Waistcoats and Wacky Dogs

What a week! Kala is home, making everything in life a little more amusing. [grin] She arrived last weekend with some friends who stayed to party for a couple of days before heading back home. Five large dogs and two cats at my place, and what a party it was! Kala and Sally are getting along famously, with good manners and much romping and chasing. I tried to get pictures of the romping and chasing, but ended up with multi-colored blurs. So still shots will have to do!

In knitting, many good things have been happening. I’ve finally gotten some pictures to show. The finished lilac Wildefoot socks are comfy and lovely. I’m tickled with both the yarn and the pattern.Sensational Knitted Socks is turning out to be a wonderful resource and an excellent investment. These are knit in the six-stitch repeat "waterfall rib" pattern.
My first pair of socks from this book (and my second!) were knit in the four-stitch repeat, "Elongated Corded Rib." I haven’t decided on the next pattern I’ll try, but the red Wildefoot will undoubtedly be turned into something from this pattern book. I'm looking eagerly at the cabled patterns at the moment! I’ve also got several skeins of KP’s Telemark waiting to be used, so it may turn into my first pair of colorwork socks; this book has some interesting patterns in colorwork I haven’t given much thought to yet. More investigating to do! But at the current rate, I'll have worked my way through my summer sock yarns and be back to worsted weight winter socks long before August! I'm finding the patterns and the quick finishes very satisfying.

The work on the Provincial Waistcoat continues. I’m having to rip back to about the point these pictures were taken, losing about an inch or so, because I was thinking “sets” of rows, rather than rows and knit happily along without continuing the decreases for the neckline!I’m currently still doing the increases in the back of the bodice while starting the neckline decreases. I think the low neckline is the only reason I considered this vest, as I usually stick to sweaters or jackets alone. But between the neckline and the stitch designs, I was hooked! This Classic Elite yarn is working up beautifully, and I’m very happy with the weight and feel of the piece. I'm hoping to have it finished in the next week so I can move on to my orchid "Bobble Blue" sweater from last summer. This cooler weather we are having would be perfect for it!

Other adventures this past week include my first “Booking Through Thursday” entry, and managing to blister my hands so badly while mowing the yard that I couldn’t use my blind cane for several days – which means I’ve been home entirely too long! Cutting the law is not a normal activity for me, but I wanted to burn off some excess energy, and, well, using the old-fashioned push mower is just plain fun! The blades whirl and send grass clippings flying – I think it’s the similarity to the “popcorn walker” toy that I had as a kid that charms me so much. That toy doubled as a lawn mower, a sweeper, a car, all sorts of things! Anyway, the satisfaction of watching the tall grasses disappear was hypnotizing, and a recent rain had pulled most of the pollen out of the air – so that wasn’t a concern. However, I will be letting the boy next door resume his duties in law care as soon as his school year is over – I’m too much of a wimp to keep this up! And yes, I have heard of work gloves, but you have to be expecting to do “real” work in order to plan ahead and have them in the house! [grin] I’ll be picking some up at the mall tomorrow, just in case.