Hannah's first sweater

My first post-skinny-scarf project was a sweater for my sister's dachsund, Hannah. It's a seed stich from a Leisure Arts Learn to Knit booklet which turned out pretty well except for the neckline. I didn't know what I was doing, but I covered up the mistakes with little red bows: I'm good at hiding problems. The sweater is a little loose but the color is good on Hannah I think.

Christmas at Donna's

My sister Donna inherited our mother's decorating genes (I inherited her bunions) so we had Christmas dinner at her house in Portland. Our sister Margaret and Donna's youngest, Sean, weren't there so it was a small group: Dad, Donna, John (Donna's husband), Charlie (my partner), Eric (Donna's oldest), Hannah (the dachsund) and Lucy (the pug). Yummy meal followed by a rousing game of Pictionary, which Charlie and I won (but it was close). Dad fussed about going (he's 87 and doesn't like to travel much further than a few blocks) but he had a good time, though he didn't think much of Pictionary. Charlie gave me a digital camera for Christmas so this post is really an excuse to share some pictures. I'd post the slide show he made from the pictures but I don't know how to do that (yet). The fuzzy picture of John is my fault, not John's. We think he looks like Santa Claus in flannel. (I need to figure out how to align pictures.)

Charlie's sock

Hmmmm.... not sure why I started this. I'm thinking I want to keep track of knitting projects and this seemed like as good a place as any. I'm new to knitting, sort of. Many years ago, a friend taught me to knit when I quit smoking so I'd have something to do with my hands. Slowed down the snacking too. Then I dropped it until a couple of years ago when I saw the fun furs in a craft shop. 7 skinny scarves later I was hooked. I became quite fond of felted/fulled bags. Risk free knitting: mistakes shrink away. I'm now working on Barbara Walker's Learn to Knit afghan squares, a shawl that started out as a sweater, and the 2nd of a pair of socks for Charlie. Because he's allergic to wool, I used a cotton blend sock yarn I found at Fiber Nooks and Crannys (I threw away the label so I'm not sure what the blend is--I know I'm not supposed to do that but I did.) I chose the yarn with the most subdued colors (Charlie always wears white cotton sport socks so this was a big deal for him.) The sock is a little (well, a lot) loose in the cuff but we're hoping it will shrink a little. What do you think?