Annie

hi folks, here are first pics of annie. isn't she adorable? she's a 7 1/2 year old papillon. she does have some fear and confusion biting issues but i've worked with this kind of dog before with great results. i'm another foster failure. when she bonded with my parrot like pirets was bonded with him before pirets died, she melted my heart. then when she got my 14 1/2 year old soulmate bump playing and happily lay on the sofa with rider and me (they are on previous issues of this blog somewhere), i knew she needed to become part of us. so my world is all put together again but with a new companion helping to fill the earthly void left by pirets. tonight is such a good night and we're even more happy because rider's buddy winston is here for a 4 day boarding adventure. i hope you like the pics of annie. they're not perfect but they're a beginning and they show her coloring. star

oriental doll tawashi

ack! the pics went in backwards. dummy me. please start at the bottom of the series for the folding order and the directions. i'm so sorry but i was trying to do this in a hurry. thanks.





i hope you can follow the steps for folding. notice the small fold on the left top turning the dark trim toward the neckline. on that last fold, the rightmost top is simply folded down into the skirt thus you don't see the end. as i said, i didn't take the time to knit the strip double and fold the bottom toward the back lengthwise as i wanted to get this to you so see but if you knitted those extra 12 rows, then your back will have a nice skirt too into which all the parts are tucked and the last thing is to stitch and secure everything with your tapestry needle. the candy cane is holding my head as i need to reknit it to the smaller head size which are the directions i put on ravelry. good luck, enjoy and holler if you need help.

knitting therapy

since i lost pirets we have all been pretty down so i decided to knit some face cloths in colors i like while spending time with bump and rider. i finished the last one tonight and it was the butterfly. it's hard to see even in the next picture but it's there. you will all recognize feather and fan. i have to thank Tina for that and you may notice i knitted it both with and without borders to see which i liked best. the other cloths are "Roses For Mary" and "Lace & Diamonds" both purchased downloads by Sue Schaefer at Harvest Moon Designs. now i have some thank you notes to send. all four of pirets vets along with all 6 techs sent personal notes and i had an additional 8 mailed notes not to mention the about 125 email notes from papillon owners, friends, and knitting friends. i was overwhelmed over so many. never had i imagined such a response for one very little but very special little dog. i gave my life up for his 11 1/2 years to make sure his medical needs were met. as i always said, i bred him, i was responsible for his life and i would never abandon him. i think it was that dedication that made him so special to the animal community. but now we move on. two nights ago, rider finally left his new spot on the foot of the bed and climbed into my lap, curled up, and snoozed while i watched tv. i guess he's finally sorted it out in his head and felt comfortable taking up residence in my lap again. it felt so very good to have him there too. maybe now, i can get back to starting the blanket and doing the dishcloths and sweater i've told myself i WILL get done this year. i hope you enjoy the picture of the cloths. star

this is actually the white cloth that is on the front. i have it sitting on top of the rose colored cloth in this picture. it is a free butterfly from another list knitted with the border from the download purchase of "From the Heart" by Sue Schaefer at Harvest Moon Designs. It was the last one i knitted and bump and rider have about squared things away between themselves as to pack leader. they're both learning to give me "high fives" for being such super dogs. bump has it down quite nicely, rider still doesn't have a clue as to how to do it but he'll get it. now it's on to our new life without our little pirets but we go forward knowing that he no longer hurts.

Irving Townsend perhaps wrote "my" feelings when he wrote "We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own, live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached. Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would live no other way. We cherish memory as the only certain immortality, never fully understanding the necessary plan."

my heartfelt thanks to all who wrote to me. i felt like you were living my grief and sorrowful as it was, it felt good to know that people cared. now, back to knitting and whatever the future holds. star

blue baby blanket

this blue baby blanket is sidar pattern # 1575, knitted with plymouth dream baby d.k. on #7's. i made it 28x32 using 153 stitches. this blanket will go to my beloved papillon pirets' technician. i lost pirets friday jan 18, 2008 after an 11 1/2 year lifetime of various problems. he was my true knitting partner and was often seen about town or at home in my lap with yarn drapped all over him as i knitted away the stitches waiting for his vet appts or consoling him. i love this pattern, especially the self bordering. it's tension isn't perfect considering i had to stop and start so many times but it doesn't matter. it was mostly knitted with my lil guy on my lap and that alone made me happy. next project is sidar # 1598, a white baby shawl.

bib

this bib is modified from a downloadable bib from knitwits heaven. i omitter the crochet and added a moss stitch to the sides. made from pnc, it's soft and absorbant. i suggest you knit the ties at least 15 inches to allow for shrinkage. paired with a washcloth made from the same pattern but stopped about the top of the heart and a moss stitch border added, it will make an easy knit for beginners or advanced knitters and a nice baby gift.

kitty tracks scarf

kitty scarf i made for my sister for christmas. o.k. so it had to be gray as she wears a lot of black and likes dull colors. she had to put her 19 1/2 yr old cat down in october and has a new kitten, her new passion. free pattern is at http://iliveonafarm.com/gentlewaters.html . i used dolly maxi lenea merino, all wool from italy. it's about $8.75/ball and i used 2 1/2 balls. i chose to make a scarf that could be worn with a suit jacket so i had to knit both ends from the bottom separately, reduce stitches to half at the part that would go under the collar then weave together with a kitchener stitch. i just finished it today (12/23/2007). sure hope sister likes it.

all tawashi's so far

all the tawashi's so far are now in one pic after somehow 4 of my folders got wiped out. the orange one with the white is crochet'd. the yellow pear is the newest one that i just finished this morning. all are knitted out of antimicrobial acrylic yarn. some are my patterns and some are adapted from other patterns. i think they're adorable. they're also quick knits.