meeting now ‘cus it’s something I’d rather keep to myself for a while. But it went very well, and I was able to be home by 12:30 having taken care of everything I’d wanted except go to the post office and return a stylus to Stylus Central for exchange, ‘cus I forgot.

After a very nice lunch of nachos I settled into more knitting. I really had thought at first that I wouldn’t enjoy a patt based on so much ribbing, but I have to say that I find it kinda relaxing. The patt shows up so much better when it’s stretched, but I know it will look stretched on a dog so I don’t mind seeing it closer together now. I managed to get to 10″, so when I get home tonight I’ll be able to cast on additional sts for the turtleneck, which is done in the round.

One good thing is that by working on my Denise needles, I can switch right to the smaller needles without having to waste time.

So I’m off to my parents’ house for dinner, but I just might have more progress later on.

Yannick left for up north this afternoon, so I was SURE I’d have plenty of prime knitting time. Don’t ask me what I did to occupy my time, but all I know is that somewhere around 8:45 I realized that I hadn’t done ANYTHING. I gave my little bootie a kick (hard, but I’m flexible) and got some nice progress in.

I finished dog sweater the second (050102). The pic sucks ‘cus I have no light in my office, and also I don’t have a small dog or dog-shaped stuffed animal to model for me. I also don’t have any buttons yet, so it wouldn’t stay on anyways.

I included a copy of Interweave Knits for scale purposes. For the sweater, picture the dog facing the magazine. It’s size small, so picture a chihuahua (sp?) or something. The curved upper part is actually 2 neck pieces that meet under the dog’s chin with a button, and the strap goes under the tummy and attaches with 2 buttons. In the book the pattern comes from, The Gift Knitter by Tara Jon Manning, they used cute little buttons with a paw print on it. My LYS says they carry those buttons, so I’m going to take a look next time I’m there.

Before he left Yannick had told me that Nicole from the Wool Shop called to cancel our class tomorrow, so, knowing I could now sleep in for a bit, I decided to immediately cast on for doggie sweater the third (050103). One hour’s worth of knitting gave me about 2.5″ of progress. It’s a really easy ribbed pattern with a 2 row repeat that I’ve already memorized, so I’m picturing myself breezing through it tomorrow. Of course, we’ll have to see how tomorrow actually goes.

See? I promised to be more forthcoming with the pictures. I deserve a reward. I’m thinking a nice vanilla coffee tomorrow. In any case, it’s sometime after 1:00 am and I’m going to bed.

When I joined the RAOK group a few weeks ago, I read much about “feeds”. While I still don’t fully understand the concept…I have one anyways. So for those interested in a site feed just scroll down a bit to where it says “Site Feed” next to the little email box, and that’s the link.

In other news, I had a great big laugh Friday night. Unfortunately, my friends were all downstairs so when they heard me cackling away the general concensus was that I’d lost my mind. I have, but that’s besides the point. What I found so amusing was placing this:

The first finished dog sweater, #050101

on my cat, thus obtaining this:

Yes, it’s much too small for him. All the more reason why I was cackling away. It was half sad, half pathetic the way he’d walk around the floor and occassionally look up at me with those huge eyes like I’d betrayed him. Ok, so I felt a bit guilty. Not guilty enough to destroy the pictures, however.

(Addendum to this post from later on today- is it just me, or do I have the cutest cat in the world? I mean really, tiny head + big eyes + big ears = very adorable cat. Oh, and yes the dresser is messy but really, it’s just the spare bedroom so I can just close the door and not have to look at it. Back to the cat. Can’t you just get lost in his eyes?)

I never fully explained about the dog sweaters, did I? In December, my grandmother went into a local pet accessories store and they saw her dog wearing the sweater she’d knit for him, and asked her to knit sweaters for them to sell. She said she didn’t have time, but I told her to tell them I’d be interested. I went in to meet with them and brought a few books of dog sweater patterns to get some ideas worked out. They told me which they liked, or didn’t, and what colors they moved most. So I’m in the process of making some samples to show them, and if they like them they might buy sweaters to sell. I’m making about 8 samples, all in small sizes just so they can see the styles.

I almost started a flame war when I mentioned this on the knitlist, because many people emailed me offlist to warn (or lecture) about how illegal it is to sell knits that are not my design. They had me so freaked out that I contacted the two publishing companies; Interweave Press and Penguin. Both thanked me for calling and said that there was absolutely no problem in selling the finished knitwear, provided that I cited the designers. My original intent was to have a “wash info” tag, and on the back would be “hand knitted by Jennifer” and then “design by Designer’s Name, from Book Name”, so I was relieved.

So to anyone who has an idea like this, don’t listen to people who say one thing or another. Go right to the source and sometimes you’ll be pleasantly surprised. I was. Interweave Press even wished me luck!

I don’t remember what I’ve talked about lately so I’ll just recap as well as I can.

I mentioned starting doggie sweater the second at the MKG meeting on Tuesday. Wednesday was a night I’d rather forget, so we’ll move on to Thursday. After work I was able to make some progress. I got so frustrated though! I found a mistake in the pattern. Once you divide for the neck and work each side with its own end of the ball, the instructions say “working each side separately, BO 3 sts on each neck edge 1 time, then dec 1 st ea neck edge 3 times on alt rows”. I worked to the end of the 13 sts (well, 10 sts, then BO 3) and realized that I couldn’t work it that way…the BO would leave a gap for when I tried to work back. So I decided to work the BO over 2 rows- work the 13 sts, on the beg of next 13 do the BO 3, work the 10 rem, then on the following row work the 10, then on the next 13 do the BO 3, and work the last 10. Only I must have been tired because for some reason I worked every dec that way too…as in work one side, BO 1 st, finish, then turn the work, work across, BO 1 st, finish row. I finished the neck and instead of having 1.25″ from the original split I had almost 3″! I was about to email the knitlist for help when I remembered the other decs are DECS, not BOs. I still had to do the BOs over 2 rows, but then I just did the decs on the RS rows, and then my “work 1 row even” became the WS rows, leaving me a nice edge ‘cus I did the decs 1 st in from the edge. I still wound up almost 0.5″ too much, but I don’t care. I had no choice, ‘cus of the BO, and besides, these two pieces wrap around the neck and button to close. I don’t think any dog would mind a bit more breathing room.

I wanted to finish that sweater last night, and possibly start the third, but babysitting 4 boys all under 8 does not lead to smooth knitting time. So I took the night off knitting. But I will work on it today. And I will do my best to start including more pictures with my posts. I don’t have a digital camera, but my Palm does take pictures. It’s what I’ve been using so far, but sometimes I don’t add pics ‘cus to upload them I need to sync my unit, and I have a lot of programs so it takes a bit of time. I’ll see about just telling it to sync the photos so I can include more here. That will be my blog resolution for the new year. 🙂

Well it’s been a somewhat productive week for me so far.

On Sunday I went with Yannick to Ikea to search for storage solutions. I have a big armchair in my office that has been serving as my stash container, and has steadily become overwhelmed. Yannick won’t let me go the route of the all-purpose plastic bin because it offends his sense of style, and I wanted something that would let me make attempts at organization. Our original idea was to head over to Reno Depot and pick up some white melamine with pre-drilled holes for adjustable shelves and make cubbyholes like at yarn shops. Then we thought melamine might be too expensive so we considered plywood or chipboard. Then I remembered about Ikea and we zipped over, reminding ourselves in advance that Ikea is Evil and would not let us leave until we’d done the entire route through the store. There were some cute cubicle-like things that hang from tabs and are made out of vinyl or canvas…almost like shoe racks, and you can purchase little “drawers” to fit inside for organizing bits of left-overs. Unfortunately they stuck out 13″ and the clearance I had was 9″. We ended up compromising, and here is a shot of my office/craft room:

right-hand wall showing filing cabinet, printer/combo unit, comfy chair and 2 rows of storage- 1 row of 3 canvas bags holding stash for projects for me, 1 row of 6 bags holding projects in some state of progress

back of office showing computer/desk and 1 row of 3 bags holding stash for dog sweaters

shot of left wall showing shelves of craft books, white vase with straight needles, small box for circs (2nd shelf) and 2 rows of 6 bags per row holding assorted stash

On Monday I finished the knitting of dog sweater the first (code 050101). Commenced weaving in the billion (ok, 15-ish) ends.

Tonight I finished the weaving while at the January meeting of the MKG (Montreal Knitting Guild). If anyone was there, I was the blonde with the ponytail in the bright coral sweatshirt who asked the question about adding sts when creating a cable. I scored, stash-wise, too. Sally, the current president, is moving, and thus reducing her stash load. My stash load increased. I got 10 skeins of Briggs and Little Tuffy in a comfy-looking gray, another 10 in a bright, smile-enducing red, and 10 balls of Noro which I believe is Silk Garden (content silk/wool) in a romantic gray/purple blend. Very excited to welcome the new members of my stash family. Am embarassed that some of the stash is hiding in the closet ‘cus there are no more canvas hanging bags left to hold any of it. Will have to return to Ikea for another 2 packages. Hmm…3 bags per pack? Better make it 3 more!

In further productivity for tonight, I joined the MKG, signed up for the Canadian Guild of Knitters, and volunteered my name to the person in charge of the newsletter as a person to call with questions about crocheting.

I ALSO managed to cast on and work 21 rows of dog sweater the second. (Ok, not that much of an accomplishment ‘cus the yarn is worsted weight on 6.5mm (10.5 US) needles so it flew by, but at least it’s started!)

I ALSO volunteered for something today but I’ll wait until there’s more info on it to mention it here.

And I will remember to blog about the dog sweaters very soon.