A Bad Day for Bailey

We had quite an adventure yesterday, the little one and I--we were going for our usual morning walk on a wooded path where she is allowed to be off leash. It's about a mile around, there's a pond with ducks in the middle, and the woods are full of squirrels and chipmunks; it's really everything that a dog could want. But as we found out yesterday, it's also full of sharp things: about a quarter of a mile in, Bailey jumped over a log and landed on something that severed an artery in her paw. Let me tell you--carrying a 55-pound, frightened, squirming dog who is spurting blood for a quarter of a mile is not something I wish on anyone. I had ripped some strips of cloth off my t-shirt and tried to tie up her paw, but it wasn't making the least difference, and by the time we got back to the road, I was soaked in blood and actually starting to worry that she was going to bleed to death, since there was still half a mile back to my car, plus going home and finding an emergency vet, plus getting to the vet. Luckily, a man pulled over and gave me a ride back to the car, and then not only knew where an emergency vet was, but offered to have me follow him there, called ahead so that they knew I was coming, and then waited with me in the office until we knew that she was going to be ok--restored my faith in humanity, especially because I must have looked like an insane, possibly murderous person coming out of the woods, given the amount of blood that was on me.

The upshot, after $500 and five hours at the vet, is that she will be fine: she had to be anesthetized so they could go in and suture the artery, but the sutures worked, and although she lost a good bit of blood--seriously, when I carried her in, the vet tech took one look at me and went straight to the back and came out with a pair of scrubs and some rubbing alcohol and made me go to the bathroom and take my clothes off and clean all the blood off and wear the scrubs instead--she seems to be bouncing back. But yesterday she was so groggy from the anesthesia and the morphine they gave her that she lay like this



for five straight hours, just staring at nothing and crying. It worried me. So of course I channeled my anxiety into knitting, and finally finished Cozy, all, er, 9 feet of it. I might have gone a little overboard:



I was going to do a modeled shot, but I was too lazy to shower, and my hair is sticking up in all kinds of weird places. Plus, I put it around my neck and got really hot, and had to take it off right away. I think this is going to be a winter scarf, not a fall one, or else it is going to take up residence in the coldest place on earth, also known as my office.

Final Project Details
Pattern: Cozy, by Danielle Schoonover, published at knitty.com
Size: width 18 inches; length about 9 feet.
Alterations: 7 repeats rather than 14
Yarn: Misti Chunky Baby Alpaca, Shade 707, purchased at Threadbear Fiber Arts, 4.5 skeins
Needles: Size 15 bamboo circs
Recipient: Me!
Notes: I like the lace pattern, and would definitely make it again, but if I were using the same yarn, I would use size 13s rather than 15s and go wider and shorter--more of a stole than a scarf. I would also like to try it in a finer yarn, as in the original pattern.