The vest and the doggie

This weekend was another busy one and I think because I am pretty close to vacation time, it seemed super short. Saturday was marked with the Wiener Nationals and my first class to make Eunny's Deep V Argyle Vest. I was a bit nervous about the class and didn't feel as if I had properly prepared. I kept thinking that everyone else had been busy practicing their color work since our last class and I would end up being the only slacker. Fortunately, I think we were all in the same boat. But, I was also pleasantly surprised, fair isle came right back to me as it did to everyone else in the class, too. So I guess my "Knitting Knightmares" were unfounded after all.

Our instructor said that Eunny's steeking instructions in her pattern are the best he has ever seen. As if I should be surprised. Eunny is so amazing and I am really looking forward to her technical book. Anyway, here's a shot of my first swatch using Jo Sharp dk wool. We are actually making two swatches. One to measure gauge and one to practice our steeks later.

This one was made with the red as the main color and the tan as the contrast. We are going to reverse the colors for our second swatch so that we can see which way we like best. I am really in love with my red (Scarlet) but I am a bit worried that the tan I picked out (Linen) is knitting up more washed out that I envisioned. When I work with the yarn, the tan almost appears white to me and I really don't want to end up with something that looks like a Christmas vest. My goal was to create something that is classic looking and bold. I think the tan will be a nice contrast with the white shirt I am likely going to wear under the vest. I just hope that is what ends up happening. I think it will be really interesting to see if the tan ends up appearing a bit darker if it acts as the main color. I plan to post a photo of the two next to each other once I have it done.

As for the Wiener Nationals, we went mostly just to watch (it is really fun to see), since Jenny is still under the weather. She looks pretty happy in this picture, but she actually has developed a cold and a hot spot on one of her back legs. Ugh! She is such a sweet little girl, it just isn't right that she doesn't feel well. Her back is getting better every day, but she's just not 100% yet.

Any hoo, the Wiener races were fun as usual. There were approximately 250 dogs this year and it was the first year I've ever seen them actually disqualify dogs for "being deemed not to be a dachshund". Ha! We were also the only tools that showed up in matching "I heart my wiener" t-shirts. I'm not sure what we were thinking when we left the house that morning. We almost wore them into the restaurant to get breakfast, but the nice big reflective windows brought us to our senses before it was too late. It's one thing to wear matching wiener dog shirts around a bunch of other wiener dog people, it is quite another to be out in the real world walking around with no apparent excuse.