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I'm back. Actually, I have been back for almost a week but have been able to procrastinate writing a blog entry since then. Dog Camp is difficult to explain to non-Dog People. My definition of Dog People (capital D, capital P) is that group of individuals whose dogs are at or near the center of their lives. They generally make up the core of those participating in any of the dog sports (conformation, obedience, agility, tracking, herding, carting, hunting...) but competing with your dog does not necessarily make you a Dog Person. You can have a dog without being a Dog Person. Who else would be willing to devote a full week of vacation to spending time with their dogs?

Kerri always says that you go to Camp the first time because is sounds like a good time for you and your dog. You go back the second year because you couldn't possibly do all the things you wanted to that first year. After that you go back year after year because of the friends you have made and the comfort of being surrounded by a group of folks who "get it" -- who understand the relationship you have with your dogs. At Camp even the folks you don't like understand the obsession.

My Camp friendships have evolved into some of the closest I have. They are the folks I can call on day or night. We rejoice in each others triumphs and cry over each others losses be they they dog-related or not. Spending a whole week together every year without the distraction of the "real world" is a gift. We get to have a few beers and more than a few laughs with our dogs in tow. Who could ask for more from a vacation??

This was our 8th Camp and it was one of the most relaxing ever. Our most exciting happening was that Eli managed to pass his CGC/TDI test so with the pending completion of some paperwork is a certified therapy dog. I am so proud of him. Kerri was his handler for the test and did an outstanding job. I watched nervously from a pine grove on the top of the hill so Eli wouldn't see/hear me. Eli even started in "teacup" agility. He is still too young for any real jumping so the equipment in the small dog agility class is set low enough that even if he were to jump off the equipment he wouldn't inadvertently hurt himself. Learning the equipment was something of a challenge for him as his chest is wider than the teeter or the dog walk. A certain puppy will need to figure out where his back feet are if he is to continue.

Jasper had a crappy week in agility. All he wanted to do is sniff the field. It was like he had never seen grass before. I have to admit that he did have a few really nice runs, but over all it was disappointing. The weather was awesome! We had one rainy morning and one really HOT day, but all manageable without changing the schedule.

I will post more about my demo and knitting/spinning progress later. I think this post is long enough... thank you very much.

Fluff Finale

Voila! I have finished and photographed all of the samples I am going to be using for my demo. It has been such a fun learning experience.

Top Row : Poodle Puppy/Silk, Sheltie/Taupe Corriedale
Bottom Row: Bearded Collie mix/Grey Corriedale, Pomeranian/Natural Black Rambouillet

Poodle Puppy/Alpaca

These samples have certainly improved the quality of my spinning. I learned how not to let the fiber or habit dictate how my finished yarns will look. I naturally spin moderately low twist yarns; I like soft cushiness in my finished work. So if I leave my hands to work on automatic pilot, that's what I will get. Unfortunately, dog fluff needs more twist even when blended with a medium wool or it will be nearly as fuzzy as fun fur. Over the course of this project, I had to learn how to adjust my spinning to get the effect I was aiming for. There were some "failures"; it took me a few tries to get the Husky/alpaca to spin. And in the end, I was only mostly successful with it, but the fault may lie more with the short cria alpaca than the Husky. Which is why it ended up as the FELTED tote. LOL

The Pomeranian/Rambouillet was probably the most successful of the squares, although the Sheltie blend was fun to work with too. I am glad I have the whole Rambo fleece as I think it may now end up blended with newf and knit into a jacket for next fall. My queue is way too full for squeezing that in now.

I am officially signing off for the week and I will have TONS to post when I get back from Camp.

Have a safe and splendiferous Labor Day Weekend!

Dog Fluff Stuff

We leave for Camp on Saturday, so I am down to the wire on the Dog Fluff Stuff. The maiden voyage of my spinning dog fluff demo is scheduled for Tuesday -- wish me luck!. I have more demos lined up for later this fall so all the work putting together the handouts and samples will be put to good use.

The final push to finish knitting has been rather consuming of late. I will have some more to show you tomorrow, but here is is bulk of the finished samples... I know I shouldn't have favorites but this container really knocks my socks off...

Felted Container

Pattern: Adapted from Felted Gift Bag in One Skein Wonders
Yarn: Handspun Anatolian Shepherd/White Corriedale and Bearded Collie/Grey Corriedale
Needles: KnitPicks Options size 9

Fingerless Mitts

Pattern: Dashing from Knitty
Yarn: Handspun Golden Retreiver / Merino blend
Needles: KnitPicks Options size 7

Felted Tote

Pattern:Adapted from Fulled Lopi Tote by Hello Yarn
Yarn: Handspun Siberian Husky/Varigated Gray Alpaca
Needles: KnitPicks Options size 10.5

I have a couple more things to photograph and a Pomeranian/Rambo blend to knit up still.