Snow dogs
There are dogs out there who love to play in the snow. I know that. I’ve seen them romping around in the park when there’s a foot of snow on the ground, not even a little doggie jacket to keep them warm. I don’t have those kinds of dogs. I just took Sadie and Diego out for their midday walk. I bundled them up in their coats and sweaters. (In weather like this, they get double-bagged–sweater under coat. It still isn’t enough for them, usually.) We got to the front door, and both of them saw and smelled the snow and put on the brakes. They planted all eight feet and leaned their little butts way back away from the door and said, “If it’s all the same to you, Mom, we’d just as soon stay in.” There were bladders to be emptied, though, and silly me, I prefer they empty them outdoors. So there was a forced march of about ten yards to take care of business, then right back inside. Diego practically danced with glee on the elevator ride back up to the apartment. I can’t say I really blame them. I had to drop a job off at Penguin this morning and it was pretty damn miserable. Penguin is on Hudson Street, right on the river, and it’s always one of the windiest spots in the city. Combined with driving snow (and of course I forgot my hat) it was not the most pleasant of errands.
I’ve got one more job due, then I take a little break to deal with the move and house stuff. That last job can be spread out over this weekend, so I’m actually taking some time to knit today. First time in over a week. I finished MC’s scarf last week, but just got around to blocking it the other day. Photos of scarves are generally rather dull, and this is no exception. Still, here it is.
It’s blocks of basketweave interspersed with stockinette, using Inca Alpaca. I gave it to him on Wednesday. He seemed genuinely pleased and touched by the gesture, but I’m not sure if he liked the scarf itself. It’s hard to choose colors for other people, and now I’m thinking that shade of blue wasn’t to his liking. Between my knitting and my painting, I’ve come to view colors in a different way than others might, and so what might seem like the most ideal, striking color to me may be way too saturated a shade for someone else. Ditto for my color combos. The remaining gifts that I want to knit for the holidays are all “safe” colors: black, gray, forest green. (Oh–and one pink hat, but you asked for that, Rebecca! Now the question is whether you’ll like this pink…it’s more of a salmon… Feel free to request a specific shade before I start it, darlin. Anything for you, you know. Besos.)
Has anyone else found that knitting has changed the way you look at color? At what is wearable and what isn’t? Painting changed the way I looked at and used color, but it was knitting that got me thinking that maybe it was possible to actually wear reds and oranges and pinks and greens, rather than my standard uniform of black. It hasn’t been a total conversion. My tops are pretty much all still black. But every once in a while, I’ll turn up in a red tee, or orange, or I’ll pull my Muppet monster sweater on with a brown skirt and manage to gasp! not be wearing any black at all. Funny how it happens… I started knitting thinking I’d be mostly making a lot of black garments. I found out pretty damn quickly that black yarn is BORING to knit.
Absolutely! I, too, have slowly moved out of my uniform of black…and I never would have thought I would want to wear orange. Ever. I’m learning a lot about the depth of color, as well–something I guess painters would know already.
Give Sadie & Diego and big warming hug from me.
Posted by: Em
Three cheers for adding color to wardrobes. Or something like that. Very excited to make the blog. Even more excited to get a hat! Any shade of pink to orange to red would be fantastic. Salmon pink sounds lovely. I look forward to wearing it with pride. And I promise not to knit you anything in return- because given my lack of talent in this area- a gift knitted by me would be mean. Besos.
Posted by: Rebecca
I never used to wear patterns at all. I didn’t like the mix of colors; I, too, was more an all-black kind of dresser. Now I find myself reaching for the $75 a skein rainbow dyed alpaca and drooling. And I walk a little taller wearing some complex sweater with three different colors in it (yes, I am a beginner, three is very complex for me).
About the pups; we have a big, hardy looking, dingo type dog here at the hostel, and when he has to go outside in the snow, he tiptoes his way as distastefully as a prima ballerina. I’ll just say I’m glad I don’t have to go to the bathroom out there.
Posted by: Bethany
Hee! It cracks me up to follow my sister in a comment. Love it. And it’s nice to see(read) you! Scarf for MC? Oooooh. I’m sure he likes it – maybe he just needs to break up his own basic black. k. back to work now.
Posted by: Rachael
Ditto everyone. I definitely prefer to knit with colour, preferably variegated or striping yarn. I don’t know that I’d ever buy a multicoloured sweater, but I’m sure I’ll knit myself one someday and wear it happily. To be honest, I think I avoid black knitting partly because it doesn’t photograph well, and I want my knitting to look pretty on my blog! 🙂
Posted by: alison
No pictures of the dogs in their sweaters and jackets? My dog is about the same size as your two and we got over two feet of snow. I picked her up, walked her out to the mostly plowed street and had her do her business there before picking her up and carying her back in! These little dogs are just to short and to skinny for this weather!
Posted by: Johanna
Absolutely! I, too, have slowly moved out of my uniform of black…and I never would have thought I would want to wear orange. Ever. I’m learning a lot about the depth of color, as well–something I guess painters would know already.
Give Sadie & Diego and big warming hug from me.
Posted by: Em
Three cheers for adding color to wardrobes. Or something like that. Very excited to make the blog. Even more excited to get a hat! Any shade of pink to orange to red would be fantastic. Salmon pink sounds lovely. I look forward to wearing it with pride. And I promise not to knit you anything in return- because given my lack of talent in this area- a gift knitted by me would be mean. Besos.
Posted by: Rebecca
I never used to wear patterns at all. I didn’t like the mix of colors; I, too, was more an all-black kind of dresser. Now I find myself reaching for the $75 a skein rainbow dyed alpaca and drooling. And I walk a little taller wearing some complex sweater with three different colors in it (yes, I am a beginner, three is very complex for me).
About the pups; we have a big, hardy looking, dingo type dog here at the hostel, and when he has to go outside in the snow, he tiptoes his way as distastefully as a prima ballerina. I’ll just say I’m glad I don’t have to go to the bathroom out there.
Posted by: Bethany
Hee! It cracks me up to follow my sister in a comment. Love it. And it’s nice to see(read) you! Scarf for MC? Oooooh. I’m sure he likes it – maybe he just needs to break up his own basic black. k. back to work now.
Posted by: Rachael
Ditto everyone. I definitely prefer to knit with colour, preferably variegated or striping yarn. I don’t know that I’d ever buy a multicoloured sweater, but I’m sure I’ll knit myself one someday and wear it happily. To be honest, I think I avoid black knitting partly because it doesn’t photograph well, and I want my knitting to look pretty on my blog! 🙂
Posted by: alison
No pictures of the dogs in their sweaters and jackets? My dog is about the same size as your two and we got over two feet of snow. I picked her up, walked her out to the mostly plowed street and had her do her business there before picking her up and carying her back in! These little dogs are just to short and to skinny for this weather!
Posted by: Johanna