#Cherstagrams – Yards of Happiness

It Doesn’t Have to Be Hard

I fly through most knitting projects. Full size sweaters typically take me on average about two weeks. Baby knits can be whipped up over a weekend. A hat, just a few hours. So yesterday I thought about the dress I was knitting my goddaughter and I wondered why it has taken me 2 months and I had only gotten about 4 inches of progress made. I didn’t like the pattern. So I looked at the project and looked at what else was in my library and I said this shouldn’t be this hard and I frogged it!
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I felt such a wave of relief when I did that. And then I decided to make the Summer to Fall dress instead and you know what?

Last night I got all the way up to finishing the back panel of the dress! That’s about 10 inches of knitting that I finished and in the last 2 months I could barely get through 5 inches in the other pattern. All I’ve got left is the front of the dress to knit. It’s like a block was lifted. I wasted all this time because I felt like I needed to finish something and then realized I was the only person putting that pressure on myself. I can always just knit something else if I don’t like it. And once I let go of what held me back I was moving full steam ahead. So I hope to finish this over the weekend and then I’m thinking about knitting a few toys after making Wasabi the Whale the other weekend. It’s also Bark in the Park for the Nationals at the baseball stadium so we’ve taking the dogs on an adventure and seeing how they like baseball. Wish me luck and say a prayer that Cher is a polite dog the entire time we’re there.
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Stitching Status: Weekend Update

Happy Monday! Sometimes I sit down to write and realize I don’t take as many pictures as I probably should for someone who blogs. I try my best a lot of times to just be present and enjoy what’s happening and that means not pulling out my phone or a camera. For example, I met a frequent commenter and now friend, Claudia from Proper Tension on Friday! She was in DC for a conference so we met on Friday after I got off of work for burgers in Capitol Hill. It’s always great to meet up with someone you feel like you know because of their online presence and it’s even better when they’re just as great as you had hoped. And since I don’t have a picture with Claudia, here’s one of Jellybean…
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and the ball of yarn I worked with this weekend. I pulled out a lovely ball of Pumpkin colored Caron Smiply Soft to work up a little cardigan for my friend Larry and his wife who are having a baby very soon! I whipped up this hat for Larry a few years ago as a thank you and I thought his son might look good in orange too.
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And at the last minute last night I said, why not whip up a pair of socks to match? Clearly we’re not getting a serious winter here so I made the sweater short sleeved for spring and instead of a hat decided on the Little Squirrel socks by TinCan Knits. I figured he may get more wear out of the sock in the spring than a hat. And one little sock only took me an hour and a half to whip up (they’re worsted weight and newborn size). I can finish the second sock tonight, wash and dry them with the sweater and then put on buttons. It’s the sweetest gift and I know he and his wife will love it.
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Also the sweetest, my girlfriend has taken up sewing and made my dogs bandannas! Cher is serious about her modeling. LOL

I immediately put them on after I opened the mail and the only way to make the girls stay still is to put them on a high table. And of course, Jellybean almost attempted to jump off. Sigh…she believes she’s part flying squirrel. I swear.
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And my last fun tidbit from the weekend, I wore my pair of knit print leggings I picked up from Sweet Legs! I know people rave about Lula Roe leggings and I bought one pair but I hate the process and didn’t love them that much. So when I saw someone on Instagram wearing these leggings I went to the site and decided to give them a try. They’re great quality, decent price and they shipped to me super quick! They’re a winner in my book. I may order more prints for my weekend wear. So that’s what sums up my weekend, how was yours?

February 13, 2017February 13, 2017 by IamDWJ Categories: Baby Knits, Caron, Cher, Jellybean, Knitting, My Dogs, Stitching Status, Things That Bring Me Joy, YarnTags: #CherandJelly, #Cherstagrams, #HeyJellyGirl, #yardsofhappiness, dogs, dogs in bandannas, knitting, leggings, life, Yarn 7 Comments

FO: A Sweater for Cher

We adopted Cher from HART Rescue the day before Thanksgiving in 2013. Her Gotcha Day has become one of my favorite days of the year to celebrate.
Cher
This is one of the first photos I took of her, she was scared and so was I. I’d never had a dog before and I didn’t know what to expect, what to do and my husband was at work so I was all alone with this strange creature. But over the last 3 years I think we’ve figured it all out just fine and I realized that as much as she needed to be rescued, I needed her just as much.
Portrait of a Pup
This 12 year old dog spent 3 years in 3 different shelters before a rescue group picked her up. Sometimes I feel like she was waiting for me to find her and wondering what took me so long. As wonderful as she is I just don’t understand why anyone would give her (or Jellybean) up but I’m here now and she’s spoiled absolutely rotten for as long as she is with me (and I hope that’s a long time). So as the holidays are getting near and I am trying to coordinate outfits for a family photo (you may remember my holiday photo from 2015 and from 2014) I decided Cher needed a new sweater because she couldn’t repeat and I already bought a new sweater for Jellybean.
Cher's Max sweater
In a day I was able to whip up the Max sweater for Cher and I was so excited and wanted to share that I 1. only took pics with my cell phone 2. didn’t even block the sweater yet. Knitting dog sweaters is just as quick and adorable as baby sweaters in my opinion. Plus the sweaters in this book are all top down and easy to modify. My husband keeps saying I need to make a billion dog sweaters and sell them at Eastern Market. If only I had the time.
Cher's Max sweater
This was too cute to not share my Cher. I used leftover yarn from a scarf I made for Kendell a while ago, Berroco Vintage in the Black Current and Oats colors.

Cher of course promptly went to sleep in her sweater right after I snapped a few pics. I think she enjoys a warm and cozy hand knit. Clearly she’s the right dog for me. And since Jellybean is so small I’ll have to experiment and work on modifying a pattern to fit her tiny frame. In the meantime I’ll keep buying her little sweaters from my favorite doggy site, Baxter Boo. Seriously, they have everything and they always have a sale. And hopefully we will get a nice family photo of the 4 of us during the Thanksgiving break. I’m taking the rest of the week off to enjoy my family and friends and I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving/rest of the week as well. But let me also say, I’m thankful for you! You come and read my blog, share comments and tips and give lots of support. Like I always say, yarn people are the best people.