A Doogleversary

Yes, we adopted Dakota two years ago today.* Hard to believe. Haven't we had him forever? He is camera shy most of the time, looking away just as I'm about to click...

But sometimes, I get his attention just long enough to get a pic in, and it's all worth it.

That face! This is the face B and I first fell in love with, as soon as we saw him at the Bill Foundation's adoption fair just over two years ago. And this is the face that continues to "speak to us," make us laugh, and love us back.

The poor guy will probably always have at least some residual issues from his previous life on the streets and, we suspect, an abusive environment before that. He is still cautious of new people and new surroundings, not to mention certain noises and objects that are put near him. But he has come a long way. He obeys commands, always sits before going out or in a door until we give the OK, and never ever touches anything that doesn't belong to him. Ours is far from being a tidy house, yet we never have to worry about him getting into things or making a mess. And he is super sweet and cuddly. He loves being petted and laying either balled up right up against us, or with his head on B's lap. He also loves sleeping on our bed. We start him off in his own bed at night, but much like a small child, he climbs into our bed somewhere in the middle of the night. We don't mind. We still struggle with certain things that scare him, and I don't think nail-cutting time will ever be fun for any of the parties involved, but we're all coming along. He is a great dog to us, enriching our lives in countless ways and we strive to be great people to him. Two years, really? I can hardly remember what life was like without him...nor do I want to.

Happy Anniversary, Doogles!

* If you or someone you know is interested in getting a dog, I highly recommend adopting. There are so many rescued dogs out there that need good, loving homes. I also highly recommend contacting the Bill Foundation if you are in the Southern California area. They are good people doing good things. I can't say enough.

More Random Friday...

I've been in a bit of a random mode lately. I've been working on random projects I haven't even talked about and don't really plan to until they are done (mostly because the progress photos would be far from inspiring), so I thought a random post was in order.

1. This week marked our 3rd anniversary here at the blog. (Can that be right? ;-)
2. Like last year, we managed to miss it entirely. Whoops.
3. Given that , I wanted to share my new favorite photo of the three of us that we somehow managed to miss posting in January when we took our little mini-wine-tasting-joint-birthday-Temecula retreat:

Can you tell which of us had the least amount of wine?

4. Three cheers for Nasus!! She finished her last law school class this week! WHOO HOO!
5. While this at first seems like we will get to see a little more of her, that stinking bar is going to steal her away for the summer. Boo.
6. To make up for it, we've planned another mini-retreat for next weekend. I can't wait!
7. For those in San Diego, the county-wide waterway cleanup effort, Creek to Bay, is happening tomorrow! There are still lots of open cleanup spots, so if you can, please join us at a convenient location to you between 9am and 12pm tomorrow morning. You can register online through their website.
8. THIS broke my heart this morning. I think because a little part of me has always felt like that little kitteh.
9. I've been slowly weening myself off caffeine and this week I managed to live completely caffeine-free! Yay!
10. And finally - Happy Friday everybody!! Have a great weekend!

Happy Earth Day!

In celebration of Earth Day, I thought I would share some photos of the fig tree in our yard. I've been documenting its growth since the first sign of of budding leaves by photographing it once a week (yes, you can call me a dork, but this tree just really makes me happy, especially when it's full of leaves). Six weeks later, it's really getting there!

I would consider us to be a fairly eco-friendly minded bunch here, but personally speaking, I always strive to do more. I wish I could say I was ready to live plastic-free like someone I know, but alas, I'm not quite there yet. However, B and I have made some changes that were really easy to incorporate into our day to day lives. I thought I'd share these with you (courtesy of the April issue of Real Simple magazine*), just in case you are also looking for ways to be more eco-minded. A little really does go a long way- if we all did our small part, think of the big impact we could make!

Recycle Aluminum and steel cans.
Because recycling these cans directs valuable metal into new products, saving 95% of the energy required to manufacture aluminum from scratch and 74% of the energy needed to make steel. If everyone in the U.S. did this for 1 year it would be the equivalent of 3,934,118 cars taken off the road for 1 year.

Recycle newspapers and magazines.
Because Americans throw away more paper than any other kind of trash. Recycling paper would not only save trees but also reduce contributions to air pollution by 95%. If everyone in the U.S. did this for 1 year it would be the equivalent of 5,511,566 cars taken off the road for 1 year.

Wash laundry on a cooler setting.
Because about 90% of the energy used to wash clothes goes to heating the water. If everyone in the U.S. did this for 1 year it would be the equivalent of 3,316,442 cars taken off the road for 1 year.

Switch five lightbulbs to compact flourescent lightbulbs (CFLs).
Because a 25-watt CFL provides the same amount of light as a 75-watt incandescent. CFLs use 1/3 of the energy and last 10 times longer. Switching 5 bulbs could save about $400 over the CFL's lifetime. If everyone in the U.S. did this for 1 year it would be the equivalent of 4,751,350 cars taken off the road for 1 year.

Modify the temperature on your thermostat.
Because modifying the temperature just 4 degrees will save energy, and because there's no reason your house needs to be the perfect temperature even when you're not at home. If everyone in the U.S. did this for 1 year it would be the equivalent of 12,353,510 cars taken off the road for 1 year.

Follow the speed limit.
Because sticking to the 65 MPH speed limit improves fuel economy by almost 15%. That will reduce your car's emissions and help you save $ at the pump. If everyone in the U.S. did this for 1 year it would be the equivalent of 28,121,158 cars taken off the road for 1 year.

Have a great day, everyone! Are you doing anything special in honor of Earth Day today?

* You can get even more ideas and read the article in it's entirety here.

The Hills Are Alive

With the sound of Peanuts laughing and running amuck.

What's better than being hugged by one adorable Peanut niece?

Why being hugged by two Peanut nieces, of course! It doesn't get any better than this.

Yes, it's a whole new world. They have learned how to hug and kiss. My heart = melting.

I was invited to join LA, the girls, and their twins group for an outing on Friday. Mames, I thought of you and your little guys (does this scene look familiar?).

So much fun!

I did a bit of knitting this weekend, too, but really it can't compare to this, so why even bother going there? ;)

New sweater project and a new quilt

Wow guys! Thank you so much for all the nice comments on Aftur! I only wish I was going to be able to wear it a little more this season, but I do believe San Diego's lovely weather is back. And while I certainly can't complain about that (this weekend was amazing!), it doesn't allow too much for wool winter sweaters.

Finishing Aftur also meant it was time to pick out a new sweater project! I quickly decided on Coraline, Ysolda's new pattern. What I really like about this sweater is that it is knit out of a smaller gauge yarn and is mostly open in the front, so it doesn't have a big 'warm sweater' look to it. But, since mine will be out of alpaca, it will be perfectly warm for the sub-zero fridge that I sit in all day called my office. So big bonus points that it won't look seasonally out of place!

The yarn I decided on is Baby Twist from Alpaca with a Twist in the color Rose Grey. This was no easy decision by any means. Budget was a factor, but so was the fiber, because while I don't seem to be bothered by most wools, adult alpaca drives my skin crazy. I spent a good bit of time feeling various alpaca yarns and it seems that as long as it is baby alpaca, I can handle it. Ultra fine alpaca or just plain old alpaca simply has too many guard hairs and its these little puppies that make me itch.

(the color on this photo is more accurate)

So with that in mind, I set out to find the yarn with the highest quality for the price. (We are all about bang for your buck around here!) I didn't mind spending a little bit of money since I had recently worked a good chunk of overtime and I also knew that the gauge of this sweater would get me a lot of knitting time, but I'm far from loaded. So I looked closely at what I could get for the yardage. I really, honestly tried to buy the yarn from a LYS, but for various reasons, I had no such luck. I ended up placing my order through the Loopy Ewe on a Monday and had my yarn on a Wednesday! THAT my friends is customer service! The only problem is that the hanks are huge, (over 500 yards), so to get mostly the right amount, I actually ended up short by a few yards for my size. I am hoping that the yardage estimate for this project is as generous as it was for Verity, otherwise, there may be some tears forthcoming. I've since cast on and am slowly making my way though the hem.

I've also got a quilt FO to share. This is the quilt that I showed off a little bit here. I made it with a fat quarter pack of Heather Ross fabric that I picked up on a whim (it is that soft!).

I decided on the size of my squares based on the amount of fabric I had available for the backing, which was about 1 3/4 yards, as well as minimizing waste and leftovers from the fat quarters. The big squares also served to show off the spaced out prints well. I had some pretty cheap batting so my quilting lines had to be pretty close together and they ended up like this:

I used blue painter's tape to mark off the lines and it worked really well as a guide while I sewed. I think this project would be perfect for a baby quilt and plan on making variations on this theme for potential baby gifts.

This one however is for Jenny and I do believe its new owner seems to be enjoying it.

Is there sugar in syrup?

So it's Thursday, and I'm pretty darn happy about it. To commemorate, hopefully spread the joy around some, or maybe just provide a bit of distraction from your daily life, here's a meme I grabbed from Margaux. You're supposed to pick 10 of your favorite movies, find a quote from each, and let everyone guess which movie the quote is from. Well, there are simply too many great quotes from great movies, that I decided to tweak this just a little, using only food-related quotes. Also because, you know me, I love food. So, here you go- my own food version of the movie meme. Have fun, and remember- no one like a Cheater McCheaterson!

1. Whenever a boy comes over, you should always have something baking. Clueless (Mle, Robyn, Dee, and Andrea)
2. Great pate mom, but I gotta motor if I wanna be ready for that funeral. Heathers (Dis and Mouse)
3. I also wrote "Pesto is the quiche of the 80s." When Harry Met Sally (Andrea)
4. Can I interest you in some nipples of Venus? Chocolat (K8 and Dee)
5. Take the gun. Leave the cannolis. The Godfather (Dee)
6. I don't think I've ever drunk champagne before breakfast before. With breakfast on several occasions, but never before. Breakfast at Tiffany's (Robyn and Dee)
7. Why do you eat that stuff? There's no food in your food. Say Anything (Margaux, Madge & I'll give Andrea partial credit. ;) )
8. PB&J with the crusts cut off. Well Brian, this is a very nutritious lunch. All the food groups are represented. Did your mother marry Mr. Rogers? The Breakfast Club (Robyn, Dee, Andrea, and Marnie)
9. We're a Vietnamese restaurant. We just don't have bread. Garden State (Melissa, Robyn, Dis, and Andrea)
10. Pick up the cookie, dip it in the milk, and eat it. Stranger Than Fiction (Dee)

Extra credit (and if anyone gets this I will be really impressed!): Anyone who forces me to make chicken pepperoni is making me crazy, and YOU are making me crazy. Seems Like Old Times

And yes, the title is from Elf, correctly guessed by Mle, Dee, and Margaux. :)

Great job, guys- thanks for playing!! :)

Quietly Knitting Away

So as not to disturb...

Although I've been feeling under the weather for the past couple of weeks, I have been doing some knitting here and there. It seems to be just what the doctor ordered, too, because this hat just cheers me up!

The pattern is the Bobbled Topper from Kat's fabulous book, Boho Baby Knits. This adorable hat and matching soaker (which I will also be making) are just too cute, I couldn't resist casting on.

I've also been working on a nursing shawl for my friend-slash-boss, who is expecting her first child in a few months. The pattern is the Leafy Lace Shawl from Louisa Harding's Natural Knits for Babies and Moms. I started it, contemplated scrapping it, but ultimately decided to continue with it (at least for now). My dilemma from the get go has revolved around yarn selection. The original pattern calls for chenille, which I wasn't quite feeling. I wanted something similarly soft, though not too heavy, and oh yeah- not shiny. After much searching, I decided to try fleece. Questionable, I know. It's way soft, but I wasn't sure this kind of "fluffy" yarn would work with this kind of pattern. I feared it would just look like a jumbled mound of messy mush (how's that for alliteration?) but lo and behold, it doesn't look nearly as bad as I thought it might. I actually think it looks pretty good. Color is pretty off here (picture more on the plum side, less pink) and it's not blocked, but I think you can get an idea.

Bulky lace. Who knew? I think it will look good once it's complete and will serve it's purpose as a comfy shawl for late-night (or whenever) feedings. We'll see. (Did I mention how soft it is?)

Aftur

Aftur is complete and here she is!

This is what 7 balls of Crimson Lite Lopi gets you when you mix it with size 7 needles and less than a ball each of a few other colors (Bright Blue, Pumpkin, Leaf, Black Heather, and Goldenrod). For the colorwork, the most I used of any one color was the Black Heather, which was probably around half a ball. The others were varying degrees less with the least amount coming from the Bright Blue. I tried to make the best estimates on my Ravelry project page.

As a reminder, all of this yarn came from the Weekend Getaway Satchel kit, along with the addition of two more balls of Crimson to round out my yardage. So, given the length of time this yarn was in my UFO pile, (which means its free ;-), this sweater cost me about $8. Pretty sweet!

As mentioned here, B helped me input the colorwork chart into the computer using Illustrator. This let us try out different color combinations given what I had to work with from the bag kit. I am extremely happy with how these colors played out. I feel like it is a really nice balance of classic and funky. I especially like how the lime green (Leaf) and the bright blue worked out. This was definitely a collaborative effort and even B likes to talk about how its 'our' sweater. And its true!

The pattern is really straight forward and the only modifications I needed to make where to adjust for my monkey arms (added about 2 inches) and my long torso (maybe about an inch). But because I made the 36 inch size for my 34 inches, I didn't have to add as much length to the body as I normally would because there was already a bit more length to account for the larger size. I also changed the waist and wrist bands to a simple 2X2 rib and for the neck I skipped the full turned hem. Given that I live in So Cal, I figure I didn't need the extra layer around my neck for warmth or to bring the sweater up closer to my neck. In fact, I was really concerned about getting the Lopi too close to my neck because of the potential itch factor. I initially knit a full 2X2 ribbed collar with a regular bind off, which left me with a neck opening I couldn't even fit the crown of my head through! So, I ripped it out, ripped out a couple rows of the ribbing and bound off with a tubular bind off. The neck has more of a boat neck look now, but I like it and its seems fairly proportional with the colorwork section. A final modification was the addition of a couple short-rows to the back of my neck to raise it up a tad, which you might be able to see here:

That 'weather system' we were expecting didn't really pan out, but I did wear Aftur yesterday to try her out. Overall, I would say the fit is great. I tend it have an issue with my sweaters (pullovers and cardigans alike) riding back on my shoulders. I was concerned about this factor given that Lite Lopi isn't exactly next-to-skin soft. But, although I was aware of the wool on my neck, it never got to the point during the day that I had to scratch or even take it off because it was too irritating. However, I do think that this sweater would be perfect for over a turtleneck. Then it would be a truly effortless sweater to wear.

Snow and Wool

First and foremost, I owe many thanks to many people. Thank you for your kind words about Auntie. B was able to attend the funeral in Tulsa and said it was a lovely service. I also wanted to thank those of you who provided some very helpful information towards our coming Southern Utah vacation. This weekend has been set aside for making arrangements and reservations. And finally, thank you for the nice comments on my last couple of projects. Blogging has been relatively hard for me lately. I'm not really sure why. I have lots to say and I even take photos and think of things I want to blog about, but then when it comes to sitting down and doing it, I just don't. Consequently, when I do finally blog, I usually brain dump on the page and am not mindful of the last thing I posted or the courtesy factor that is part of this online community. I think a lot of it is from being overworked (but that's easing off again) and the emotional ups and downs as of late. Anyhoo, I do hope to be a little more active in the future.

As for what I've been up to...B and I were fortunate to have been able to take advantage of the end of his spring break to head to the mountains. This trip had taken on many incarnations during the planning processes, but in the end it was just the two of us. It was definitely spring and the valley you drive through to get to the mountains was actually hot. You can see where the snow is starting to thin on the mountain range leading up to Mammoth Lakes and the ski area:

But, the snow conditions in Mammoth were amazing. It was warm (actually a little too hot when you don't have a decent spring jacket) and the snow was still soft. It didn't get icy until late afternoon when the shade started to reclaim the runs.

B and I boarded again and had a great time. I wish I had more action shots this year, but we were really busy with our lesson. B was the class star and I, well, um, I needed some extra assistance. We learned how to transfer from our heel to our toe edges and then back again. Then we put everything into linking turns. It felt really great when I got it right but there were times I just couldn't get my legs to do what they needed to do. I discovered later that it had a lot to do with how cluttered my brain was with other concerns. Too close to the trees, too steep, or too icy and my brain just couldn't add all the turning movements into the mix. But when we got to big open easy spaces, I could actually do it! Lucky for me B got the boarding bug and he is already excited to go back next year. Yay!

As for knitting, I had really hoped to finish Aftur in time for our Mammoth trip, but given my work load at the office, I didn't want to push my luck in the hand injury department. But I did get a chance to work on the colorwork in the evenings a bit and a little in the traffic on the way home. Here's a little preview:

Aftur is now finished and blocked and I hope to be able to take some photos this weekend. We are expecting a little modest weather here in the next day or so, so I may take the opportunity to try it out while I still can!