6.21.2007

Progress to show

I've been working away on my vest, and am almost to the armhole steek...well, "almost" is a bit of an overstatement...I have one more chart repeat, plus a few additional rows...but I've already done the ribbing and almost 2 full chart repeats, so I'm more than 2/3 of the way to the armhole. Not so bad, right?


And now for the photo (this was taken while I was tinking back almost an entire row because I was foolish and didn't check myself at the markers):










And here's another little knitted item to show. It's the hat from One Skein, and it's made from one of those craft-store cotton yarns (I can't remember the brand), and it's bigger than the smallest size, but not as big as the biggest (I told the recipient it's for 4-6 months, but who knows when her boy's head will fit the hat?):










And last, but definitely not least, is proof that working a pooch's brain is just as tiring as working his body. This is
The Beast (aka Henry) after the last obedience class:











Tee hee. He slept most of the day away after that one! Speaking of our beastie--he was chosen to be one of 365 dogs to be featured in a "limited edition" poster promoting some movie, "Year of the Dog," or something like that. There was 1 grand-prize winner, 12 runners up, and 365 supporting players. Henry's in that last group. So his only prize is a copy of the poster. How funny!

And while I'm on the topic of pooches...I've been haunted by stray pooches for the last week, and it makes me so sorry that I can't help them all. First there was a stray dog on my way to work, but I couldn't stop because it was a busy road and I was afraid it would run INto the traffic. Then there was the little beagle I saw on another major, busy road, while I was sandwiched in between other cars moving at 55mph, so I couldn't stop. I did pull over farther down the road and walk back up the mountain, whistling and calling to the dog, but I never found it. That was horrible--I saw it while I was coming down the mountain, and it was so terrified, peeking out between the guardrail...its little face stayed with me the rest of the way home. Sigh. I hope some nice person found it and helped it get to a safe place. THEN, last night, there was another pooch on the same busy road where I saw the first pooch, but heading in the opposite direction. Again, I couldn't stop without causing an accident, so I had to continue on my way.

I wish I could help all of the loose dogs out there, but honestly, since there's no leash law in our county, it's hard to know which "stray" dogs are just wandering around, and which ones are truly lost. The whole requiring a license thing doesn't seem to apply to the folks where we live, either, so it's highly probable that loose dogs without collars actually belong to people, too. But I heard a rumor that the county's going to start requiring vets to turn in clients whose dogs come in without licenses. I would think the majority of the people who don't bother getting licenses for their dogs aren't bringing them to the vet very often, but what do I know?

Well, all I can do is stop when I think it's safe for all involved, and just send good vibes to those pooches I can't help.

Speaking of helping someone, have you all heard about Annie Modesitt's husband's situation? He's very ill, and their family could use some support. She is offering (for a donation) a pattern she designed, but I would think you could donate whether you want the pattern or not. There's also a PO box for sending cards and other forms of support. I'm planning to donate, but I wish I could find another way to show support...there are only so many cards and supportive emails a person can deal with. But then again, I'm sure money is really helpful right now.

If you can think of something to do for their family, I hope you will.

Happy Thursday, everyone--I'll be incomunicado all weekend because our friends (who also happen to be family--how great is that?!) will be with us all weekend. Hooray!

6.14.2007

Randomness

I got this from my friend, Boop, and I thought I'd share. Not sure if it's going to work, though. Phooey. And I don't have time to fool with it right now. HOpe it works!

6.06.2007

More photos, less chat

Well, in my rush to show you where we went last weekend, I failed to post the best photos.

We chose to go to Nags Head because:



  • it's a decent distance from our house (4-5 hours by car)
  • it's in the same direction as the Nerdy In-Laws' house (they're our dog sitters)
  • Nerdy Knitter (yes, yours truly) had never set foot (or knitting needle) in the state of North Carolina
  • Nerdy Hubby loves being near water
Without further delay, here's a small photo tour of our activities:

This is the "Downeast Rover" tall ship, offering tours--complete with pooch, Schooner!


This is just one view of a section in the Elizabethan Garden on Roanoke Island. They have about a mile of paths to wander, with formal and not-so-formal gardens (I bet you can't guess which one this is).


We went to Pea Island where we went for a small nature walk and saw hordes (well, more than 20, at least) of turtles in a little swamp/inlet. These were the easiest to photograph because they weren't submerged, but trust me--I counted at least 20 turtles!


The weater changed dramatically by Sunday morning; we woke up to wind and rain and talk of a tropical storm. We went to the beach when the rain stopped, and saw this:


And last, but not least (for a knitting blog) is a photo of the progress I made on my Ron Schweitzer vest. I'm done with the ribbing, and have done about 5 or 6 rows of the body so far. The colors are pretty accurate, but a little lighter than reality.

I was writing this on my lunch hour when our computers went off--argh! But you've gotten the highlights--nothing more to see here. Move on, folks. But y'all come back, 'kay?

6.05.2007

Where have you been, young lady?!

Answer: I've been celebrating my (gasp!) FIVE-year anniversary of wedded bliss.



Here's a sneak peak at what that looks like:




And here's where we spent the weekend, celebrating our anniversary:



That's Nags Head, North Carolina. It was lovely. We stayed at the Nags Head Beach Inn across the street from the beach. We strolled along the beach, read our book on the beach in the early morning, and stood in the stormy wind spewing sand in our faces (Sunday wasn't pretty).

Oh, yes, and we also played mini-golf, went to Roanoke Island, where we strolled through the Elizabethan Garden, and learned about the Lost Colony. We also managed a trip to a YARN SHOP! Yup, the little town of Manteo has a delightful yarn shop where I managed to buy one little souvenir for my Nerdy Mommy.

More photos to come; just wanted to explain my absence.