DOT -- B/W

Monday I was inspired by colorful sangria to play with the black and white setting on the camera.

I caught Lucy in action...
...and curious about something under the table.  I must add that I love the wavy hair on her back near her tail.
This vicious-looking stick killer...
...is actually the sweetest girl in the world!

Shrug

The Eat.Sleep.Knit.ters group on Ravelry is having a knitalong for the Dream in Color Shrug. I've had this yarn and pattern for quite some time now. I work in a very cold office and I think a shrug would help combat the Arctic air in there. So I was inspired to cast on. Officially the KAL starts on June 1, but I'm not a speedy knitter, so I began. I hope this doesn't get me kicked out of the KAL! ;.)

The color is Good Luck Jade. Pretty, isn't it?

See, I told you I knit things more interesting than dishcloths.

Dishcloth Queen

Lately I've been the dishcloth queen!  First I knit one for knit night knitting, then after talking to my friend Karen I was inspired to knit more.  She lives in Florida but has a second house in Kentucky that they are renovating.  She's got a Kentucky trip planned for the first part of June.  I think her new kitchen deserves some new dishcloths.  And these were easy car knitting this past weekend as we drove to Austin.  

I present my latest dishcloths.

This one is kind of obnoxious but definitely summery.

This one is a bit more understated.
Note the gardenia for scale.  The gardenia bush is blooming and smells exquisite.

Next post will show a more interesting knitting project.

DOT -- The Pup

When does a dog stop being "the pup"?  When she reaches a certain age or a certain size?  Or never?

It's easy to identify a puppy.  A puppy is a tiny ball of fluff or a bigger, slightly awkward, not-quite-in-proportion dog.

Lucy will be two years old in a couple weeks.  Even if she's a puppy for the two years of puppyhood my vet gives a Lab, she's at the end of it.  She weighs 88 lb. so she doesn't look like a puppy.

But we always call her "the pup" in a rather generic sense.  For example:  "Have you fed the pup?"  Or "I bought a new toy for the pup."

I am wondering because on Saturday my boyfriend's friend wanted to come pick up something at my house.  My boyfriend said he'd be there at that time, but that "Kat usually takes the pup to the park then."  Knowing the size of Lucy, the friend said, "That's no pup!  That's a big dog."  I disagreed.  I think Lucy will always be "the pup" regardless of her age or size.

Shawlette

It's really hard to take a photo of the back of yourself.  A shirt was a more cooperative model.
This is the Storm Cloud Shawlette.  When I first finished it, I wasn't too impressed.  I thought it was too small.  Now it's growing on me.  I think it will make a nice layer between my top and my jacket next winter.
Here's a view from the front.

The yarn is Charming by J. Knits.  It's mostly lambswool with some cashmere and angora.  I remember surfing the web and finding it.  I bought it because the colorway is Pueblo, which is the name of my hometown in Colorado.  However, the dyer's inspiration must have been something else because this green is much too lush to remind me of home.  Oh well, it's a nice color anyway.

I put it in my drawer of woolies to await next winter.

I think my plant is a boy.

DOT -- Saturday Adventure

This past Saturday Lucy got to spend the day out on the town. It was Houston's annual Art Car Parade, an event we look forward to every year, and now Lucy does too. She put on her "green dog" bandana and went out. Such a pretty dog got lots of attention, especially from children. It was amazing how many wanted to pet her. The funniest one was a tiny girl who could barely walk. Her petting was less than gentle. She sort of pounded Lucy on her side, with all her might. Lucy just let her. When Lucy's daddy remarked to the little girl's mom about the little girl's braveness, the mom told us that they "had one at home". We don't know if she meant a yellow Lab or a dog in general.

I still think this rooster is one of the coolest cars in the parade.
After the parade we were hungry and wanted some linner. You know, that's kind of like brunch, only it comes between lunch and dinner so it's linner. We decided to try the sliders at Little Bigs. Would they let a nice doggy sit on their deck with us? Sure, as long as she was on leash. So we found a shady corner, kept Lucy on leash, and filled her portable bowl with water and ice.
I am so proud to report that her first public dining experience was nothing like Marley's! She did not drag us or the table across the patio in pursuit of a poodle. Hmm, do you think the fact that she was hot and tired by then helped?
Sliders and a Big Pink.
Good food and puppies allowed on the deck--we'll be back!

Thursday Night Knitting

I don't want this to turn into a blog just about my dog, so here's some knitting.

Last summer through Ravelry I found a group of women who meet on Thursday nights in west Houston to knit.  I enjoyed meeting them, but come fall my schedule changes and I hadn't been in a very long time.  But now I am back to my summer schedule so I rejoined the group last week.  Wow, the group has grown!  It was nice to reconnect with them and meet the newer people.

I didn't have anything in progress that I could knit on and talk at the same time, so I began a dishcloth.  Now it's finished.  I'm going to give this to a friend.

And now back to the regularly scheduled pup pictures...

DOT -- Flooded Dog Park

Saturday is usually the day we go to the dog park.  So this past Saturday Lucy loaded herself into the Jeep for our visit.

We got there only to find the whole thing was flooded.  The parking lot was underwater and the park (behind the fence) was too.  The dog park (officially the Millie Bush Bark Park) is located in another park whose actual purpose is to hold water during events like the earlier rain.  And sometimes it takes a while to drain.  I know Lucy wouldn't have minded getting out and swimming around the parking lot, but I didn't want to be arrested for that.
So we went back home and took a walk.  Good news--the bayou had subsided quite a bit and we could walk our usual way.  Compare this photo to the one from last week.
I had a surprise for Lucy.  I had a tennis ball in my pocket.  So we stopped at this field by the bayou to practice retrieval skills.
Even though we didn't get to go to the dog park, we had a good Saturday morning.