Feral Knitter

Mason and Muttville

 

Handsome fellow in his new, hand knit sweater

Two years ago today we added Mason to our family, thanks to the lovely folks at Muttville in San Francisco. We'd visited their adoption center the weekend before, where we had hoped to find a dog who could join our beloved Shadow in our hearts--we'd waited 6 months from when Shadow passed away and felt ready to add another heartbeat to our home. 

At the shelter John sat down on a long sofa bed, and Mason trotted over and plopped down on his lap. Those big brown eyes and furrowed brow haunted us for days, even though a dachshund with severe back issues causing incontinence wasn't what we had envisaged! (We have since learned that Mason will trot over and plop down on ANYONE who sits on the sofa. Ahem.) 

He has a pretty cushy life now!

And of course now we can envisage our lives without him. Thanks to Muttville for rescuing older dogs, offering foster and hospice services when needed. So often these older dogs are in shelters because their guardians have passed away, and the loved pets are heartbroken and confused. Or, like Mason a medical issue has become a deal breaker and the owners give the dog up for adoption. A few of them are strays, found wandering the streets. 

If you love seeing photos of Mason (and who doesn't?) I've become active on Instagram--follow me (@janinebajus) to see more. Knitting, too, of course. 

Gift Knitting

I'm listening to the fabulous podcast Dear Sugar right now while Cheryl Strayed and Steve Almond discuss the emotional pitfalls of major family holidays (such a great podcast series--do yourself a favor and subscribe on iTunes). Our family is, at this time, very small, so much holiday drama is not an issue.

This year Gingko flew down for a few days and we celebrated Christmas in our very entrenched style: a nearly unvarying menu, decorations made or acquired decades ago, a pile of rectangular presents (books, my friends, books are the key to Christmas in our house). So relaxing, so evocative. 

I took a risk, though: knitting for Christmas. We all know the drill--you spend hours and hours working on these secret projects, anticipating the excitement and pleasure of the recipient when the box is opened. Sometimes this works, and sometimes, well, disaster. At the best of times I'm not a fan of deadline knitting, and Christmas carries such weighted emotional demands that I usually don't participate in the exercise. 

This Christmas, however? SO satisfying! Here's the Embrace Octopus sweater that I knit for Gingko:

(Note how Gingko is checking to see whether our mandarin orange crop is ready to harvest!) A knitting challenge, but the sweater was received with all appropriate enthusiasm and fits perfectly!

Gingko wasn't the only one to get a knitted sweater--here's Mason:

He's not sure about this whole sweater thing--you win some, you lose some!--but I think it looks great on him. It's a little short--I didn't measure correctly or try it on while knitting to make sure the fit was right, as the excellent pattern (Wurstwärmer by Pamela Wynne) suggested. At any rate, we are set to romp in the snow. Not!