Happy 14th Birthday Bucky!

We made it through another year, and wishing you many more happy days with us! So much we've learned in 14 years, since the cold winter day we found you in the flea market, with a flea, the tiny 2 lb 7 oz bundle. You were all mouth and belly, kept eating, (pooping!), and growing, doubling your weight in three weeks. When you were a youngster you made your brother and sisters chase you to no end, until Mom caught you, and you gave her a dirty look and called her a "Traitor"!

Life was good so we gave you a human little brother that you so deserved. Dog, was his second word, right after Mama, and the first word he learned to spell. You inspired the little boy to be a puppy dog, cause you got away with being you.

Old age is giving you the dignity, and plenty of excuse for your obnoxious ways. A pug that eats is a good pug. A pug that barks is a healthy pug. A pug that gives us the stare demanding attention is a happy pug.

We are happy to have our pug.

Charity Knitting

The latest batch of knitting from my mom. I didn't take pictures for everything, only a select few interesting ones.

This, and another batch from the summer, netted us altogether:

- 18 vests

- 2 ponchoes

- 1 pair of baby pants

- 1 scarf

- 1 pair of socks

- 1 baby sweater

They were all donated to our local charities. Three big bags full!

Henry and Bucky

and Trinket too, hiding in the background.

From the little dogs and boy's perspective, carpet is the best thing since the milk bottle (or what it replaced). We keep the living room carpeted for the old dogs. With sheddy little dogs, dirty little boy, dirty big guy, the carpet is always a dirt and fur heaven. Once in a blue moon I have it cleaned. Dogs are kept away for couple of days. As soon as they are let back on the carpet, Bang! like clock work, one of the throws up in less than five minutes. This time I was pretty sure it was Bucky. It was next to his bed. What can I say, he needs his smell. Apparently the sniffer still works.

Lena's Diamonds -- Pattern Draft

This is one of my mom's child size vests. I wrote up the pattern from notes I took while she talked about how she knitted it, and I have not had the chance to test knit. I hope by putting this up on my blog someone will be able to test knit it so I could make changes to the pattern. Ultimately I hope to publish it on Ravelry or other places as free pattern for charity knitting.

Yarn: various colors of baby yarns

Needle: US Size 4

Finished Size: About 28 inches chest, 19 inches long

Triangles on the bottom:

  Row 1 (right side): pick up 6 sts, place marker, pick up 6 sts, total 12 sts per pattern.

  Row 2  and all wrong side rows: purl and decrease 1 on each side of marker

  Row 3 and remaining right side rows: knit

  When 2 sts left k2tog on the right side

Diamonds:

  Row 1 (right side): pick up 9 sts from neighboring triangle or diamond, place marker, pick up 9 sts from the other neighbor, total 18 sts per pattern

  Row 2 and all wrong side rows: purl and decrease 1 on each side of marker

  Row 3 and remaining right side rows: knit

  When 2 sts left k2tog on the right side

Triangles on the sides:
  Row 1 (right side): pick up 12 sts
  Row 2 and all wrong side rows: purl
  Row 3 and remaining right side rows: knit till 2 sts left, k2tog

Front:
  Cast on 77 sts, k1 p1 for 1 in.
  Pick up for the first triangle. Knit one triangle at a time and leave 2 sts open between each triangle.
  When picking up for the first set of diamonds, anchor the center 2 sts on the ribbing. Do the same when picking up all the diamonds (pick up 8 sts from the side of a diamond, 2 sts from the diamond below). This way the diamonds look more connected.
  Arm hole shaping: decrease 1 st per row at each end for 2 rows.
  Neck is natually shaped by the diamonds and triangles.

Back:
  Cast on 77 sts, k1 p1 till it's same length as front with no shaping for armholes or neck. Back will pull in a bit and that's ok.

A Lively Bucky

See what his mom has to endure while serving him breakfast? I bet no one would want this pug even if I pay them.

Celebrations

Fifty years ago today this little boy was born in South Carolina.

Seventeen years ago today this little girl became a pretty young bride.

Today the man and the woman are Together, happily ever after.

How to Wake up a Puggy

Things that only a mother would care, like watching your baby sleep. Listen carefully and you can hear Bucky's snoring. I felt kinda guilty for having to wake him up so I could make a video. The other day I took three separate clips, about a minute each, of Bucky sleeping, because he was deep in la la land and wouldn't get up on his own.

A to Z of Me

Apple sorbert -- I made the last batch of apples into apple butter, and now it's frozen into sorbert. Perfect for the hot weather next week.
(Andrea) Bocelli -- loads of good clips on Youtube, ear candy.
Chinese -- that's who I am
Dogs -- most of my children belong in that catagory
Email -- the current inbox count is 4643 unread, and I thought I was hopeless when it went over 1,000
Facebook -- I can't believe how much I'm addicted to this website which I wasn't even using a year ago. I really should spend more time dealing with that inbox instead.
Godiva -- one of my favorite chocolates
Henry (or Husband) -- the men in my life. I was going to put in Hot fudge sundae, but Henry erased it.
Italy -- hope I can visit some day
June -- the month I was born
Knitter -- need I say more
Lemonade -- we've been making fresh lemonade this summer with the lemons I bring home from harvests, delicious stuff!
Merino wool -- preferably handpainted
Nuts -- walnuts, peanuts, pinenuts, cashew, almonds, melon seeds, pumpkin seeds, love them all
Oatmeal -- plain with walnuts and raisons. I can have it every day.
Pug -- we are one
Quail eggs -- get them from Chinese market for $0.99 a dozen, hard boiled, taste much more tender than chicken eggs.
Retreat -- our annual knitting retreat in the Santa Cruz mountains. Knitting, eating, talking to friends.
Stitches West -- my annual shopping spree, the only time I set myself loose, shop till I drop.
Trinket -- the little dog that came with a name, that's in the URL of my blog, that's more than happy to eat off of my hands.
Union Square -- shopping heaven in San Francisco
Vivian -- the name I call myself
Watermelon -- don't come between me and my watermelon
Xi Dan 西单 -- Western District in Beijing, an area I used to live in when I was a child
Yoga -- one of those things I always try to do more and will never be good enough
Zillow -- was very disappointing this week