go ahead and jump

I finished Grandma's flap top mittens. I need to block them before I take pictures. No, I have never blocked a pair of mittens before. These mittens tell me they will look oh so nice after a little soak in water and an afternoon on the deck.

Today I took a trip to Weaving Works for another skein of black Koigu. The first 2 skeins were purchased a month ago. Luckily for me they had one skein left in my dye lot. The new order they had on the shelf was very black. The skeins I have are pretty black, with enough variation to be enjoyable to knit. I will probably finish Plain Ol' black sock for Husband tomorrow.

While at Weaving Works a couple other skeins jumped into my basket.

Dad will be receiving the Log Cabin Socks from Handknit Holidays. I had ordered a yarn from Loopy Ewe for his holiday socks, but when it arrived the color I thought was a dark green/brown is in fact purple. My Dad is not a purple guy.

All is not lost. I think Mother will enjoy the original skein.

And this.

This is the emergency car knitting. For about 2 years I have kept a cotton bathroom project in the car, just in case. It works great. I have made a couple of hand towels for my bathroom and a washcloth for the kids bathroom. This will also be a washcloth for the kids bathroom. No hurry, it just sits in the car for the days when you do not expect to wait for _____but find yourself turning off the ignition and cursing yourself for having left your knitting bag on the table.

At some point this week I should receive a package from Green Mountain Spinnery. The Rockin' Sock Club may arrive the following week. Knit, knit, knit. I better keep busy or someone may accuse me of having a stash.

there was a great big moose

Friday morning I found myself sitting at the dining room table, making swaps, singing the Moose song and it hit me. It was the last day of camp. I have to admit I was sad then, and I am sad now. Maybe if camp ran for 2 weeks? I know, that is crazy talk. I am the only one who would volunteer for a 2 week camp.

Camp this year was great!!!! We shook things up and tried many new things. 120 girls in camp, 14 girls off site, 23 Program Aides (high schoolers) and 29 adult staff. Everything was wonderful. All that is left is to have a Thank You dinner for the adults.

Oh, and the garage. The garage is a mess during camp. Things going in and out of the van depending on the day. Now all supplies have been returned to me. I need to sort, purge, inventory and stack into as small a space as possible. I have tried to find someone else to be our Equipment Manager. People volunteer, but then realize it is more work than they had in mind and it all returns to my house. This year I am excepting that it is all mine to deal with. I am a fine purger and I should be able to condense things quite a bit. Husband is understanding about camp week, but oh so happy to have his garage back.

Today we went to the Medieval Fair. It was not what I expected. At 9 bucks a head, that is $54 dollars for our family, I expected BIG. It is small. The play at the end of the day made me feel better about the money spent. Also, they only took money, cash, green stuff. Luckily Husband had some cash in his wallet. Usually neither one of us carries cash. The blacksmith was great fun to talk with. No spinners :-( I was really looking forward to talking with them.

spinning wheel

I need help people. I REALLY want to buy a wheel. Money is an object. What, in your opinion is the best beginner wheel? Is it the Ashford Traditional? Or is the Kiwi, at $200 less, a good choice? Or do you have an even better idea?

in with the in crowd

I LOVE Twilight Camp. One of my favorite weeks of the year. Day 2 was great. Felt like the camp was running itself.

After camp I needed to drop off some paperwork. She opened the door, took one look at me and said, "It must have been crazy socks day!"

She was right. I wore this pair with capri pants so that they had maximum impact.

Tomorrow is Super Hero Day. Can you guess who I will be?

easy as pie

I finished a pair of socks and forgot to show them off.

The are knit from Fleece Artist Sea Wool, Hercules.

I love the colors. I love the feel of Sea Wool. I am keeping these. OK, I have already worn them.

The pattern is a simple cable and rib. The first sock was made with Knit Picks needles, the second with Crystal Palace Bamboo. The second sock is a bit tighter, but only because I am Knitter. They feel the same when worn. I did the cables down the leg then kept the ribbing pattern on the heel and the foot, without the cables. A really nice effect. I am thinking I may do that with other socks.

Right now I am almost finished with a flap topped mitten. These will be for Grandma. I found a pattern that made sense when I read it, but turned out to be crap when knit. I kept the join method used for the flap and designed a new pattern for the rest of the mitten. As soon as I finish I will post pictures and the pattern.

Last night the Girl Scouts had an Aquasocks overnight. The Aquasocks are the Rookie Ball team of the Seattle Mariners. I have to admit that I enjoy going to the Minor League games WAY more than the Major Leagues. So last night there were a couple of sections full of Girl Scouts of all ages. We watched the game, we ate junk food, we saw a great fireworks show and then we pitched our tents on the outfield! There were games and visiting and card playing. So much fun. There was a contest for the best decorated tent. We, as a troop, are not decorators. We are however food lovers. So we skipped the decorating and instead gave the judges homemade blackberry pie. The blackberries were on the vine that very morning. MMM. It worked. We received the prize for Best Bribing of a Judge With Pie! Of course there is a cool patch.

Because you all know, it is all about the patch.

Tomorrow is the start of Day Camp. YAHOOEE!!

don't stop till you get enough

It turns out I did have some time to make my holiday knitting list. While the rest of the family was watching Firefly I poured a glass of wine and set to thinking. It is good. I have a couple of gifts done and one that is half done. I have yarn on hand for all but two projects. Croc for Youngest Son and Dragon for Oldest Daughter.



I only have one more order to become a Loopy Groupie, so I will definitely be placing an order there. Blue Moon has a new series out in the fall, The Raven Series. You know I am all over that. Other than those 2 known purchases I think I am good for a while.



Oh, I thought of one more. The Tyrolean Stockings in the new Interweave Knits. I thought I had yarn for those, but I do not, and truth be told there is no way I am going to be able to sleep until until those are on needles.



OK, so three things...Loopy Ewe, Blue Moon and Green Mountain Spinnery. That is all. Done. Don't need anything else. Wouldn't know what to do with it if I had it. There will be more pretty colors and I can wait until I need more yarn. Yes, wait until I need more yarn. Wait.

careful, you are going to want one!

The phone has been ringing off the hook. I leave the house and return to 3 messages, twice. It is definitely the week before camp. Everyone is getting set and calling with last minute questions. It is very busy around here, good, just busy.

Here is the BEST travel present I have ever received. My friend and her family were in Central Europe and she brought this back for me.

Can you tell what she's doing?



How about now?





This wonderful little hand carved fox is knitting...a sock!




There is a heavy wooden weight hanging and when the weight moves it makes the foxes arms move so that they look like they are knitting a sock. BEST ever! Love you Naomi!!!