FO: Hiroki's Sweater

Anyone who has a greyhound knows they get cold easily. They're very temperature sensitive because they don't have an undercoat (or a very thick top coat) and their skin is really thin.

Often when we have the AC cranked on really high -- which is rare now that Alex and I live in our own place and have the option of saving money on electricity -- Hiroki gets cold and we have to cover him with a blanket. He doesn't mind. He loves blankets. And pillows. And snuggling in small balls in the corner of the couch.


So here's his sweater. He has one of those flannel cloth kind of throw-over coats, but it's not very fitted. And over winter break when we let him hang out outside with us as Alex and I built a brick mailbox for my dad, we learned it's also impossible for him to pee in that coat without soaking the belly panel. Oops.

Greyhounds, however, are slightly more difficult to knit for than other dogs. They have giant chests, enormous shoulder and butt muscles, and come zipping up at the belly to a wisp. Aerodynamics at its cutest.

I thought I'd have to craft something myself, but one of the most popular pet patterns on Ravelry is... just for greyhounds!

Pattern: Side Button Greyhound Sweater by Terri Lee Royea
Yarn: Red Heart Ltd. Soft Yarn Solids in 9523, Dark Leaf
Modifications: I didn't do a very long neck on this. I'd like to say it's so we can use his collar (though plenty of people have made leash holes at the base of the neck) but the real reason is I was just so damn excited to make this I had to get past the neck. Besides... now I can make him a cowl to go with it and he'll be the knittingest dog around.

I also finished the butt shaping differently on this. Some of the pictures of people's projects show a very fitted around-the-butt ending, but as I got to the end of the pattern and it suggested just binding off after some decrease shaping... my butt would've been flat. So I knit a few more rows in the same decreasing manner and then split the stitches evenly onto two DPNs and grafted the two sides together. Now it curves nicely around his rump and will stay put even when he's wiggling around.


Instead of doing the entire thing in ribbing, I put a simple 12 stitch cable down the back. Which is impossible to photograph at any angle in any light, I have discovered. Vaguely visible here.


Belly panel with buttons. Yeah, there's gaps when buttoned, but I think if I shift it to sit a little more properly on his back those go away. You can't even see them unless you're up close. Not that it really matters. Hiroki is none too concerned with fashion, as illustrated by his bald butt. All the cool greyhounds use Rogaine.



And you get a bit of his bum to complete your day. Bald and beautiful.

progress... not so much

Just a silly video as I miss my puppy.


I move-in in 4 days and classes start in 9. I'm back from our road trip. I only got a few squares done on the baby blanket and nothing else even worked on, as I think I've discovered I do not like knitting in the car.

This and that

Been a bit busy lately. Finished Cultural Anthropology for Summer A, this week started Magic, Ritual & Belief for Summer B. It looks to be a much better -- and possibly more challenging simply because it's actually involved -- class than Cultural Anthropology was.

Blocked Talia and it grew enough to my liking. Still need buttons for it.

Yosemite needs a sleeve and buttons to be finished.

Visited Orlando for a few days and got to see Alex and my baby.

Just so you know my puppy isn't always a dopey couch potato:






Been on a strange Harry Potter kick lately. Re-read the sixth book, am a few chapters away from finishing the seventh. The only two that I haven't read upwards of a dozen times.

Hopefully this coming week I will be a bit more knitty and a bit less busy otherwise.

rain, traveling, and a whole lot of productivity

My job is outside. So when it rains, we close up. And when there are torrential downpours for a week straight, we don't even bother opening.

So no work Thursday and Friday meant I got bored enough to paint my room.



Green!



Considering I've had white walls for the entire 18 1/2 years I've lived in this room, green is a nice change. It feels like an actual room now.

Other than knit -- which I'm already doing four days a week -- I don't know what to do with myself, so it better quit raining here soon.

Sunday I drove down to college town to visit my friends. Stayed until a few hours ago today, so it was a nice visit.

And, oh look! In between the sleeping a ton, cuddling up with Alex, and partying... I managed to almost finish my Talia vest:



Since this photo was taken, I finished the edging on the other sleeve. Just needs the neckline edging, blocking, and some buttons. Hurrah. I hope it stretches a bit when I block it... while knitting I tried to account for the fact that my boobs are a bit bigger than most girls who are my waist/torso size, but at the moment it's still a bit snug.

Somehow every time my camera enters that apartment, I end up with a slew of Hiroki pictures. One of the cutest of the bunch:



One of these days I should learn to take good pictures like the rest of the knitting world. Forgive me, after years of art school I have blocked out as much of the inner artist as possible.

Sasquatch socks

I've been home from college for 12 days and it already feels like forever. The upside to being bored out of my mind and away from all my friends is that I might, for once, concentrate on productive things. Like classes (taking two online this summer for something to do). And reading. And knitting.

Found some sock yarn I bought mid-spring and decided that for once, I was not only going to make it through a pair of socks, but they were going to be some damn attractive socks as well.

The first time I attempted socks, I was still pretty new at the whole knitting-garments-that-actually-work thing and bought needles about 6 sizes too big and the socks ended up more like padded boots. I vaguely knew of shrinking things in the wash, and yes... I must admit that I tried to shrink Red Heart acrylic yarn. Go me.

After several years and projects, my almost-finished sock looks like this:



It's a little big on me because it's for Alex. I had him tell me his foot measurements over the phone and just kind of assume that it's going to fit him. You'd be surprised at how hard it is to find measurements of sasquatch-size socks on the internet. And here I was thinking you could find anything through the power of Google.

In the past 24 hours I've knit the majority of one sock (it's going to be a short leg, so I'm a few rows until the cuff now), got a new set of tires for the car, submitted a homework assignment for a class that started today, read about four chapters, and slept 10 hours.

Hurrah productivity.

Just so you get an idea of what I'm missing, here's something I had to leave behind when I moved home:



This is Hiroki, my loveable puppy that is actually Alex's. Yes, he's a greyhound. And quite possibly the sweetest thing I've ever met. If you've never had the experience of playing with or being around a greyhound... add it to your list of things worth doing in life.