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...

Oliver, Lilacs, Newell and a houseguest!

I have to preface this post by saying that I've been having problems uploading pictures in general to blogger for some reason--and have read that other people are having the same issue--not sure what gives. Anyway, this is an attempt to use Picasa to upload pics so I'm still getting used to it... One thing I haven't figured out how to do is load more than 1 pic at a time, so it's looking like I made 4 separate posts.


Oliver in the sunlight--and for once, he isn't laying on his back & showing his bits to the world :)

Lilacs from the back yard ... I only wish they'd bloom longer!

Can Newell get any cuter? Here he is with his "come hither" look :) And, this bed is the first bed we ever bought him--4 years ago on June 12, 2002--which he just *had* to have embroidered with his name. Evie ended up with a name bed too, but I guess we never loved Cherry, Oliver or Gizmo enough because none of them have beds with their names on them...

Houseguest Traveller saying "don't take my picture!"

MollyChicken

Site I found a few weeks back. Molly Chicken. What else can I say except the girl is wicked crafty and makes cute ador-i-able critters like the scary pirate duck.

I *wish* I was crafty like that!

Go visit her blog for some cuteness!

And speaking of cuteness, if you haven't checked out the postings on Cute Overload, you're missing out!

Salzburg & Other Ramblings

This sign absolutely cracked me up when we went to Salzburg last week. In short, it says don't pee here [along with wonderful graphics].

When we came back from Germany/Austria, I did manage to score myself a *wonderful* nasty spring cold...didn't i just get over a cold?

Should have more greyhound pics as soon as I find the card adapter for me to upload them! No knitting while in Germany either, I decided to give my hands a rest :) And YES, I am taking the bar exam this summer. I will pass and be an *employed* tax lawyer this fall. Joy!

~c

Werfen, Austria

About 30min. south of Salzburg was probably the coolest thing we saw on the whole trip :) A fortress/castle dating from the 12th century, complete with 12th century frescoes, a falconry museum and great views of the entire valley! Lots of steps and heavy climbing, but I am sure that my calves can now crush walnuts into powder [giggle]. It survived a number of wars, various uses for the military--and even a fire, and it's still standing. It's clock tower still works too after only being repaired 1x in the 1980s!!!

More Munich...

The Residenz and another view of the Glockenspiel...

Munich!

Arrived in Munich on Monday to fabulous weather!!! Definately made up for how tired we were! We're staying in the city centre and just did some basic "find our bearings" and had dinner in a beer hall. Very meat & potatoes.

Today... went to Dachau, the concentration camp, about a 30min train ride from the hotel. The town is very serene and beautiful--with a rapidly flowing, clear creek that runs right near the camp. I wondered if the prisoners would've been able to see it surrounded by the trees in the spring? The exhibit that is housed in the maintenance building is very informative and moving--and in both German and English. Only 2 of the barracks remain [and they were rebuilt in the 1960s after all the barracks were torn down due to being in bad condition].

Dinner tonight was at a wonderful Afghani restaurant, "Lemar," onBrunnstr. 4. HIGHLY recommend! If you're in Munich and want a great meal, go to Lemar! The menu is only in German, but several waiters speak English & picked out items that we weren't disappointed with. Chicken with saffron rice & spinich: a dish similar to chicken tikka and fresh salad; lamb with a sweet rice & eggplant; spiced pumpkin with yoghurt sauce; tempura-like vegetables with yoghurt dill sauce... ALL were great! A leisurely meal that took 2.5hours but was well worth it!

Random Wednesday...

Here's some Beijing for you... the Imperial Restaurant, inside the Forbidden City & Tiennaman Square. P is there on business [par the course]...it looks cloudy but it's all the smog & pollution in the air! Blech! Very crowded on the roads & greasy/spicy food he says... Hope they get ready for the Olympics in time!

Where to next week? Munich! And I get to go! Stay tuned for pics!

Random Monday!

And when you think you've seen everything--in Seattle, trees wear sweaters! Erika was clever enough to make a sweater for the tree outside her office. Here in Seattle, it's understandable that a tree would need a sweater... If you click on Erika's name, you too can see more about her tree's sweater & how to make your own. This definately wins the "super cool" award.

Done [part deux]

Ok, so I never posted the WIP of cascading leaves & mata hari...but here's the finished products!

On top, we have cascading leaves in Fleece Artist in mineral [addi #1]...there are a few little baby hiccups in the pattern but pretty unnoticeable. Some people would probably say that the dark color really doesn't show off the pattern very well, but I like it b/c it's more subtle. If I had done the pattern down on the foot instead of the ribbing, it wouldn't have fit into shoes and would've only been worn in the hiking boots!

Next...is Mata Hari from Steph [Craftoholic]. These are in STR farmhouse. The BEST socks I've done so far! The pattern was super easy & the colors made it easy to pick up those gusset stitches & the toe turned out perfect too! One thing I was bummed about...no pooling...not even a puddle of color anywhere on the foot/heel, etc.

Back to the my intarsia sweater in Blue Sky Cotton...pictures soon...

Done!

Done!

One Skein Wonder [ok, 1.5 skeins]
Manos del Uruguay Cotton Stria
Needles = US9
Arm Trim = US6
Neck/Back Trim = US8

Didn't really do a gauge swatch since I didn't want it too snug on it but it's comfy to wear...
I'm not coordinated enough to take a pic wearing it!

Kuala Lumpur

Some pictures from hot & humid Kuala Lumpur...it's about 95* and humid...pictures of the pool from the Mandarin Oriental Hotel which is right next door to the Petrona Towers...

P is there on work...but have to admit, it looks quite nice!

~c

Lookie!

Look what I got the other day! Got a coupon from the LYS and decided to spend it on this...really want to do the hourglass sweater...but fof some reason I also have a weird affinity for the knitted animals...

The little draw-string sacks are cute too...

~c

Georgia Weekend

And check out the socks my mom sent me--just waiting till I got home! Pink & green Lorna's Laces in "knit happens"...

Ok, not the best picture...but we had a good weekend in Georgia! There were 40 greyhounds there for the event--so exciting! Evie did spectacularly I think--she got a 5th place on Saturday & a 3rd place on Sunday. She ran against dogs that were 2-3yrs old & she's 5.5yrs...so nice & consistent!

Sir Mark Prescott travelled all the way from England...and I've learned why the stories about Evie keep exaggerating! She'll soon be a legend in her own mind.

Oliver did wonderfully as well. I honestly was a bit worried about running him b/c his toe seemed a bit fat, but he did well on Saturday. He had 20 other open dogs for competition and came in around 6th...he didn't run on Sunday. BUT, for the conformation match, my "professional" show handler, Bridget, did wonders and he got 4th!!!! Ollie the show dog!

Overall a first class event...nice people, great food, etc. We'd definately go back. The only thing that sucked was the fact that I came home with a nasty cold~

The Mysteries of Ollie...

Ollie spends most of his time asleep upside-down on the sofa like this...

There aren't really any words that can describe how nutty the kid is...

And feeling like I've neglected the cats for awhile, I have decided to make them each a kitty pi. I have some leftover cascade 220, peace fleece & rowan big wool that should turn into nice pi[s]. More on that later.

Ollie's a nut...

Pilfered Koigu!

AHHAHAH!

I'm trying to decide if the penalty for a friend shipping her *beautiful* order of koigu to my house is to have it pilfered by me?!?!?!

8 lovely skeins of KPPM--4 in blues and 4 in pinks...very very tempting!

~c

Sock Starting to Rock?

So, Bridget & I went to Tricoter the other day and they just got a brand spankin' new shipment of STR in that hadn't even been opened yet! How cool were the ladies there who let us pilfer the box and pick out some colors!!!!

Anyway, I picked "Farmhouse" and let it settle for awhile before starting Pretty Petals by Jean Townsend...

Not too bad so far!

~c

Knitting Fool!

I am a knitting fool! Since the last post, I worked on AND felted my "hobo grommet bag."
Pattern = decidedly hilltop [LYS]
Yarn = Cascade 220 in jet [on Addi Turbo #9s]
All that's left to do is let it dry & add the grommets!

Project #2...alison's ankle socks. Tricky b/c they require short row heels--and that was a pain in the ass to figure out!
Pattern = the blue blog [see link above]
Yarn = artyarn supermerino [superwash] 110 [on Addi Turbo #1s]

Wasn't sure what I was going to do with the artyarns--it's SO pretty in pinks/purples/reds and ankle socks seem perfect :) It's a bit thick for a footie, but should be perfect with tennis shoes! Kinda did a modified kitchener--so it would have a bit of a seam across the foot like on a regular store-bought sock...

Done!

DONE! No, my feet are weirdly shaped, but it was the easiest angle to get the picture with the raquetball-sized left overs...The toe on #2 was more difficult for some reason than the toe on #1 [seems more gappy]...

Differences between #1 and #2? #2 gusset turned out perfectly, where the decreases on the foot kinda got messed up b/c I was attempting to multi-task & the toe gaps! #1 had some gusset issues but the decreases on the foot were perfect and so was the toe...how weird!

Now what to do with the leftovers in the ball?

Dirty Water!

Yuck! Dogs came back from a free coursing weekend and they're coats smelled like stale gym socks...quick wash in the sink and YUCK, brown/black water...the yellow coats were even worse...and the pink keep bleeding pink...least they smell somewhat fresher now...

One Down, One to Go!

After some puffy pancake [a whole page should be dedicated at some point to this yummy breakfast treat]... I finished the sock! Kitchener stictch worked out ok, but b/c of the varigation in the yarn it seems to stand out a bit more since it's all done in "one" color. On to sock #2...

Olympic Update...

Thoughts include...

Skeleton. You have a helmet, leotard & sled + ice chute + head-first = insane!

Super G. 80mph or more + ice + sharp turns = better than an action movie! Greyhounds would clearly excel in this--have you seen Cherry run?

Ice dancing. Why? Isn't that what pairs is for?

Curling. It's a broom & a rock on ice. It's not a sport. If you added a cat, it would at least be funny. See...Miss Thing looks funny...now imagine her on ice...

My sweater. Front & back done & joined. One sleeve done. Hood done [but do I want a hood now? Directions on attachment are weird anyway]. Sleeve #2 = 1/4 done. Pictures to follow once the batteries re-charge.

~c

Socks From Hell...

Ok, after *much* trial and tribulation, I finally got the gusset stitches on this freakin' sock picked up and turned! I couldn't figure it out for the life of me [newbie knitter + hard to figure out directions = 1am bedtime]! Well, that and about 10000000 visits to various blogs for "how to" help plus a few yahoo groups--and another wish for Cherry to take the damn thing & run through the house with it like she did last week [which resulted in me re-doing the entire thing from about 1/2 way down the cuff AGAIN...]

There are a *handful* of tiny mistakes, but not too readily noticable--and they will not appear on the other sock when I get around to it!

Not entirely sure if I'd recommend a sock for someone just starting out--but damn if I wasn't determined to get it done :)

Wow...

Long weekend in sunny and *warm* Mexico on a mini-cruise. Needed that for sure--too much rain here in Seattle. Brought along my sock to try and get the gusset done--didn't make it that far.


Still working on my sweater for the Knitting Olympics...should be able to have it done? Had to pull apart & re-do the back since I apparantly decided to knit it 100 times looser than my gauge swatch. BUT, the front and back are done & put together...can't figure it out but when I tried it on, it hung on me like a damn cape or something...maybe that will improve with the sleeves being added? If not, a round in a hot water wash in the laundry may solve that problem ;) Onto the sleeves!

Dogs are happy to be home [well the boys anyway, will be getting the girls tomorrow]...the cats are generally chatty--which to Gizmo indicates "snack food..." Ugh...

~c

My First Sock!

Check it out! I was getting frustrated, but finally figured out my first sock on 2 circular needles! Yeah me! Sorry, just exciting since it seemed to take forever to figure it all out!

Yarn: Sockotta [45% cotton/40% superwash/15% nylon]

Color: 6672 [light grass green, blue, chocolate brown & cream/yellow flecks] --self striping

Other Stats: US2 = 7 sts/inch; 414 yds. approx.; 100g

I'm just on a posting ramage with this!

~cindi

Big Savings!

The sweater I really want to do! Handmaiden Cashmere from Canada! Not sure which color, but you can take a peek...probably about the same cost as a cashmere sweater using cashmere from Axelle @ Two Pointy Sticks, but I bet it's just fabulous :)

New Changes!

You may have noticed the change in the coloring...decided the black, while cool, was a bit too dark so I changed it to the white.

Found a cool new blog that I've been pouring over the archives of--Streets & Yos [check out the button on the left]. Definately some inspired ideas on that site! Still pining over the yarn on Two Pointy Sticks!

Pulled out the entire back of the "not your ordinary sweater" that I'm working on. Gauge was WAY off! Tried to start socks but not really successful. Have to sit down and spend some more time figuring it out.

Cherry & Gizmo qualified for the Grand Course in CA in a few weeks! Yeah them! They'll be joining Traveler [Cherry's doppelganger] as the representatives from the PNW! Should I get "Rainier Greyhounds" gear made up???