This is what my dog looks like in a sweater.

Stupid cute, I know (not biased at all....).  I used this pattern  sans the rear shaping, since he's not really finished growing yet.  I can always add length if I need to later.  For the yarn, I used some mystery cone-wool that has been floating around my life forever.  It's itchy and oily (from the spinning process?  I don't know, but it's gross to knit with.  It does wash clean when you're finished), and I never want anything made of out it.  Perfect for the dog!!  But really, I figure his own coat protects him from the itchyness of this wool, so he can wear it.  

This picture was just funny

And a poorly posed side shot.  

New Friends

I took Roo on a new route for our walk today, past a house I knew used to have horses, but I didn't know if they were still there.  Surely enough, the horses are still around! Or, some horses were still around, I don't know if they're the same horses....  how long do horses live?  How long has it been since high school?  You do the math, I haven't done math since high school.

Anyway.

There were three horses, and one was especially friendly and came right up to the fence to say hello.

                                                 

But Roo was like:

 And the horse was like:

And Roo was like:

All that was really exhausting, and now Rooney is like:

Oh, puppies....

I'm in constant flux trying to decide if puppies are adorable and cuddly or a huge pain in the ass.  I'm guessing that's why God made puppies into the cutest thing on earth, because they are so damned annoying no one in their right mind would want them otherwise.

Generally I'm exaggerating, but not always.  Like when we're walking and he decides instead of walking we have to play tug with the leash, and we have a heated 5 minute discussion in the middle of the road about letting go of the leash and then all the neighbors think I'm crazy.  Any recommendations on breaking a puppy of this?  I'll take anything!

We also have long discussions about where we're going to hang out.  Like I say "Hey, we're going to sit on the couch upstairs and you're going to stay up here with me."  And then Rooney says "whine, I want to go downstairs and harass Quinn and see if Dad will give me treats."  And I say "No, because when you're out of my sight you either pee or chew on the carpet." And then he says "WHINE."

Other than these two discussions, we usually see eye to eye.  Today he met his first cat at the pet store, I thought was funny but Rooney was just distraught.  The cat was very brash and followed us all around, keeping right out of reach.  Eventually Roo got so frustrated he just started barking, the cat seemed very pleased with itself.

We're also working on training.  I want one of those dogs that always listens to you, even when there's other fun dogs around or a giant piece of meat or something.  Well, mainly I just want to be able to take him off leash (in safe areas, of course!) and have him always come back when I call him.  We're nowhere close to that, but I've often wondered about dogs that are trained that well.  Is it the training or the disposition of the dog/the breed?  For example, I see border collies who are awesomely trained, and a lot of retrievers will always come when called, and obviously they have been very well trained, but would another type of dog with the same training still do that?  I had a Dalmatian growing up, and even though we didn't spend that much time training her I can't imagine her EVER listening to us that well.  She understood the commands we told her, but she absolutely did not care whether or not she pleased us.  Occasional she would work for food, but to please her masters?  Never.  (On a side note, she was an awesome dog, even if she didn't listen to us).  Do you know any dogs who are that well trained?  Do you have a dog like that?  How do you get a dog like that?!

Whippet mix....  maybe

So that was a lot on dogs.  I'm sorry if this turns into a dog blog.  Well, only a little sorry, I like dogs....

Doggie!

Rooney says hi!

I've wanted a dog for a really, really long time.  Like, about 5 minutes after I moved to Boston, but before I moved to Boston I thought "I don't want a dog now, so I'm going to move into this place that doesn't allow pets" - and thus I was dogless for two years.  

Now I'm home, looking for a job, living with my parents (boo!  I love them, but seriously, boo!), and the first thing I did was go dog shopping.  Perhaps not entirely responsible of me, perhaps I should have waited until I got a job and a place to live, but what can I say, I'm an incredibly reckless person.  

He's exactly what I was NOT looking for in a dog.  I wanted a female (I don't know why, I just tend to prefer female dogs, there is absolutely no reason why I should have this preference), I wanted them to be out of the puppy stage, about 1-3 years old, and I wanted them to be on the smaller side (but not too small.  like 20 pounds).  Instead I got a male puppy, 4 months old, and he's already 18 pounds with no knowing how big he's going to get.  

But he's a sweetie, and I fell in love with him.  

He's a good pup, surprisingly laid back and well behaved.  I keep thinking that something must be wrong with him, or he's still adjusting and tomorrow he'll wake up and be a little terror just like a regular puppy.  But so far so good!

He's also a cuddler, and I've never had a dog remotely interested in being loved on, so this is a nice change.  

Any guess on the breed?  We're thinking either a whippet or a greyhound with a blue heeler, but honestly, your guess is as good as ours.  

Old Apartment

Dear Old Apartment:

I'm seriously going to miss you.  Even though you were really small, together we made a really cute apartment.  Hey, I couldn't have done it without your hardwood floors and really big windows.  Even though you had next to no closet space, and your bathroom was so small you had to sit sideways on the toilet (not to mention was tiled in an overwhelming bright blue motif), here are some things I loved about you:

You were 6 minutes away from school, which was awesome

Your kitchen was nearly as big as your living room, which isn't saying much because the living room was small, but the kitchen could have been soooo much smaller

You were in the North End, which sometimes made me feel like I was living in another country

5 minutes from the best yoga studio ever

The old Italian men who sat on that bench outside your windows for hours and cursed at each other and smoked cigars when it as nice out (oh wait, I think I hated that.  I tried to convince myself it was endearing, but it wasn't)

In the winter, the heat from the downstairs apartment rose into my apartment, keeping my electric bills down (ha!)

The drunk people on stumbling down my alley yelling at each other at 2AM (oh wait, hated that too)

So many dogs!!!

Just around the corner from the harbor

You'll always be home

My favorite part of Somerville.

Field trip to Green Mountain Spinnery

In Vermont there is a little place called the Green Mountain Spinnery.  I've used their yarn before, and I liked it, and I decided that since I was near Vermont this summer I was going to have to visit.  I had to. Even though it was still over an hour away, there really wasn't another option.  Also, I had to drag my friend Lauren along; she's not a knitter, but she is a good sport.

The shop is tiny, but the woman behind the counter was very kind and let us poke around the spinning-mill part of the building and let us take photos.

I don't know what any of these machines do, but I like them because they make me yarn.


Also, there are just piles of roving everywhere, including outside:

I, of course, bought some yarn.  This yarn specifically, "Sylvan Spirit," a wool/tencel blend.

This photo is completely inaccurate because this yarn isn't nearly this bubble gum pink.  But currently this yarn is in the process of moving, along with all my other belongings, and is packed away somewhere unknown, so a better photo cannot be had!

When we were finished, we asked the kind woman who worked there what else we should see while we were in the area.  She told us to go to Basketville.  I have nothing to say about Basketville that can not be summed up by these photos:

Chocolate, mmmm

Hey look!

Did you know that dark chocolate can help you to keep your blood pressure down, and can also help to make you skinny?  Can't complain about that!

This post brought to you by chocolate.

Elvis!

I had to run back to Boston this weekend - and look who I found when I arrived!

You probably can't tell, but that is a hummingbird (you're just going to have to trust me).

New Hampshire is awesome. We kayak, climb mountains, and visit yarn stores.

Actually, i guess most of that happened in vermont. Whatever, they're right next to each other....

Weakness

I'm generally pretty careful with what I eat. I try to stay away from chemicals and processed foods. I buy organic when I can afford it.

But I'm still completely obsessed with these things:

Update!

A lot has been happening!  I'm in NH/VT for the summer on what I'm calling a "working vacation."  Awesome job and fantastic views wherever I go.  Like this one:

and this one:

Things I'm reading:  The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver.  Looooove it, but it's super long so I don't see me reading anything else this summer.  I'm a slow reader.  

Knitting:  Trying to write up a pattern for a cardigan thing I made up.  Here's a blurry photo of it:

If you think you'd be interested in test knitting (or would like a better photo to see if you would like to be a test knitter) let me know!

Watching:  Well, I watched Lady and Tramp the other night.  It was entertaining enough.  

Eating:  Apples and peanut butter every day for lunch.  

Today: going to a farmer's market in VERMONT (I love saying that.  I'm going to Vermont....)

Also:  Know anyone who is looking for a book conservator?  I'm looking for a job.  Actually it doesn't even need to be a book conservation job, I'll do (almost) anything at this point.  Answering phones, cleaning floors, mowing lawns, I'm there.  Trying to stay positive and open, as you can see....

Public Service Announcement(s)

I really hate bandaids, I think they're disgusting. I don't understand how they help the open-wound situation, they might keep it clean but they're also creating a warm, dark, moist environment – don't germs love that kind of thing? Or at least that's what I'm thinking when I'm wearing one. And then they fall off every time you wash your hands, and even when you don't wash your hands they just start to fall off for no good reason when you're grocery shopping or something like that and it's really annoying.

And then las week I tried to hack my finger off with a chisel. I'm fine, I was assured that I did not need stitches, but I should use these butterfly bandaids. 

 They worked great to keep my disgusting wound from popping back open (sorry if that just grossed you out), but only for awhile because they kept falling off, I went through 5 in about two hours.

But then I found liquid bandage. Have you tried this stuff (or superglue, I'm sure that works just the same)?   It's awesome. 

 You paint it on to your wound and it creates a protective seal around it and glues it back together. Envision putting clear nail polish on a cut, but without the weird factor (well, less of the weird factor.  And probably less of the chemicals too, although I'm not sure of that).  No gross bandaids to make wounds fester, no taping bandaids to your hands to keep them from falling off, and I can wash my hands as often as I'd like! I do have to reapply every hour or so, but I'm okay with that.

I just wanted everyone to know about this in case you didn't already.  I'm never using a normal bandaid again.  

Also, keep your hands BEHIND the chisel. I'm not a woodworker for a reason.

And finally, a note to all Boston Tourists: Please let passengers OFF the train before you get on the train. Calm down, the train will not leave without you!  I promise!  

Happy Creepy Mother's Day!

still living

Please note:  I'm still alive.  Just getting ready for graduation, applying to every job in the world, looking for a place to live, etc etc....

Also....

Went to a parchment making workshop at Pergemena, most of it was disgusting

But some of it was less disgusting

We had a huge party for my friend to help her raise money to run in the Boston Marathon (It was a success!)

 And my book got into a two year traveling exhibit.  And when I know more, I'll tell you were to visit it!

Prints

My new favorite woodblock printer.

Kawase Hasui - Benton Shrine

Doggies

For my birthday, my awesome friend Anna gave me the book "Knit Your Own Dog," because she knows that knitting and dogs are my two favorite things in the whole wide world.

This book is great.  The patterns are really thoughtfully put together, and the end result really does look like the dog you were trying to put together.  But I wouldn't quite call these patterns "easy-to-follow" as the cover states.  It includes pretty advanced techniques and when you're finished with the pattern you have about 12 tiny dog parts that look nothing like a dog, and assembling them is not always the most straight forward thing.  But, if you're an experienced pattern reader you will be able to figure it out; if you're a beginning pattern reader, be sure there is someone near you who is an experienced pattern reader who can explain things.

Anyway.  Anna also loves dogs, especially border collies, so of course I need to make her one:

He lives in the bindery now, his name is Bookie (HA!)

And just because this photo is on my desktop, here's my doggie, when he was a puppy:

I need to knit a version of Quinn next.  

And here are some teeny tiny boxes I made, because this photo was on my desktop too.  

Also, a photo of board-tacketing in progress.