This week I had to have a root canal redone. I know, right? Ugh! It’s adding insult to injury it seems to me, since it was already painful and expensive the first time! But it’s an old one and I guess some bacteria crept in under there and an infection set in. It wasn’t bothering me but after a few years of being bugged by my dentist, I finally got it fixed. The procedure itself was long, uncomfortable and boring, but not painful thanks to the wonders of modern anesthesia. Once the freezing wore off, then it started to hurt and it’s been off and on for a few days. I take Advil, it goes away, eight hours later or the next day it’s back. I’m trying not to overdose on the Advil, so I suffer a bit until it gets too bad, then I succumb. People who say women must have a higher pain threshold than men once we’ve endured childbirth, haven’t met me. I’m not stoic. I alternate between whining and suffering silently, but I don’t breeze through it. I feel for those who have to suffer chronic pain, I don’t know how they do it, except what choice do they have? I guess they learn ways of managing it, but I can totally see how people get hooked on pain meds.
While I’ve been home feeling sorry for myself, I decided to knit a dog sweater, for Buster, naturally. He has very short hair and no undercoat, so I expect him to be a quivering mass of whining jelly during the winter. Since I’m an accomplished knitter and I have lots of stash yarn, I decided to go for it. I used a pattern I’ve used many times, called “Perfect Fit Dog sweater”. All you need is your dog’s measurements and your stitch gauge and voila! I plugged in the numbers and starting knitting, without making a swatch. I figured that the neck part would do as a gauge swatch. (NB, for those who don’t knit, a gauge swatch is a small—usually 4” x 4” square, that one knits to check how many stitches and rows per inch one is getting with a particular yarn and particular needle size)
It was all going well until I decided to create the openings for the legs (aka, the sleeves) a little sooner than I should have. I didn’t want it to be too big, or something. (sigh… ) And I probably didn’t increase quite enough for the size of Buster’s barrel chest. Anyway, the end result is that he can wear it but it’s a bit tight across his chest and getting it off and on is a challenge. It looks very cute though! If you want to see my project notes on Ravelry, here they are:
Despite having a niggling feeling in my gut that the sweater might be a bit tight, I kept knitting until the very end, including weaving in the ends. Yes, I tried it on Buster a few times, (he was very patient) but somehow I talked myself into thinking it would be okay. Yes, even knowing he was still growing… I’m not sure why this is something I’m prone to as a knitter. It’s not the first time by any means that I’ve continued to knit along on a project that was doomed to be frogged (undone), ignoring the voice inside that was whispering, Stop! Go back! Before you go any further! In this case, I’ve decided Buster can live with it. He’ll be able to wear it for a month or two, and then I can give it away when he outgrows it and knit him another one. See there’s always this other voice that says, no, it’ll be fine, don’t fuss! The knitter’s equivalent of the devil and the angel, I guess. One day I’ll learn which to listen to!
I love to hear from you!