It's sweet about Townes and Caia. When our dogs were together and one didn't feel good, they were very sweet to one another. I hope Caia stays well.

Beautiful yarn - yay for making koigu :)

you're a spinning genius!

Cathy - I plan to knit up a lot of my handspun - yay! Part of the problem until now has been that I didn't have enough of what I needed to finish they type of project that I envisioned for the yarn. The swallowtail is the only thing I have enough of to do what I want to with. BUT that will change. I'm knitting (and still spinning) some colorful bfl for my little niece's scarf and I am spinning more wool to accompany a lot of the skeins that I have in a multi-colored sweater. Pretty soon I'll be knitting handspun all over the place. It's just taken a while to get the volume. I spun my 20th skein last weekend. Woo hoo! (You have to learn - it is so fun!)

Hey Leslie - Charlotte's Web is actually a really easy, catchy pattern, and I don't think there are "issues" with it. I ripped it because I was working on a ton of other things and it was clear that it was not going to get finished. I'm actually thinking of selling it - the yarn and pattern. It's a very pretty blue colorway, put together by the guys at Threadbare. Let me know if you want it, and I'll give you a good deal on it.

Your photos of Caia and Townes just melt my heart! Give them hugs and kisses for me. Swallowtail is on my to-do list (getting longer all the time) and so is Charlotte's Web. I've long admired them on different blogs, which makes me ask, why did you rip it out?

Happiness is having warm friends who curl around your head when you're hurting. Sniff. They are so sweet!

OK the yarn looks just like Koigu. Will you spin some for me? (grin)

And the Caia-Townie love is reaching out through the screen to squeeze my heart. Excuse me, I have to go snorgle my own puppy now.

That's so freakin' exciting that you are spinning your own yarn and then knitting with it. I read and read about you spinning and I kept thinking, I wonder if she plans on knitting with anything she spins and here you are. I'm living vicariously through you because I do not intend on spinning myself, but boy would that be a great thing to talk about. "Hey, I love those socks." "Yeah, I knit them with some yarn I spun." Thank you for sharing with us!

beautiful, beautiful yarn. my aunt in scotland is threatening to teach me to spin, but i fear the pandora's box it may unleash. and the townes/caia love has me all sniffly.

Oh my. Oh my. Oh! My! That is lovely. Beautiful yarn and it looks lovely in that pattern. I love the subtle color shading. You should try Charlotte's Web again. I taught it as a class and it took some doing for some people but it works.

The handspun is beautiful -- are you sure that you just bought a wheel??

I hope that Caia is feeling better, and that she has some wonderful, sun filled months ahead of her. We are dealing with the same issues with our oldest dog, who is 12, and it is very hard indeed. Remember that you are a GREAT dog mom, and she loves you. That feeling goes on forever.

Sending Caia and your family warm regards. It's hard, isn't it, watching the ones we love start to struggle with age? Our dog is entering year 12 and his hips are starting to betray him, which makes me feel so sad. But boy, even just from the view of the blog, one can see the real love and affection that Caia and Townes receive from you-- A good life, indeed!

PS: The handiwork (the spinning and the knitting) look wonderful, as always. So talented, and I love that color-- :)

The yarn you've spun even LOOKS like Koigu from here! I'm also working on the Swallowtail Shawl; it's definitely addictive. Instead of saying, "one more row", I'm finding myself repeating, "Just one more repeat!". That's probably how I got to the edging in one week. Bad stuff for a college student around midterm time, heh.

OK, I just popped in here from bloglines before I write my midterm. I am insanely early - and now you've got me all teary-eyed with all the cute cuddlers. What a good friend Townes is to Caia. They must know a lot of love from you and Moxie.

I moved into a house a ways back that already had a beautiful German Shepard, Rachel, living there whom I had to take over looking after for a few months. I became quite attatched to her and she became quite attatched to my little kitty Petrie. At only a few months old Petrie had to have an intestional operation. I think Rachel thought she was Petrie's momma. She would even try and pick him up with her mouth. I have the best picture of them laying together. I wish I could show it to you.

This was just the thing to take the stress of off my final.

Your brew could make a girl drunk. I'd better get spinning :D

That really does look like Koigu. You'll have to show me when we get together, okay? I'll pre-draft, you spin!

I read somewhere that for German Sheperds, to compare their age to a human's, you'd have to multiply by 11, not the standard 7 years. Isn't that something?

Will bring all my projects for show and tell this weekend.

Awwww, the Caia pictures are so cute. She's one of the prettiest dogs I've ever met; I'm so glad you, Moxie, and sweet Townes give her so much love! I'll give her some quality ear scratching this weekend...

Your yarn looks *cool* and I really want to give it a squeeze... especially with the Koigu comparision! The shawl looks great so far. I was a little confused by the Charlotte's Web reference at first; "why don't I remember Julia making that?" I thought. Then I got to the end of your post!

O.M.G. That yarn...that shawl...I'm dying. Dying, I say!

My thoughts are definitely with you, M, and your sweet Caia. I'm glad she still enjoys the belly and ear rubs- she's sure to get much of both on Saturday!

Your home-brew-koigu is beautiful! It's knitting up like a dream. I can't wait till I can see you actually spinning. It looks like you get a lot more twist into your fiber than I usually do. I like the results. I always have areas that are way underspun and the look really wonky. Yours looks more consistent.

As for Miss caia, Panda and I are keeping healthy happy thoughts for her. I don't think there's anyone with half a heart who wouldn't love that girl. Townes is just the most obvious about it.

Beautiful yarn!! Fingers crossed you have enough.