Things to Cuddle

I recently finished up two fairly cuddly knitting projects.

The first is another Lilly Owl blanket, using Lori Emmitt's pattern.

This is slightly larger than my first Lilly owl blanket, and I tweaked the pattern a bit more. I thought the owls would stand out more if there was an additional purl row at the top and bottom, so I changed the first and last row of the seed stitch blocks to be purl rows. Truth be told, it didn't really make much of a difference, and it was rather confusing to keep straight, so I'll abandon that design element. But, I did pay attention to how the seed stitch blocks blended with the garter stitch edging, and made sure that I didn't have knits and purls side-by-side with the edges - and that looks much better than on my first blanket.

Now that I've worked out these details, I've ordered enough yarn to make a regular-sized baby blanket, and will cast on as soon as that yarn comes in. Stay tuned!

I also finished another elephant, using Ysolda Teague's Elijah pattern. The yarn is Misti Alpaca Pima Cotton & Silk Hand Paint, in the color Confetti. I was calling this elephant Confetti, but I'm told by the soon-to-be recipient that her name will be Ellie.

I did not knit this beagle! I usually dump our laundry on the bed, to fold it, and if I don't get to it right away, Bonnie loves to make herself a nest. Apparently she is equally happy nesting in the basket itself.

Our cuddly beagle has developed another quirk. When we first adopted her, she practically never barked - we think we may have heard her bark five times in the first year we had her. After Homer died, she started barking occasionally, if she was outside and wanted to come in before we went to check on her. She would occasionally bark at lunchtime, if she thought I needed to stop working and give her some attention - one sharp, indignant, "look at me" bark.

Then we came home from Mackinac Island, and she is a changed animal. During the day, she behaves as usual, sleeping on her bed in my office, or on the couch. But at night, she apparently thinks that we are not giving her the attention she needs. She barks, watches us, and barks some more.

We are trying to give her the attention she craves, without rewarding this barking. Wish us luck on this one!