to ring in the new

This year has been a bit of a blur. I have spent the last couple of months just tying up all the loose ends from all the projects and life stuff that's been building up at a frenetic pace. I think we're just about all caught up. Or at least, we are closer to being there than we were in September.

I'll spare you the long stuff and give you the short of it. I made this quilt and even wrote a pattern for it:

The plan is to finally go over the pattern with a fine tooth comb, edit the hell out of it, and make it available for purchase through craftsy, etsy, whathaveyousy.

I worked on stuff for classes and had a blast teaching at gather here:

There was knitting again:

pattern: Cladonia
designer: Kirsten Kapur, Through The Loops
yarn: madelinetosh merino light in Clover and Kelp
needles: Addi Turbos US size #5

Amazing that I still remember how to knit. Heh. This pattern is a breeze. I adore Kirsten's clear and straightforward instructions. And so pretty! I gave it to one of Matt's aunts for Christmas, and she loved it.

Also, besides teaching the class for the third Christmas in a row, I finally made a proper tree skirt for myself - not a prototype, not a class sample. I couldn't be happier with it!

And we adopted this awesome dogger from the Maine Sheltie Rescue:

Welcome to the latest addition to our family, Toby. He's 11 months old, and he is trying to "make fetch happen" in my world and succeeding at it. He loves playing fetch more than anything! I am looking into flyball training for the spring and just general obedience training come January. He is smart as a whip, super-clever, and so focused. I adore him.

Playing fetch a gazillion times a day has not slowed the sewing down (running the kids all over town has - haaaaaaaaaaaa!). I was able to squeeze in two more quilts for the year. The first is something I started years ago, hence I am relieved and overjoyed to have finally quilted and bound it. You may remember this little quiltalong? What?! You don't? Yeah, that's because it was YEARS ago.

The Colorist, by Lizzy House, is such an fabulous design, and it comes together quickly (when you don't set it aside and wait years to quilt it). It is one of my favorite quilts I have made this year.

Another favorite is this one:

I was inspired by the palette of this pretty tea towel by Avril Loreti. Originally, I was going to make a HST quilt replicating that design, but then I started sewing Drunkard Path blocks as the concept started to morph and I imagined a new design. It kinda came together when I was not thinking about it at all. I saw this quilt by Cortney Heimerl and thought it would be interesting to make something similar using both the HSTs and DP blocks. I also wanted to fade the colors out at two corners but in a more exaggerated manner in order to make the patterning shimmer. I'm calling it "sunrise-sunset" because it reminds me of the colors in the sky during both. (I know! You kinda want to hire me as a copywriter for that nugget of brilliance I dropped on you. Titles that bombastically creative don't just write themselves. Unless they do.) It has the honor of hanging in my bedroom as wall art because I love it so much.

And with that, I bid you all a fantastic New Year. Happy New Year, folks! May 2014 be full of all that is wonderful for you.

happy trails, dear doggerino

Sunday, our beloved dogger Malachi passed away. He was 14. This April would have been his 11th Maliversary with us. These things happen. Circle of life, and all that. Regardless of the logic and science and pure reason, we are heartbroken. The wees are too young to understand. I'm grateful for that. Dahlia had taken to sitting next to him wherever he was and petting him, stroking his ears and his ruff, which he seemed to enjoy or maybe he just tolerated it with dignity. Finn mentioned to me today that Malachi wasn't here because he was at the animal hospital, so I know he understands some of this but not all of it. 

There is a horrible tinge of guilt in our sadness - guilt that we didn't realize there was something wrong sooner, that we didn't take him for more walks once the wees came, that we didn't play more fetch on sunny days (even in his old age and with his arthritis, Mali could not resist a tennis ball), that we didn't brush him as often as we once did. I'm trying to move past this and remember the good times we had with him. There were many. He went everywhere with us. He was the ringbearer at our wedding; he came bounding over to us when we called him as if we had rehearsed it a million times. So many beautiful hikes, so many road trips, so many lovely walks, so many silly photoshoots. He was always good for a laugh. And he was an excellent snuggler. He was part of our little family. And we loved him so so dearly. 

I've always said that the day I found him was the luckiest day of my life. It truly was. It's not every day that the ideal dog for you walks up to you in front of a laundromat in Long Island City. We'll miss our Mali-Malster. He was a fine dog and a great friend.

missing - (UPDATE) found!

I know this is probably a long shot, but it's worth a try so here goes.... Our beloved kitty Anaïs went missing Sunday night. She is an indoor only cat, but we had guests and with all the coming and going, she must have gotten out. We are very worried about her and would love nothing more than to find her safe and sound. If you or anyone you know lives in the Cambridge/Somerville area (specifially near the Harvard Divinity School), please keep an eye out for this kitty:

Ana is 10 yrs old, looks kittenish though as she is kind of teeny - small head, huge eyes, dainty paws. She has a poochy belly, long-ass whiskers, and meeps instead of meows. She was not wearing a collar. We are offering a reward. If anyone reading is local and has any info, please email me at cynicthelamb[at]gmail[dot]com. Thanks for reading. Will be back to regular posting very soon.

UPDATE - Ana is back with us as of this morning. I left her bedding out on the porch as suggested by the kind folks at the MSPCA, and she was scratching at the door this morning. Whew! And hooray! Reunited and it feels so goooooood!

nine

Nine years ago, this little fella followed me home. He's been a huge and awesome part of our lives ever since. This weekend included lots of fetch in the backyard, being pet and played with by kids, and everyone feeding him melon and berries (his favorite). I've got one exhausted but happy dogger snoring away in the other room hopefully dreaming of all the fun he had and feeling very much loved.

summertime rolls

Summer has been wonderful so far. Be back very soon, maybe this week. I've got a bunch of projects to share. In the meanwhile, hope you're having a great one.

happy maliversary!

It was eight years ago that this adorable little stray walked up to me while I was having a cigarette outside a laundromat in Long Island City. Thanks for those eight years, Dogger! Here's to many more hikes and walks and games of fetch together.

merry merry, yo!

Little Guy would like to wish you all very happy holidays! Hope you're all having a wonderful day full of family, joy, love, and laughter.

maliclava!

pattern: Anti-Firework Dog Balaclava from Pet Projects: The Animal Knits Bible
designer: Katherine Case
yarn: Cascade 220 in Anise and some silk/mohair that I am pretty sure is by Habu
needles: Addi Turbos US size#8
modifications: The pattern is written to be knit flat, but I thought it would go faster in the round (and hooray! no pesky seaming later). I also added a couple of stitches to the circumference and length since Mali is not really such a small dog, but he is definitely too small for the larger size.

While at Webs last weekend with some friends, I came across this fabulous book for knits for your pets. While I love my pets (enough to post embarrassing photos of them all over the internet, ahem), I have never really been into this sort of book. I feed them the sooper-speshul fancy-pants pet food, but I have never knit for them. What's up with that? This particular book, however, really caught my attention. The photography is lovely, and the projects mostly seem like quick and easy knits, mainly stash-busters even. It was the Anti-Firework Dog Balaclava that really caught my eye, though, and pushed me to buy it on the spot. I knew I had to make this for Mali, because... well, why not? Mali doesn’t need this, as he is totally not phased by fireworks, but I could not resist the immense cuteness of this pattern. Look at the buns!

So frigging cute! Granted, I didn't sew them on exactly as I should have. They're a little lopsided. But still... CUTE!

Today is a very special day for Malachi and for us. It was 7 years ago today that I found him as a scrappy stray in Long Island City. And this is how we thank him for living with us all these years. Hah! Happy Maliversary! Anyhootle, not to make the cats feel excluded, I even made LG try it on because... well, why not?

ZOMG! Balacatvla!