Those of you who are on Linkedin, might want to visit the Kanine Knits new business page and build a connection so that we can work together to create pet portraits you'll love. The more ways that I can learn which dogs you want designed and how you like the Kanine Knits designs that you are working on the better. Spring is here and so take your knitting outside and knit in the sunshine!!!

Irish Wolfhound

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

In honor of the day, I thought that it would be appropriate to visit the Irish members of the design collection here at Kanine Knits. These wonderful dogs have been a vital part of Ireland's history down through the years, vital to the hunt and serving as wonderful companions. 

Irish Water Spaniel

Irish Setter

Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier

 

Martha Loves Kanine Knits

I was delighted when this tweet appeared on Twitter. It is so rewarding when someone whose work you really respect gives you praise. The event where the photo was taken was Stitchfest at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia in NYC.

I was lucky enough last Thursday, to attend a unique book launch. Martha Stewart was bringing out her newest book, Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Craft. There were several hundred eager crafters getting their first look at the book, and the demonstrations of the crafts included, plus a chance to do some themselves. In areas around the room, which was huge, experts demonstrated several crafts and invited everyone to sit down and do it themselves. The feeling was festive, with both experts and attendees enjoying the event and talking to everyone was Martha Stewart along with all the members of MSLO who help with the wonderful work she does.

As a member of MSLO Dreamers into Doers, I had met some of those involved, but I was delighted to be introduced to some attendees including David Blumenthal and Karen Tanaka from Lion Brand Yarn, a wonderful company which has been around since 1878. Their yarns are found everywhere.

I got to chat with Martha and spent time with Hannah Milman, executive editorial dir. of Martha Stewart Living. As you might imagine, the crafts department is my favorite. The care and intense attention to detail given to every project in the magazine, books or show is amazing. I am in awe.


In the meantime I may take a few hours to play hooky and do some of the wonderful crafts in this book as I enjoy spring. The weather has finally warmed up and here it is a combination of sunshine and mud. In between washing dogs on rotation, the back can't take doing more than one at a time, I am pushing to get the designs finished for the next two books about cats and llamas & alpacas. They will be coming out soon.

A beautiful Afghan
will be auctioned off at the

Leo Fall Ball.

The Leonberger Club of Ontario will be holding their Leo Fall Ball. As part of this fundraiser they are auctioning off a very special afghan.

We are honored that the club has used the Kanine Knits' Leonberger Pattern from our "Portraits of Dogs in Knitting" series as the centerpiece for this absolutely beautiful piece of knitting.

The Leo Fall Ball Fundraiser will be held on September 26, 2009 from 10 am to 6 pm. at the Dogz Canine Sports Center, 3859 Carling Ave., Ottawa, Ontario CANADA. The afghan is part of a silent auction to help raise money for Leonberger Rescue Ontario. This is a great cause. I hope everyone in the area that can, will participate. For more information, click the link above.

"Pet Talk"

with Lauren Collier
News Ch. 12 TV
Norwalk, Connecticut
interviews Peggy

Watch Interview Below

Peggy enjoyed visiting with old friends when she was interviewed by Lauren Collier on her Pet Talk segment of News Ch. 12 TV. Lauren is holding one of Peggy's designs for a Bouvier des Flandres. Peggy was there talking about her three books, The Crafty Samoyed knits, The Crafty Labrador Retriever Knits, and The Crafty Golden Retriever Knits and about the two new books that will be coming out soon, The Crafty Bernese Mt. Dog Knits and The Crafty Newfoundland Knits. They also talked about the over 100 different breed design pattern leaflets Kanine Knits has available including the Bouvier, Lauren's favorite breed.
Peggy demonstrated how to knit with dog hair that had been spun and dyed. Though the segment was over too soon for all the fun going on, everyone had a good time. The broadcast can be viewed by people in south western Connecticut, south eastern New York and on the western part of Long Island. The segment will be shown several times during this week Jan 20-25, 2008 by those able to tune in the News 12 Pet Talk show.

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.

Knitting With Dog Hair

It had been a long time since I had knit with dog hair. At the National, I began again and the joy of working with this fiber has come back. The yarn I'm using is a Samoyed/Merino blend that is so light and soft that it seems to float. Since it takes dye beautifully (as anyone who has tried to get red berry stains out of a coat prior to going into the ring would know) and the raspberry color that I was working on for the scarf was lovely. I am now working on mittens to match. If you'd like to try some of this yarn, go to the Kanine Knits - Yarn page

The beauty of this yarn is in the bloom, that halo of fiber hair that appears when the stitch is completed. Though it doesn't show when the yarn is in a ball, it suddenly fills your knitting as you work and fills in any space within or between stitches. Rather than working on #US8 needles, I decided to jump up to #US15. This should have produced a scarf full of holes. Instead, the bloom filled every space and the result was a lovely soft as cashmere scarf which weighed almost nothing and was warm as toast. Since dog hair is eight times warmer than wool, the scarf will be perfect for chasing away the January chill.

Speaking of dog hair, I have been working with Victoria Pettigrew of VIP Fibers lately to see how Kanine Knits patterns look worked up in the hair of the dog. When she knit a sweater from one of the patterns in The Crafty Samoyed Knits, she worked the Samoyed portrait in Samoyed yarn spun from her own dog. The result, as you can see, is wonderful with Victoria showing how dog hair can be used in a sweater without having the garment be too hot. Plus this now serves as a source of pride that her Samoyed Bon Bien is a part of this beautiful creation.

Now this works very well with any double coated dog, that is to say one that has a softer undercoat that sheds out easily. Any of the arctic breeds as well as many, many other breeds qualify. How can you tell? If you are brushing dog hair off yourself every time you leave your home, you dog probably qualifies.

As you see with the Kanine Knits Chow Chow Pattern that Victoria knit, the fact that the dog graphic is knit with spun Chow hair, just ads to the authenticity of the design.

The Chow Chow is only one of many new patterns that will be added to the Kanine Knits web page over the next few weeks. As people request knitted portraits of their breeds, I try to get them designed quickly.

The Newfoundland and Bernese Mountain Dog books are taking shape and the books for the Corgis, Poodles, and Bichon are also coming along. Many people have been generous in offering me stories and photos of their dogs. I love it that they are willing to share them with me and I am happy to include them in the books. I am always looking for more examples of the breed to include. Anyone wishing to share photos of their dogs with me should just go to my website and email me. I love hearing from you.