GET FELTED - Day 8

***GUEST PET: I'm in love with Pickles Brocco!

Here's Dawn to tell you his story: "We had been looking for a dog on and off for years. But all the dogs in the shelters were huge and shedding, and not the sweetest breeds. We didn't want a lap dog, but not an eat-you-out-of-house-and-home dog, either!

One March day, 7 months after moving into this house, we were in Kingston, NY and hubby had the urge to stop by the shelter. I acquiesced. I wasn't as keen on the idea at this point, as I used to be, as we were restoring this antique house (a 12-year project thus far), had just opened the B&B, hubby was working full-time, we still had 2 teenagers at home, and I was trying to squeeze in designing when I could, so my time was already tapped out.

So, we go into the shelter and amid all the yapping, barking and fidgeting large dogs in their pens was this smallish dog whose black and white hair had grown long, so he looked like a sheepdog. He was the only dog not barking. He was in a corner with his face up against the pen door. The sign said terrier mix, found wandering the streets of Kingston, approximately 6 months old, house-trained.

They put him into a small room with us, so we could see what he was like outside the pen. He wagged and sniffed us, while we tried to pet him. Still not a sound out of him. But he spent most of his time standing by the door, wanting to leave. Who could blame him, having to be stuck in a pen with a lot of noisy dogs.So, with me still unsure about the idea, we decided to adopt him, anyway.

He seemed like a nice dog and he didn't shed. My family had a German Shepherd/wolf mix dog for a few years when I was a teen, so the thought of having to clean up endless gobs of hair around the house, particularly when running a B&B, was not my idea of fun. He was to go straight to the vet to get neutered and we could pick him up there the next day.

Now we had to name him. So, he's with me and the kids in the kitchen, throwing out doggie name after doggie name, then human names, then whatever we could think of, trying to find something that fit him. The kids thought Einstein was good. But he didn't look *that* smart and besides, I couldn't see myself calling *Einie* all the time! Then I looked at the fridge and said, Pickles.

The dog jumped, the kids said yes, and he forever after answered to Pickles."

You can read more about Dawn (and Pickles) here.***

I'm ashamed of myself. Clearly I have no self-control. My one-project-at-a-time mantra has blown up in my face. Right now I have my Step socks on the needles, the damn damn damn red spirals, the beginnings of wrist warmers in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, and a gauge swatch for a sweater for Goldisox. I've decided to be grown-up about the sweater and do the swatch thing like I'm supposed to even though it's the last thing I feel like doing. I've fallen head over heels in love with Elann's Chunky Peruvian Highland wool. It's worth the sneezing, scratching, and general rashiness I'm experiencing. (Bring on the antihistamines, baby, I'm a knitting fool!)

MEN IN KNITS by Tara Jon Manning arrived today and I'm afraid I drooled all over it. Some of the most beautiful cable knit sweaters I've ever seen. Highly recommended.