July post is a little late

I spent most of July having, what my surgeon referred to, as my first vacation in twenty years. But I can't kick because, in spite of the fact that I am still walking around still like an old lady, I found that I don't have cancer and that's a great thing.

So, I am back at work finishing up the Poodle book which will go on pre-sale in a couple of weeks. I have had fun making friends with Poodle owners around the world. These are very smart and versatile dogs that inspire design. The fact that they come in three sizes and a variety of both color and coat cut, made it fun.

Last week, I received in the mail, a video of a lecture I gave to the Soundview Knitting Guild in Trumbull, Connecticut. I spoke to them last January about how Kanine Knits got started, how the books began, how to read the patterns and about intarsia knitting. This is a wonderful group that is very large and active.

Since the video was 37 minutes long, I chopped it up into bite sized You Tube segments and put it on my webpage. So if you want to learn more about working these designs, my approach to intarsia and some finishing techniques, just click here and go to the page.

I love speaking to groups (it's the teacher in me) and when I meet one that is so interested and enthusiastic, it is a real treat. I hope you enjoy the talk.

More New Patterns from Kanine Knits

I am getting more and more patterns out to knitters with a love of dogs, four more have been added to the collection of Portraits of Dogs in Knitting. They are, the Parson Jack Russell Terrier, the Belgian Sheepdog, the Lakeland Terrier and the American Eskimo. These plus many more are available at the website www.kanineknits.com.

These will be up on the pattern page ready for knitters to order today. Ten more breeds are in the stack waiting to be knit and will debut soon.

Design! Design! Design!

New from Kanine Knits

I am always so happy when my knitting clients take the designs I create an run with them. Suellen Grunn Aniskiewicz did this with the pattern for the Weimaraner. She took the chart and worked it into a wonderful bag. Here it is displayed in all its glory being worn by Nali. She even lined it appropriately.

I am knitting up a storm trying to get samples knit of all my new designs. Just a few of them are here but there will be more coming. To begin with there is the Japanese Akita. Now Akita's come in a variety of colors and marking and if you get this pattern you will have to adjust the coloring to match your dog, however, the hard work will already be done for you.

Next came the Bouvier des Flandres. These beautiful and gentle herding dogs give the impression of quiet strength. They are wonderfully loyal to their owners.



Going alphabetically, the next design would be the Cairn. This wonderful little terrier who came to American's notice as Toto in the Wizard of Oz, is a scrappy terrier, not tall but with substance and strength.



Well now taking the long and the short of my design, we have the Smooth Dachshund who is both long and short. I've had the longhaired version of this breed designed and available for a while, but have just completed the smooth.

And the last for today, though tomorrow I shall be knitting more, is the Pomeranian. This pint sized handful was once much larger, about the size of a Spitz, but has been bred down to the size where they can be carried by those who love them. They are a ball of hair on four tiny feet.

And so I knit and design and write. The new knitting books are progressing and I am also working on a book about my style of publishing. So there is never a dull moment. The dogs are enjoying the cold weather, finally cold enough for Samoyeds. They are full of spit and vinegar and raring to go each morning. We had some light snows but nothing worthy of a shovel. However, I think that we are going to have a classic winter this year - COLD!

If you have photos of your knitting projects from Kanine Knits designs, send them to me. I'm collecting them to show during a TV interview I have scheduled next month.