Reunion

It's taken me four days to write this post.  I've been so overwhelmed with joy, and relief, and gratefulness, that I've had trouble finding my words about it.  I'll start with a picture, because it really says a lot:
 

These two wandering waifs, if they could talk, would tell me where they have been and what happened to their friends, and the story of the beautiful, magical moment when dear sweet Elif recognized and rescued them from the sweater pile at the thrift store.

Of course, they are keeping mum about their adventures, so I can only report the obvious:  They are completely intact, unharmed, and Being Koi even still has her sample trunk tag still attached.  Wedding Belle's sewn label bears the grease-pencil mark of having been inventoried at Goodwill, but no other scars are on her.  Both will be getting a celebratory bath, but I think that's really more my need to cleanse the negative energy from the experience than actual dirt.  Lady MacBeth would understand.

Here's an interesting sidebar:  My niece Sarah, only 14 when I made the Wedding Belle, was its inspiration.  Here's her self-portrait:
 

And yes, this is pretty much exactly what she looks like, including the wings.  I have secretly hoped that she would one day wear it for her wedding, never telling her or her mother, because for one thing it's a little weird to outfit a 14-year-old for a wedding she may or may not ever have, and for another, that sort of thing is for a bride to decide, not her aunt.  But inspiration is as inspiration does, and there you have it:  I thought of Sarah, and the Wedding Belle was born.

The Wedding Belle was returned to me on Sarah's 16th birthday.  Insert harp flourish here.

I would like to thank Elif, for locating and rescuing my two lost waifs.  And KT for tweeting the update.  And KayLynn, who must have lost half her Saturday fruitlessly searching three different Goodwills.  And everybody else who wrote to tell me that they looked, and continue to look, and that they care, and continue to care.  There is no end to the generosity of Knitters.  All of you, Gentle Readers, are proof.  My Sincerest Gratitude to you all, for loving me and being my friend.  Especially to those who've yet to meet me.

Wanna Go Shopping? STOLEN SWEATER UPDATE

This post is for my friends in the Portland, Oregon area.  This morning I got an e-mail from the lovely and dear-hearted Elif, who was in the Broadway Goodwill last night and found two of my stolen sweaters.  Tina, the manager of that store says that they sometimes send sweaters out to other stores when their racks get too full, so there is a possibility that others are waiting to be found in other Goodwill stores.  If you are free to do so today, and find yourself in the vicinity of a Goodwill store in the Portland area - won't you please help me to take a look for them?  If you are lucky enough to find one or more of the stolen pieces, please take them to the store manager and ask them to hold the piece(s) until I can come collect them, then just drop me a line at mary@maryscotthuff.com. Rewards will be given to Elif, and anybody else who helps me make a recovery!

Thank you my friends!

Love Mary

PS - the sweaters Elif found are the Wedding Belle, and Being Koi.  Bless Her.

Three Dog Night

Yeah, I know.  It's a knitting blog.  But something followed me home from my sister's house which is way cuter than anything I'm knitting at the moment:

This is Barclay, Susie's Westie.  He needed a day at the beauty spa, so Susie and her kids said he could come home to Portland with me for a vacation.  Now that I can groom Scotties, it seemed like I ought to be able to help out a Westie - he IS our cousin, after all.

Everybody's having a good time together:

from left: Paisley, Bailey and Barclay on the kitchen island.

They all got hairdoos (over the course of 3 days, that is - turns out I groom dogs way slower than I knit), after which it seemed like there should be a photo.  The only way I could get everyone to hold still long enough was to put them someplace too high to jump off of.  Though as you can see, Bailey was thinking about it anyway.

Morning walkies are quite a parade, but as long as the doo-doo baggies hold out, we should be okay.  This weekend we're heading up to Redmond for the Black and White Festival, where I'm sure the Mother Ship will be waiting for us all.

Anybody know where to find a pattern for an Argyle dog sweater?