tears, tears and more tears..........

Mr. Maximillian Thurston the Third.....has passed away, just shy of his 12 birthday. We will miss him.

He was a full sized male yorkshire terrier, (hence the big name) something rarely seen in this era of pocketbook sized puppies. He was 12 lbs and loved to eat and eat.

He would jump up and down when he knew his food was about to arrive. He was a tough guy and liked to spend his days chasing after squirrels and rabbits. He never did catch one, which was his life long ambition....but, he sure did try hard.

His favorite foods were whipped cream, ice cream and ham....any day with one of those was a bit of heaven for max. He had a tough life, because it always seemed that everyone he formed an attachment with, passed away or left him....until he met his best friend, koko bear and I.

We stood by him, even though he was a difficult sort of guy....because he gave great kisses and was very loving. We will miss him. Koko is having a rather tough time of it....so we are spending lots of time together and are searching for just the right new friend for her.

So we are on a search for a new shih tzu ....which is my favorite breed of dogs. They are so flexible and easy to train and do the funniest things.

I have handspun both of these dog's hair, into incredibly soft yarn. Max's was the best, as soft as cashmere, but warmer like angora. Spinning your dog's hair, is a good memory, because with good care you will have a remembrance of your pet, which will be comforting. It is also the reason, I first took up handspinning,when I learned 9 years ago, that my first shih-tzu was dying. I wanted to spin her hair into yarn and knit something to remember her. ( I do this on a commission basis, contact me by email if you have interest in this service. )

I still have this yarn and her friend spekkie's hair and max's...so I think I might make a throw out of all their dog hair yarn. I am still in the designing phase. If anyone has done this, I would love to see photos of throws you made out of dog yarn.

It is so hard to lose a dog that you love, but I think about something that a friend told me, "dogs come into your life, to teach you a lesson....and when that is done, they leave, either by death or they go off on a journey to meet someone else that needs help."

Max taught me, through the years, is that it important to wake up each and every day, and try your best and to do it with love. Be kind and loving to everyone that you meet, because they may have had a worse day than yours. We will miss you gentle friend, rest in peace.

For everyone that has lost a beloved, I wish you peace in your grief.....you never really DO get over the loss, you eventually learn to live with the grief, with more grace, each day that passes.

So koko and I spent the weekend, resting and knitting and spinning. We accomplished a lot side by side this week.....

I spun all this yarn to the left. The gray center pull ball was spun to finish the last 7 flowers for the nicky epstein scarf. I have 33 flowers in all. I decided not to use the white angora, because the contrast was just too strong. Depending how this one turns out, I am thinking of making one for my aunt's birthday in winter whites, using all different yarn textures.

Nicky Epstein flowers, flowers and more flowers!!!!

I also finally took photos of the two scarves I finished a week or so ago. The first one is made out of blue, Coats and Clarks TLC yarn. I will eventually have this pattern for sale. I just have to finish writing up the

5-bobble tassle instructions....and it will be available for purchase.

The second scarf, is made with lion's brand fun fur and hand dyed yarn that I received from a dye swap. The inspiration for this design

came out of an old pattern book my great aunt gave to me from 1932.

sorry about the last photo,it is not very clear. Here is the scarf recipe, for anyone that is interested. It is called the Pittsburgh Scarf after my aunt's birth place.

Materials:

US #9 knitting needles

1skein of Lion's Brand fun fur (MC)

1 skein of a contrast wool yarn worsted weight. (CC)

Notes:

Pick any colors that you like. I carried the contrast yarn up the sides, because it got lost in the fun fur fluff.

It is your choice whether you want to do this. My scarf is 5 1/2 inches by 5 ft. If you want a longer scarf you

will need to buy additional skeins of yarn.

To make scarf:

Cast on one st with the fun fur. Knit into the front, purl into the back and Knit into the front again, 3 sts. Knit every row, Increasing one st at the begining and end of every other row until you have 23 sts on the needle.

Attach (CC) and begin pattern as follows:

Rows 1-3 Slip 1 knitwise, Knit to end.

Row 4 Knit 1, *YO, Knit 2 together*, repeating from * to end of the row.

Rows 5-8 Repeat Row 1

Rows 9-10 Change to (MC), Slip 1 knitwise, Knit to end.

Row 11 - Knit 1, * Knit into the next st, wrapping the yarn around the needle 3 times* , repeating from * to end of the row.

Rows 12-14 Slip1 knitwise, Knit to end. Cut MC yarn.

Rows 15-18 With CC, Slip1 knitwise, Knit to end.

Row 19 Repeat Row 4

Rows 20-22 Slip1 knitwise, Knit to end.

Row 23-24 Change to MC, Slip1 knitwise, Knit to end.

Row 25 Repeat Row 11.

Rows 26-28 Slip1 knitwise, Knit to end. Cut MC yarn.

Repeat rows 15-28 until scarf reaches your desired length ending with

Row 22, CC. Cut CC color and attach MC.

Decrease one st each side every right side row till one st remains. Bind off. Block scarf.

I threaded large glass beads onto the cast on and cast off ends for my tassels. You can use any kind of tassel that you prefer.

This scarf is a quickie project and makes a great gift. It is light and airy and can be made using one color yarn.

This pattern is copyrighted by konoponop designs, feel free to use it for personal

use and to send your friends here for the pattern as well.

Enjoy.........

that's all for today folks..........Happy, Happy Trails, DC