Last night Timber let me comb him.
Simple statement, but small miracle. I think because when he came into rescue his coat was all full of burrs, mats, feces (he had diarrhea), fleas, and all kinds of awful things, he had to be bathed and combed and bathed and brushed and bathed and clipped and bathed, and the upshot is that he really has kind of a grooming phobia. For a long time whenever he would see me pick up any grooming implement, his ears would flatten down and disappear into his ruff and he would go hide in his crate.
We've been working on desensitization, with short sessions and lots of extra-yummy rewards, and I've been teaching him "lie flat"--i.e., lie on his side. Last night he was on the bed, and I picked up the comb I keep on the "bedtable" (a piece of plywood on top of Taenzer's crate). It has very long, thickish teeth widely spaced. I scooted over near him and very very carefully started combing his thigh. Just a little bit, like 3 teeth of the comb, then move up a quarter of an inch and comb that. Of course, spring is coming and he's shedding like mad, so even with that delicate kind of combing I was getting quite a bit of undercoat. I got most of that thigh done, and here's the best part:
He was relaxed. He was so relaxed he laid flat on his side with his head down. He wasn't craning, waiting to see when I'd pull out his hair.
As I say, small victories. I still have a lot of dog to go, but maybe we're getting to the point where it's not only not a trauma, it's even kind of pleasurable.
On the knitting front, I stuffed the Transitions sweater into a cabinet. I suppose if I'm not going to finish it I should unravel it and rewind it. I just didn't feel like looking at it. And I got the toe of my sock done, decided it was too short, and ripped back to put in another two rows. Usually I do a toe with 3 sets of *decrease 2 st either side one round, knit the next round even*. After those 6 roundsd, I start decreasing 4 st every round, for a very round toe. For some reason I need at least one more set of every-other-row decreases on this sock. I should finish it tonight.
Showing posts with label Transitions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Transitions. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Monday, March 12, 2007
KNITTING!!
I TOLD YOU I'D DO A KNITTING POST! HERE IT IS, THE VERY FIRST ONE!
Okay, here's what I'm currently working on:
Aren't these pretty? The colors are a little softer than this, and there's a soft lavender grey that, er, knocks my socks off every time it crosses the needles. It's a basketweave rib pattern on the leg and down the top of the foot,and I like the way it breaks up the stripiness of the stocking stitch (visible here in the sole of the foot). These are going to look terrific with blue jeans and also with black jeans. (Pattern here: http://stitchesofviolet.blogspot.com/2005/03/basketweave-ribbing-socks-pattern.html)
The photo does not do the colors of this yarn justice by a long shot. This is Noro's Transitions yarn. It was a total impulse purchase--Little Knits (http://littleknits.com) had it on sale for about half off and I thought "I'll never, ever find this at a better price" and bought ten skeins. Little Knits is a very dangerous site. Hide your credit cards before you go there.
At any rate, this yarn is such a joy to work with--the colors are very soft and subtle, and there are 6 different fibers: wool, silk, kid mohair, angora, cashmere, and camel. The reason the item here looks so wrinkled is that it's the Broken-Cable Sweater pattern from Vogue Knitting Very Easy Knits. The reason it's not finished is two-fold: First, since I'm violently allergic to sewing seams, I've worked it in the round to the armholes, and it now occurs to me that when I divide for the front and back the stripe pattern will change. Second, I've used a size 10 circ and am wondering if I should have used a 10.5 or even 11. Obviously it's not the kind of yarn that's going to have a great "drape," but it does seem like it would be a bit less firm if it were worked on a larger needle. So I'm trying to decide whether to frog-pond it.
The story of this yarn is typical of my usual struggle to make anything. First I was going to do just a plain ol' circular-yoke sweater (and if I had it would have been finished weeks ago while the weather was still disgustingly wintry), but after about 8 inches I decided that was just too plain. Ripped it all out, rewound the skeins (I do love my swift and ball winder!). Started inventing a top-down pattern with a funnel neck, 6x2 ribbing, and a wide center cable. Messed it up, ripped it out, rewound. Sulked a few days. Didn't want to buy a Noro pattern book, but after looking at pictures of various Noro patterns, decided that this Broken-Cable sweater might give some of the same effect, which brings me to my current predicament.
Maybe I could do a cuff-to-cuff sweater?
Current soundtrack: "If You're Only Lonely," from the album of the same name by J.D. Souther. Can this guy sing or what?
Okay, here's what I'm currently working on:
Aren't these pretty? The colors are a little softer than this, and there's a soft lavender grey that, er, knocks my socks off every time it crosses the needles. It's a basketweave rib pattern on the leg and down the top of the foot,and I like the way it breaks up the stripiness of the stocking stitch (visible here in the sole of the foot). These are going to look terrific with blue jeans and also with black jeans. (Pattern here: http://stitchesofviolet.blogspot.com/2005/03/basketweave-ribbing-socks-pattern.html)The photo does not do the colors of this yarn justice by a long shot. This is Noro's Transitions yarn. It was a total impulse purchase--Little Knits (http://littleknits.com) had it on sale for about half off and I thought "I'll never, ever find this at a better price" and bought ten skeins. Little Knits is a very dangerous site. Hide your credit cards before you go there.At any rate, this yarn is such a joy to work with--the colors are very soft and subtle, and there are 6 different fibers: wool, silk, kid mohair, angora, cashmere, and camel. The reason the item here looks so wrinkled is that it's the Broken-Cable Sweater pattern from Vogue Knitting Very Easy Knits. The reason it's not finished is two-fold: First, since I'm violently allergic to sewing seams, I've worked it in the round to the armholes, and it now occurs to me that when I divide for the front and back the stripe pattern will change. Second, I've used a size 10 circ and am wondering if I should have used a 10.5 or even 11. Obviously it's not the kind of yarn that's going to have a great "drape," but it does seem like it would be a bit less firm if it were worked on a larger needle. So I'm trying to decide whether to frog-pond it.
The story of this yarn is typical of my usual struggle to make anything. First I was going to do just a plain ol' circular-yoke sweater (and if I had it would have been finished weeks ago while the weather was still disgustingly wintry), but after about 8 inches I decided that was just too plain. Ripped it all out, rewound the skeins (I do love my swift and ball winder!). Started inventing a top-down pattern with a funnel neck, 6x2 ribbing, and a wide center cable. Messed it up, ripped it out, rewound. Sulked a few days. Didn't want to buy a Noro pattern book, but after looking at pictures of various Noro patterns, decided that this Broken-Cable sweater might give some of the same effect, which brings me to my current predicament.
Maybe I could do a cuff-to-cuff sweater?
Current soundtrack: "If You're Only Lonely," from the album of the same name by J.D. Souther. Can this guy sing or what?
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