Let’s see . . . did three loads of laundry; thoroughly dusted and vacuumed my bedroom; washed all the bedding (including Chappy’s); helped Dad with computer questions; did my taxes (a whole $3.52 back from the state of New Jersey!); remade my bed (a big project, what with the feather bed and down comforter and their covers–like trying to deal with huge, heavy, floppy pillows and their cases); gave Chappy a haircut; took Chappy for a walk; helped with dinner; sewed the zipper into my sweater; took about 4″ off the hood of my sweater . . . I think that’s about everything . . . not exactly relaxing, but very productive!

For photographs:

Here’s Chappy before his haircut.

And here’s Chappy after:

I know they don’t look that much different, really (especially since you can’t get a good look at his feet and under his ears . . . or really even the length of the fur on his ears–but they were starting to drag in his food dish and trust me, the fur is shorter). But as proof that he really got a good haircut, here’s how much fur I took off.

And then the sweater:

  The “before,” with its ridiculously long hood and the glaringly-different green zipper. (You can click on the picture for a better view, if you want.)

The “during” you saw a couple of days ago, when I pulled out that zipper and pinned in the black one I bought to replace it.

And then the “after.” The black zipper is sewn in, the hood is shortened by almost 4 inches so that it won’t drag the sweater eternally backwards every time I wear it.  (Ditto about the clicking-on-the-photo.)

Obviously, black isn’t the ideal zipper color, but I think it looks much better than that . . . what did they call it? . . . mint green one. You can see the cocoon of yarn I made as I unravelled the top of the hood at the top left of the picture. You know, I’d almost forgotten how truly luscious Debbie Bliss’s Cashmerino Aran is. So soft and silky and just . . . wonderful! One of these days I’d like to make a sweater out of the Baby version, just to have on in a lighter weight!

As to the wool from yesterday, I’m afraid that some of it may have felted a bit, but I haven’t dug through the bags to check. (Yet. It’s possible that the word “afraid” may be keeping me from doing so, although I really haven’t had time today!) However, I ordered some Indigo Hound wool combs from Carolina Handspun, along with some fleece-wash for next time around. I also ordered a couple of dog slicker brushes the other day when I ordered Chappy some vitamins–I’ll give those a try as cards while the bank account recovers from buying the combs.

As to knitting, I didn’t do any at all last night (too tired), but I have narrowed the edging choices down to two, so . . . it all depends on my mood later . . . I may just skip that last row of lace-pattern and go directly to the edging, or I may do that last pair of rows and start the edging tomorrow. I’m kind of ready to move on to the next step . . . I’m at the point now where I want this [lovely and enjoyable] project done so I can move on to the next one (Peacock Feathers shawl!) with a clear conscience. I do TRY not to have too many projects going at once.

  I know, of course, that February has one more day and all, but I feel really good about what I’ve managed to “fix” as part of this really great for incentive group. I tackled that really big Lopi sweater I’ve had for about 15 years, turning it into a smaller, felted version of itself. I came up with the closing for my hood (which, yes, I know–it wasn’t really a problem, but it could have sat there indefinitely while I tried to figure out what to do with it, so darn it, I’m counting it!). And then I fixed the zipper and hood of my otherwise really nice Debbie Bliss cabled jacket–the first cabling project I ever did. It’s bugged me that it hadn’t come out better in just those two, small areas, and I’m thrilled to have them fixed . . . or at least, fixed enough to wear!

  Now, if I want to be really proud of myself, I’d pick this pile-of-quilt off my floor and finish the poor thing. I redecorated my bedroom 2.5 years ago and figured I would just quickly make a new quilt for my bed to match the new colors . . . I swear, the whole thing is about 90% done. One side of the blue-band to quilt, then the green, and the binding . . . and even the quilting part is as minimal as I could think of–just big zigzags. There’s absolutely no excuse for it still to be heaped in the corner by my chair. No excuse at all . . . I am so ashamed….

• Tags: Chappy, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Day of Rest?? // 3 Comments »