Knitting, with Dogs

Warning: strong opinion follows

I have nothing but praise for the organizations who staff animal shelters and, you know, actually HELP animals.

PETA is not one of those organizations.

Not excusing Michael Vick, who is a moron.  I'm just sayin'.

Misery is...

... a late summer cold.

Misery is...
... a late summer cold and a dog that likes to pull your snot rags out of the trash and chew them up.

Misery is...
... stepping on the wet, chewed snot rags that the dog left behind.  Ewww.

Send healthy thoughts.  And a housecleaner.

Gandhi got it right

From here.

"Take to spinning [to find peace of mind]. The music of the wheel will be as balm to your soul. I believe that the yarn we spin is capable of mending the broken warp and woof of our life. The Charkha is the symbol of non-violence on which all life, if it is to be real life, must be based."

Makes me want to pull out my charkha and spin...

Administrative note

I've had an increasing number of spam comments coming in on old posts.  Since I don't really want to go to the "prove to me you're not a spambot" system right now, I'm going to start closing comments after the posts have been up for a month or two.  If you find you can't comment on an older post, that's why.

You can always email me directly at harpnfiddle at yahoo dot com though.

Tnx.

I wanna know who this guy is

Go see an awesome video of acrobatic kite flying.

You know, if I could do something like that, I'd count my life well spent.

Hedera socks

As promised, here are my Hedera socks. View 1:  straight on.

Side view:

On Bouncer:

Yarn:  Dream in Color Smooshy, color Blue Lagoon.  Purchased at Creative Yarns in Macon, GA, the week I was hangin' out with my dad.

I started these socks while we were on vacation.  They're actually my first pair of lace socks.  I think this is a wonderful pattern.   The instructions are clear and the stitch pattern is easy to memorize.  I was a little concerned that they're knit on only 60 sts, but the description noted that the stitch pattern had lots of stretch.  (It does.)  And the Smooshy yarn is a bit thicker than some sock yarns.  This is a nice, cushy feeling sock.

Sock pattern and yarn HIGHLY recommended.

Knitting, finally

First, an FO, modeled by Jasper.  Isn't he handsome here?

Twist and Lace Scarf, by Brenda Patipa. Knitted in Lisa Souza's Sock! Merino, Petroglyph colorway.

Another view, slightly sillier:

a

This was a lovely pattern, easy to knit.  And Lisa Souza's yarn was lovely, as usual.

I've been assiduously working away on the Peacock Feathers shawl too.  I finished 3 charts while I was on vacation, and I'm half-way through chart 7.  According to the Peacock Feathers Shawl Progress Spreadsheet, I'm 60.13% complete.  But that's just because the rows are long.  I actually only have 56 rows from the end!  Glass, half full.  :)

Progress shot:

(No, there's nothing wrong on the right half.  I just pulled it over to straighten out the center sts and didn't notice that it had bunched up till AFTER I took the picture. Whaddya want? I HATE stretching out works in progress like this anyway.  Worries me to death.

Detail:

I'll be done sooner rather than later, I think!

I'm also almost done with a pair of Hedera socks, made from my Dream in Color Smooshy.  I hope to finish them tonight, so cross your fingers for pictures tomorrow!

The book signing

Or, I was a total dork, but it didn't matter.

Last Friday I had the great good pleasure of seeing Ted Kerasote at a local bookstore.  He was there signing copies of Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog. 

Now, I almost never go to meet people whose work I admire.  I mean, what if they turn out to be jerks?? I'd never be able to enjoy their stuff again.  But Mr. Kerasote was just the nicest, most gracious person EVAR.  He read from the book and spoke informally after that. He played Merle's slideshow (you can see it here), and then did a book signing. 

Since I found the end of the book VERY moving, I get all teary-eyed thinking about Merle, and about Cammie and Ivan, the dogs I lost in the past year, and Sasha, my heart dog.  I barely escaped the TOTAL dorkness that happens when you cry in a public setting like a book signing.   But hastily-wiped-away tears and barely-concealed snifflage did happen.

As usual, I had my Cowon D2 mp3 player hanging around my neck.  (Another indication of total dorkitude.)  While I was waiting in line, I was looking at the pictures of my dogs on it. So of course when I got up to the signing table, I had to show Ted a picture, because I am such a complete dork that I think that strangers from the other side of the continent might actually want to look at a complete stranger's dog pictures.  But as I said, he was very gracious and made polite noises in the direction of my picture.  Then he asked how I wanted the book inscribed.  Since I had no idea what I wanted, I mumbled something useless. 

So Mr. K asked what my dogs names were.  That was a question I could handle.  Jasper and Bouncer, I said 

Then he asked my name.  I managed that one too.  Janice,  with -i-c-e.

And here's how he signed my book:

"For Jasper, Bouncer, and Janice,
many years and adventures together!
with Merle's and my best wishes,
Ted Kerasote"

He shook my hand, and I had to turn and walk out of the store.  Otherwise I probably would have done something else dorky. 

But I bet Ted Kerasote would have taken it in stride and still been kind and gracious.

I am now a fan forever.  Because Ted Kerasote is both an excellent writer and a decent human being.

Read the book.  You won't regret it.

THIS is why

you don't leave your kid or your dog in the car in the summer.  Not even for 5 minutes.

This is the thermometer on the driver's side visor in my car.  If you can't read it, it says 131.5 deg F.
That's 55 deg C, folks.  And when I snapped this picture, it had cooled down from the initial 144 deg F it was when I first got into the closed car.

My visor was up when I got into the car.  It's THAT HOT inside. 

I hate high summer in the south.  HATE it.

Merle's Door

We're back from vacation. Actually, we got back on Sunday, but I've been shilly-shallying since then.  It's wicked hot down here.  I passed a church thermometer display today that said it was 100 deg F.  Yesterday I thought I'd save 10 miles worth of gas by riding my bicycle to a midday dog walk visit.  Bad idea.  I spent the rest of the day and evening recovering from the heat exposure.  (I always forget I'm not 35 anymore, and that I CAN'T do stuff like riding in the heat of a high summer day without consequences.  Yes, I'm a moron.)

Anyway, I'll post about knitting and vacation later.  Right now I want to tell you about a book I just finished.  No, not Harry Potter, though I did listen to the audiobook version over vacation, and it was fine.  This is a book about a man and a dog, and the life and love they shared.  It's called Merle's Door:  Lessons from a Freethinking Dog, by Ted Kerasote.  I'd read some stuff by Kerasote a few years ago when I was interested in the philosophy of hunting, and I was impressed with his attitude toward the subject and his writing style.  So when I saw this book, I was intrigued.  I saw the audiobook version available on Audible, and I ordered it  and downloaded it.  We started listening to it on the long drive to and from the beach.

From the first, it was clear to me that Kerasote was a man who thought of dogs in the same way I do. I kept laughing with recognition for the ways he talked to his dog, and the way he translated what the dog "said" to him. Some folks may quibble with this attitude as being too anthropomorphic.  Not me.  I loved it.  Kerasote interleaves his story of his life with Merle with information on humanity's history with dogs too.

Merle isn't confined like most of our dogs have to be.  But most of us don't live in a small town in the Rocky Mountains either.  I grew up in a small Georgia town where there were no leash laws.  There was a dog in town that was a sort of town mascot, a lovely silver Weimaraner.  He made his rounds like Merle did, and everybody knew him and looked out for him.

We can't go back to a time like that now, not in cities, and not much in the country even.  But Kerasote has got me thinking of more ways to let dogs be dogs, and not just extensions of myself.

Be warned:  Kerasote stays with Merle through to the very end, with deep devotion.  I cried a LOT at the end.  But I feel like I've been given a glimpse into something precious, and all the tears were worth the trip.

It looks like Ted Kerasote will be at the Barnes and Noble at the Forum here in town on Friday night.  I think I may go and see him.