FO Friday: C-ATCH William

As promised, here’s William!

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Or, as he will now officially titled:

C-ATCH Hawkhaven Sweet William O’Mine

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Project: C-ATCH William

Pattern: Scottish Terrier

Designer: Joanna Osborne and Sally Muir

Available: in Knit Your Own Dog (currently $10.17 on Amazon!)

Yarn: Knit Picks Palette in …. mmmm… a heathered black, a ruddy brown, and a true red (my labels have come off)

William is a present for my friend Julie, who is a fellow dog-agility competitor.  The real-life William was up for a big title last weekend: he needed one more qualifying run (“Q”) in Jackpot to earn his C-ATCH.  This title represents 40 Q’s in seven different classes, all at Level 5 of difficulty.  It’s a big deal for us agility heads! 🙂  I decided on the spur of the moment to channel some castonitis into making a cute little dog for her.  I knit for about 10 hours on Friday and Saturday, and finished!  I showed a few people, but decided not to tell her until after the Jackpot run … it was a tricky run, a non-traditional Jackpot with complex rules for gathering points.  Julie planned a conservative path, getting exactly the 44 points needed to Q.  Everyone cheered and cheered!

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This is my second “Knit Your Own Dog” project — I made a Border Collie a while ago. I found the pattern to be similar in many ways, but tailored to the breed.  He really looks like a proper little Scottie!  The legs are knit flat, then joining via some cast-on stitches to make a left and right body.  The neck and tail are worked from held body stitches.  The head does use those crazy PULT short-rows that have stymied more than a few knitters!  I’m especially proud of the tail — Julie said it was very close to correct to breed standard!  She also said the wild beard on the knit-Scottie was perfect because William’s beard is always looks like he’s been partying it up.

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Congrats Julie and William! 🙂

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FO Friday: Howl Cowl

I put this pattern in my queue some time ago, and I bought yarn for it in early September.  My goal was to finish it by Halloween …

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Project: Howl Cowl

Pattern: Hocus Pocus Cowl

Designer: Thea Eschliman

Available: $7 on Ravelry (includes alternate pattern for tote bag)

Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss Fingering in Black and Stroll Tonal in Foliage

I had a great time making this cowl.  It begins and ends with a turned hem.  Even the “baubles” are adorable — and I’m often not a fan of bobble-knitting.  I think the colorwork is exceptionally clever — very evocative cats, owl, and pumpkins, with subtle vines to fill in the empty spaces. I especially like the skull at the foot of the cats — fantastic!

What with camping in the snow (unintentionally) and a days-long power outage, I wasn’t able to finish before Oct 31st.  Lucky for me, the power outage forced the town to delay Halloween by a week, so by some measures I did get to finish on “Halloween night.”