Phin!

So I alluded to a new, exciting thing in my apartment in my last post. That "thing" is a dog! Meet Phin:

Phin (short for Finnegan) is a 5 month old lab/husky mix (we think). He's the most enormous puppy you'll meet - we were at the vet on Tuesday and he weighs 54 lbs. He's pretty darn cute, but life with a puppy takes a lot of adjusting.

Suddenly there is this creature who wants up on the futon with you when all you want is to knit! And then falls asleep on your feet, but you need that book/computer/phone/knitting from over there! But we are all adjusting well. Britt and I now get up almost every day between 6 and 6:30. We try to take turns letting one of us sleep a little later. We go to bed around 10 every night. We eat dinner earlier. Some things are still hard to figure out - how do you best unload groceries from the car?

But we like Phin. He's sweet, and smart, and we're working hard on training him. We live in downtown, and his foster family was way out in the suburbs, and so all the people and cars have been a hard adjustment for him. We take obedience classes, which all three of us love - Phin gets controlled exposure to other people, and we get help in how to teach him!

So my knitting has slowed down a bit. I can no longer come home from work and curl up on the couch with my knitting bag and knit for hours straight. Instead, I get home, take the dog out, start dinner, take the dog for a walk, feed the dog, eat dinner, take the dog out, play with the dog, kennel the dog - and then think about knitting. I am definitely getting my 30 minutes of exercise 3 times a week and then some, which is great!

Until next time!

Emily's Cowl

I rarely knit in a super bulky yarn. Clearly I have been missing out on something. First of all, an evening to start and finish a knit project! Second, the cushy-ness of it! Third, the warmth! Just look at that seed stitch in the sun - isn't it cozy?

Don't you just want to wrap yourself in it? I did - so much that I'm buying a third ball to knit one for myself. This is a Churchmouse pattern that was sent out in their winter printed newsletter. Confession time: I have been on Churchmouse's email list for 3 years, but only learned about the printed newsletter when my roommate received the most recent one. Now I am on their mailing list, too (I hope). 

This pattern is the Last Minute Cowl in seed stitch - there is a ribbed version as well. It knit up, as noted, super fast. I used Rowan Tumble in colorway 569. Tumble is an alpaca-cotton blend - 90% alpaca, 10% cotton. I knit the Last Minute Cowl for my brother's girlfriend Emily. Emily has been a part of our family for almost 4 years now - I think this is the first time I've even sort of gotten it together for the holidays.

This had just enough drape and just enough structure. If you had a shawl pin, you could pin it closed high on your neck, but even without it stays cozy-close. It was a little big on Emily, because she is petite, but I think it'll work out well for her. I tried it on a few times - over a t-shirt, under a coat, with a sweater - and it was lovely to wear each time. I'm kinda jealous - not that it will take me long to knit mine once I finally purchase my yarn!

The beautiful Moxie, posing with the yarn. She doesn't get to sit on my bed much at the moment though. Stay tuned for the reason why!