Doggy knits, yarn for beginners, and really, why the heck am I even writing here?

I need a dog so I can knit cool things like this for it, courtesy of Street Legal Designs:





The boy thinks knitting sweaters for dogs is a completely silly, kind of tacky thing to do. While I agree that for the most part outfits for dogs are not at all cool, dogs actually get chilly in the wintertime too! What better than a sweater for those slightly cold, kind of rainy walks? I'm not saying fit 'em with a hat and galoshes or anything, just something to keep their little bodies warm when the fur isn't quite cutting it.

*****

I'm about half-way done with the body of my fluffy re-sweater. So far, the stash looks like it just might hold out, atleast I really really hope so. I'm excited to get it done, since I've been wanting a sweater like this for the last year or two. It's designed to be like a store-bought sweater I already own, but in ivory instead teal of and omitting the zipper that the original has. Otherwise, I plan to keep the raglan sleeves and the giant cowl/turtleneck collar. I'm already starting to see that the mohair blend will definetely benifit from a little blocking once I'm done, but *fingers crossed* it should shape up pretty nicely.

I posted a question on the livejournal Knitting! community (not to be confused with Knitting Pretty) about what they think the best yarn is for my soon-to-be-knitting friend. It seems most of the vote is for Cascade 220 and needles anywhere from a size 6 to a size 11, although most favor the 8 to 10 range. There's also a debate between straight needles and circulars that leaves me kind of sitting on the fence as to which ones would work for Jen. Really, I have enough spares of both that it would be easy to switch up if one doesn't work.

I suppose it might be time to actually start telling people about this silly thing. Honestly, although I like reading craft blogs, having one feels a little egocentric to me-- like "hey, come look at all the cool stuff I do. It's not enough to read my thoughts on one blog, now come read about my craft stuff too!" So I've been really loathe to point anyone towards this. On the other hand, I'm really kind of sitting here talking to myself, which is pretty lame too. A pointless conundrum if there ever was one.