Allardale Park - part of the Medina County Park System.

This past weekend is described wonderfully over at Annie's blog. There was laughing and warm companionship in the quiet mountains of western North Carolina.

The central activity of the weekend was the assembly of the contributed knitted squares sent to Annie from around the world. So much love and careful thought was knit into each and every one of the beautiful squares sent in memory of John, Michael and Doug. As each square was integrated into a quilt, we were all struck by the amazing perfection of emotion, color and harmony that was created.

As we parted, I think we all went away hoping that in some small way these quilts that were knit and assembled with yarn, laughter and tears, will be able to provide some serenity and healing to the families and friends that were so deeply hurt by the loss of these three young men.

A wonderful face to see upon arrival home from a short autumn trip.

Ellie's sweater is mostly done! I'll probably never be able to recreate this sweater, since most of the short-rowing was done on an as needed basis - making it up as I went along.

You can tell in the second picture that this sweater is a bit tight across Ellie's chest and the leg openings are a little too small. I may sew down the fabric at the front of the legs and cut the openings a bit larger with scissors (as would be done with a steek). I was planning on doing a short cuff around the legs, so this could be an easy fix.

At the very least, I now have a good working model on which to base the sizing for future sweaters. As it turns out, Ellie's friend Pete fits into this sweater better than she does. He's just a little bit narrower around the chest and it's a perfect fit on him. Though he could use a little bit shorter length along the bottom since he's a boy!

Letters from Rosie. So cute.

And since we're on the subject of dogs...

Ellie in her crate during a class we attended this summer. (Ellie's eyeliner is really something - perhaps her nickname should be Harriet?)

Ellie's friend Pippin.

My good friend's dog, Woody.

Woody is an excellent agility dog - he's about four years old and is a gorgeous canine specimen! His owner and I like to attend training camps up near Toronto, but now that there is a bully-breed ban in effect in Ontario, Woody may no longer attend.

I happen to think that breed specific legislation is truly unfair to responsible owners and their dogs because the logic behind the ban is that the dog is guilty simply because they are alive and are of a particular breed (*or simply look like the selected breed).

The bully breed bans are a superficial attempt to prevent illegal dog fighting. Although there may be expensive fines for owning a bully breed, most dog fighting goes on "underground". The result is that the bans punish the caring people who own innocent dogs and many of the dangerous dogs (and their dangerous owners) will still exist behind the scenes.

Of course, if bully-breeds are out-lawed, then the same cruel people will just find another breed to abuse. Because the people who breed and train the fighting dogs will still be around long after all of the pit bulls are euthanized.

I have two pit bull rescues in my current "Family Dog" class and they are two of the sweetest and most beautiful dogs I've ever met. It's a shame that dogs like these could be destroyed simply because of their breed.

(*Under the Ontario ban, the dog only has to look like a bully breed. It's the owner's responsibility to provide documentation that the dog isn't a bully breed. People with superficial breed knowledge have asked me at one time or another if Ellie or Spencer were pit-bulls - I wouldn't have been able to prove otherwise, since they were both adopted from shelters.)

Play this game! Find the Pit Bull...

APB or AmStaff?

Yesterday's cold rain was a chilling reminder that Ellie is not a dog with much insulation. We went to a training seminar that North Coast Dogs was sponsoring and she waited out in the car for part of the morning. She was a chilly pup when I went to retrieve her for participation in the class.

Fortunately, I have a project underway for a doggie sweater. I'm designing it as I go along. Fitting it to be sure that the proportions are right and trying it on Ellie as necessary.

My first attempt at this is pretty basic. It's being knit in the round. I started at the bottom of the sweater with a 1x1 rib. Ellie has a little waist and a big chest, so I started a gusset that goes along her underside almost right away. After about 3.5 inches, I switched to a 3x1 rib for the main part of the body and have kept the gusset in a 1x1 rib.

I'm at the point where I will leave openings for her front legs. Ideally, this section that extends out to cover her chest needs to be longer along the front/bottom than it is along her back. So, I'm going to use short rows to get the extra length along the front. It's funny that I use short-rows all of the time on sock heels, but I'm not completely sure how to use the technique for this kind of shaping. This afternoon I'm planning on digging in to some books to figure it out. I think I'm going to try to do the wraps in the purl stitch between the three stitch ribs - with the result that the the ribs closer to the chest end up longer than the ribs towards the back - but the ribs will continue uninterrupted through the whole sweater.

I haven't finalized the neck design - it might just be a 1x1 mock turtleneck. I'll probably make a large button hole at the top for her leash - though usually she wears a "halti" when we go on walks and her leash attaches under her chin. Since the button hole may end up going unused, I may have to devise a way to close the little hole for the leash when it's not in use. We wouldn't want Ellie to get chilled by a draft!

I'm using Encore worsted yarn for this sweater. It's washable, but has a little bit of wool mixed in for warmth. This color is from their Colorspun line and is #7357. You can't tell from this picture, but the yarn is kind of tweedy and looks like oatmeal.

A delicious little present! Chocolate Mice!