This swatch had "ideas of its own" and became a holiday gift.  One of the projects (yet to be talked about on here) was for the Avast sweater by Jesse Loesberg from Knitty 2006.  While I was waiting for the yarn for that project to arrive, I wanted to test out the cable pattern to be sure I was clear on the instructions, and also swatched to get an idea of the gauge I was going to get once the "real" yarn arrived.  After swatching the cable, I realized it was the perfect length to be the base of a sweater for Dewey!

So... using that little cable swatch, I picked up the stitches along the long side and began to improvise this doggie sweater!  Dewey is an incredibly affectionate Boston Terrier and he loves to sleep in his bed in front of the heater or in a sunbeam on any given day.  He is very gentle, loves the kitties, and finds great excitement in bones or going downstairs to the laundry room or on adventures to the park! 

He does not, for the record, like to "sit" on hardwood floors for an extended period of time.  His hind-end slips and his little legs slide forward and it's just not a good position for a little dog to take.  On especially frigid nights or chilly mornings he likes to wear his sweater and, once he's warmed up enough, he finds joy in showing how good he is at escaping the confines of a sweater!  This project can be found HERE on Ravelry for those who might want to remember it for a later time. 

I got a BEAUTIFUL hank of Shimmering from A Verb for Keeping Warm about a year ago (even before I moved to San Francisco!) and was planning on knitting some lace with it as a knit-a-long with my buddies.  It's 100% silk lace weight (3.5oz) in a generous 1093 yards, hand dyed in a color they call Azure.  We all attempted the lace but, for one reason or another, decided that knitting lace wasn't for us at that time.  The yarn taunted me though.  It bugged me that this really gorgeous hand dyed yarn was sitting all wound up in a yarn cake, nestled in a handmade project bag (also from AVFKW) and stored away with the intended lace pattern... and that's where it sat and hibernated - for a year!

I just finished a project (a pair of socks that have been on the needles for a while; more about those as soon as they're blocked and photographed) and I needed a new project.  Although I feel ready to tackle more socks (and soon) I just felt like a change of pace would do me some good.  After remembering this lonely skein of yarn and the Mystic Star Shawl by Anna Dalvi, I decided to cast on and make the semi-circular version.  This, people, is my very first piece of lace.  The first time (ok, times) I attempted this pattern last year, I was trying the circular version and getting frustrated in the fiddle beginnings of knitting 1.) lace, 2.) in the round, 3.) on DPNs 4.) for the first time.  My decision to do the semi-circular shawl seems to be working; after a number of false starts, I am able to concentrate on the pattern row, count carefully between my markers, and do the "rest" row back.  Yes, it's lots of purling but maybe I'm strange; I don't mind purling.  Actually, when I'm in the "knitting zone" I have to examine my work to even realize what stitch I'm making!  My semi-circular shawl can be seen on Ravelry HERE.  So far, I have learned that lace isn't difficult as long as you don't mess up!  I'm well on the way through chart C now and feeling optimistic about this project.

In other news, Willow spent the earlier hours of the morning struggling to get into the sunbeam.  She struggled and struggled, at times even laying half off the edge of the chair arm to get her little head and ears in the warm light.  (Don't worry; I moved the chair so she could sunbathe right after I took this photo).

Wink asked that she not have her photo taken; she hasn't had her hair done in weeks and said she feels a wreck!