Distractions

Here are some of the reasons why I haven't been getting much knitting done lately. I was setting up a photo of the current project on the needles. A puppy squeaked, and of course I had to go see why. Just because they're so cute. And sweet. And soft.

So I set the knitting down AWAY from the puppies and rescued the one who'd wriggled out of the dog bed. They all woke up. They all heard me. It's amazing how fast they can scoot. I rescued the yarn before they could do too much damage or the needles could hurt one of them.

The project - a neck cozy from Patternworks, free with purchase of a skein of Koigu Premium Merino. If it works out, I plan to make lots of them. The older I get, the more careful I have to be about keeping my neck muscles warm. This nifty little neck cozy is just what I need when a regular neck scarf's too bulky or too warm. The pattern is simple, the yarn's awesome and knits so smoothly without splitting.

I'm taking this and an extra skein to a writers retreat this weekend. With luck, I'll come back with two finished neck cozies. That means a warm neck, protected from the breeze, in those early morning gardening sessions. Warm neck, less neck pain, more time at the keyboard, more writing. It's a win-win situation.

It's so easy

Last time my older daughter visited, I gleefully showed her my new yarns and all the patterns in the pile of projects up for consideration. I was hoping she'd do what she usually does and tell me what to make her for Christmas next year. She didn't pick anything from the pile though. Nope, what she really wanted was a fuzzy cowl just like mine.

That cowl is ancient. It was my first attempt at knitting in the round. I used ivory-colored Jiffy yarn from the bargain bin and the pattern on the backside of the wrapper. For ten years, I've done winter chores with that ugly bunch of yarn bunched around my neck -- or maybe pulled up over my ears. If I wasn't wearing it, one of the girls had it. It's been through the washer countless times to remove the kind of unpleasantly fragrant dirt one picks up in a barn, and I've probably picked a couple of bales worth of hay bits from it through the years.

I tried tempting her patterns for scarves, a cabled neckwarmer with a pretty button, and a lace mobieus. Nope, she wanted a cowl like mine. I offered her mine, but she didn't think ivory was her color. Fortunately, I have the equivalent of a small yarn store in my attic. Deep in a back corner, I unearthed a Rubbermaid tub full of Jiffy skeins from the bargain bin -- none of which had the right pattern on the wrapper. In the guest room closet I found the needle set I used for the original. Then I sat down and counted stitches and rows and sections.

After a few evenings' worth of knitting, it was time for show and tell. I was having an indecisive day though. I couldn't decide whether I liked the photo taken on the oak table (top) or the one where I draped the work in progress over the garden fence. I like outdoor pictures better most of the time, but it was early morning and I could either shoot into the sunlight or deal with the sunlight & shadow issues from the garden gate, the stone wall . . . and me.

I tried another fence. I draped it over a limb, then a big flower pot. Then I tried this big tree stump. What do you think? Where's the best place to photograph a winter work-in-progress?