For those of you who asked, I haven't had time yet to start a new blog, but did want to share this photo of my new summer sweater, made from my birthday gift certificate yarn. It is Gedifra Top Soft, which is a silk/microfiber blend. The pattern is "Cindy" from a Berocco book, and the yarn originally called for it the Berocco equivalent of Top Soft, only we didn't have enough red at the yarn shop. I love the way the yarn feels. The ends curled up until I blocked it, but the blocking went really well, following the instructions in the pattern book carefully (the Berocco yarn is real similar to what I used). I managed to not burn the sweater, but to even it out nicely. One problem is that I made the sleeves an inch longer than called for, because I didn't want "cap" sleeves, and now they are just long enough that every time I bend my elbow, the sleeve curls. All my fault! And I knitted three sleeves. I made one with two little YO errors in it, and thought I could live with it. But, when I finished sleeve #2 with no errors and had yarn left over, I decided to make a better third sleeve. Pat at the yarn shop suggested that I shouldtake the third sleeve and make it into something. I may make a holder for my stitch counter out of it, with some creative folding.
I enjoyed the quirky patterns on the sleeves, side slits, neck and armholes, but I really found the stockinet sections of the sweater dull. I should have knit the body in the round! That is what I am doing with my current sweater, which is in Hempathy (hemp/modal/cotton blend) and that is much more fun to do. I am almost to the sleeves on that one, but tonight I need to start a dog sweater, so it will have to slow down. I am teaching my first dog sweater class, and I am making one for Scrunchy that will say "big pug" on it. I charted the pattern last night. Should be funny.
Speaking of dogs, further tests have not found what is causing Gwynnie's blindness. Nothing showed up on her x-ray except constipation (so they took care of that and did it again, ick). We have her on dog food flavored aspirin to see if that helps with the swelling any. If I get a sudden upswing in income (and my fingers are crossed that it will be happening in a week or so), we will probably have the eyes removed so they can do pathology on it. Sigh. Can't decide whether to do the added expense of fake eyes. I wish I knew if she had a terminal illness or not. She seems fine, though, and is coping much better around the house.
