Our Beloved And Lovely Friend - 1993-2007

Our beloved and dear dog Sasha passed away on July 19, 2007 at 12.40 pm. What a clever, loving and great dog she was! Needless to say my husband and myself are grief stricken, our hearts ache for her. The only consolation is she never suffered any terrible disease or illness, she was just an old and tired girl who's time had come to be released from this life.

We got her from the Toronto Humane Society in 1993, she was a stray who was found eating food in a rubbish heap, someone had obviously let her go. I believe she was a Christmas dog not wanted after Christmas! How awful people can be!

I still remember that day, all the dogs were jumping up and down clamouring for our attention to be taken home, but she sat very quietly in a corner just looking. I looked at her and knew in my heart she was what I wanted, she just looked at me deep into my soul. Initially my husband wasn't keen on her thinking she would be a dog with psychological problems, but I coaxed him into adopting her, and as fate would have it he became her best friend!
She turned out to be the best dog he ever had in his life, and he has had dogs from a baby, she was my first dog since I never grew up with dogs.
At first she was very nervous around people, and she hated kids (which makes me think she was abused by little people), but we had her trained by a wonderful man named Cory who taught us how to deal with her behaviour and it worked! She was always shy with newcomers to the house, but once she knew and liked you, she was your friend for life no matter how little a person visited, she always remembered them.

After we got her we adopted a cat (who has also passed away), and another dog. She welcomed them into her life without hesitation and she loved them both, especially the cat with whom she played with for hours.

We spent many happy, wonderful years together, took many great walks, swam in the sea, travelled to the East coast and in Ontario.

I miss her so much, and will never forget her. Time will heal my pain and I will remember the great years, but right now the grief is so hard to bear. I hope she will choose a new life in which she will be very happy.

Lots Of Wonderful Things To Do, But Alas No Time!

I have been trying different things on my Superba machine, specifically it's main attraction, Double Bed Jacquard, and let me tell you it's alot of fun! However, lots to learn and try out, after all there are over 50 variations of DBJ, that can be done on these machines, fancy that! Although the instructions for all these 50 variations are not to be found anywhere, which is rather unfortunate. Just wish I could get my hands on a book that tells all.
I am about to purchase, Suzanna E. Lewis's book - "Machine Knitter's Guide To Creating Fabric", which has a few pages on the Superba DBJ, which, from what I understand are different techniques from the ones in the manual.

You can see a sample of the fairisle version, which was done with a single bed retainer (hard to find, but oh so well worth looking for one). The single bed retainer was made for single bed Superbas, but they are just as great on the double bed machines, for one thing it allows one to knit without weights!! More on this at a later day, with pictures.

I am also into knitlooming, my answer to hand knitting. I buy most of my looms from DAlooms in the US. I just love their looms, they are made from lightweight, polished wood with nylon pegs. If you want to see them, go to: Decor Accent Looms. I have the round looms and have been making lots of hats, which I keep giving away as gifts. It's great fun and such a lovely craft for the sofa and television watching. I can't wait for my wonderlooms these are adjustable looms.