I'm not sure what is happening with me. This is rapidly becoming a dog/poetry blog. A few weeks ago I posted a poem that my mother had written "If in April", but since then going through her things we have found this clipping of her only published rhyme. It was printed in her local paper, The Orpington Times, back in 1982. The trolley pound system is pretty universal now. Perhaps my mum's poem did something to help. The poem is a little dated, as pound notes went out of circulation long ago, but she did have a good way with words.
I got some really lovely gifts at Christmas. Nothing nicer for me that an interesting ball of wool or two. My sisters-in-law both gave me wool, and I thought for a long while what I could make with them.
One gift was a brilliant ball of Riot Chunky by King Cole, Shade 623 Rainbow. I love the subtle colours, but what to make with just one ball of wool. I toyed with the idea of a hat, and also even started trying to knit a cowl. (I would love a really cosy cowl, but half way through I realised that it was more of a collar or necklace, and was going to look a bit silly, it was so small. I would end up looking a bit like Howard Wolowitz wearing a dickie. You will need to google this if you don't know what I am on about.)
So in the end a simple scarf seemed the best idea, and I decided to just mix it up a bit with sections of stocking stitch and moss stitch. But when it was done, it just wasn't quite long enough. So I had the idea to knit two end sections in mock cable stitch with this Sirdar Snuggly Doubleknit wool. Great stitch, which looks like cable, but is much easier and you don't need a cable needle. The colour, which I think was Wobble 403, matched really well, but it was not as thick as the Riot Chunky, so I knitted it double - two strands. Do you like the end result, which is a little unusual, but I think will be great for next winter?
But now I still have other sister-in-laws gift, which is completely different - a ball of real alpaca wool. Now what shall I do with that? Hmmmm ......
I had the idea to knit a toy for our new puppy. The family scoffed. Given the rate that she is chewing through shoes, they did not think that a knitted toy would last more than a few minutes. But I was sure I knew better.
I found some wool that seemed like it will be hard-wearing, and then had a scout around ravelry to see if a bone pattern exists. Of course it does, so I downloaded Fetch! by KrisKnits and got going.
For my first bone I followed the pattern exactly. It seemed fine when I started knitting, but puppies grow very quickly (or perhaps I knit slowly), so by the time I had finished it seemed a bit small. So I had a go at a larger one, just by increasing the cast on and adding in a few more rows. And when middle bone was done I thought I might as well use the remaining wool to make a really big bone. So here are the bones hot off the needles, before being given to the dog.
She had a huge amount of fun playing with them. She really did seem to really like them. Especially the largest one.
But annoying the family were almost right. As this picture below shows what I was left with after a day of chewing. (Don't worry I did keep a good eye on her, that she didn't eat the wool or stuffing.) Middle bone is the worse for wear, but the big bone and little bone have just about survivied. I still think it is a good idea, and might work as a more long-lasting toy if I could use string or nylon twine. So you never know I might have another go. But for the moment it is probably back to the plastic chewy toys.
