Les Rouges

While, I'm not "officially" involved in Project Spectrum, I've got it stuck in my head. I love reds and pinks, so that could have something to do with it.

I love how reds and pinks represent so many different ideas and images. Just think of crimson roses versus primary red kids toys. Think of how different a pale pink strapless dress is compared with the same dress in scarlet. How much racier is red lace than white?

Pink is a good color on everybody. Maybe not every shade of pink, but there's one out there for you. A few days ago my friend Kristi had her little girl in a melon/pink/peach/rosy wonder of a t-shirt. It lit up her eyes, pinked up her cheeks and made her little mouth look like she had on the ULTIMATE shade of lipstick (which she of course did not). If the right pink can do all this for a petal-skinned beautiful baby, just think what it can do for the rest of us.


Here's proof that yes, I'm STILL slogging along on the freaking Eris cardigan. I'm done with the body, and am knitting on the waistband, with just the sleeves left to do. The Lt is on a business trip, and my goal is to finish it by the time he gets back. I've knit exactly 0 stitches toward this goal. I officially hate knitting one piece sweaters. It's just too much. I need the break-up of the pieces. I don't mind seaming. At least, I don't now. I like that little satisfied "Hm" I get to make when the puzzle starts coming together, and it looks less like a stack of potholders and more like a sweater. With this thing, I think I'll just feel relief that it's finally over, and that kinda sucks. It's a good thing winter in Okinawa is over, because even if I finished it today, I'm not sure I could bring myself to wear it for a few months.


My toes. I never realized just how funky my feet look. If you haven't made this realization, if you've been walking in public in sandals thinking "they aren't masterpieces, but they're ok," do NOT take a pic of them for your blog. ANYWAY, there's this great nail shop down the street from my house called Cocok, and they do awesome pedicures and nail art. I'm not much of one for island scenes painted on my fingers, but the toes are free for whimsy. I'm not sure whether the best part about Cocok is the meticulously applied nail art or the full bar...

I plan on going every month, and putting a pic up of the nail art. I'll try to warn you ahead of time, so that if the tootsies freak you out, you can avoid me until it's below the opening scroll.


I leave you with a pic of my lunch. While the Lt's away, I've decided to go vegetarian. Why?* 1. I could be healthier. 2. I could be thinner. 3. I could spend less at the commissary. 4. I could be more eco-friendly.

These are Molly Katzen's Persian Kidney Beans, from Molly Katzen's Vegetable Heaven. They were YUMMY, super quick and easy. I happen to love kidney beans, so it worked out well, you see. BTW, this is a great cookbook, but you should really take the prep-times listed with a grain of salt. And by grain of salt, I mean ignore them completely. She was on crack the day she came up with them. And this from a girl who's idea of getting ready in 40 minutes means getting ready in an hour and five. But I'm not lying when I say the beans were quick and easy, they really were!

Nutter Bunny

Two wonderful things: a new baby, and an FO!!

I present to you Princess Ashlyn and her knit bunny:


When Ashlyn was still "on the inside," she had her photo taken via sonogram and was just the size of a NutterButter cookie. She's still a tiny thing, even sweeter than any cookie. She was born on Feb 14th, so you can only imagine the amount of pink yarn I feel compelled to buy for her.

Ashlyn's bunny is from "Last Minute Knitted Gifts" and is worked in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in the "Iris Garden" color way (I think...lost the skein wrap), and came with matching bootees also from "LMKG." The book says the bootees are a bit over the top (the specified yarn is angora) but I can't think of a baby out there who doesn't deserve whisper soft hand-knit bootees.

P.S. HRH was also the recipient of the "super secret" Dale gift, a cardigan and bonnet set. Pics of that later...

The Hood

It's Barley here, and I'll be posting for Mamma today. I know this is supposed to be all about "knitting" (whatever that is) but the "knitting" project she's working on keeps getting "frogged." I don't know what that is either, but it sounds tasty. All I know is I keep hearing "just let me finish this row, and then I'll walk you," and her muttering about a bleeping pattern writer smoking bleeping crack, and bleeping row bleeping gauge. I think she'd feel much better if she would untangle the string from her paws and scratch my ears and maybe give me some cheese.

I'm gonna give you the inside scoops on my neighborhood. Let's start with our den.

We have 2 flights of stairs to run up and down and two patios where I can oversee my domain. I have a food bowl, a water bowl, a bed in the living room, a bed on the patio, and a bed in mamma and daddy's room. Personally, I think they should let me on their bed, but they have this "thing" about being "alpha." Whatever. I have some toys, but I only like the Kong, and only when it's stuffed with kibble and peanut butter.

Every morning, before it's even light out, Dad drags me to the park and forces me to pee. Then I go back to sleep, and Mamma and I come out when it's much brighter. Here's my park:

A little FYI, the chipmunk thingy is the best place to pee.

Almost every day, we go to the beach.

The beach is awesome because there are about a million things to sniff. If I haven't just had a bath, Mamma lets me go in the water. Some of the best things to do on the beach are pee and poop! If you're really lucky, you might find a dead fish or crab to sniff, but do NOT try to eat it, cause Mamma gets right pissed. Mamma took pics of me doing some fun things:
-Hunting sea birds. I am an excellent hunter, I've just had bad luck so far. I'm pretty sure I'll catch that bird tomorrow.

-Hunting sea weed. This one is easy, cause it can't fly like those darn birds. Also, you might think sea water LOOKS tasty, but no matter how many times I try it, I just can't develop the taste. Maybe next time...


We also like to visit the sea wall.

There are a lot of great places to pee here, and other dogs think so too. Sometimes, Mamma has to wait cause there are so many great smells and other dogs to meet. There are funny creatures here that come up out of the water, with big metal tubes on their backs, but then they talk, and they sound just like people, so who knows!?!?

People like to paint pictures on the wall, here's the one Mamma thinks is the funniest:


Thanks for coming along with me. I'm gonna go try and convince Mamma that I need some peanut butter for all this hard work.

Little Man

It's not knit-related, but I have to post about my dog. He's so sweet.

Here's the debut of our little man, Barley.


He has many aliases, including but not limited to:
Little Man
Beast (also: Vicious Beast and Wildebeest)
Big Guy
the Lt's dog (when he's bad)
My dog (when he's good)
Goony
Fraggle Rock
Fuzz butt

We SO hit the jackpot with this dog. The funny thing, is that I wanted a small, female, shorthaired dog, and he's none of those things! But, he is sweet, calm, loving, extremely well-behaved and an all-around great dog. He's a total mamma's boy, and follows me everywhere I go.

Here he is wearing his "how sweet am I? You know you want to pet me for about an hour" face.