Monday, February 5, 2007

Puppy Love


And they called it puppy love
Oh i guess they'll never know
how a young heart really feels
and just why i love her so
and they called it puppy love


No this isn't what you think it might be. I'm not going to reminisce about youthful love of yesteryear. Or Donny Osmond. This is real puppy love. My one year old Bichon, Bella, had knee surgery last week. It was scheduled in advance and I was well aware of what the post op "rules" were. No running, jumping, or stairs for 6 weeks and the infamous "e-collar", I refer to it as a cone, is required attire for the first 10 days until the staples are removed. The cone wasn't working for us. Bella could thrash and bang around, while under the influence, mind you, and still manage to Houdini her way loose and then go to town on that knee of hers, that is, if we weren't paying close attention. Prior to bringing her home from surgery I had visions of her, with the assistance of a tranquilizer, sleeping peacfully in her crate cozied up in front of the fireplace. Not to be. All my plans for cleaning house and concocting gourmet dinners went by the wayside. I was resigned to the fact I was going to have to sit and hold her... and knit! No guilt required. I decided it would be a perfect opportunity to finish my sock that I've been working on, especially since it is a small project with no long needles that might give her an unwanted poke. Easy enough, or so I thought. The heel was turned and the stitches picked up, I had completed my decreases, now it was time for my needles to pick up speed and make some serious headway with stockinette stitch. The Super Bowl was on and I was casually sipping a glass of red wine, Bella on my lap, kids and hubby glued to the TV when I first layed eyes on the dreaded "goof-up" several rows down. After careful examination I concluded it was indeed a "goof-up" and not a mistake. A mistake is listed under the glossary in all the knitting books and has a distinct name and specific technique to fix it. My goof-ups have been known to cause Lilly to go into a full blown head shaking lather, that is if I'm actually priviledged to be in her knitting circle at the time of the mishap. Otherwise I don't know what she does after she retrieves it from her milkbox. She's been known to drink Lavendar Cosmos's from time to time and this is probably one of those times. I had two choices. Either continue and try to ignore the hole that would be on the bottom of my sock, that most people would never notice, or strive to be like Lilly and Jo and the other Rhonda Rulebooks of the world. I chose the latter and this morning when I was having my daily 8 a.m. phone chat with Jo I casually mentioned my goof-up. There is a slight pause after I mention the word goof-up. Jo say's "but you were knitting stockinette stitch." Hello. Stockinette stitch is still a stitch, it still requires concentration and it still can be goofed up. Just because I have a fancy schmancy sock bag doesn't mean I walk around and knit socks while talking or chewing gum. Lilly gave it to me so I would feel like a professional sock knitter and, besides, I think it is pretty and I prefer to have it sitting beside me in my chair rather than hanging from my wrist. So there. "Well, I kinda got distracted." After all, I was watching my post-op puppy who was sitting next to me requiring constant attention to ensure her staples stay in for ten days. I quickly mentioned I would fix it by ripping it out to the dreaded goof-up and it wouldn't be a big deal. Well, let me tell you was I surprised and mildly shocked when Jo tells me she goofed up her sock she was working on. It wasn't a mistake (hehe) because she admitted she didn't know what she did. She might have picked it up and knit the wrong way was what she said. IN STOCKINETTE STITCH, I wanted to say back, but I didn't. Her sock is finished. Mine is still waiting to be fixed. Oh well, I have 10 more days to finish it!

1 comment:

Carol said...

Geez Flo, bring it on over. I will start my Cosmo now and be totally relaxed by the time I see the goof up.