So, let’t see. I accomplished three, knitterly things today.

First, it’s Worldwide Knit in Public day today. I didn’t do anything elaborate, or with one of the groups organized just for this purpose, but I DID knit in public. I started off in a coffeeshop, just like I did last year. (What can I say? Starting Saturday off with coffee is a tradition.)

Second, the Amazing Lace. The second challenge is to do extreme-lace knitting. Not being a particularly “extreme” person, I figured trying to concentrate on the Peacock pattern in a crowded Starbucks on a Saturday morning, while carrying on a conversation with my Mom, was about as extreme as it was going to get. Granted, this “entry” isn’t going to win me any prizes, but hey. At least I was working on my lace, right?

  And, what’s this, in the distance?

Trekking. No doubt of it.

There’s me, Chappy, and my Trekking 102 sock, taking a break in the middle of our hike (well, walk, really) for a spot of knitting.

We did this at Loanataka Park, our favorite park. (Pronounced, incidentally, Lo-AN-a-ka). It covers 570 acres and has over 5 miles of trails–paved and unpaved–for biking, walking, horseback-riding . . . whatever. When I was still in college (Drew University), just a mile or two away, I even came to the park to study. I’d drive down in my VW Golf, open all the windows, pop open the hatchback, lean the backseats forward, and then stretch out in the back with my books.

  Chappy enjoys a chance to splash around in the stream. A lot of people let their dogs off-leash there, so they can run and splash to their hearts’ content, but I don’t think that’s fair. (I have had wet, muddy-pawed dogs come running up and jump a friendly hello on me–which is bad enough when it’s my dog, but rude in all others.) Besides, while Chappy enjoys a chance to get his feet wet–especially on hot days–he never stays in the water for more than a couple minutes.

It’s a good park for meeting other dogs, too. Today we met a 14-week old Cockapoo named Max, who was delighted to find another dog that would play with him a little. (Chappy is excellent around puppies.) We met a friendly black lab who took a break from playing with its kids to say hello to another dog. And we met an Irish Water Spaniel named Oliver that looked like a larger, much-curlier version of Chappy. On the “curl scale,” Chappy’s curls are about a 3–a step up from wavy, but not that tight, kinky kind of curl. Well, Oliver was a 4, but otherwise, their color was the same, their faces and eyes remarkably similar, and except for Oliver having a long tail, they looked like they could have been brothers.

  All in all, it’s been a lovely day. The weather was beautiful. No higher than 70-degrees, and breezy, and sunny. SUCH a nice change over the last week! Chappy’s exhausted, in a good, fresh-air-and-exercise kind of way. (For that matter, a nap sounds pretty good to me, too.) I’ve done almost nothing since we got home at 1:00 except read and relax. Which, in my book, makes this an awfully nice day!

Tags: Chappy, Family, General, Knitting/Spinning // 15 Comments »