Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Snakes and Snails and Puppy Dog Tales

Whew! I didn't mean to be away for so long. I've had a few distractions lately, but I have been knitting. I don't have any more recent photos to show my progress on Apricot, but I've finished both front pieces and have gotten several inches of the back done.

Also really, really distracted with Ravelry. What can I say? It's fun, informative, and I'm totally inspired every time I go rambling around in there. What's not to love?

And my biggest distraction over the last few days? My dog Max (who I love more than knitting) was bitten by a snake last Friday night. And yes it was poisonous, it was a Copperhead. Fortunately my husband was watching the dogs as they had their last outing for the night. He spotted the snake, but not before Max did. Both of the dogs were in the snake's range before he could get them back in the house. At first we couldn't find any evidence that either dog had been bitten, but about half an hour later we saw that the right side of Max's face was starting to swell. We rushed him to the nearest emergency vet clinic (a thirty-five minute drive.) Max is a very stoic dog - I can count the times I've ever heard him whine on one hand, but he was obviously in a lot of pain. Copperhead snake bites don't tend to be lethal, but Max is ten and I was concerned his age would put him at a greater risk.

After what seemed like forever, the nice folks at the clinic treated him with antibiotics, something for the swelling and pain, and fluids. We didn't get home until 2 am! This is what he looked like Saturday afternoon.

You can see the puffiness on his right side and the dark spot on his right cheek is where the actual bite is. He's still not a happy camper in this photo, but he's doing much better now. The swelling's almost completely gone and he hasn't shown any signs that he's in pain anymore. As I've mentioned before Max is my dog and he is very precious to me. I'm so grateful to have a happy ending to this puppy dog tale.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Hanging Out

I've only managed to knit a few inches on the other front side of Apricot over the last few days, hardly worth taking a photo. I thought instead I'd share a photo of my cat, Murphy. She's been hanging out with me most of the day.
She's got a nice view out the window from the back of this loveseat, if she works up enough energy to turn her head. Maybe later....

Saturday, October 6, 2007

A Shaky Start

So after almost finishing the ribbing on the back of Apricot, I decided that instead of knitting on size 7 needles, I should really be using size 6. I've almost finished one of the front panels (in the larger size) and I really liked the look and feel of it much more knit on size 6 needles. Here's what I've got so far.I've only had to frog back a few inches on this piece so far (I missed the increases since they were only described in the directions for the back.) Yeah I know I should have been paying more attention. It's not like I haven't been warned about this pattern. Well I'm off to frog the back ribbing. I've been putting it off until I was absolutely sure this time about the guage, and now I am.