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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!

More Dog Fluff Stuff

Okay, I spent TOO much of today getting the dogs groomed and ready for Camp, so I didn't get the sample squares photographed. I know I promised, but I can only do so much. To pacify you all, here is my second favorite sample piece.

Filigree Scarf

Pattern: Fabulous Filigree Scarf in One Skein Wonders edited by Judith Durant
Yarn: Handspun Rough Collie/Cream Romney Blend
Needles: KnitPicks Options size 6

You can see the amount of color change in the Collie fiber... I didn't honestly notice it so much until it was knitted up. The color is a little more subtle in person, but my digital camera either shot it plain cream or this, so there you go. It is just a nice scarf, it looks like it might be a shawlish size in the photo and the book, but it is more like collar size. It will look nice crossed under my coat this winter.

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.

Summer Slacker

I admit it. It's summertime and the living is easy. It's not that I haven't been working on all sorts of fibery goodness, I just haven't wanted to be sitting in my office typing about it... LOL Between the heat, the garden, the dogs and the social nature of summers in Maine, I just haven't been disciplined enough. I am trying to change that, but I wouldn't count my chickens if I were you.

When I am feeling trapped indoors in the A/C blasting, I like to spin. There has been lots of spinning completed lately. Here is some beautiful yarn from what I can only say was the UGLIEST roving man has ever created... Burnt orange, day-glo orange, navy blue and taupe, it was another ebay purchase -- deceptively photographed and given the classy name - SeaShells... I don't know about where you live, but here in Maine... seashells are never day-glo orange. Spinning it was a lark -- I was curious just how ugly the yarn would be. As you can see, it isn't ugly at all, quite the opposite in fact. It reminds me of Fall between Halloween and Thanksgiving. Seashells are nowhere to be found but Autumnal Splendor might have kept me from believing it was ugly for all these months. I am still shocked at where the burgundy came from, it just magically appeared while I was spinning.





It's a 2-ply DK weight, medium wool spun using a modified long draw from a now unknown ebay seller.

My second yarn to show you is a different story. This is the mohair/wool blend roving from Friends Folly Farm I got at the Fiber Frolic. I loved the roving. It was one of those rovings I would pull out of the stash and fondle for no reason. I still loved it after I spun it up and plied it, but then it went into it's bubble bath to set the twist and the water quickly turned a dark blood red and then over the next few minutes the water turned a rusty brown. I am going to guess I lost about 30% of the color saturation. It is still very pretty, if a little pale. My disappointment is probably coloring my opinion a bit overmuch (ooh look a pun!) Take a look...





It's a 2-ply sport weight, 50/50 mohair and wool spun using a modified long draw from Friends Folly Farm.

Muddy Paws Whistling Dixie

I just realized that I forgot to tell you all about Miss Dixie. Dixie is also our resident counter surfer, intruder alert (be it boogieman or UPS driver), and cuddlebug. Senior girl now at the ripe old age of eight and a benevolent if heavy handed dictator.

It has been a hard year for her. Dix never really showed her age, but since Lucy (our first newf) died last Halloween, it seems her age has caught up with her. From the time Dixie came home with us at 16 weeks old, she and Lucy were inseparable -- for the next 7 years they weren't apart for more than 12 hours... EVER. It wasn't a plan, it was just always easier for the newfs to be together. She has bounced back for the most part. Dixie plays with the boys and gets into her share of trouble, but not with the same carefree attitude she used to have. She takes the world much more seriously now that she it our pack leader.

Mystery Stole 3... Me too! Me too...

This is another in a long line of accidental projects. I have been looking for a stole/shawl pattern to use for a knitting project to donate to the auction at the Newfoundland Club of America National Specialty which our local club will be hosting in March of 2008 using my own handspun of a Newf/Merino blend. As I was poking around the web looking for a pattern that fit, I stumbled on the Mystery Stole 3 KAL. When I read that the yarn recommendation is a black or white, I was hooked... I get to participate in the KAL and produce a stole that will be appropriate for the auction. What more could I ask for. So what if I hadn't spun any of the yarn yet? So what if I have never knit with beads before? It will be a learning experience. LOL...

Here is my stole completed thru clue #2. I am a little behind, but I think I will be able to catch up this week.

Here is some detail of the metallic multicolor 8/0 beads from Caravan Beads.

If you haven't seen Melanie's work before... Check out her blog: http://pinklemontwist.blogspot.com/ I am sorry to report that if you are not one of the 6700+ people already participating in MS3, you are gonna have to wait until next year as the group has been closed. The patterns for previous mystery stoles are available from Melanie and the MS3 stole will be available sometime at the end of Aug. or beginning of Sept.

Time to start Clue #3...