One of my favorite sites... icanhascheezburger.com

SP12 Question #5

1) Where is your favorite place to go for vacation/holiday? Outer Banks, NC (we have a cottage there in Kitty Hawk) and Anna Maria Island, FL (where my parents have a condo right across from the Gulf of Mexico, and you can see Tampa Bay out the back door). Third...lake house here in NH.

2) Where is one place you'd like to go? Scotland, all of it. Especially where my distant relatives live in the Glasgow/Rutherglen area (great grandmother came over via boat and Ellis Island). Besides, I'd love to visit a small village, have lots of knitting, and have a restful vacation. :)

Have You Ever...

Have you ever browsed an online yarn store, look up a pattern, check out a colorway, take a quick look at patterns on Ravely, or read someone's blog, and all of a sudden...

see a pattern that you MUST knit...

even if you have much already on the needles?

Sigh.

I went to JKnits and innocently looked up a colorway from a skein of great sock yarn I received (noted in previous blog post). Then I saw it.

The Fall 2008 pattern for the Garter Diamond Sweater. It's a must knit for me. Now to seek and search if it's available yet...or if I must wait. :)

Knitting Tidbits, Long Weekend, and Fresh Corn on the Cob

Happy Belated Fourth of July! I spent the long weekend at Lake Kolelemook at the lake house here in New Hampshire, which is close to Lake Sunapee. What glorious weather we had! Friends, food, fishing (for the kids) and plenty of knitting time.

OH, and here's a photo of Sonja, the "guard chicken" who tries to keep the chipmunks away from "her" birdfeeder. Too funny. :) And, I have 10 tomato plants with nice fruit just growing and hopefully will be harvested when ripe, and before the "woodland creatures" find them!





















One of the highlights at the lake:

Watching a mom and dad horned pout guarding their nest of fry (can you see them?)
















Another highlight: 9 yo catching bullfrogs and sunnies.

Knitting news:

I'm still plugging along on my Lace Hem Topping

New Bag Alert: Namaste Laguna in Peacock arrived from The Loopy Ewe!

I also became a Loopy in the Loopy Groupies with my latest purchase. I received as a surprise the following: a Loopy Ewe Red Project Tote, a skein of J.Knits sock yarn, & a Loopy Ewe keychain.

A Knitter's Holiday Swap box from SaucyMinx of Ravelry arrived! July is Ice Cream Month! I received: gorgeous hand-dyed lace weight yarn (interpretation of Ben and Jerry's Chubby Hubby flavor), equally gorgeous sock yarn in a beautiful dark cherry colorway (Cherry Garcia flavor), Trader Joe's Vanilla Wafers with Madagascar vanilla beans (Vanilla flavored ice cream with real vanilla bean specks). I also received 2 milk chocolate Dove bars, and a Dunkin Donuts coffee gift card. My pal hit the nail on the head with this wonderful swap box and her interpretations of my 3 favorite ice cream flavors was ingenious! Thank you, SaucyMinx!!!!

Farewell Tobywankanobi aka Toby the Big Pup

Today Toby, the kids and I took a trip to the Veterinarian's office. It was a one way trip for Toby, the 13 yr old Shepherd mix, who has battled degenerative hips and fought the good battle, but he was unable to be mobile and in quite a bit of pain for the past few months although he always had a cheery disposition in spite of it all. So, after a good, long cry on the trip home afterwards, I'm going to knit and think of good memories.

SP 12 Question #4

The "perfect sized" stash was a tough question for many of you to answer. Maybe these stash related questions will be easier:

1) What yarn (that you don't have/haven't used) would make your stash"complete"? What an open question! Let me think...Hand Maiden Sea Silk (so lovely!), Shibui sock yarn, Wollmiese (so hard to find...but I'm on the hunt!).

2) What yarn do you never want to be without? I think I just really need to have natural yarns near me at all times. :) My favorites: Cherry Tree Hill for socks,Zephyr Laceweight Wool/Silk for lace, Cascade 220 for felting, and I like all of my stash yarn equally and I can't think of favorites right now.

Is It Really July?

Yes, it IS July. Wow, where does the summer go? Garden is growing well, and hubby just constructed trellises for my runner beans and I'll be attempting to convince my cukes and tomatoes to use the trellis as well (thanks to Square Foot Gardening).

We have now had 2 days without rain, and I'm thankful. We've been spending time on the deck and I enjoy the new "room" that it seems to have become.

In knitting news, I've completed the back of the Lace Hem Topping, and working on the front.
I'm really trying/attempting to finish some UFOs this summer, despite wanting to cast on about a half dozen new projects! I have also a new knitting bag on it's way to me:

Meet Namaste's Laguna bag in Peacock:


The bag "seemed" to jump into my cart at The Loopy Ewe while I was shopping for my SP12 Pal. This is one of my favorite knitting shops online...the selection and service is awesome.

I also have a confession of sorts. Yesterday, I gathered my yarn goodies (aka stash) and placed them in 78qt totes. The yarn was discreetly hidden in and about my eldest son's room aka knitting room aka computer room while he's been at college, and now at Engineer School/Army training in Missouri. He comes home late August, and will want "his" room back. Sigh. So I brewed a cup of coffee, and started collecting the yarn and placing it in totes, before relocating my stash to stack neatly in my large closet.

My yarn filled up 6 totes, and various containers. Yes, it did. I believe I can knit quite a few sweaters, outfit myself and family in socks for a lifetime, and knit until the cows come home. Yet, my stash grows. I will be on a sort of self-regulated Yarn Diet. Reality hit yesterday when I organized the stash. I may post photos if I can bring myself to actually document the stash....my stash is not as big as some, it IS bigger than others. I joined the SummerKalCal, so I'll knit through my stash. Remember...if you see new yarn here, leave a comment and scold me. (Yeah, right) :)

Vacation Bible School (VBS) begins at my church the last week of July, and we're having a 9a-4p day camp, with God's Creation as this year's theme. This year, I'm the Craft Lady, and it's time to get the projects chosen and supplies gathered.

Like I said, can it REALLY be July already? I haven't swam in the lake, picked strawberries yet, made jam, or visited the Outer Banks in NC yet.

Slow down, summer!