Balmoral

Completed in Caron's Grandma's Best cotton thread, size 10. Pattern is Marianne Kinzel, Second Book of Modern Lace Knitting. Think I'll try a smaller project next.

Rosie Found

The internet is amazing, a web site, mass emailing, the area was blanketed with Rosie's info and picture, and she was found. Someone spotted her, called Animal Control, who recognized her from the flyer and website, picked her up, and she's now home safely, none the worse for wear.

FInd Rosie

Lost female German Shepherd

A very good friend is looking for her lost Rosie in the Short North/Grandview/Upper Arlington area. Rosie is a black GSD, petite, friendly but most likely very scared. She escaped from her pet sitter's yard this morning and we're all desparately trying to find her and bring her home. If you are in the Columbus area please keep an eye out for her, large reward, details at this website, including who to call.

http://ohiolostdog.blogspot.com/

Daffodil

Giving quitting smoking another try, trying to cut back to half a pack a day and then make the final step, down to just under a pack right now. Keeping hands busy, finished Daffodil designed by Marianne Kinzel. I have so much cotton crochet thread on hand, will keep me busy for a long time to come. Blocking in this picture.

Rain, rain, rain

Lots of it lately, and wind and cooler temps.

Finished the Duchrow. Haven't washed or blocked it yet, its really big, and will be even bigger after stretching.

Moving Along

Only 22 more rows to go on the latest project, its so big one row takes at least an hour, so awhile to go yet. Becoming just as much a fan of Duchrow as Niebling, the oldtime lace desingers are incomparable, and they charted their patterns without the benefit of a computer, pretty amazing.
Still not sure where in the heck I'm going to block this, maybe on the bed and block the dogs from the bedroom?

Fall!!!

Not quite technically yet, but the weather is beautiful, sunny and around 80. Spending as much time outdoors as we can before it gets cold and sloppy.

Nothing new on Mellow, he still has the sore, vet wants to give it a few more weeks to clear up before taking biopsies, but so far it hasn't changed at all. Doesn't seem to bother him. Bothers me.

Started another pattern from Knitted Lace Designs of Herbert Niebling by Eva Leszner, this pattern is a Christine Duchrow according to the editor of the book who is a member of Ravelry and has been really helpful with corrections and other questions about the book.

Am a lot further along then this picture, its going to be large, not sure where I'm going to find the room to block it.

Another done

Finished yesterday, pretty, the old lace designs really are gorgeous. I've made four in the last six months, all out of Southmaid Crochet Cotton size 10, of which I have an enormous amount stashed. Working on another design out of the same book, again with the Southmaid, I have so much I really feel like I have to make a dent in it before I splurge on really good thread.

Started a retirement countdown, 7 years, 10 months and 26 days, forever, lol.

Worry just never ends

The sore in Mellow's mouth has gotten smaller and less "angry" according to his vet, but still there. Another two weeks on antibiotics, if its not gone at the end of this round Doc will take biopsies to see what else might be going on. He tells me not to worry, Mellow is young and healthy, but can't help but worry anyway. Yeah, OK, overreaction from what happened with Levi I know, from a seemingly happy, healthy dog to so ill and gone in a month, I still can't get past it.

Where is the time going

Just flying by, and not getting much accomplished. Decided to delay the decision on the shawl - start over or rescue, and started another project, a tablecloth from Kintted Lace Designs of Herbert Niebling by Eva Mara Leszner.

The projects in the book aren't named, so call this one Page 23. The pattern has some errors, but pretty easy mostly.

Mellow was at the vet a few weeks ago for his rabies shot, but nothing is ever simple anymore, the doc found a sore in his mouth. He's been on antibiotics for two weeks in the hopes that its just an infection and will clear up, he goes back tomorrow to be rechecked. If the sore isn't gone then we'll have to do biopsies. Infection makes sense though, all summer they've been reroofing around here and all kinds of strange things have landed in my yard, as much as I tried to keep it picked up I could have missed something. Mellow misses nothing, easy to imagine him getting ahold of a nail and puncturing his mouth resulting in infection. So fingers and paws crossed.

AARRGGHH

Scrapping the shawl I think, got lost in the 200th round, no lifelines and I could rescue it a couple rows back but wasn't happy with the way the nupps turned out anyway so maybe deciding to just chalk it up. So much time though, just gone, useless except for the learning experience. Love the pattern, deciding what to do, start this over again or move on to something else, or I may decide to try to rescue what I've done so far, sleeping on it.

Dog days

Finally its hot and muggy summer around here, its been great until now though, very comfortable temps.

Lainie is too cute, even in 90 degree-plus temps, she loves to lay in the sun. The rest are ready to hit the air conditioning again after a half hour or so outside. Two months yesterday since Levi left us, still miss him a lot, Mellow still lays in Levi's old spot under the desk frequently, otherwise I guess we're mostly back to after-Levi normal.

Finally got going on the Estonian Lace Christening Shawl, the nupps really slow me down and the last border has a ton of them so this isn't going to be a quick project, but its really turning out beautiful.

Happy July 4th!

Ok, so a day or two late. The dogs and I sat out back and watched the fireworks, no reaction from them to the noise, thankfully.

Working on Estonian Lace Christening Shawl, not working too hard though, can't seem to get into it. Its beautiful, once I get through the center section my interest will probably pick up. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=13841486

Working our way back to normal

This painting of Levi was done by a very good friend, you can see more of her incredible work at http://wooffactory.com/. Levi stayed with Steph and her pack for a week in Nebraska after getting out of the shelter and before heading home here. Thank you so much for this wonderful painting Steph.

After Levi

Can't seem to pull out of this sadness, depression, anger, I took the week off of work and all I'm doing is sleeping, in between taking care of the rest of the dogs. I really miss Levi, Mellow seems to miss him as well, he's spending a lot of time under the desk in Levi's old spot, Mellow never went under there before. Going to force myself to get going today.

I started Hannelore right after Levi was diagnosed, and finished the knitting just before he left us. Lots of tears in the lace, a lot of it was knitted while Levi was on the floor next to the couch within petting reach when he was still moving well enough to follow me everywhere, when I woke up at night checking to be sure he was OK and then knitted until I could go back to sleep. I managed to wash it and block it this weekend and its stored away, maybe someday it will just remind me of Levi as the wonderful companion he was, not of the devastating illness he suffered in the last month of his life.

Levi

Levi lost his battle yesterday, we went to the vet he knows and loves rather than the hospital he's spent so much time at, and he's now at rest. He's taken quite a lot of my heart with him. Run free at the bridge Levi, I love you and will miss you. Hugs to our friend Stacie for the beautiful picture.

Miracle needed

This is it, the last med, his intestines have only gotten worse in the last month. His doc said this most likely won't work, but I'm trying it for a few days hoping for a miracle, so far he's had it for two days and no improvement, there's nothing left to try. Thursday night, if he's no better I stop giving him all these pills, so many pills, I'll send him to the bridge on Friday afternoon, I can't let him go on like this past Friday, he's so sick. The picture was taken last summer by a good friend who was involved in his rescue, I love this picture, its so Levi, calm, peaceful. Everytime I think I've finally run out of tears I find that I have more.

http://www.dogster.com/dogs/656293

Hanging In

I don't know how, but Levi is still fighting, he had to be hospitalized last week, his back legs got increasingly weaker until he lost use completely. Silver lining, we now have a new doctor who seems to be paying more attention. The meds he was on haven't improved anything in a month and have been changed, and he'll be seen much more frequently. He's home now and moving slowly, but he's up under his own power. The new doc said IL dogs get worse before they get better, and he's hoping we've hit bottom and will only go up. There's been so many ups and downs, more downs, the few good days he has are treasured. He had a fairly good day yesterday considering, today is already heading for a down. He has an appointment tomorrow to gauge how the new meds are working.

Still knitting like crazy, I wake up repeatedly at night just to make sure Levi's still breathing and end up knitting until I can fall asleep again. I completed Hannelore, its not blocked yet but its very pretty. Not sure what to start next, maybe another Niebling.

Sadness

Levi is deteriorating, trying to be positive but its hard. Besides what I can see him going through physically, his blood was checked Friday and his proteins are even lower in spite of the meds and food. He's demonstrating pain for the first time, pain where I'm not sure, I suspect his back legs, side effect from the Prednisone even though he really hasn't been on it long term?, I just don't know. No answers, Sunday, holiday weekend, his specialist is hard to reach anyway even during the week. His regular vet is very pessimistic about his chances, although he admittedly is not really familiar with either disease Levi has. I haven't given up, there are other meds to try, but its really hard to watch him feeling so bad. My easy going, always dependable Levi is sick and in pain, and his stoicism is wearing thin.

About my dogs, Mellow first

Mellow is just over four years old, a Siberian Husky/something mix, probably Australian Shephard. He's a dark copper with dark green eyes. He was bought at a pet store, only five weeks old!, by a couple who decided when he was three months that they no longer wanted him. When asked if I would take Mellow I at first said no, he was everything I didn't want, a puppy, male, big, but decided in the end oh OK, we'll give it a try. Huskies!!!!! I had no experience with them, had no idea what I was in for, the energy! the stubborness! we had some really rocky moments that first year and I made a lot of mistakes. In spite of me he's now a wonderful dog, mostly obedient, that Husky streak doesn't allow for perfect obedience after all, he's devoted, and unbelieveably smart. Very alert and watchful, he misses nothing, anticipates what I'm going to do and what I'm going to want him to do and is rarely wrong. He always knows when I'm sad and is cuddly, and when I'm silly he's silly, quiet - he lays quietly by my side. I can take him anywhere, and other than an occasional attempt at marking, he's almost always perfectly behaved. Loves people, at the dog park after an initial sprint around the park, he spends most of his time greeting all the other owners and begging for pets.

http://www.dogster.com/dogs/301094

More Levi Worry

He was improving so much all week, and now he seems to be backsliding, refusing food again, listless. Have a call into his doc, hopefully he'll call back today even though its Sunday.

Started another Niebling design called Hannelore, I've seen it called Little Lyra on Ravelry. Using a German pattern, I can understand the chart, tried to translate the text unsuccessfully, but the pattern seems clear enough and I doubt the text has any further instructions I need. Guess we'll see.

Sigh, I should be cleaning

Between Levi and knitting the house has really been neglected, and with five dogs it doesn't take long to have an overwhelming mess, dog hair really gets out of control if I don't vacuum or at least Swiffer every day, and the dust, ugh. But finished the Tina tablecloth, reasonably happy with it. One error where I dropped a stitch and didn't recover well, but I learned and will know better next time. The pattern was designed by Dorothy Siemans, and can be found at http://www.fiddlesticksknitting.com/tina_shawl.html

Bigger picture of Lyra, I really am proud of this one. The pattern is available as an English translation through Lacis. I think another Niebling pattern will be my next project, I have several in German magazines, just have to puzzle out the charts. My friends will be getting tablecloths as gifts for a long time.

Levi seems to be doing very well, he's eating well which gives me hope that the food and meds are doing their job, and I can see he's thinner, the fluid is reabsorbing. His biopsies came back clean, so its just a matter of getting this under control and maintaining. He's been so good through all this, very special dog.

Levi and Lymphangiectasia

Couple of weeks ago Levi went off his food, and this is a dog that doesn't miss a crumb, when he stops eating something is wrong. Bloodwork at the vet confirmed that his protein levels were dangerously low and x-rays showed a mass was present in his abdomen, and we were sent to Medvet for an ultrasound. The ultrasound discovered the mass was fluid, and he was hospitalized while they did further testing. After three days, they determined he has lymphangiectasia, a disease of the intestines. Biopsies are pending, however, its believed this is secondary to protein-losing enteropathy, another disease that affects the intestines. He has to go on a very low fat/high protein food, and is now taking Prednisone, Pepcid AC for ulcers, and a diuretic to reduce the fluid. Doc tells me there is a 50/50 chance the treatment will be effective, if not we can try other foods and meds combinations, but the prognosis would be poor in that case. Poor guy, he's been with me for about a year and a half, approximately three years old. He was found as a stray in Kansas and rescued from the shelter in really bad shape, skinny, matted and filthy, ears fly bitten - he'd been a stray for a while, or completely neglected by his owner. He has terrible scarring on his back legs, we don't know from what, looks like he got caught in a trap or barb wire, and the x-rays also showed that he's been shot at some time, he's full of buckshot. In spite of it all, he is the sweetest dog, he loves everyone, doesn't hold any grudges against anyone, so calm, relaxed and well behaved. He really deserves a break, crossing everything that at his check up in three weeks we find that the treatment is working and his proteins are up.

While worrying about Levi, I finished knitting this project, its an old pattern designed by Herbert Niebling called Lyra. Great project to fill all those scary, tense moments. May enter it in the Ohio State Fair this year, not sure. Used Southmaid thread, size 10, will knit it again someday in a wool as a shawl, its a beautiful pattern and not as difficult to knit as I thought it would be.

Tina

For a practice piece this has gone well, one dropped stitch which I rescued before it got too far and the dogs, although curious and a little too nosy at times, have left it alone. Am about halfway through the edging, hope to have it done this week, and blocked by next weekend.

In the beginning...

Don't quite know where to start, I've knitted for years, self taught, began lace knitting about five years ago and became obsessed. I blazed through both books by Marianne Kinzel, knitted some beautiful things, in silks, in wools, in linen, gave them away. I was finding wonderful informative knitting blogs with pictures of gorgeous projects finished, learning tons, finding patterns for beautiful shawls, tablecloths and doilies all over the internet, and had just discovered Heirloom Knitting, Sharon Miller's beautiful site, began ordering patterns, yarn and planning projects. Then I unexpectantly got a dog. One dog. A puppy. A Siberian Husky mix, he was very active. So I put the lace knitting aside until he grew up. Instead I got another puppy to keep him company, another active Siberian. Then I got into dog rescue, and now I have five dogs at home, four males, one female, the oldest is 4 years, the youngest is 1-1/2 years old, they're all pictured below, I have no idea yet how to move the photos or caption so will just leave it as is. Anyway, I'm finally comfortable enough, almost four years later, with their behavior to try lace knitting again. I dug out all my patterns, decided to start out with plain old cotton thread, size 10, size 3 needles and the pattern for the Tina shawl, to become a tablecloth this time, to see how long it would take me to get back into knitting lace and to see just how well the dogs were going to behave. They're curious, just what is taking up so much of my concentration, but so far being good, the worst thing that any of them have done is Caelen finding the pair of readers I bought in a higher magnification for the small thread and needles, chewing the plastic ends off the ear pieces and then proudly dropping them in my lap.

So I'll quit meandering on. I've been so inspired by some really fantastic knitting blogs, I can't hope to compare, but here I am, we'll see how this goes.