Every Dog Has a Story

I am obsessed with dogs. It isn’t an exaggeration; it’s fact. I can’t just walk by a dog. I have to stop, ask the human if I may meet their dog, make introductions, get kisses and deliver boops. Most people are fine with this. Occasionally, someone will caution me that for one reason or another, their dog should not be approached. I totally respect that and it is why I ask permission in the first place. I love taking selfies with my new friends.

This is Olaf and his sister Ayla. I met them outside a shop in town. Cheer up, you two!

I recently completed a small scarf using yarn that has been in my stash for 16 years. The yarn is Salt & Pepper by Tilli Tomas. The fiber content is 100% spun silk, single ply, with embedded glass seed beads. You’re thinking “Divine, Regina…absolutely DIVINE!” I will never forget the day I purchased it. October 24, 2010. I was at the NYS Sheep and Wool Festival and was given money to buy something special. This was the prettiest yarn I ever saw. The feel of it, the shine of it, the beautiful soft pink of it! And the beads! This yarn cost me $30/skein. Yarn I could never have afforded on my own.

This yarn was so dear that I wanted to save it for “that special project”. 16 years later and it still sat in my stash, unfulfilled. It was time to knit it. This yarn needed a simple pattern to allow the beads to take center stage and this pattern was a no-brainer. An Italian Summer Scarf by Francesca of An Italian Knitter Designs. The scarf is worked flat, back and forth, from one tip to the other, and it’s all garter stitch with built-in I-cord edges and beautiful eyelets throughout.

While I am very pleased with this scarf, I did not enjoy knitting with this yarn. I KNOW! 16 years of sitting in my stash, garnering legendary unicorn status, this “too-dear-to-actually-knit-with” yarn turned out to be a real pain! 100% silk has no bounce or squish and you all know me, I am nothing if not a bouncy, squishy kinda gal. The beads would get hung up on the surrounding stitches or I would miss grabbing both strands when I knit. The most annoying trait of this yarn was that the silk and the bead strand would knit a different gauge so the silk would bunch up as I knit. I would have to stop periodically and smooth the yarn out and that turned out to be a sweet pain in the arse. An article on the Tin Can Knits website explains this dynamic.

To wind together or not?

It might be tempting to wind both of your yarns together, and if you do this it might be just fine, but I prefer to work from separate balls, and here’s why:

When working with multiple strands I find that one yarn uses very slightly less than the other. It has to do with how the yarns are interacting in each stitch. One strand might sit on top of or below the other, meaning it uses very slightly more or less yarn.

This is a small thing, but over many, many, many stitches it can mean you’ve got one yarn that’s used an inch or two more yarn than the other, so you have to separate the strands in the combined ball, constantly smoothing them out as you go.

It’s only a small annoyance, but if you work from separate balls you won’t have this problem.

There is a lesson for me here, friends. For 16 years I guarded this yarn and deemed it too precious, yet when the time came to work with it, it was a huge disappointment. That’s right up there with saving my new colored markers for a special coloring project as a child and when that time finally came to use them, they were all dried out. I am going to reassess my stash and with a wise eye, pull out any special skeins and get them on the needles. No more hoarding for me. Knit. Them. Up. Girl!

Stash busting and Sock Knitting

I read a blog by Lisa recently (In the Rounds: A Self-Imposed Sock Club) about a self-imposed sock club. The idea came from the creative mind of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, the Yarn Harlot. Rather than subscribe to a new sock club, create your own from your stash. Read more about it here: Self Imposed Sock Club 2026. This idea is genius! Pack up one skein of yarn along with a pattern from your library in a brown bag, close it up and put it on the shelf. Do this for 12 skeins. At the start of the new year, pull one bag randomly down from the shelf and cast on just as you would with a sock club subscription. I can see doing this on your own, or as an exchange amongst sock knitting friends. Unfortunately for me, I don’t have any sock knitting friends!

I have bags at the ready, and freshly printed patterns. Not sure if I’ll start with a Christmas Eve cast-on, or New Year’s Eve. You’ll just have to stay tuned.

A few years ago, I received a Bird Buddy as a gift from my son. This is a bird feeder with build-in, solar-powered camera. It takes stills and videos when there is activity or you can view a livestream from your phone. I love watching the birds at the feeder while I am away from the house. Actually, I have been known to watch the livestream from inside my house. Here are a few of my visitors lately:

Can we just take a moment to appreciate Carver’s epic side eye? I love how Bird Buddy identified him. “Dog”. See that Mourning Dove? They are typically ground feeders, but this little one loves sitting at the feeder. When she is feeling particularly sassy, she will turn around and shake her tail feathers at the camera.

Arboreal

I found the Arboreal pattern by Jennifer Steingass and imagined the beautiful leaf yoke transitioning from the second deepest red to that bright and sunny yellow. I think it came out pretty well. I always name my projects in Ravelry and this one I called Autumn In Rhinebeck. I made a ton of mistakes with this and my colorwork knitting chops are rusty.

Prayer Shawl Ministry

This shawl was made with donated yarn; Knit Picks Palette in Wheat Heather held together with Borroco Cirrus in the color Mojave. When I ran out of Cirrus, I held 3 strands together of Ice Yarns Baby Alpaca Fingering in White. It was a super way to work down some of my stash.

The pattern is Yowza Weigh It Shawl 2 by Susan B Anderson. This is a great pattern for its simplicity. I was able to knit while in Adoration when some other attendees wanted the lights off. Once you cast on the first stitches, you never have to count again! Just knit until you have about 3 ounces of yarn left for the ribbing and bind off.

This post has lingered in my drafts for quite a while. Isn’t it funny…you don’t hear from me for months, then I get on my own case if a draft stays a draft. Time to wrap things up.

In my cup: Please stop for a moment to appreciate this fantastic tumbler. Oh, she has seen better days, but don’t judge a book by its cover. This is a work horse!

My husband purchased this for me so I could be the envy of every 12 year old girl. And it worked! Isn’t she adorable?

Mrs. Messa…I like your mug!

Mrs. Messa…where did you get that?

OMG…Mrs. Messa…I have the same one!

I bring this to work each day with just a little ice and it stays cold and refreshing all day long!

In my earballs: Dog TV. In case you did not know, this is a thing! My Carver loves it! You know who else does? My 99 yr old mom. When she comes over to the house, I put it on. There is no plot to follow. No commercials. No conversations. Just dogs, music and colorful graphics. She always comments on how much she “loves this movie!” I think this channel could be marketed to senior centers and nursing homes. It is far more engaging then game shows and there is no shortage of goldies! Have I told you about my obsession with dogs?

Saint of the day: All Saints Day. If you have been with me a bit, you know how much I love the saints. The priest at Mass today described the saints as the stained-glass windows – the light of God’s grace shines through them in magnificent color. I loved that! I want to be like that. I am more like that little awning window of the garden shed that has dirt and cobwebs obscuring the light. Full of potential, but desperately in need of a good cleaning!

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I look forward to all your comments about how justified I am in writing about ALL. THE. DOGS!

Tomorrow the Church celebrates All Souls’ Day; a day where we pray for all the faithful departed. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Happy November, Friends!

Love to all,

ReginaMary