Ch-ch-ch-changes

Oh, where to start! Well, to begin with I moved out of my parent's house. Thank goodness, I love ya mom and dad, but I was starting to go a bit crazy. Where have I gone? Well I must have gone crazy living at my parent's because I moved in with my boyfriend, Roger. Fast, you say? That's true, but hey it's been a little more than two months now living together and so far so good!
We rent a little house in Phoenixville, Pa. The house is great, it has a big kitchen, washer/dryer, screened in porch, a nice yard, garage, and a nice office for me. It's also a great location, although I do miss the mountains down in Virginia.
Oh, and one more big change, we got a dog! His name is Cooper and he just had his 1st birthday. We adopted him at the ASPCA. They said there that he is a lab mix, but I don't think he has any lab in him. My guess is an Australian Cattle Dog mix. What do ya think? We've thought about getting one of those puppy DNA tests done, but I'm not sure it's worth it. I am rather curious though, so perhaps down the road. He's been a great dog, very cuddly but active too. I'm hoping to make him my new hiking buddy. I did five miles with him the other day and he wanted to keep going, so I think it might work out. I also set up the tent to see if he'd go in it, and he did! He's on the road to becoming a great backpacking pup.



Here's a pic of Coop sitting on the very nice pillows that Roger's mom made. I swear it's the one and only time he's been on them in the chair. They are much too nice for him to be on them, but come on he looks really cute.
As for the important information, my knitting... I have been moving along slowly with my projects. I do have 800 yards of delicious qiviut to make a shawl out of. I've been looking around at patterns, but so far I haven't found anything that seemed perfect. Suggestions?

Bacardi in Terra

Meet my next project everyone! Sorry I couldn't find a larger picture, but it's Bacardi, a fair isle sweater from No Sheep for You. As if the pattern itslef isn't interesting enough, I'm using a brand new yarn (not even in stores yet!) from South West Trading Company, Terra. It's a dk 50/50 cotton, bamboo blend. I can't wait to get the yarn! First I have to pick out colors though, I need to choose six. I'm always tempted to pick 6 different colors for fair isle, but I do think fair isle looks better when it's more tonal with just an accent or two. Here are the colors that I was considering:

The sixth is a chocolate brown that I couldn't find a photo of for some reason. I think the colors above might be too safe. What do you think? Here are the other colors that I was considering

I might do the light blue instead of the brown or one of the lighter greens. Regardless of what colors I choose I can't wait to start my first fair isle sweater!