News from the Sock Wars iii Front

To those who have missed me:
I've been observing the Sock Wars iii phenomena.
This is amazing, absolutely amazing.
Only half of the warriors are still standing.
The creativity is rampant.

If you joined up, you could go to this link and follow what's going on:
http://sockwarsiii.memberlodge.org

If you're part of Ravelry, you could join the Sock Wars group:
http://www.ravelry.com/groups/sock-wars-3---2008

www.rubyintheroughsocks.blogspot.com

The origins of Schwag / Shwag / Swag?

Knitting connection to what sidetracked ramblings follow:
Knitty.com (http://knitty.com/blog/2008/04/biggest-contest-knitty-has-ever-had.html)
is have a contest in honor of their 50 Millionth Site Visit.

"So we sat down and thought about how we could thank you guys for reading, linking to, talking about and knitting from Knitty magazine. And one thing came to mind: really great shwag."

There's that word again. Where did it come from?

Have you ever had one of those days where you hear the same term over and over again? And you realize that it isn't a word you remember being in the dictionary or on the spelling list at school? Well Schwag or Swag is one of those words for me. I was trying to figure out if it was an acronym for something. "Something Worthy As Gift" "Some With A Gift" "Stuff Can Happen With a Gift" "Special Happiness Wins A Grin" I don't know. I wanted it to mean something. So, I looked it up:

There was an article int Wired 9.01 (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.01/schwag.html)

"As schwag has evolved into a status symbol, even the word itself is gaining respectability. Once it was slang for stupid, or for low-quality reefer, or, in the classical, dictionary sense - spelled swag - it meant ill-gotten gains or booty. Today schwag has morphed its way into the American lexicon, sans criminal undertones. And so, there's now The Schwag, a Grateful Dead tribute band, and "schwag hags" who covet "schwag bags" hawked at extreme sports events. And there are the industry professionals, who wish the word would just go back where it came from."

There's also the Urban Dictionary: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=schwag
"The term is also used by many pot heads to describe anything that is low grade.
noun. low grade marijuana"

Yep, there once again, is a word that my Aunt Mary would have ROFL over. A word that not so many years ago might have gotten you detention. Out there in the mainstream with everyone, even knitting grannies, saying it without a clue as to what it means! Aunt Mary, believe it or not, convinced me that Reading The Dictionary Is FUN. I know, she brain washed me when I was young and vulnerable. They didn't used to prosecute people for those kinds of child abuse (kidding).

I keep a list of the words that my kids can say without even blinking, except when in my presence they give me "that look" because they know I'm obsessed about it. It's the list of things that I just cannot say in front of my MIL. I was going to list them here, but I want to keep the G-family rating. Even you would be amazed at the words on my list. Words that you use everyday that your great-grandmother would be scandalized by. Really.
Then there's the words that my MIL uses that have changed meaning: thong, hickey, shag, ...

Aunt Mary didn't ever want to rest in peace. She's up there; texting to me "LMAO" !

Choo Choo Knits goes the way of MacGyver

I was reading Choo Choo Knits retelling of her devastating Harmony needles accident. (You've got to go there and read it yourself: http://choochooknits.blogspot.com/2008/04/dont-make-me-go-all-macgyver-on-your-as.html

And, my reaction was: Good for You !
Nothing should get in the way of Knitting. Kind of like mailmen used to be "Neither rain, nor snow..." before they became Postal Workers.
MacGyver is one of my heroes. I even got the DVD collection and watched back to back with my DS2, he's 12, on a snowy weekend.
I watch Survivor with DD2, a lot, and we used to talk about how I would take knitting stuff as my luxury item. But now the Survivors don't get to pick what they take with them. The producers have taken to dropping them off at their destination during what is supposed to be a "photo-shoot" and things like that. Very "three hour tour"ish. Any way, we sit there watching, and knitting, and figuring out how we could make knitting tools and come up with fiber to knit. Even more extreme than MacGyver.
When an unnamed airline took away my knitting, I practiced knitting (on the plane) with airline supplied tooth-picks and dental floss from my carry on. If they hadn't supplied tooth-picks, I might have been trying those little pre-flossed tooth cleaner gizmos my dentist keeps giving me in my "good patient" baggie.
My seat-mates thought I had really lost my mind. But, I figured I'll never see them again.
I had a very nice Christmas Snowflake decoration by the time I got home.

We shall overcome!

PS: I had a Stamped self addressed bubblewrap and cardboard envelope to send home my precious Addi turbos. And, not thinking Survivorish at the time, I put my UFO in my checked luggage. Had I been thinking more clearly, I might have realized that it would have been better to put the Addi's in the luggage with the UFO Still ON Them ! But, in the end it was a wise decision because the Snail Mail envelope got to my home before my lost luggage did!

PSS: everytime I try to add Addi as a Label for this Post, it tries to insert Addicted ! Coincidence? I think Not !

Not doing so well on the 12 step Fibe-holics Anon program

Well, after the dust of March Madness has settled, I've had a chance to evaluate the fluctuations in my stash over the last few weeks. My search for Jayhawk Crimson and Blue yarn for my Jayhawk Jaywalker Socks did NOT help to whittle down the stash. I seem to have totally lost control, again. It seems that every March, I totally loose control. Really, it's the only sports that I ever really follow. I start watching about the time they post the stuff to pick your brackets, and by the time they're at the Final Four I can't leave the TV for a moment. And in between games, I go foraging for yarn! Why is that? What was I thinking? If I was a drinker, I would probably be having horrible hangovers for the whole Championships. In a weird way, it is a lot like drinking in that I don't seem to realize what I'm doing while I'm doing it.

You know, a rational adult (notice I'm not counting college students) does not go out and say "I'm going to spend all the money I can get my hands on to get so totally drunk that I cannot even remember what I was doing, where I was, or who I was with". Right? Do they?

But here I am, "coming to" the week after the Championships with a "Yarn-Over". I have holes in my memory as to why I bought yarn that I'm finding that I obviously obliviously stashed around during a 3 week spree of LYS SEX. I have bags in my car that I have no Idea How to smuggle into the house.

I could blame it on the extra traveling that I was doing. Yeah, that's it, I'm only in some of those cities Once A Year. I HAD to go to the Best LYS in Town while I was there. Right? You can't go to New York and not go to Times Square, Chicago and miss Marshal's, Minnesota and skip the Mall of America? No, that would be Un-American. So, when you're in a town with a great Yarn Shop, you MUST GO there. That's just all there is to it.

So, this weekend, I can either do the TAXES or I can list all my stash on Ravelry and eBay so I can pay my taxes.
What a Decision.
I really am going to have to count on the Ravelry groups to help me Bust this Stash. Maybe I can knit Basketball stuff? Those nets surely use up some yarn.

Overdying the Regia

In case I didn't give enough details on how I was dying the yarn;
I unwound the two skeins of yarn. Each color section was carefully looped and tied into a bundle. So, it resembled a long garland of knotted wads of yarn. I stuffed the sections that didn't need to be dyed into a pint sized canning jar and closed it with a wide mouthed canning lid and ring as tight as I could. Realistically, I knew that I really couldn't keep color from wicking into it, but it was worth a try and worked out pretty well.
Next, I set two quart jars into a large kettle and wedged the pint jar of yarn so it's lid was on about the same level as the tops of the empty quarts. I put the parts that needed red into the left jar, and the parts that needed more blue into the right jar. I filled the quart jars with water and 3/4 cup of vinegar each. Next, filled the kettle almost up with room temp water. Then, heated the whole shebang to a simmer and left it to cool on the burner overnight. (It was a very short night).
Early the Next morning, started the kettle heating up while I mixed the Wilton Cake Dye with water. I heated two batches of about 2 cups of water and added a blob of dye with a toothpick to each: One Read and One Blue. I tried to mix the dye into the water. It seems to be easier when the water is hotter. Overnight, the two quarts of yarn soaking in vinegar water had soaked up, evaporated and steamed away about half of their water. So, there was room in each quart of most of the 2 cups of dye water. I used a butter knife to carefully swish the yarn knots, vinegar water and dye to mix. The heat was turned up and the water in the kettle brought to a simmer, but not a full boil. We kept it hot for most of 2 basketball games, topping off the quarts with the last of the dye water as the level went down and replenishing the kettle bath water as needed.
I would have never believed it, but the water did clear as the yarn soaked up the dye. Very bizarre. The kettle was taken off the burner and left to cool while we cooked dinner, cleaned up, etc. All while watching the Basketball games, of course! So, I'm not really clear on the times. Eventually the kettle was room temp to the touch. I kept worrying about "shocking" the mostly wool yarn with a temperature change. I don't know if that's a problem with Regia or not. I was not about to take a chance though.
When it finally cooled, the yarn that had dye was rinsed with clear room temp water (one color at a time). It didn't really have much color left to rinse out. Then I 'unsealed' the colors that were supposed to be protected in the empty pint jar. Well, there was some dye mix in there that had worked it's way up the yarns. So, rinsing it until clear was a little more challenging.
I rolled the whole bundle (massive mess) in a bath towel until it quit dripping. The whole thing and a pile of kitchen towels went in to the rocking chair with me. It took half a basketball game to hang it in some sense of order on the Christmas Stocking hooks on the fireplace. At the beginning of the next round of Basketball, we untied each little bundle and wound each ball of the yarn onto the kniddyknoddy. It was still fairly damp, but this time of year at my house with the fireplace going it's about zero humidity so things dry really fast.
Since I had started the toes of both socks, and hadn't frogged back all the way out, there was a little quasi toe at the beginning of each ball of yarn so I wouldn't get them wrong end first. The loosely tied hanks went to hang back on the fireplace hooks for the night.
Next morning (Easter), while everyone was ecstatic over Easter Baskets, and showing off their outfits, and practicing their song and getting their hair just right. And then the drive into Church and all that goes with that; I was patiently listening, and smiling, complementing, and winding the yarn into two little balls to take with me in my little Easter purse.
My own little special project. I had turned the wrong yarn into the perfect yarn for about 25 cents of vinegar and food coloring using the stove to keep the kitchen warm anyway.
Wow - skip on over to the sock page to see how they're going.
Rock Chalk Jay Hawk!

Yarn to dye for

The Regia yarn just turned out to be the wrong colors. Those patches of MUish were just too much. So, I dyed it. I used the Wilton cake colors and dyed the sections that were going to be grey/white/black and yellow/ white / black with the bright blue. The sections that were too much orange got a dose of red. It is ssooo cool, I don't know why I didn't do this sooner.
Anyway, I used vinegar and cooked the whole thing in canning jars and the smallish canner. I hadn't understood how dye could be "exhausted" before. I get it now. This is so cool.
Photos in the AM dy

Regia Yarn - Cool and Mysterious, Magical

Inca 5499 Each of these photos is from the internet today. Supposed to be of the same thing.
That's my Regia Color. Why on earth did it take an hour of web sluething to find that out?
And, not one of the online photos looks anything like the balls of yarn I have here.
But, I love it anyway. Why do I want to work with yarn that is hard to find, hard to match, hard to figure out?
Because it is soooo cool to get the fun little pattens and stripes without having to strand or weave in a million ends. It's worth it.
Now, I'm toe swatching while the game's on, so gotta go.....

Knitting Cables with out a Cable - Thanks Grumperina

Today, in honor of St Patrick's Day, I cast on a headband / ear warmer. It's Bernat Softee Chunky in Med Sea Green. It's what crawled to the top of the stash when I opened the door. Or, I should say it's the first Green that caught my eye. So, I cast on 13 stitches by chain stitch through the back loop. I'm using a 16" size 8 circular needle, probably too small as the ball band recommends a size 10. But, I like to live dangerously ! The plan is to do a k1, p1 at each edge and then do a 9 stitch braided cable in the middle. So, I started surfing and found the Grumperina Cabling with out a Cable Needle page. This is absolutely the best way to practice this and see if I like it. So far, it's going great. Thanks Grumperina.

Headbands: Is there an age limit? Fashion Police?

Is there an age limit on headbands?
I would love to wear a headband.
I would like to knit a headband.
When, and why, did I stop wearing headbands?
There seem to be a lot of them in the magazines, on TV, out and about. The patterns are everywhere, if a pattern is really needed to knit a headband. Headbands seem to come in every fiber, texture and color. Wide, skinny, slick, chunky........ The store's got a whole row of them in the haircare section, as well as endcaps full of them in each department for female clothes. They've even got them in the dog food aisle for the little doggy darling.
Are they really that popular in real life? A few weeks ago, in the coldest part of winter, I saw an older (than myself) woman wearing a scarf-like headband about 4 inches wide. It was beautiful. But, I couldn't help wondering if she was wearing it to cover up a hair issue: hair loss, needing a dye touch-up, covering the wig line, who knows?
One of my lifelong issues with headbands has been the slide off factor. I don't seem to have enough hair, or maybe the right texture hair for a headband to stay on my head. It has to be pretty elastic, and not too slick, or it'll just slide right off. Maybe it's the shape of my head. Or the size.
Pet peeve alert: Not everyone is the same. Imagine that. Anything that is "one size fits all" will probably not fit most people very well.
And why is it that a headband that is tight enough to stay put will invariably cause a headache? You know; much like that headache from the brand new glasses that squeeze your head 'till the dents behind your ears are permanent. I have always suspected that the reason the glasses stop hurting after a while is because they've killed the nerves. But, I have always had problems with the dime-store plastic headbands because they really hurt to wear.

Then there's the fashion issues. Is it really fashionable? Am I too old for this? Does this headband make my butt look big? Does it make my head look funny?
I have to admit that although I love to knit hats, I have yet to knit one that I like how it looks on me. That hasn't always stopped me from wearing them. Even when my family says "Ohhh, maybe you ought to check the mirror". If Gilda Radner could admit to basing her fashion sense on what doesn't itch, I can base mine on keeping warm and/or cool. And now, my kids tell me that hats aren't allowed a lot of places they go because of "security issues" and "gang overtones". What is that about? And, at where is the line where a headband becomes a hat?

I went through a (non)fashion phase a few years ago where I didn't cut my hair for a long time and wore a headband almost every day. The Goody company made one that I loved, for about 2 years. Now I can't find them anymore. The ones that I had have all broken - the risk of wearing cheap plastic. And - my DD1 got a hairdresser friend to threaten me, cut my hair, and make me swear to quit wearing any "device" on my head that cost less than 99 cents each. They were trying to tell me it wasn't good for my "professional image".
So, what's the Fashion Police say? Can a professional grown up woman wear a headband? And what would it look like if she could? Could it be a hand knit? Well coordinated with the outfit?
Keep in mind that my idea of "doing my hair" is limited to dandruff shampoo no more than 5 times a week. My "hair tools" are limited to A Comb and A Hairbrush. Sometimes, I actually look in a mirror while brushing through the wet hair. While I do own a curling iron and a blow dryer, both have been used by DD2 on her puppy more this winter than ever on my hair. Not counting the shower time, the average daily time spent on my hair probably averages out to less than 3 minutes per day (but only if you add in the time I spend with my "Colorist" (DD2). She likes to "paint in the blank spots where all the color's missing" for me. That's about as good as I can do for girl's night.
So, what's the Fashion Jury verdict? Skinny or Wide? Over the ears, or behind the ears?

Wherefore art thou, Socktopia?

Does't yea know what happened to Socktopia?
I'm getting a "this might be for sale" message when I go there.
I was searching for scale-ish knit stitches, and happened to find a lot of references on other blogs to Socktopia.
I totally missed the Harry Potter series, and am searching high and low for "dragon scale" like knitting patterns. The photos I'm seeing online are absolutely awesome!
How did I miss this? I had a pretty serious LACE phase last year. Maybe it was during all that. I got caught up in Peacock Feather lace, and totally lost track of time and space.
There is just sooooo much cool stuff out there, how is one to keep up with it all?
Let me know if you know where I can catch up to the patterns or Socktopia.
TIA everybody...........
Ruby

Is Bamboo an Earth Friendly or "Green" Yarn?

I'm looking forward to spring. I am really ready for this winter to be over!
Every once in a while, we have a somewhat nice day and I venture outside.
Several years ago, we planted bamboo, and it's getting to the stage where it could be harvested without damaging the planting.
And, I've been reading a lot about Bamboo Yarn. So, I decided to look up what it takes to make bamboo into yarn. Might come in handy if I'm ever on Survivor, right?
Anyway, I found some pretty scary stuff out there when they try to describe the process. And, it seems to be a pretty industrially intensive process. Something requiring some pretty exotic sounding chemicals and some expensive sounding machines. I'll keep looking though.
Let me know if you know how this really happens.

Cast On - a podcast for knitters

How long has this been going on that I missed out on it?

Probably because I was boycotting anything with the word POD in it.
iPod, Podcasting, storage PODS, Pain Of Death, Payable On Death,
P.O.D. is a Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum, Nu metal band from San Diego, California.
And then there's the infamous 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers movie:
Pods = scary (Sutherland, Goldblum, & Nimoy are forever linked in the fear zone of my memory)
I never wanted to work in a Pod - a cubicle, a cube farm, a huge office with little spaces and no windows and no view outside, ... Yeah, well, get over it, sometimes a knitter's gotta do what a knitter's gotta do to finance the habits (addictions, obsessions).

Anyway, with the help of my technorati / geekology progeny, I am now seriously addicted to podcasts. This Cast-On podcast is definitely the gateway podcast for knitters. The kids turning me on to this pod cast thing ranks right up there with when my DH emailed me a link to a game site with the Subject: "Check this out, it's addictive".
What was he thinking, and then how dare he complain that I spent too much time playing computer games! If you have an addictive personality, or know someone who has issues with this; do us all a favor: Do Not give them this link.

But, nonetheless, I'm thankful that they did. Bless those little enablers' hearts.

The Knitting Guild Association Forums

I was just over at the TKGA forums. Very nice place, actually. A poster was writing about finding offensive patterns online. How do you feel about that?

When I first started this blog, I was seeking out those kind of things. I was taking the line "You Knit What?" to the limit. And, I was going to be Snarky and critique stuff that people put online. It was going to be fun. I was looking for the funny, "Fuggly", and odd.
There's some bizarre stuff out there. There were people selling knit stuff on eBay that had never even occurred to me. Some of it was funny, but I couldn't put it on a blog that I knew my DD might read. Then, I started finding the sick and twisted. Some of these knitters really need some Dr. Phil. Maybe it's a therapy for them to knit what they can't otherwise talk about. If the examples you listed make you truly sad and disappointed, the other stuff would really get a reaction out of you. Without undue description; in one week, I found pattens to knit: anatomy one doesn't usually see, items you would have to be over 18 to buy legally (or view), alternative definitions of "fantasy items", "toys", "tools", and marital aids, the list goes on. Even with the safe searching features on, I found all kinds of stuff that had deviant meanings for common words. I know that a lot of it is there for the shock value. When I started this, I thought I was a worldly, culturally savvy, tough, grown-up woman. I thought that I wanted to know all about everything out there. How bad could it be?

I was quite overwhelmed in a very short time. And then, I didn't blog at all for a while. I've come to realize that I don't want to know everything that's out there. Sometimes, I want to put my head in the Sand; I want the filtered and sanitized version. Like the newscasters and talk radio people that won't say the Shooter's names when reporting on the recent Killing Sprees; I have decided to not give them publicity. By showing my horror and reacting, aren't I reinforcing their problem behavior?
Not knowing the whole story, but only seeing the photos and reading the blogs, how can a person know when they're egging someone on in their self-destructive spiral? How can we help give others the positive reinforcement they need? But, the actresses that are acting out really don't need the publicity. The Buzz they're getting should be enough.
With everything in the media, is is possible that we are so Jaded by the bizarre? Constantly needing more excitement, more shocking, more unbelievable? Does everything really need to be the MOST ? Biggest, Baddest, Ultimate, Horrific, ? What's next after that?

Ravelry ?

https://www.ravelry.com/account/login
Has anyone out there been using the Ravelry site? I don't even know what it is really, but I signed up for an invitation. About 5 minutes later, I typed in to "check my place in line".

• You signed up on Today
• You are #111471 on the list.
• 5680 people are ahead of you in line.
• 4 people are behind you in line.
• 93% of the list has been invited so far

Then I notice that the title line on the page that gives you this information is "antsy".
Good humored Snarkiness? Right back atcha:
How good must this be? Wow! Is this what one would call a phenomenon?

organize. Organize your projects, stash, needles, and more.

Is this an answer to my prayers? Or what? Man, this is worse than waiting for - what? I don't even know what I'm waiting for.

And then, I notice It's In BETA. So this isn't even the final product yet, and we're all lining up to get it? Man, that's serious HYPE! Or not......... We shall see what the future holds.

Buying Patterns online

Have you ever bought a pattern online? How was it?
Except for one, the only patterns I have downloaded are the free ones from the yarn companies, and Knitty, and other websites that I'll remember later. The one that I paid for, I was never able to successfully download because I didn't have enough bandwidth or a fast enough connection (at the time). The vendor "cheerfully" refunded to my PayPal account.
Anyway, I've been searching for years for a true "wedding ring shawl" pattern. I once found a book listing it on Amazon, for $45. At that time, I wasn't willing to pay that much.
I just don't know if I'm willing to pay from $4 to $25 for one single pattern.
Downloading instantly from the internet would be great though. I might get started sooner and not get sidetracked onto another project if I didn't have to wait for the pattern in the mail. Or, would it just incite me into starting even more UFOs that would go lurking in the attic to haunt me?
I did order a pattern from someone on eBay that was wonderful. They sent it all printed on nice paper with a "real" photograph attached. And it didn't take that long to get it. The first one came out fabulously. Since then, I lost it halfway through knitting it the second time. I think it was Curlicue, or Cirlicue maybe? Oat Coature doesn't seem to sell online anymore, none of my LYSs carry it. One of the many tribulations of being chronically disorganized. Someday.........

Back to Looking for Dragonscale stitch - without holes

So, if the DS wants mitts, he'll get mitts, by Golly! Vibrant Lime Grasshopper Green : that's a Dragon Color isn't it?
Which puts me back to the search for a Dragonscale pattern that isn't lace, and doesn't have vertical lines making stripes. I'll be taking the suggestion of a poster at the TKGA forums (http://tkgamessageboard.groupee.net/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/8291079361/m/1491070303) to use a lace pattern, but use a mk1 instead of a YO. This may lead to SWATCHING! Ohhh Noooo!

It's off to the hunt......... How dangerous can Dragon Scale Hunting be anyway?

But, he doesn't want socks. He wants Mitts

Ok, so I'm all excited about the Cat Bordhi Sock book. I'm seeing some stuff in here thats Manly (in a very RenFest way). Remembering the DS that has not received anything knitted in a long time, the one that started all this knitting obsession with his Harry Potter Scarf. And I've found the best hot green yarn in the stash: Cascade Fixation Cotton - bright lime green. I coral the 12 yo DS to have him pick out one of these cool patterns for Socks. I even knit up the first pair of the practice socks; so some baby in the future will receive a very distinctive pair of camo color socks. DS patiently hmms, and well's his way through the Sock Book and then declares that what he really NEEDS is a pair of MITTS ! This yarn is "begging" him to be mitts. So, now what? I've probably started 10 pairs of mitts in the last 3 years. I do fine with the kind that has NO fingers whatsoever, but this time he wants to have the fingers except the tips. He reminded me about the cheap $1 store gloves that we chopped the fingertips off and flame sealed the frayed ends for Halloween. And then he proceeded to wear them for the rest of the winter. He even reminds me that his hands are only going to get bigger, so now would be the easier time to make them. While his hands are still almost as small as mine. Way to make a Mom feel Old.
Yep, no time like the present. Green Mitts it is.

Why would I think that starting reading a new book...

Why would I think that starting reading a new book would be the right thing to do right now?
Why do I start new things when I'm stressed out?
Why am I even really feeling stressed?

I've had the book for a while, and I was saving it as a reward for ____? For what?
Good Grades? Cleaning my Room? Why do I continue to treat myself as if I'm a child?

Anyway, Cat Bordhi is awesome. Do you think she teaches the way she writes?
If more teachers did, so many more kids would get math.
I always loved math, and geometry, and all that stuff that girls were NOT supposed to be good at.
Oh, well.
But, back to Cat ... Some of her stuff is really goofy, and I just can't see anyone wearing some of it except at the Renaissance Festival. But, man would it be COOL for the RenFest! Lots of her stuff will be very appreciated by my LOTR and D&D crowd. And everything has such Great Names. Quirky just barely begins to describe this.

Got a new book - Cat Bordhi New Pathways for Sock Knitters

Got a new book today! Yeah!
Where to start? What to do first?
Wow! love it, love it.
I'm beginning to think I have a problem though.
I seem to like to read about knitting more than I want to actually knit.
Maybe.
Surely not! It cannot be so! Banish the thought!

Lion Yarn - Felting experiment

Puppy Coats:
To knit a coat for a puppy seems pretty sensible. But, DH and DD want it to not be yarn. We had a scare with this puppy early on with yarn. DD was playing with him, teaching him to "chase" a ball of yarn, holding onto a piece of yarn pulled out of center. Pup got a strand of the yarn wrapped around a tooth, bleeding (and screaming and crying) ensued. So, DH forbids yarn as a toy or clothing for the pup.
DH has always been anti-knit-toy for babies too. On the theory that they could chew loose a piece of the yarn, get a long ravel going, and choke or get hung up in the yarn.
So, wouldn't felting work for that problem too?