Knitting/Spinning/Dog Doins and New Toys

A few weeks ago, I shared a picture of a mitered square shawl that I just started using Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn.  It starts on the big side of things and gets smaller as you go.  I am using the Loop De Loop shawl pattern and you begin by knitting a mitered square using worsted weight yarn.  I *gasp* swatched and ended up doubling the numbers to cast on for double the amount of stitches called for in the pattern.  It is taking for bloody ever, or seemed like it, to decrease down as you only decrease two stitches every other row.  I have decreased over 100 stitches now and still have a way to go.  It is going faster now as the rows do not have as many stitches in them.  I am using a size 5 circular needle and the colors are very pretty.  While the yarn does get thick and thin, I have not found any knots so far.  It is a great mindless knitting project and feels softer than you would think when you go back and feel it.  I hear that it softens up more after it is washed.  Once I am done, I will soak and block it and will let you know if it does soften up.  I think it will be very pretty when finished and visually interesting as the stripes will be going in several directions. 
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I got this little gadget (I love gadgets and containers) to use as a bobbin for my WIP.  I like to leave a long tail in case it can be used to seam up a side when finishing or who knows what.  I have one of these things on a sock in progress (SIP) too.  They are fun and come in all kinds of colors. 
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There is a little to talk about in Spinning.  My Alpaca wheel was calling to me as I have not spun on her in what seems like forever.  I like to spin outside better than inside as I can see the colors in the natural light so much better and it is a lot about the color for me when spinning.  I have been spinning lace to fingering weight for at least the last six months and that seems to take for darned ever.  I subscribe to the Spunky Eclectic Fiber Club and have many fun bits of different kinds of wool to spin in my stash.  For some reason, the Party Dress (which is very brightly hand painted Superwash Corriedale) said that it was time to be spun.  I read a blog post (can’t find it now) where someone spun a tightly twisted single and then plied it with thread with a loose twist….the resulting yarn looked like clouds or moguls and was very interesting looking.  I tried spinning thick and felt like I was spinning rope.  Four ounces of fiber was spun in less than an hour.  Wow, how liberating.  The bobbin has the fiber resting on it and I am going to try and ply it tonight or tomorrow night.  I am hoping the single is thick enough to give that cloud or mogul effect once it is plied.  We shall see.   
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Dogs.  Agility.  Toys.   Many people ask what you ‘get’ when you compete in dog agility.  They are amazed when they hear “I get a ribbon if we place and the dog gets a toy.”  Agility is not about monetary prizes, but spending time with your dog(s) and building a bond with them and working as a team.  Other dog events such as Confirmation, do result in big money and I think that complicates things a little.  I am happy with the way things are in Agility.  Now, if you are highly competitive, there are levels of competition where you could get sponsors and maybe make a living at it.   
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I ran with Jake and Gracie this weekend in Decatur/Priceville, Alabama.  It was pretty much a practice weekend….both Friday AND Saturday.  I forgot to move Gracie from Exc A to Exc B Jumpers, so our one Q in Exc A didn’t go to our Exc B count.  Darnit.  Jake didn’t Q the whole weekend, mostly due to his bad handler (me).  He is at the level where you cannot have any mistakes or you are disqualified.  I ran for the first time last week and this was my first trial since my surgery.  I felt pretty good up to the last run of each day and then I was out of gas.   
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There are usually great vendors attending the competitions and this weekend was no exception.  They are coming out with the cutest toys for pets nowadays.  I think about people saying “I wish they had these cute toys when I was a kid” when I see these toys.   
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How can you resist these faces?    
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 How about a cat fish, er catfish?  
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 Balls?  How about Biscuits?   These biscuit-shaped balls are a HUGE hit at my house.  They are soft and squishy and squeak – until Jake gets a hold of them.  I have learned to only give one or two toys out and let the crew play with them rather than giving each one a toy.  Now, they have a huge amount of toys in the brass dog bed that only holds toys, but new toys are more interesting and fun to everyone involved.  I give a few of the new toys out and the dogs follow around the lucky one that has a new toy.  The dog plays with the new toy till he/she gets tired of it and someone in line pounces on it to play with it some more.  Back to the biscuit balls.  My dogs are wild about these balls.  I only had one the first go round a few months ago.  Jake carried this ball around for two or three days.  He put it down long enough to eat and then he would pick it up again.  He finally relinquished the ball after carting it around and guarding it.  The other dogs followed the one dog around with the ball and this went on for two weeks.  The vendor at the show this weekend finally got some more of these balls in and I got them all.  I gave out two of them to the pups and the rest are safely resting on the counter for now.   
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Jake says it is MY BALL and I am NOT giving it up! 
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Hunter and Pierre came Saturday night to visit with us until next weekend.  Their people went on vacation so they came to stay and play with my crew.  Hunter and Pierre are Papillons and compete in agility as well.  

 Hunter        

 Pierre