Mod Dogs- Bianca

I recently completed a custom order for a dog cowl for Lizzi and her dog Bianca.
Lizzi was kind enough to share some photos of Bianca modelling her new cowl, and she looks GORGEOUS!
I'm hoping to get busy and start making more of these cowls for the cooler weather ahead.

The dog days of autumn

How can it almost be the end of September already?
I admit, I've been absent from my blog as of late... day job (of recent: huge weekend-long arts festival) and harvest time have been keeping me busy.  But with the sudden onset of fall's chillier weather (and lack of a real summer) I've eagerly gotten back into my fiber stash, knitting needles and crochet hooks. 

One of the dog cowls Sol modeled made it into an etsy finds post & email last week- so I've been busy designing and making more.  I listed 2 more recently:

And I have a dog wear section in my shop now.

I have also been making human things lately, too:

And have been busy spinning up a huge-ish custom order of my pearls yarn:

Harvest wise, I have made lots of walnut cranberry zucchini bread, pickled bean salad, marinated zucchini with garlic and herbs, apple juice/cider, and I am currently waiting for our 15 gallons of tomatoes to ripen so I can can (yes you read can twice) some salsa, including the jalapenos, onions and herbs we grew!  I'll also be blanching and freezing chard, peeling and chopping apples for the freezer, digging up the herbs and potting them inside, and I'll leave the root vegetables in the ground a little longer to sweeten up.

Oh and I musn't forget about this humungous spaghetti squash I found in the squash jungle last weekend: 

Sol is there for scale!
I'm slowly working my way through it, sawing it apart and baking chunks, mashing them and freezing.  For such a large size, it is still full of flavor and is wonderful with some butter, herbs and s&p.

Dog Cozies

So now that I have a dog, I (not surprisingly) want to make cozy things for him! Especially since he is short-haired; he already shivers when he gets wet- can't wait to see what happens in the snow!  Unfortunately, my cats weren't too into dress up, though we did sneak this photo of Cohen when she was a kitten (and more willing to play dress up):

Anyway, I've always liked bigger dogs in necktubes, cowls, cozies.. what ever you'd like to call them.
So I made Sol his first one- the blue one (doesn't he look distinguished!), and since he isn't much of a pink fan, I think the other cabled one will go up in the shop.  These are great for all larger dog breeds- and they're warm and washable- made with an acrylic/wool blend.  Since they are a chunkier knit, you can slip the clasp of a leash right through the knit material.  And, obviously, these should only be worn under supervision.

I'll be working on some kind of a sweater, too.  Not sure what exactly yet, and whether I'll knit/crochet it or sew it.  I'm thinking of maybe buying one of those polar fleece blankets to use as material- they're warm, cheap, washable, and dry fast!

Sol-itude

Spring has been one reason for my sporadic posts of late, the other is a new addition to my family, Sol:

You can see in the first photo our matriarch cat, Cohen is not too happy.  But things are coming along and everyone is slowly starting to accept each other.  Sol is 4 years old and comes to us from the Prairie Dog Canine Rescue. 

His breed is a weimaraner (a german hunting dog) and he's very athletic and fun.  He was a little tubby when we got him, but we've been walking and running him every day and he's already started to slim down!  We've had him for almost 2 weeks, and I've learned so much about dogs and myself in that short time.  I had never heard of Cesar Millan or the dog whisperer 2 weeks ago, but now I'm a fan.  Being calm definately helps in Sol's training, but for my own well being too.  I love how dogs enable you to get more exercise, and talk to more people (and other dogs!).  We've been for some wonderful walks down in the coulees lately.  He even does well off leash; he doesn't bark at other dogs/people or run away.  He happily greets everyone he sees and when he does run a bit further up the trail (or goes the wrong way!) he always comes back to check on us!

Guess who's getting some nice knitted necktubes this winter?