Show This!

So, I took Cherry to the faux-show [as I call it... it's really an AKC B-Match, which means that you don't get any points or anything for it if you win, but it's good practice].

She was the only GH there [c'est la vie], so that's what the 2 ribbons on the outside are for--she won her breed [duh]! Then, we had a jaunty little pharoh hound for our competition for best of adult dogs/bitches in the hound group. The pharoh kicked our butt! Still proud of her though & she got a snazzy little toy [not pictured] to add to her collection.

The *point* show is tomorrow & there are supposed to be 3 dogs, 1 bitch & 1 special that she's going up against. Hopefully she'll win!!!! I'm so new to this whole showing thing so it's a learning experience for both of us :)

I also will add, on a non-dog related note, that I started my new job w/the federal government this week! Won't mention the agency, but I'm very excited. I have 8 weeks of class training & 4 weeks of on-the-job training, and even though it's fairly "entry level" it will give me a solid background in my field & allow me to move into the position that I *really* want as soon as a position is available!!!

Bad Bad Baudelaire...

Blech! Turned the heel & it's WAY too big! Big baggy sock :( I wear a size 7.5-8 shoe & this could easily fit someone wearing a 10-11! I started the heel towards the back of my arch, but it needs to be much shorter--so, rip it all out & start all over again...ugh...

Baudelaire beginnings...

Yarn: Wolle Rodel from Germany
Color: Heathered Olive #17345
Content: 75% Schurwolle [superwash] & 25% Polyamid
Needles: Addi turbo #1s

GH Puppies!

Corrine dated Gizmo for a few weeks this summer...they ended up having sex & Gizmo became a papa to 7 boys & 3 girls on Aug. 9th! Gizmo is thinking about disclaiming paternity since he's white/brindle & the puppies look nothing like him! Hopefully he won't become a dead-beat dad...

Got Ears?

Newell, working the magic of the ear action :) And a full belly from gnoshin' on cow bones all day yesterday...his jaw is mighty tired!

Eat your Heart out CuteOverload

Some complaints that I haven't featured Evie on the blog lately. She's shy but looking ador-i-able as always!

Dragon

Extreme close-up of the dragon socks I made for my secret pal at my LYS...

Yarn: Claudia Handpaints "A Walk in the Woods"

Very purplish-blue like my Sony Vaio!

Needles: Addi size 1 [want to get the knitpicks though!]

Gauge: for socks?

I'd show more, but who knows if my secret pal is lurking out there somewhere???

+++++++++

And on a greyhound related note...Happy 100th to the National Greyhound Association!

If you want a great dog, look no further than your local greyhound adoption group!

Greyhound racing, while controversial, provided us with Newell, who ran successfully in Arizona, as well as Evie from Colorado & Oliver from Florida. Cherry & Gizmo aren't "track" dogs, have the same amount of desire for running in their pedigrees. All have come from wonderful sires and dams tracing back to the 1800s.

And thank you to the track trainers & owners who treated my dogs so well while you had them! They have been a joy to own & we couldn't ask for anything more!

Play-Puppy Centerfold

Seems that Cherry is taking after Oliver

Just wait till she has puppies & loses that toned & muscular GH figure!

Apparently

I'm still slowly re-entering the land of the living after the bar exam! It's funny how everyone asks how I think I did...being that the exam is *somewhat* subjective from the standpoint that there are certain things the graders look for, but you have no idea if you'll be rewarded for describing or using the actual word...example profit a prendre, I'll let you all know in October when the results come out! How exciting! It's also exciting to visit w/friends & generally get caught up on life from the past few weeks that I've seemed to miss!

On other news...I went to Tricoter today & exchanged my leftover ball of STR Falcon's Eye from Hourglass for STR Lapis. Very nice of them to do that! The photo's a little blurry, but there are lots of rich blues, teals [or is it more a French blue?], emerald green & violet/purple. They had some kits for the fairisle socks in--looks more complicated then I'd want to put into a pair of socks.

Working on Clapotis now [as I'm the last person on earth who's made it]. Using the Swell Yarn [see post below] for it...so far it's going well. The color of the yarn is beautiful!

Happy Birthday Oliver!

Happy Birthday Oliver!

It's hard being 3yrs now huh?

Piece de Resistance! HOURGLASS!!!

Some of you out there know I've been working on it...and my goal was to finish it before the bar...AND I DID...small modifications must be made [namely, ripping out the neck and bringing it in more to avoid the Flashdance look, which was great in 1985, but very very bad in 2006, considering that if I bent over, you could see all the way down to business that, well...]

Anyway, the details are as follows:

Pattern: Hourglass from Last Minute Knit Gifts
Yarn: STR Falcon's Eye [3.75 skeins] lightweight
Size: 2nd to largest--I like wearing t-shirts under my sweaters & I also wasn't too sure how thin it would be w/the sock yarn!
Needles: Addi #7 body, Addi #5 dpns to start the sleeves, then back to the 7 circs...FINISHED on the new KnitPicks #7s [very very handy for attaching the neckline btw since you can put the end-caps on the cord!]

Photos show a sweater that hasn't been blocked or otherwise shaped, other than slapping it on the floor for a photo, so excuse the wrinkles & poufiness. The one sleeve is very white-green alternating stripes, which is kinda cool...not too much pooling anywhere, but note the gap in the neck? No kidding, if I stood up straight & could take better pictures of myself, it would fall right off my shoulders & end up around my waist! Generally very happy otherwise, would do the pattern again, probably in solid black [may the KnitPicks Shine?] for a dressier look? This will be perfect for comfy, casual days when you want to look better than just wearing that ratty old sweatshirt from the back of the closet but still want to be relaxed!

Bridget missed out last night seeing it 99.9% finished...very long weekend running the dogs, but more on that later...

BACK TO BAR STUDIES...one more week & it's over, yeah me!

For your viewing pleasure

Giz & Cherry's step-bros...from their mom Chynna... 8wks old!

Gizmo wearing a hat...

Pretty Cherry...

New Schwag...

Hmmm...I went to bar review class this morning, stopped by the farmer's market on the way home...got some berries [YUM], candied covered pecans [double yum]...and some eggs [since my secret Canadian supply has been confiscated at the border...]

AND found this wonderful yarn goodness!!! It's from A Swell Yarn Shop ...picked up 2 skeins of this gorgeous color called BOLD... and got a mini-lesson/demo from owner Angela on how to use a drop spindle! Very Cool [but bad b/c I have too much stuff to knit already...and a bar exam...]

How can you not like this site...

From reading her blog, I learned that she's *very* anti-puppy mill [very cool, the anti not the mill] and pro-adopt-a-pet! A kindred spirit!!!I may have to venture out to Redmond again next weekend to see what she has to sell!

[edited today to add the actual picture I took in the car on the ride home...]

WTF

is up w/the wonki-ness of blogger lately? I download pics & text and the formatting sucks. If I had *time* to do it myself, I wouldn't be using blogger...

Finally, new Knitty is up! Good patterns...the last issue had a bunch of crap in it. There, I said it...you were thinking it...

And for the record, did you know:

That the WA version of UCC9 covers SI in personal property, agriculture liens, fixtures & certain intangibles. A PMSI has a close nexus to the collateral & can perfect by mere attachment for consumer goods [20-day grace period to perfect non-inventory items by filing]. Attachment gives creditors rights against the debtor, collateral & 3rd parties that know about the SI. Perfection protects creditor SIs against other SIs, most transferees for value & bankruptcy trustees. Perfection needs attachment *plus* possession, control, filing, mere attachment or a title certificate. Perfected creditors have priority over unperfected & the 1st creditor to perfect is the 1st in right. Perfected PMSIs have priority over all others...

HAHAHAH...crabby day for me doing secured transactions & commercial paper! Still no pics, but I'm on sleeve #2 of hourglass and started the branching out with the skein of hand-dyed 2ply cashmere from Sundara...Is it August yet?

~c

Happy 4th & Happy Birthday!

Cherry & Gizmo turn 3yrs today! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

And remember to be safe this holiday & keep pets away from the fireworks!!

[public service announcement brought to you by the letter "Z"]

Bar Update

Again...unexciting for those of you smart enough *not* to go to law school!

Essays completed:

• Torts [practice & graded]
• Property [practice & graded]
• Civ pro

Still have to do crim pro by Thursday. What's in store this week? Ahh...the exciting realm of administrative law, partnerships & corporations! Might throw in some crim law for fun! Can I just share that I absolutely HATE HATE HATE torts & property. They have to be the worst subjects in the world...not only are the full of balls that can be hidden [yes, hide the ball is a favorite game in law school] BUT, they are tediously boring w/lots of crap to memorize. I am the world's worst memorizer...

My mom rec'd the KPPM one-skein gloves I sent her on Saturday. Wow to the post office for delivering in 2 days. Will post pics at some point I promise [not like anyone really comments anyway!]...

But I digress...it's 11:45p and it's still like 80 outside [probably in the 90s--around 30 something for those of you on celsius today?]--that and we have no freakin' A/C in this house!!! How is it that the last 3 homes purchased haven't had A/C???? Why don't homes in Seattle have A/C? Apparently the planet is the hottest it's been in 2000 some years, yet we here don't recognize the need for A/C!!! Conspiracy of some sort? Blech...I'm off to retreat to bed & the portable A/C we put in there...good night...

Words...actual bar update [how un-exciting]

I've been stuck in the cave know as my back room for the past week and a half with bar studies! Things [so far] are progressing well & panic has yet to set in.

Outlines completed: Contracts; Property; Civil Procedure; Family Law; Community Property; Evidence

Outlines left to do [based on subjects still needed for classes...] agency, partnership, corporations UCC Sales, crim pro, crim procedure, constitution, torts, ethics, corporations, and many more that I'm blocking at this point in time...

Graded essays written: contracts. Graded essays I have to write by Saturday: property, civil procedure, family/civ pro, torts and ????

Realization #1: I know there's another one hidden away in there... And I keep plugging away at more practice essays...trying to stay positive here...

Realization #2: I've actually felt *guilty* when I'm doing things other than bar study! Feeding the dogs, doing laundry, taking a shower, vaccuuming, running an errand at the store...all are guilt inducing activities...strange...

Realization #3: the exam is only 4 or 5 weeks away & it seems like the noggin is already at capacity. What gives? Still must cram lots of knowledge in there and it doesn't seem like it will all fit.

Realization #4: I should NOT secretly be sneakin' in any knitting. I need to finish an alpaca one-skein glove [courtesy last-minute-knit-gifts], and the matching hedra... I also started Hourglass sweater in.....[drumroll]...STR lightweight...Falcon's Eye! I actually have pics of the one-skein gloves & matching drawstring bag that I made with some KPPM... [see above]

Realization #4[a]: LYS [Tricoter] is having their semi-annual sale right now...I was good & stayed home, studying, when they had cashmere at 50% off...Wish I had gone when they still had the classic elite luxury [though I have no $$ right now]...and I am secretly coventing 4 skeins of black Karabella 'Boise' cashmere @ 25% off to make the most *beautiful* cabled scarf they have as a sample [in red] in the store...DAMN me not working right now!

Realization #5: it's late & I'm staying up just to hear Jay Leno's monologue...I need to go to bed...I have double class tomorrow--crim pro in the morning & torts in the evening...crazy but I want a day off next week...

No pics...just words

Blech! Bar review has started full swing--I did 2 contracts essays yesterday & started on the contracts outline today. Taking a break right now, and of course, I let the dogs out for potty break, and Cherry comes back in totally golden-showered from head to tail! Bad boys! So, it was off to the bath for her! She's pretty good, but obviously prefers "eau d'naturale" than "fresh & clean" because she left the nastiest ring-around-the-tub...ICK...I'm leaving the tub cleaning to the H when he gets home from work tonight.

And as I'm in the office typing away, I'm noticing a pee smell there too! Evil cat probably pee'd on the carpet which means that the chem-dry people will need to come out again... Will it ever end?

As a side note...WTF to the ISP people who host www.cuteoverload.com as I went in for my daily "cute fix" and was rudely told that the site had exceeded it's bandwidth! Greedy bastards, don't you realize you're hosting a sight full of cute puppies and kittens??? Gimme back my cute-fix!

And Last Weekend...

We traveled all the way to Colorado with the dogs [well, Newell stayed with friends b/c he *hates* long car rides], to run the big ASFA Invitational! Hot weather, but good running & lots of great competition! Guess what??? Cherry placed 4th in FCh on Saturday, Evie came in around 9th [maybe lower--there was a second course that involved borzoi]; and on Sunday, Oliver came in 1st in Open [tough competition there], Evie tied for 5th in FCh AND we tied for the Kennel Stake!!!

Got to visit a friend in Cheyenne too... only thing I'm bummed about was that I missed Chick-fil-a [guilty pleasure]...

On the car ride, I learned that bumpy roads are not good for sock knitting, as the little buggers are more prone to flying off the needles [though I did start Hedra] ... finished 1 today & started on another mini-project as bar prep starts next week [blech]...

Finished Objects & other Miscellaneous Ramblings

Finished:
Husband Socks
Trekking XXL Color = 124
Pattern = stockinette w/k2p1 rib
What I didn't like: The blue, while very vibrant, seemed to rub off on the other bits of yarn, so the yellow, orange & red have speckles in them...at first it wasn't too bad, but the more I knit, the more I found it annoying. Also, not as soft as I'd personally like, but they *are* husband socks! [BTW, this picture is of sock #2 but they're being worn today!]

Acquired [sans photo]:
Amy Butler Fabric Charm Medallion
Color = Melon

Acquired:
Kaffe Fassett fabric in Roman Glass
Color = Byzantine

Finished [sans photo]:
Husband Sweater
Arucana Cotton Color = Paprika Red
Pattern = Yarn Girls'
What I did/didn't Like =
Like the thick/thin of the yarn. But, it would break easily if tugged to hard. Don't know how to alter patterns enough yet, and husband is a bit bigger than the large size, so he needs to slim a bit before it fits. It would make a nice cozy weekend sweater for me though :) I have more of the yarn in black!

And will someone *please* make it stop raining??? It has been raining in a very un-Seattle way [heavy & consistant] for some 3 days now. How am I supposed to get yard work done before I go on vacation or let the dogs out if it doesn't stop raining? BLECH! Well, it's better than January where it rained 27 or 28 days straight! Some Memorial Holiday...