The above is the reason I have for going away for so long this time (almost a month? wow!)… poor Hitchcock had another anal gland rupture and had to go through surgery not once, but twice! It was a very long, very arduous month for us with him and although we tried very hard to not worry about him, it was impossible when I heard the word “tumor” and “cancer.” Being that he is only 2 years and 8 months old, I really felt like I would break down if that’s what he had… and the possibility of it really scared me. To make a very very very long story short, Hitch is now missing an anal gland and, thankfully, it was NOT cancer! Phew! Now it’s just a matter of recovering from surgery and then we can move on from this whole ordeal for hopefully forever! He is absolutely pathetic during this time… it’s really sad to see.
The cone pictures are from the first night after the second surgery when I was afraid that the Bite Not collar (what he’s always used and you can see him wearing above as well), although great at keeping him from the incision, was going to allow him to pull on the skin 2″ away from the incision. It didn’t last very long, though. Just these couple of pictures and 15 minutes later it was changed out… we couldn’t sleep with all the crying! The Bite Not collar went back on and, thankfully, he was a good boy and left the entire area alone!
Sadly enough, we had to cut down his gorgeous beautiful long coat to boot. I’m really sad to see it gone, but I do have to admit he looks adorable! We had to cut him down really really short due to the mats he had on him so this isn’t at all ideal. I do think that in another month or two he will be at a good length and we might keep him shorter anyway as he is much harder to groom than Kubrick! These pictures are from the two weeks he had to recover between surgeries:
And because poor Kubrick has been extremely jealous of all the attention Hitch is getting, here he is with his brother… so he can’t say I’m picking favorites. 
Now that Hitch is on the road to recovery (will take another week for him to be allowed out of the collar) I hope to have more time not only to blog but also to get out of the house… being stuck indoors with a whiny puppy is no fun let me tell you! I hope my readers had a much better July than I did and now to catch up on 300+ blog posts! Holy crap, how will I ever get through it all?
Warning: This post is REALLY image heavy. You’ve been warned.
I finally got around to editing and processing some of my pictures from the trip to Peru in April and as I was going through them I relived a lot of the awe and sheer wonder that I felt while we got to walk through this incredible place… which is why I’m choosing to cover it first even though it wasn’t the first part of our trip!
Although we would have loved to do the Inca trail (we totally want to go back to do it!), we didn’t have enough days on this vacation to get that done. So we took the train, which was also lovely… just not as adventurous!
Machu Picchu is an old Incan city that was “discovered” 100 years ago by an English archaelogist. In truth, the city was well known to the locals around who actually farmed right by the ruins. The true name of the city is not known so they named it Machu Picchu as that’s the name of the peak next to it (Machu Picchu means Old Mountain). The peak on the other side (most popular for pictures) is Huayna Picchu meaning Young Mountain.
Being one of the only cities not found by the Spanish Conquistadores, it’s well preserved as the Spaniards didn’t get a chance to destroy any part of it. It’s very humbling to think about what the city looked like before the elements and plunderers (although the Spanish didn’t get a chance to destroy it, many others did plunder it later on) got a hold of it. Some say that parts of the city walls were covered in solid gold sheets and others say that the houses were colorful and painted. I loved walking around and trying to imagine what it looked like in its heyday!
There are many theories as to what Machu Picchu was used for… a royal estate, a sacred city, an agricultural center, a place where doctors, holy men and important men lived… all just theories. But I found it beautiful no matter what it was used for. And just being able to think of real people living and breathing there was so inspiring to me.
When I first laid eyes on the city I was immediately moved by the beauty of the locale, the amazing buildings that still stand today, and the thought of how absolutely incredible it is that they were able to build this in such a high mountain ~550 years ago. It’s truly breathtaking!
I also loved seeing the llamas that hang around! The baby llama was particularly cute!
As Machu Picchu is celebrating its centennial this year, my pictures have been linked by Yahoo to show off this wondrous place to others. I read a comment on Yahoo where someone was calling me biased for taking pictures of “fat people, white people, goats (umm… they are llamas!) and stuffed animals” and not taking any pictures of the Inca people. I just wanted to comment on this for a second here. First off, calling me or my husband fat is not only rude but incredibly unfeeling. In addition, there are NO INCAS LIVING UP THERE ANYMORE. They aren’t around at all in Machu Picchu! Seriously. So get off your high horse and understand that if I’m taking pictures of MY vacation I’m allowed to have myself, my husband and my sister in them. And, yes, even a stuffed animal if I so wish it. And now I’m done… and will leave you with a few of my favorite pictures of my fat self, my hubby and sis at Machu Picchu.
And as for the stuffed animal? Stay tuned for a new mini-series called “Little Loopy Travels” featuring Little Loopy from The Loopy Ewe, who joined us for the trip. 
If you’re interested in seeing more pictures (there are a LOT more) you can check them out on my Flickr account here.
The long weekend is over for us over here in the US and although hubby and I managed to have a good time we were largely confined to stay within our home. Why? Poor Hitchcock’s anal gland ruptured once again (the first time happened last year) and although we got him into the vet for surgery right away as last time, this time he had a LOT of complications arise from the surgery which has left the poor dog with health issues that we need to keep an eye on. He has perfected the “don’t you feel sorry for me?” look and is being very very spoiled. Don’t believe me? Check out these shots… and please forgive his desperate need to be groomed. I was supposed to groom him two days after the surgery and then with the surgery, wearing that collar and everything else, well, he is looking really raggedy!
And asleep on his bed (okay, okay, this one made me laugh!):
And then today, perfecting the look that says “you want to pet me, don’t you?”
Although he is improving (slowly but surely), until he’s 100% we aren’t leaving him alone for too long… which meant staying in this wekend. We didn’t mind too much, though, as we were able to enjoy the fireworks from our balcony! As usual, they were beautiful! Here are some of my favorites:
Love the smoke in these two!
And smaller fireworks with the Verrazano bridge in the background:
Hope you all had a great 4th of July weekend!
It is always exciting to get a new pattern out and published, but this one was even more so for me because I have been thinking about this shawl for the last six months. It’s been a slow creative process for me. All I knew is that I wanted to make a shawl with cables, lace and ruffles. How to put them all together was the tough part for me. I didn’t want it to be too busy or too strange looking. I also wanted to make sure it was fun to wear and knit!
So of course, I’m doubly excited about this one as I really think I got exactly what I was looking for! And the stripes? Just a great bonus feature! 
In fact, I think the stripes are the funnest part about planning this shawl… I LOVE to pair colors together and I’m already planning my next Timenoguy. My sister has apprehended the original large one and won’t give it back (okay, okay, I’m a sucker and let her have it… what can I do against my spoiled little sister?) so now I’m wanting a large version for me, even if I do love the small one too.
And although no one has asked me about the name (this I find interesting as I had NO idea what timenoguy meant until I started looking for names), I thought I would share that here. I found that after the first shawl was done that it looked very nautical to me so I started looking up nautical terms. Due to the cables, I knew I wanted something to do with ropes. Timenoguy, as defined by Webster is ” A rope carried taut between or over obstacles likely to engage or foul the running rigging in working a ship.” In other words, a rope to keep things from getting tangled. Which I thought was perfect for the pattern as I think the cables keep the lace sections separate so they aren’t running into each other. I also LOVED the name: Timenoguy (pronounced tee-mee-no-gee with the gee being a hard g like rig and the no being pronounced like the o in log). It was fun and different… not to mention that I keep seeing Time No Guy in the name and that makes me laugh too.
The blue/brown version was knit using Sanguine Gryphon Eidos in Polimarchus and Haperdone and it is a bit smaller than the large version (Oak Aged Barrel/Cabernet Grapes knit with Sundara FMC) at 53″ x 27″ VS 60″ x 28″ for the large size.
Some specs:
Yarn
Small: The Sanguine Gryphon Eidos in Polimarchus (color A) 1 skein, 390yds/356.6m and Haperdone (color B) 1 skein, 340yds/311m
Large: Sundara Fingering Merino Cashmere in Aged Oak Barrel (color A) 1 skein, 485yds/443.4m and Cabernet Grapes (color B) 1 skein, 340yds/311m
Note – Due to the cables in the pattern I do not recommend using a single ply yarn. Yarn with good stitch definition is important.
Gauge
24 sts and 32 rows = 4” in stockinette stitch (gauge is not crucial but using differing gauge may result in a change in size and amount of yarn needed)
You can buy the pattern by checking it out on Ravelry or clicking the button below. Enjoy!
 
Firstly, thank you SO MUCH for all the positive feedback you guys have given me on Timenoguy! It’s currently being test knit and I hope to have it available for you very soon. I was so happy to see how well received the shawl is, and can’t wait to have it published so the rest of you can get a chance to make some lovely color choices of your own.
Going back to my year of socks, though, I needed to share the last pair I’ve worked on because these may possibly be my all-time favorite pair of socks ever!
Meet Rhombus, a sock that was at first a pain to knit up (I mean that literally as well figuratively) and yet became a lot of fun towards the end and actually was a memorizable pattern too!
The yarn is perfect for it, as well, IMO. It’s just the right amount of variegated to give it interest without subtracting from the pattern. It’s also oh-so-soft and I can’t wait to get my hands on more of it! This is the Sheepaints BFLaine Plus that I posted about receiving a few months ago. I loved it then and I love it even more now that it’s knit up!
I’m so excited that I kept going with these socks even through the pain (fiddly cables are no fun)… they are just perfect!
Pattern – Rhombus by Cookie A (project link | pattern link)
Yarn – Sheepaints BFLaine Plus in Daydream (rav link | store I used)
Needle – US1 (2.25mm)
Cast on – May 18, 2011
Cast off – June 2, 2011
Modifications – none
I’m so proud of this new design and so so SO happy that it turned out just as I was hoping it would! I actually several times during the process thought it wasn’t what I wanted, but I knew that was just my “you suck, this sucks, why are you doing this?” voice that likes to crop up while I’m designing at times (seriously, am I the only knitter who hears that voice every once in a while?), so I just tuned it out. And lo and behold, it actually worked out exactly as I was expecting it to. Amazing!
I set out on this project with three things in mind: lace, cables and ruffles. As those are three of my most favorite things to knit, I wanted to incorporate them all into a single design, while not making it too complicated or “busy” looking.
For sure, I wanted a triangular shawl that was nice and big – something I could wrap around myself on chilly Spring/Summer/Fall days or as a scarf on cold Winter days.
I also wanted it to be made in a gorgeous yarn – something soft and heavenly. Sundara Fingering Merino Cashmere totally fit that bill. And it just so happens that I have two skeins from a while ago that I just love – Aged Oak Barrel and Cabernet Grapes. And they played off of each other so nicely too!
I can’t wait to get this one published! I’m looking at late June/early July for a publishing date, but will know more as I get the pattern actually written and find some test knitters. So excited!
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About Me I am a professional photographer living in NYC. My main hobbies are knitting, photography (hobby and work... I love what I do!) and my two Havanese dogs, Kubrick and Hitchcock. My interests include movies, books and some TV shows. I mainly blog about my hobbies, interests and my newly married life... plus whatever else life decides to throw at me. I hope you enjoy my little corner of the web!
-Carolina (aka Lina)
Like My Photography? Hire me! I do weddings, lifestyle (both pets and kids/people) and am hoping to delve into photographing for up-and-coming knitwear designers who need help making their patterns stand out. You can see some of my work on this blog but for more info please check out my website:
TripleC Photography
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