Knit My Dog

Apparently, my head is larger than a watermelon:

This hat fits me well, and it apparently is too large for this watermelon.

I knew I came from a family of large headed people, but this is ridiculous.

Morning Coffee Toque, made a little larger and longer for my head (or for a watermelon), test knit for Pippi. (See the pattern in her side bar.)

Really, this is the one I test knit:

Shown drying on a bowl, over a jar filled with sea glass. This one is much too small for my melon-sized head; I stretch it all out and it just looks silly on me. I guess I'll have to find a nephew or someone else of normal head size to wear it.

Off to eat the warm, fresh out of the oven, from scratch brownies that Howie made.

Hopefully a few of them will last until the party on Cape Cod we're heading down for.

The smell is killing me.

Posted by Brenda at 09:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I saw this interview over at Carole's and thought it would be fun to hear Howie's comments. Just like her, I'll post a picture so you can see him as you get a little peak into how his brain works.

This is a sweater I completed for him at the beginning of the summer. I know, great timing. AND, the sleeves came out way too long, so I have to shorten them. I'll give the sweater it's own post, but here's Howie:

Me: What is your favorite thing about my knitting?
Howie: I should say it’s that it makes others happy, but I want to say it’s that you knit for me.

Me: What is your least favorite thing about my knitting?
Howie: That you can’t knit at night in the car when I’m driving.

Me: Why is that a bad thing?
Howie: Because it’s a waste of time when you could be knitting.

Me: What is something I have knitted that you recall as being good?
Howie: Really good or just average?

Me: Really good. [Why I would ask him about something just “average” is beyond me.]
Howie: That scarf, what is it? The “Sea of Purls”, “Wave of Seas”, “Sea of Waves”, “Prince of Seas”? [It’s my Print O’ the Wave Stole by Eunny Jang) …{Thinking}… I’m happy when you make a new accomplishment in knitting.

Me: Do you think knitters have an expensive hobby?
Howie: HAHAHAHA. Try scuba diving with mixed gases.

Me: Do you have any hobbies?
Howie: Yeah.

Me: What are your hobbies?
Howie: Scuba diving with mixed gases.

Me: What about computers?
Howie: You think that’s a hobby?

Me: Yes.
Howie: Huh. [No more discussion ensued on this topic; we’ll leave that to another day.]

Me: So, if we compared money/time spent on hobbies, who would win?
Howie: We don’t compete.

Me: Do you have a stash of any kind?
Howie: NO! {Thinking} I have a stash of Brenda-made sweaters.

Me: Has my knitting in public ever embarrassed you?
Howie: What kind of a question is that? [Howie’s the one who tends to embarrass me in public.]

Me: Can you name another knitting blog?
Howie: Yes: [Sorry to everyone for Howie’s butchering of your blog names, but he’s always been one to come up with his own interpretation of words.] Pippi Longstockings, Yarn Harlot, Noodles, The Sheep, The Mason-Dixon people, Aunt Purl, Amy Boogie. [Like I said, sorry about the "Howie-isms".]

Me: Thanks, that’s enough.

Me: Do you mind that I want to check out yarn stores everywhere we go?

Howie: No. I want to check out scuba stores wherever we go.

Me: Do you understand the importance of a swatch?
Howie: Yes. So that your needles match the pattern length for how many stitches you knit.

Me: [Laughing uncontrollably]
Howie: Is that wrong?

Me: Moving on, do you read Knit my Dog?
Howie: Only when you tell me there’s a post.

Me: Have you ever left a comment?
Howie: No {Laughing} [I have no idea why he thought this was funny.]

Me: Do you think the house would be cleaner if I didn't knit?
Howie: No {Laughing} The house would be cleaner if I helped you clean.

Me: Is there anything else you want to say?
Howie: Keep on knittin’ and spinnin’. Oh, and hi to all your blog friends, especially the ones I know.

So there you have it. A few minutes with Howie.

Posted by Brenda at 08:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Yes, the last time I blogged, my front yard looked like this:

We were all deep in a real New England winter, snowbanks and all. I was sick and tired of shoveling the stuff. All I could think of was my upcoming dive vacation in Bonaire. Of course, I didn't know that before I could enjoy Bonaire, I'd get an awful cold, worry that my ears wouldn't let me dive, and cough for days on end. But, the warmth of the tropical island put all of that behind me, and we had a great time.

Christmas tree worms on brain coral:

After coming back, the thing that has taken all of my spare time is this:

Howie and I started looking for a cottage on the coast of Maine in the winter. After many trips up to look at houses, and a few offers that didn't amount to anything, we ended up buying this cute house in Seal Harbor, right near Acadia National Park. We've been so lucky in that it's the perfect location, the price was right, and we've been able to rent it for a bunch of weeks this summer (our plan so that we can afford the mortgage all winter). It's just been the biggest time suck! Many weekends of working 12 hours per day, long drives to and from, and about daily visits to Home Depot for about a month. I never want to step into another one of those stores as long as I live. Now that we're onto smaller projects, the local hardware store is just fine.

Next time, knitting update. There has been knitting, but it's been real slow for the last few months.

Posted by Brenda at 10:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)