what you don't want to hear on the eve of a holiday weekend

(phone rings, its my older son who's taken the dog for a short hike with friends)
Mom! Quick! Bring the car down to the start of the trolley trail. Some dogs attacked Gordo and he's bleeding. We have to get him to the animal hospital. One was a pit bull....


I'll skip the nasty details, the closeup shots of the ooozing stitched up wounds with drains when we picked him up at the emergency hospital the next morning, the profanities spouted and the horrifying total of the vet bill. He's going to be OK but is looking pretty sad, and doped up.

The trip back to the beach in Delaware was cancelled but it s a beautiful weekend here, not such a bad Plan B. Friends made us a birthday dinner complete with sparklers and ice cream. Although considering that the dog leaves smeary stains from his wounds, I probably shouldn't have rented the steam carpet cleaner until after this is all healed.

Sock! The magic loop is the way to go for me. I just love this one. I couldn't have planned it but look how the yarn placed the heel colors and toe striping. I decided to try a three needle bind-off on the toe instead of grafting with kitchener. Worked for me. Thinking it might be a weaker ending, I reinforced it by sewing in the yarn ends. Its less fiddly and quicker, which is what I want when the knitting is over.

And my mom's sock adventure? She finished it, calling twice to make sure she interpreted the 4 needle pattern I'd given her onto the circ correctly, kvetching just a little that she really wasn't sure this was her kind of thing. Yesterday she called to say its done, its kind of cute but the sportweght sock yarn isn't as nice looking as that fingering weight I'd had, and she knew her lys was having a sale this weekend...... I believe she's hooked.

Have happy 4th to those in the US. Next post, the expanded miter square collection.

A bit of sky this week by the Old State House in Hartford CT.