Weave-It

I have been practicing with the Weave-It Loom using the Poems Socks yarn I got at Stitches. This particular yarn has large color repeats which make it perfect for using on the little loom. The color repeats seem to be the perfect size so that each square comes out a different color, yet they all blend together nicely. As a first project I am making a scarf. I expect this yarn to felt up a little so I am going to make the scarf four squares across and as long as necessary, yarn permitting. I only have one ball of yarn so it will be interesting to see how many squares it will make. Each square doesn't really seem to take much yarn to complete.

Invasion

In the continuing big dog saga, those new dogs next door have stopped jumping up and scaring me when I hang the clothes. However, I discovered yesterday that they have dug big holes under the fence and are running all over my yard leaving their calling cards. Since I object to that, I spent yesterday hauling any big rocks, bricks, or cement slabs I could find and temporarily filling in the holes they had dug. After that, I was too tired to knit.

A Lucky Day

I found two Weave-It looms at the thrift store yesterday! They are in great condition and the instructions were still in the box. I paid 25 cents each. I started trying it out for the first time this morning using worsted weight. I think I should have started out with a thinner yarn, but the weaving is not hard to learn. I would like to use sock yarn in pretty colors to make a scarf. This Weave-It is the classic 4" square.

Meanwhile, we are having a bright and sunny week, and the bulbs are blooming:

Thrift Store Finds

I like plastic knitting needles from earlier decades. I like the silky smooth surface and pretty colors. I found these in a drawer at the thrift shop and was especially interested in the aqua pair because I have never seen that color before. It was a common color for interior decor in the 50's but I had never seen needles in that color before. The needles are obviously not in the original packaging since they are definitely not aluminum, but they are size 9.
I think the shop charged me about 50 cents for a pair of knitting needles.

I finished the pattern knitting for the back of my new sweater and am working on the front. It is going faster than I expected for pattern knitting.

Back Handknitting Finished

The pattern portion on the back is finished and taken off the needles onto a length of yarn. Now I need to hang it onto the machine and finish up the stockinette portion, but first I will knit the pattern portions of the fronts and sleeves.

In the meantime, the neighbor has acquired two humongous new dogs (maybe a new roommate with dogs?) who are scary at best. They are excitable and leap up into the air trying to get over the fence to gnaw my bones. Since this is about 5 feet from where I stand to hang the clothes on the line, it is annoying. My dad advised me to have a hose on hand to squirt the dog, especially that huge Rottweiler, as it tries to clamber over the fence. I tried it this morning, and it worked like a charm. The dogs are more wary and respectful. I will have to keep this up for awhile to train them, but I think things will work out. Here he is, watching me from a safe distance: