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Ike Gets Preachy

As I’ve said before, Chris and I are volunteers for Basenji Rescue. It seems to be the time of year where it’s raining Basenjis all over Texas. Needless to say, we’ve been busy. It takes a lot of people doing a lot of work to get a dog evaluated, vetted, healthy, rehabilitated, into foster care, and eventually re-homed.

Ike is taking over today’s post. He and I clearly have the same philosophy.

ike11.JPG Listen up, people!

I happen to be an expert in doggie care.
ike2.JPG If you have a dog, please make sure he’s wearing identification. It’s best to have both an ID tag and a microchip. If I am ever lost, this will be the easiest way to get me reunited with my humans.

See how easily I wear mine?
yawn.JPG In fact, I’m positively bored with it.
poopbags.JPG This is an inexpensive roll of poop bags.

They’re really easy to use, especially for me. All I do is poop, and the humans take care of the rest.

Some people don’t use these, and it is revolting.
toy.JPG Lou thinks everything is a toy. He is seriously immature.
medicine.JPG Please make sure your doggie gets the medicines and vaccinations he needs. Sometimes dogs get really sick, making it hard on both the dogs and the humans who care for them.

Don’t you humans have some saying that starts out, “An ounce of prevention…”?
ikelou.JPG Remember that we can be active little beasts. If we have too much energy that doesn’t get drained every day, we can act out. Making sure that we have plenty of active time can solve a lot of behavioral problems.

Trust me, I’ve done my share of acting out back in the day.
outside.JPG Most importantly, remember that we’re pack animals. We want to be with you. Please take good care of us.

If you are able to donate to a rescue group or shelter, they can put your money to really good use. Supporting fundraisers is a good way to help, too.

Okay, I’ve said my bit. We can go back to silent dogs and knitting again.

Thanks for listening!
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Woke Up This Morning, Got Yourself A Gun

I’m feeling better! Aside from an annoying cough, I’m back to normal. But here it is Monday, and I need to do what I didn’t do on Friday…I need to change topics quickly.

The title to this post is The Sopranos theme song. Don’t worry, I won’t give anything away if you haven’t seen it yet.

tonysoprano.JPG Did you see the Television Event of the Year…the final episode of The Sopranos? We stopped everything for one hour last night and devoted ourselves to HBO.

Perfect ending. Chris and I wanted different things to happen, and we’re both very satisfied.

Goodbye, Sopranos!

Next…!

eastenders2.JPG The EastEnders Baby Sweater is finished…and lo and behold! I didn’t put a hood on it. I always put hoods on baby sweaters.

Instead, we got a hat with pigtails.

ike1.JPG Don’t worry. He loves it.

Next…!

unwound.JPG Janet had a contest on her blog, and I won this laceweight Malabrigo. Yay!
wound.JPG Janet said, “Why don’t you make this Orchid Lace Scarf?”

I said, “Janet, you have good ideas”.

detail.JPG It’s like knitting a little bit of wool around wisps of air. It is so light and pretty.

In fact, if the ceiling fan is on while I’m knitting, it actually blows in the breeze.

Next…!

lou2.JPG The international sign for “Leave Me Alone”.
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130%

We would normally have a fast-topic-changing-Friday today, but today is different.

Even though I feel as if I only have about 80% to give, I’m running on a 130% capacity right now.

I know, this doesn’t make any sense. Cut me some slack. I’m sick.

foundboy1.JPG I’m putting a good 50% towards this boy. No, he isn’t one of ours. He was picked up as a stray on June 4th and turned over to our vet’s clinic. I’ve been desperately trying to find his family for the last few days.

No tags, no microchip. Very sad.

Rest assured, whether we find his family or not, we’re taking good care of him through Basenji Rescue.

sick.JPG I’ve also been putting 50% towards NOT GETTING SICKER. I leave for Alaska next week, and I want to be well!

I’m covering all of the bases – fluids, rest, vitamins, homeopathic remedies, medicines, and voodoo.

So far I’ve managed to keep most of the symptoms down.

Damn you, common cold!

eastenders1.JPG I suppose I’ve been giving the Baby EastEnders sweater about 30%.

Next step, weave in a frighting number of ends.

I wish I could get the colors to photograph better…

sniff.JPG Well, my whole numbers system is thrown off, since these guys get 100% from me every day. Lou, sniffing the camera.

Have a great weekend!

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Clap On, Clap Off

Clap on (clap, clap), clap off (clap, clap), clap on, clap off – the Clapotis!

The Clap is off…off the needles, that is.

clap1.JPG The specs:
Clapotis, a free pattern from knitty.com
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden, colorway 243, 8 skeins
Size: about 70 inches long – 15 inches longer than the pattern (I figure that a shawl’s length should match one’s wingspan)
Recipient: my ever-chilly sister in Alaska
clap2.JPG Yes, this was my NINTH Clapotis.

Shouldn’t Kate Gilbert (the designer) give me some kind of award or something?

For devotion?

yarn.JPG Next on…this yarn. Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino.
eastenders.JPG I call this the EastEnders baby sweater. I saw a character on the show wearing something like it, so I thought I’d copy it for my sister’s baby.

The main color looks black here, but it is actually chocolate brown. I like the way the brown looks with the pastels.

Because cashmere makes so much sense for a baby, right? (ha)

ike.JPG I snapped this photo right after Chris called Ike “Junkyard Dog”.

There are a million soft places for him to relax, and he chose slate.

I don’t really understand him, but it isn’t like he’s laying on a pile of automotive parts or something.

lou1.JPG Sunshine + air conditioning = a good day to be Lou.
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Debut!

Lookit! I’m so excited!

If you’re reading this in bloglines (or any newsreader) you’re missing out. Verypink has a brand new look! And today is the debut!

Today’s format will be a little different, as sort of an intro to the newness. There is both a new look and a new server. That changes a few things.

Don’t worry! Verypink will be back to it’s normal photo-heavy-limted-text self on Wednesday!

First – verypink has a reliable RSS feed now. This was one of my main priorities. If you subscribed to the lame feed I had before, you need to cancel the old subscription and subscribe to this: https://verypink.com/feed/ (Just copy this into your newsreader, OR, if you using the most recent version of Firefox, there is a new and fancy little orange button that you can hit to automatically subscribe to a feed, OR you can use the handy link at the very bottom of this page.) If you don’t use a newsreader, then ignore this paragraph and don’t let it confuse you.

But in my opinion, everyone should at least be using Firefox.

The new look changes how I do things… as I heard from more than one friend, I needed to bring verypink into the new millennium. (They were so right.) I’m now using WordPress, which means I have all of the ease that blog software provides, but with control. I still write all of the posts in HTML, but I get fancy things like spellcheck , automatic dating of posts, and auto archiving. Not to mention, the new look.

Did I mention that I’m excited about this?? Kinda scared too…I had the old look for about ten years. No kidding. Change is scary.

“A guy named Mike” did all of this work for me. Mike happens to be an expert at both the design as well as the technical side of web design. He is brilliant. If you’re looking to get website work done, I’m very happy to recommend him. Just let me know if you would like his contact info.

It would be impossible to have a verypink post without at least one photo. So, here we go…

reddogs1.JPG Three red dogs.

The black one is chillin’ in the other room.

See you Wednesday, when I try to write a normal post when nothing seems the same. Twilight Zone time.

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Felicia Baby Sundress

feliciasmall

Sized for 6-12 months, and knit with Babyboo bamboo-blend yarn. This pattern includes two versions – for either a knit or a fabric skirt.

Size: 6 to 12 months
Gauge: 5.5 sts and 6.5 rows/inch

Materials Needed:
• (Knit version)Yarn: Babyboo yarn: 3 skeins white, 1 skein pink, 1 skein green
• (Fabric Skirt Version) Yarn: Babyboo yarn: 1 skein pink, 1 skein white, ¼ yard of 45” wide fabric
• Needles: size 5 US 16” circulars, size F crochet hook
• Also: stitch markers, scrap yarn to hold stitches, tapestry needle

Pattern is $4.00, via PayPal

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Renee Baby Blanket

renee

A lovely combination of lace, warmth, and wash-ability. This pattern uses 400 grams (8 skeins) of Dale of Norway Baby Ull, or 1440 yards of a substitute yarn with 6 stitches to the inch.

Materials Needed:
• 8 skeins (400 grams) Dale of Norway Baby Ull (180 yards/165 meters per skein)
• Size US 3/3.25 mm needles (or size to obtain gauge)
• Stitch markers
• Row counter
• Tapestry needle for weaving in ends
• Crochet hook, size E, F, or G, to attach fringe

Pattern is $5.00, via PayPal

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Almost there!

If you’re seeing this page, then the wheels of progress are crankin’, and verypink has successfully moved to the new server.

If you’d like to read the last post to verypink, you can go here.

Please come back on Monday for the official launch of the new look!

Also, you can subscribe to the RSS feed automatically, or by plugging this link into your news reader: https://verypink.com/feed/

If you were subscribed to verypink before, you’ll need to resubscribe as the feed link has changed.

See you Monday!

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Ninth Time’s a Charm

Is it Friday already?

Here we go with semi-lighting-fast topic changes…

So, the ninth time is indeed a charm. I have completed EIGHT Clapotis, if you can believe it. They’re so pretty, and they make such nice gifts!

I’ve made one for myself, my mom, one of my sisters, my MIL, my SIL, my friend Michele, my piano teacher, and one was frogged because I used the wrong yarn.

Number Nine is actually a replacement Clap for the one my sister has practically worn into the ground. Yes, Phyllis…I’m replacing your ratty Clap.

Here I am, wearing mine in Paris.
The design is just so brilliant!

If you haven’t already made one, the pattern is really clear to follow. Here’s a quick rundown, anyway. I’m a little more than half-way finished here.

You start with just two stitches at one of the corners…
Increase until it’s wide enough, then…
Increase on one side and decrease on the other to keep it on the bias. Every sixth stich is dropped once you decrease to it on the right side.

It’s still a fun knit – even though I can do it in my sleep by now.

Dontcha want to make (another) one?

Next…!
Today is the official beginning of hurricane season. I’m going to make light of the whole thing because it scares me silly.

Chris had his own tropical storm last year, but as usual, I don’t get anything named after me. Oh, well.

But if your name is Humberto or Olga, you’re going to get your own tropical storm this year! Maybe even a hurricane! Some of the more popular names on the menu are Melissa, Tanya, Karen, and Wendy.

Here’s the complete list for 2007.

Next…!
I realize that designing and photographing hand knits can be difficult, and I’m always made aware of this every time I receive Cast On magazine in the mail.

This sweater is okay, but I do have a few problems with the whole thing:

  1. The sleeves are really too long.
  2. I would have preferred to see a tshirt under the sweater.
  3. This baby is pooping her pants.

Next…!

Half of Abe’s toenails are black. Since I can’t see through a black nail, I’m worried about cutting too much with the nail trimmers and hurting him. So we invested in a Dremel.

The problem: Abe runs to another room as soon as he hears the motor. Sigh. Not really what I was hoping for. At least the other dogs like it.
Lou must LOVE it. Smoooooch.

Have a great weekend!







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Setting a Tradition

It felt strange taking Monday off from verypink…I’m glad to be back!

Today’s post is about tradition. Do traditions start after the first instance, or once the instance is perpetuated? In any case, we have a tradition now.

It all started with this baby blanket. This was made for me by my Grandma Renee. When I asked my mom a little about the origin of the blanket, this is what she said:

Since you were the first grandchild, Grandma Renee came down to Florida and was there on the day you got out of the hospital. (You were under 5 lbs. so you had to stay in the hospital until you gained enough to weigh 5lbs.) They weighed you with a full diaper, you weighed exactly 5 lbs, so we got to take you home. Your grandma stayed in Florida a couple of weeks, then went home and not too long after that, we got the afghan. I think she picked a tough pattern because you were the first and it had to be special.

What’s more, my name is Staci Renee, so I am my grandma’s namesake.
Then I found out that my sister is having a baby girl and naming her Molly Renee, after both my grandma and me.

I thought it would be nice for the third-geration Renee to have a blanket matching the one made by the first-generation Renee for the second-generation Renee. Are you following?

Not surprisingly, I’ve named this the Renee Blanket.
To copy my grandma’s pattern, I needed to figure out the lace. I sat down with my blanket and some Baby Ull (and a glass of wine) and got to work. After a couple of hours, I got it.

I might have figured it out more quickly without the wine.
I changed the lace pattern a bit, because I wanted the wrong-side rows to be easier. (My grandma’s pattern is riddled with PSSOs and double-decreases on the WS rows.)

I considered not adding the fringe, but then changed my mind. I remembered something important…I learned to braid on this fringe!
I sacrificed a strand of fringe from my blanket for a burn test, to try to figure out the fiber content. The best I can tell is that mine is made of an acrylic/wool blend, which has held up pretty well after 39 years (and probably a thousand machine-washes).

Molly Renee’s blanket is made from Dale of Norway Baby Ull, 100% superwash wool. Both blankets are 30×42″, and used about 400 grams of yarn.
Maybe someday I can teach Molly Renee to knit, so that she can make one of these for the next-generation Renee. I at least hope she enjoys her blanket as much as I have enjoyed mine.

This pattern will be available soon, but not on verypink. I have promised a very similar pattern (in shawl form) to someone for her upcoming book. Once her book is out in a few months, I can offer pattern modifications to make the shawl into a baby blanket. Soon!
Mandatory doggie photo.I call this one “Feets”.