Finishing Touches

Whoa.

I know it's been a long time since my last post, but it's because I have been busy turning this

into this:
Yes, the sweater is done, nothing left but the buttonbands. Which I have never done before. Of course, this sweater has led me to do lots of things I have never done before: knit a cardigan, attach sleeves in a very complicated manner, short rows, and, of course, this:

I think this is the project that has promoted me to the ranks of the intermediate knitters.

And can I just say one more thing about the cables? There were literally hundreds of them. At one point for several rows in the middle of the chart, there were well over 500 stitches on my needles, and constant cabling all the way across. (Tip: Color-coding is a must. And use stitch markers.)

I still need buttons. And I have some concerns about the wonky neckline right now, but I hope it will work itself out in the blocking.

Stay tuned!

Oh, and a Happy Belated Valentine's Day to all.

Taking Shape

Thank you so much for all the kind words on my last post. I read all the comments through tears! It's been a strange week with Annie gone, but I think all of us are starting to adjust. If you are reading this, please take a moment and send out some good vibes for Annie.

ETA: Paul told me this had been updated, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to look at it, but I did. It made me sad, but I am posting it here in hopes that someone local is interested--Annie's Adoption Page.

Ok, now onto long-absent knitting content.

Tangled Yoke is finally looking like an actual sweater! I attached the sleeves last night, after finally figuring out what the pattern was trying to tell me. It was none too clear, and took some time to get it together. And then, with 388 stitches, my KnitPicks cable broke.

The end join came right off the cable, leaving many stitches just dangling. I got those picked up, switched cables (because when I ordered the 40" cable, I forgot they came two to a package, and ordered two packages. Which turns out to be a good thing), and then the second cable did the same thing!

I then put the whole thing on waste yarn, switched cables again, testing them by making Paul pull on both ends as hard as he could, transferred the stitches back on to the new cable, then went on my merry way.

Next up: the cables. Is it crazy that I am attempting this with Fetching my only other previous cable experience?

Most Horrible Weekend Ever

We have had our dog Annie for five and a half years. Last Monday, she viciously attacked little Elly, and the attacks went on all week until Wednesday when we finally decided to board her so that we could all get a little rest.

Elly is ok; there were no injuries.

The biggest problem for us was that two years ago there was a vicious attack and Elly ended up with a gash on the top of her head that went all the way down to her skull and required an overnight stay in the animal hospital and five stitches.

Annie is a sweet, good-natured, beautiful, highly intelligent dog who is loyal, active, aboundingly healthy, great with people, cats, and kids. But it has become increasingly obvious that she and Elly cannot continue to live together. I hear this is a common issue when female dogs of the same age are housemates--but that hasn't made it any easier.

When we adopted Annie in 2002 at the age of two, we went through the Pet Adoption League, which specializes in the adoption of adult animals. They also have a policy that if, for whatever reason, things don't work out, they will take an animal back.

This morning, after owning Annie since October, 2002, we took her back. It has been a weekend of tears, keeping the dogs completely separated, changed plans, and more tears.

Paul requested a photo of him with the camera-shy Annie, and I wanted to post it here, with the request that is any of my local readers are in the market for an amazing dog to join their family, they check out Annie.