All leo posts

When we moved into our house, a few years ago, there were a lot of things we liked, but there were some things that really needed to change, like the room with the horrifying mural and pepto pink trim. We still have to address the black shower in the master bath. I'm not sure what altered state led to that decision but I can assure you, it was a bad one. Anyway, one issue we have finally resolved, was getting rid of all the toxic railroad ties and the "rustic" wood fence, next to our driveway. Pardon the arrows, these are Leo's notes from the project.

After transporting all the ties to a facility equipped to dispose of the safely, we went to a landscaping supply shop and picked out some rocks and such to spiff up the joint. Leo somehow managed to schedule everything so that he ended up working some days in the rain and some days during 90+ degree weather.

When the delivery folks dropped everything off, they asked Leo how many people would be helping him. When he said, "um, none" the all looked worried for him. For the record, Leo's never actually done this before. No big deal, right?

There was a lot of breaking of things and also, clay and gravel and loose rocks pretty much everywhere. I wouldn't be surprised if our neighbors were taking bets on whether or not it would ever be finished. They do not know the ingenuity and tenacity of my husband, though.

Check out our spiffy new stairs.

And the lovely rock wall around our rose garden. Those rocks are locally sourced volcanic rocks and when it rains again someday all that moss turns a gorgeous array of greens and yellows.

We've also started tucking some plants into the crevices between stones. We don't water anything in our front yard so whatever we plant has to make the best of what nature dishes up.

i love it. Every time I leave the house I just bust with pride at how nicely it all came together. There's more to do, of course. The fence will need replacing, and the gate was a quick and dirty fix we put up when we first moved in, so the dogs can't escape, but this was huge and I love the end result.

Panda is thirteen years old, today, which is, I think, "lady of a certain age" in dog years. We probably shouldn't even be talking about it. Panda had her yearly vet appointment this week, where she got a clean bill of health. Darwin worried about her the whole time she was with the doc.

Will she ever come back?

Yesterday, we took her to the ocean because, of course we did. She's definitely slowing down but she doesn't enjoy it any less.

She's the only one who likes wading into the deep end. Some of that may have to do with the fact that Thea sinks in water and Darwin couldn't care less about fetch. His primary role is to body check his sisters. He's a real stinker.

Thea also enjoys riding her invisible bicycle.

Some seals watched us playing

And we watched some anemones do their anemone thing.

My anemone's anemone is my friend

Then we ended our evening with some fish and chips. The pups may have gotten a little bit of that too. The birthday celebration continues today. The pups are blissfully mellow, leaving the old lady to relax. Tonight, we'll cook up a little fresh salmon and sneak a little into their food, and of course, there are plenty of belly rubs and snuggles to go around.

Here's to my sweet old lady. If you have a pet, pass along a birthday scritch to him or her, on Panda's behalf.

It's here, at least in Oregon and it's lovely so far.

This rock has a heart on for spring and I have a juvenile sense of humor

Spring means more trips to the beach.

Did you catch that excited whimper out of Darwin?

And more playing in the yard

I think D is aerating the lawn a little too effectively

And renovations.

New wiring and an end to that pepto pink closet, in the works

And maybe a little something else getting an overhaul, too.

Coming soon, if I ever finish doing all the things

I feel like I'm on a designing kick right now. I just released two patterns for Twist, I have yarn for two deadline projects, due to publish next spring and I just sent a new design, Cercis, to my tech editor to be self published.

I took some pictures of Cercis this weekend, while we were at the coast. I thought I'd share my favorite outtake. It's useless for actually seeing the sweater but it has everything I love; my pack, haystack rock, a bright sunny day, knitting and the ocean.

I hope to have this pattern ready for release in the next couple of weeks. Until then, I have some designing to do.

...that all started with the Big Bang (Theory).

Leo and I haven't had cable television for about the past 5 years. There was so little we actually wanted to watch that we weren't really getting our dollar's worth. We do have Netflix and Hulu set up and, of course, all 3 of the local PBS stations, and that works fine for us, however we are somewhat reliant on other people to let us know if there's anything we should be watching on Netflix, and it was my parent's suggestion that we watch The Big Bang Theory, that ultimately led to my most recent Twist Collective design, Doppler.

Maybe I shouldn't admit that. The show isn't known for it's cutting edge nor stylish fashion and this clip that spawned my design may make you wonder how many glasses into a bottle of wine I was when inspiration hit.

Nonetheless, after seeing this costume, I had this idea of a men's sweater, with an asymmetrical ribbed pattern that radiated out from one shoulder. To be honest, from what I've seen, men's garment patterns don't sell quite the way women's do. It could be that they generally require more yarn or that more knitters are women and only knit for men on occasion. It could be that men frequently prefer garment styles that are a bit boring to knit. Or it could be something else altogether, but regardless, it seemed to make sense to offer this pattern both for men and women.

My original submission sketch and swatch

After talking with Kate, we decided that not everyone would be keen on the turtleneck so a second neckline option was in order too. This meant that the final pattern offered 11 women's sizes, 12 men's sizes and 2 neckline options for each. Now that's a-lotta-pattern to write. The tech editor may never forgive me.

The garment is worked from the bottom-up, totally seamlessly, including the set-in sleeves, and once the set-up row for the ribbing is done, the stitch pattern is established and you can just knit away.

It was a lot of work cranking out two full sized garments in just over a month, but I managed to pull it off with enough time to get a few shots.

Leo looks mighty good in the men's version.

But, I think I give my handsome guy a run for his money.

I hope that people who knit this pattern will find it a great wardrobe staple. The two Blue Moon Fiber Arts yarns were both a joy to work with and next to the skin soft as well. Check out Doppler and all the other great designs in this season's edition of Twist Collective