Saturday

I'm sitting here trying to decide whether to get a new laptop. I really hate to put anything on the Visa card. I'm trying so hard to pay it off! But there are several good reasons to get a laptop.

It's been raining hard off and on since this afternoon. I took Timber for a walk this morning, and he was very good! He pulled just a little bit, but when he did, I would stop, and he would glance over his shoulder at me and come back, and as soon as he did, I'd start walking again. And when we encountered a guy coming the opposite way, I stepped off the sidewalk and asked Timber for a sit-stay, which he did very nicely. It was a very pleasant walk, and I was a proud mommy. Our hard work is paying off. Poor Taenzer, though, we only got about a block before the first spell of rain blew through and we had to hurry home.

The local farm store had a sale on a bird feeder pole with two fixed arms, a moveable arm, a mesh tray, and a plastic tray, so I ran out and got one. The really expensive ones are close to $100, but mine's not so expensive, and on sale it was only $20. A small problem--it's taller than the pole I had up, and I needed a stepstool to get the sunflower seed feeder up. Ah well, I'll just get a longer hook to hang it from, so I can reach. Another small problem: I can't get the lid off the sunflower feeder. I'm going to have to get someone to do it for me, and then tinker with the clips so that they still hold, but I can get it open.

I think tomorrow I'm going to go out and see if I can find a nice suet feeder and a pole baffle to try to keep the squirrels out of the suet. Hopefully all the nesting birds will like it for their babies as well as for themselves.

I'm also thinking of putting the pole I was using in the puppy pen and hanging a couple of feeders out there, so I can watch birds feeding while I'm out with the dogs.

I'm finally nearing the end of my 2009 calendar scarf. I have one pattern left to go. I have enjoyed working on this, with the different patterns and different yarns. I especially like the qiviut and the buffalo down. I'd like to work with them again; maybe I can find another sale.

I expect I'll do socks as my next project, if I can successfully combine one of my beautiful sock yarns with one of the many patterns I want to do.

And, oh yes, I got the lace scarf finally back on the needles and mostly made back to where I was when I originally dropped a stitch. It's going to be a nice little scarf, something I can wear to work, I think.

I also meant to tell about my sweet peas. Last year I did about 4 plantings of sweet peas before I got them to come up. Each time I faithfully soaked them for 24 hours before I planted them, and kept them watered, and hung over them, and eventually got half a dozen or so spindly little plants that bloomed sometime around in July. This year I put a packet in the ground, got them covered up, and thought, oops, I forgot to soak them; oh well, I'll just replant later. Imagine my surprise a couple of weeks ago to find a long, thick row of sturdy-looking little sweet pea seedlings! I suppose that at this point I should thin them, but I'm really afraid to touch them--they're doing so well without my interference!

The Scarf, Day 20

Okay, I've been working on it longer than 20 days! But that's the pattern I'm currently working on. This past week I turned to Barbara Walker to replace a couple of patterns--one I didn't like and one I couldn't figure out. It was interesting to do, because in looking over what I'd done so far I realized there's a kind of "theme" in that the patterns are based on either verticals or /\ shapes. I found two that I think work pretty well, and now I'm back on the specified patterns. Day 20, as I said, which means I'm nearing the end!

I'll miss this project--it's been fun to do, it's easy to pick up and put down, it's not boring, and the yarns are sooooooo delicious to work with. I don't know how I'm going to block it, though, because it's HUGE--more of a stole than a scarf, really. My sister suggested folding it in half and blocking it that way, which sounds worth a try.

Not sure what's up for next. I have that little lace cardigan that needs sleeves, and the aran sweater, and I started a pretty little lace scarf for no particular reason other than that it's a pretty pattern and a nice yarn, silk and merino with a nice sheen.

The picture is WAY off in the color reproduction, alas--it's actually a deep teal, not at all this sort of azure color.

I could do socks. I'd like to try the Skew socks from Knitty, and I've got a couple of skeins of sock yarn I'd like to make some socks with.

I've also got some bumpy silk yarn in the stash I was thinking I could maybe make a summer t-shirt with. Small problem--I have two different shades, so I would need to make it with stripes or something. Preferably diagonal stripes--I've avoided horizontal stripes ever since high school.

When I went to Springfield last week, I met my sister at Barnes & Noble. We collected all the knitting magazines they had and carried them into the store's Starbucks, where we looked at the magazines, drank our hot drinks, and talked, which was really nice. It was GREAT to see so many knitting magazines! We each bought a couple--I got Debbie Bliss (which I'm thinking I should go ahead and subscribe to), IW Knits, and Piecework (another magazine I should subscribe to; I always find Piecework interesting, though I often wish the articles were a little longer and more in-depth). There were a couple of others I was interested in, but those were the "best." After we decided what magazines we wanted and replaced the ones we didn't, we went to the section that had knitting books and browsed the books we normally only see reviews of. Boy howdy, it's nice to actually hold a book in your hands and flip through the pages. There were a lot I wanted, but I controlled myself and didn't buy any--because--I'm sorry to say--I knew I could probably find used copies for less on Amazon. It's a dilemma.

I have some garden pictures, but I'm having trouble getting them off the camera. I need different photo software, I guess. I've been using Microsoft Picture It, which they no longer support. Maybe I'll try using the software that came with the camera.

grumble grumble

What daylight savings time means to me:

Disrupted sleep.

Going back to getting up in the dark, at least for the next couple of weeks.

Another hour to look out at the gray, dreary, soggy landscape.

It's been overcast with at least a little rain every day for a week, and they're forecasting another week of clouds and rain. I think my house is going to sink slowly into the mud and I'll have to build steps going up to get out.

In between showers yesterday I walked Timber up to the Square, and he did a very nice job--certainly no worse than Stella at his age, if not quite as connected. I started stopping and saying his name until he looked at me, then I'd click and let him go sniff his next object. By the end of the walk we'd gone from "Timber. Timber. Timber. Timber. Timber. Timber. Timber. Timber." to "Timber. Timber." So that was good. I hope eventually we'll get to the point where he checks in with me without being reminded. He doesn't have to stop and turn around and look at me, just flick an ear or cast a glance in my direction--just to let me know that he remembers I'm there.

So if the rain holds off until I wake up, I'll take Taenzer out today. I don't expect to get as far with her, but at least she'll be out and moving around.

I'm still slogging away on my scarf. I'm beginning to worry that I won't have enough of some of the yarns I'm using, like the cream-colored cashmere. Which is annoying--since I knew I didn't have much of it, I arranged the rest of the scarf around it; it'll be unbalanced if I don't have enough. I'm not sure I have anything in the stash that I can replace it with. I think I have a cream-colored lace-weight wool--maybe I could use that doubled or tripled.

I know I'm going to like it when I finish it--I'm more than half-way finished now and every so often I pick it up and wrap it around my head and neck, and it's so soft and warm and cuddly, it's hard to take it off and start working on it again! I had so much trouble with the last couple of patterns that I've started typing them into Knit Visualizer before I even start knitting them. My concentration is just shot these days; even with the visuals I've had to rip back and start over multiple times when I start a new pattern.

On the other hand, I don't really have anything on the back burner shouting to be done, so I'm just as happy to have this to work on.

Knit Visualizer

I have to thank whoever created the Knit Visualizer program and made a free demo version available, because it's saving me with this scarf.

Apparently I'm more of a visual knitter than I realized. I get terribly confused with lines of written instructions because I get lost (okay, micro-mini attention span), and since I don't know what the knitting is supposed to look like, I don't know how to correct my mistakes.

The Knit Visualizer demo program lets you type in the lines of instructions using common abbreviations (k2, k2tog, p3, yo, etc.), and translates it into a chart. It's got a few quirks--like I find it easiest to leave the option on circular knitting because it always gives you the public face of the knitting, which in this case is what I want. But it helps me enormously to have the "picture" (chart) to follow. I'd never have gotten the Day 13 pattern figured out without it.

I'm not sure what features I'm missing with the demo version that are included in the for-pay version, but if you'd like to try it, check it out here.

Calendar Scarf Update

I'm not progressing as quickly as I'd like to with this scarf, but I am progressing. Not quite half way, but getting there. In the picture below it's (from the top down) qiviut, yak down, a cashmere/merino blend, buffalo down, and alpaca/silk. I'll have to do a picture without the light behind it so you can see the yarns better--but hanging lace in the window does bring out the patterns!



It's getting long enough to drape over my legs as I work, and wowie, it's so warm!

Stuck

I'm stuck on my scarf. I've got a problem with the Day 9 pattern in row 3--I keep losing stitches somewhere. It must be something I'm doing, because I haven't seen anything on Ravelry mentioning an error in the pattern.

Row 1 reads: ESk4 (4 Edge Stitches), k2tog, yo, k2, yo k2, x-yo, s1 k2tog psso, yo, k2, yo, k2-x, rep. from x-x until end of row and end after the last x-x with yo, s1 k1 psso, ESk4

Row 2 (and all even rows): ESk4 x-purl-x ESk4

Row 3: ESk4, k2tog, yo, k2, yo, s1 k2tog psso, x-yo, s1 k2tog psso, yo, k2, yo, s1 k2tog psso-x rep from x-x until end of row and end after the last x-x with yo, s1 k1 psso, ESk4

I haven't been able to quite figure it out yet, but it seems to me there are more decreases than yos. There should be--let's see--2 yos for every s1 k2tog psso, plus a yo for each of the 2-stitch decreases at either end. If I can't figure it out I'm thinking of just repeating Row 1 for Row 3. I'll see if I can work it out on graph paper first.

Or maybe it's the first row. The 5th row seems to fit onto the 3rd row okay. My head hurts. I'm not good at this stuff.

Update: Apparently I can't count, or I can't follow instructions--I think that what happens is that I get extra stitches on the first row and work them back on the third row. I'm about to give it a try and see if I can do it properly.

To Rip

Yes, I decided I just didn't want to take the chance with the camel-hair yarn, and that I could afford 3 skeins of Elann's alpaca/silk yarn. So I'm waiting for the yarn to come, and meanwhile I decided to do s omething fairly quick--socks, of course.

Well, this turned out a bit too quick--two socks, two days. I've made this particular pattern before--Brigid from Goddess Knits--and from a different color of the same yarn, which is a discontinued yarn, Reynolds' Debut, on US4 needles. The original socks have been washed a number of times and are all thick and fluffy. These need some fluffing up, but I'm very happy with them.

Now I've got to come up with another quick project!

Rip out or not rip out?

By the way, if you catch a cold, try drinking Gypsy Cold Care tea. It's a herbal tea put together with a lot of herbs traditionally used for treating colds, it tastes really good (esp. with a spoonful of honey), and makes you feel better. At least, it makes me feel better. I found it in the grocery store.

I finally finished this first camel-hair yarn section of the scarf and started the next section with qiviut, and the feel is so dramatically different that now I'm not sure I shouldn't rip out the camel yarn and not use it. Yes, the swatch did soften up some once it was washed, but compared to the other yarns, it's really--well, icky. My other option, I guess, would be to knit in and bind off with some waste yarn, and wash the 3 sections I have and see what I get. If it turns out all right, I could rip out the waste yarn, pick up with the quiviut, and carry on; if it was still icky, I could rip out the waste yarn and the camel yarn and go to Plan B.

Which is--well, I could either knit on with what I have, OR use this baby alpaca/silk blend yarn I have that's a fairly nasty shade of pastel burnt orange (think old-fashioned baby aspirin--maybe that's why I don't like it!), OR take some of my cat-sitting money and order something from Elann.com. I'm thinking of their baby alpaca/silk blend, camel-colored ("mocha cream"). It wouldn't take much--2, maybe 3 skeins. About $9 plus shipping.

Hmmm. I'll have to think it over.

Oh. Timber has hit the experimental stage with the back-foot targeting: he gets clicked for the back foot, then turns around and deliberately puts his front feet on the cookie sheet. When he doesn't get a click, he steps forward until his back feet are on it. My take on this is that he's trying to decide what, exactly, he's getting a click for. "This? No. Okay, how about this?" And Taenzer several times stepped sideways to get onto the cookie sheet rather than circling around and walking over it. She also is pivoting on the foot planted on the cookie sheet to get her treats, rather than stepping off. Both things make me think she's getting the idea. Neither of them has walked up and plopped a back foot directly onto the cookie sheet in any way that looks deliberate, but I think they're both headed in that direction. I'm also working on "stand" with them--just stand still, don't move your feet or sit down or lie down--and am thinking of trying to teach them to target my hand with a hip or shoulder (more body awareness).

Sick AGAIN???

A virus, I guess. Just kinda mildly headachey, mildly upset stomach, tired, can't focus even to read or knit (that's how I know I'm really sick!). Living on hot soup and hot milk with vanilla and honey. :-P

Did I mention I got my laptop running? I can't figure out how to reload the address book to my e-mail or the favorites to IE, but it's running a lot better than it was. (knock on wood)

I haven't felt very much like doing anything for a couple of nights, so I haven't gotten very far with my scarf, darn it. I did get to day three, using camel-hair yarn, which frankly is like using carpet thread after the yak and the guanaco. I did knit up a tiny swatch and swish it around in a bath of tepid water and baby shampoo, then rinsed it and squeezed it in a towel, and it did soften up and fluff up a bit, but I'm pretty disappointed in it. I'll have to rework my list to try to keep it near the ends, away from my face and neck when I wrap up in the finished scarf.

It's warming up here quite a bit and the snow is melting, so Taenzer and Timber are getting out every evening. But I advised a friend to try clicker-training her dog the other day, so thought I might practice what I preached. I decided I would try to teach them to touch a cookie sheet with their back feet. They know how to whap things with their front paws, but I would like them to be aware of other parts of their bodies. Also, it's pretty obvious; I don't have to be super observant--a good thing in my present state of health.

So we've been working on it about 3 nights now--for about maybe 3 minutes apiece. I noticed even the first night that toward the end they were standing on the cookie sheet with their back feet more than their front feet--say, maybe, 51% of the time--but it was obvious that they really didn't have any clue why they were getting clicked/treated. Kind of the same the 2nd night, although the percentage of back feet on cookie sheet was maybe up to 65%. Tonight I think Timber's starting to get it. He hasn't had a lightbulb moment yet--the kind where he looks at me thoughtfully, then very deliberately puts a back foot on the cookie sheet and then looks at me as if to say "Is that what you want?" But several times instead of circling around and walking over the sheet and stopping with his back feet on it, he stepped off to get his treat and then simply stepped backward onto it. I was thrilled and excited. He is such a bright boy!

You can really tell that she's a cross-over dog and he was pretty much clicker-trained from the get-go. He really tries to figure things out--"what was I doing when I heard the click? What should I do to make her give me another treat?" Taenzer is much more excitable and reactive when we're training. It's not that she's not smart, because she's very very intelligent! But she gets excited and then her brain just short-circuits. She's getting better as she gets older, but it can be hard to get her to just take half a second to think. Also, she gets discouraged very easily, although she's slowly learning to keep trying. And she's very food motivated, which can make her easier to train--remember how she was actually doing better than Timber when we were working on loose-leash walking before it got so cold? That was because she was willing to work for treats even outdoors; Timber got all over-loaded by the new smells.

Maybe I'll try getting them to touch my hand with their shoulder next.

2009 CalendarScarf

I was feeling like I needed a break from the aran sweater I'm working on, and I had so much fun making the 2008 Calendar Scarf, that I really wanted to start the 2009 Calendar Scarf. Problem--I didn't have enough yarn, and I'm still pretty much on a "yarn diet," trying to use only yarn from my stash for new projects.

I was looking at pictures of 2007 and 2008 calendar scarves people have posted on Ravelry, and saw a couple that were multi-colored. That made me think that I have a number of exotic yarns in small amounts--sometimes as little as 40 yards--why not use those to make the 2009 scarf?

So I collected them all and added up the amounts, and I think I have enough. The picture shows handspun guanaco and yak on the needles (the guanacao in the Day 1 pattern; the yak is the dark brown), one of 2 small balls of buffalo down (top left), a skein of camel-hair yarn (top center), a ball of cashmere/wool (top right), a ball of qiviut (on the right), and a ball of cream-colored cashmere/wool (beneath).

The guanaco is simply heavenly. It is unbelievably soft and light, like knitting with a strand of cloud. I have 3 tiny balls of handspun from Plum Crazy Llama Ranch on ebay. I see there's both yarn and fiber available from a place in England called Heathylee, which has its own herd. Forty British pounds per 210 yard ball--I think at the current exchange rate, that's $64 US. If only I had a few more cat-sitting jobs!

Fiber is great, isn't it? Here I am, swooning over this incredible rare fiber, but at the same time, I'm just as in love with the Lopi wool sweater I have on--I love its lightness, water resistance, and warmth--and giddy about my red cashmere/merino scarf. I'm looking forward to working with the other exotic fibers in this scarf.

The yak, btw, is quite nice. It's soft and has quite a bit of body. I'm curious whether it will fluff out once it's washed. I'm using it doubled, and having a bit of twinge about it--I'd like to see it as a lace-weight shawlette (I think I only have about 300 yards). But I keep telling myself I'm much more likely to use it in this scarf than if I sit around waiting for the perfect pattern to show up. And I want to use all these lovely yarns, rather than sit around admiring the idea of having it. Right? Well, I keep telling myself that!