Clean Dogs and Wicked Sweaters

Yesterday it was 45 degrees F here, which seemed downright tropical when you compare it to the way it has been. Since it was so warm I decided it was finally time to do something that has desperately needed doing for several weeks now - wash the dog. Poor little Finn has been a bit aromatic lately but it's been too cold to give him a bath because it takes pretty much all day for him to dry out. (Finn does NOT do blow dryers.) So yesterday I tossed him into the shower with me - he's not a crotch sniffer, so there is no gross doggy rudeness - and soon we had a giant, blond, lavender and vanilla scented, wet doggy. Of course I realized that apres bath pictures of Finn would make good blog fodder, so here he is, in all his dampness! Its important to shake yourself out really well after a bath. (For any non doggy people out there - the shakes start at the nose end and work their way back to the tail. Finn is displaying the shoulder section of the shake here.)
Make sure you get all the water out of your ears - even if your mommy has already wrung them out several times and dried them with a towel. (Retriever ears are like sponges and you can literally wring them out-kinda weird, but fun too.)
Then you should run around in circles, attack the towels (it was probably their idea that you get a bath in the first place), roll on the carpet, and then start over again with the shaking off.

After about 20 minutes of the shaking and water removal, you're probably feeling pretty tired. Go ahead and have a lie down. Then you can show off your lovely bathtime curls! Finn spent most of yesterday sleeping, curled up in a little dog ball. By dinner time he was all dried out and so soft and fluffy! I think he was even glad to be clean.

OK, now that you've had your puppy fix, here is Wicked in all its finished glory! This is the kind of picture you get when you ask a 6 year old who's at least 2 feet shorter than you are to take your picture. I love the way it fits and the pattern was really easy to make.

Here's a bathroom mirror shot just for another view.
Details: Wicked pattern, for worsted weight yarn. I adjusted the shaping to fit my body and added the twisted rib pattern at the bottom edge. I used 10 balls of Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran in Opal. I made the 34 inch size and it called for 800 yards of yarn - 10 balls of yarn is 930 yards - I'm wondering if the yardage requirements are for the short sleeved version. The only other thing I'd watch for on this pattern is something I've already mentioned: the twisted rib pattern is an 8 stitch repeat, not a 4 stitch repeat and you might need to adjust numbers for cast on and then at the sleeves and lower edge of the sweater if you add it there.

In the comments yesterday, there was a question about where I like to get fiber to spin. If you look in the sidebar, under "Got Fiber?" there is a list of places that has fiber, yarn or both. Also there was a question about when the pattern for Mindy's stole would be available - I still haven't written it up, but I haven't forgotten it either.

UPDATE: If I can get good pictures this week of Mindy's Stole, I hope to have the pattern available on Friday for sale! Cross your knitting needles for me! (Yes Mindy, this means you might get your stole soon, seeing as it was your Christmas present for 2006.)