Heading out

I've been meaning to post all week but just couldn't get it together . Mike and I are heading out tomorrow morning for Maine . We've rented a house with some friends and are hoping that the gorgeous weather that we've had all summer will continue for another week . I'm dying to stick my toes into the ocean ! We're mostly packed and ready to go , actually the knitting is ALL packed , reading material is organized , clothes , well I'm still doing laundry ...

This is what I have planned to work on while Mike drives . I'm at the toe decreases on the first sock so should be able to get a good start on the second sock on the way down . They're called Circle Socks . These are another pair earmarked as a Christmas gift .

We had some very nice news yesterday , Max and Stef found out that they were having a boy . I'd kinda been hoping for a girl but it will be fun for Jessey to have a little buddy . Guess the little pink sweater goes in the gift basket . Someone is bound to have a girl sooner or later !

I'll be bringing my computer but I'm not sure if I'll be able to have access to the Internet so I'll catch you all in about a week . Have a great week !

Kisses cardigan

It took me longer to seam this little cardigan (details here ) than it did to knit it . I'm not completely happy with it . Seaming is not my strong suit and I had no end of problems with the set in sleeves . Also , my tension was uneven in spots and even with blocking it shows . So , glad it's done but not happy . At least I got gauge !


Well back to socks and the shawl in progress , those don't need seaming .


Have a great weekend ....

Taste testing

Grandpa sure has lots of tomatoes . Wonder which one should I pick ...

Grandpa says this one looks good enough to eat

Yup , the man knows his tomatoes . Do you think I can have more than one ?

Ta Da....

Mission accomplished ! The ends were sewn in this morning but it was finished over at Max's this past weekend . The first finished knit for the new grandbaby to be ! Stef has her next ultrasound on Aug 19th . We're hoping that they'll be able to tell whether they're having a boy or a girl . She'll be 20 weeks along at that point .

I love this little blanket . The pattern is the Pine Forest Baby Blanket on ravelry .The yarn is Berroco Comfort DK . The finished size is 30"X 28" . I wanted a blanket that would be easily carried along for the car or the stroller . I know that someone else is knitting larger blankets for this baby but wanted him/her to have one from me too .

Next up , the pink sweater is ready to be assembled . Brushing up on my finishing skills ,wish me luck ....

Is July almost over !

I've been in a bit of a funk lately , feeling kinda meh , which has meant no blogging . Mike is away on a fishing expedition up in northern Quebec for a couple of weeks . I'm always a little out of sorts when he's away . Anyway enough of that .

I haven't been knitting very much , still have the baby blanket , a baby sweater and a shawl on the needles . Just to make life interesting I cast on for another pair if socks . At least Mike's socks are done so I feel a little less guilty about starting another project . Speaking of which ....

I'm disappointed in the yarn . There was a problem with the colour sequence about half through the ball . You can see the wheels fall off the bus at the midpoint of the foot of the top sock in the photo. Till that point they matched up pretty well . Mike had seen them in progress and said that he's quite happy just to be getting them and that the matchiness is not an issue for him . Isn't he good , I think I'll keep him !

This weekend I'm staying at Max's to dog sit Zeus and Alaska . They have a beautiful deck and a pool and with the weekend weather looking promising , let's see if I can get at least one more project finished by Monday .

Have a good weekend !

After the heat

It's finally cooled down a tiny bit after last week's blistering heat . To think that I was looking forward to reading, knitting and enjoying the pool . We did enjoy the pool for the first couple of days till it got so hot that even going for a swim to stay cool was an exercise in futility. The pool temps last week were in the 90s . With no air conditioning the inside of the house was decidedly like an oven . Th main floor wasn't too bad but the upstairs was unbearable . After a week of this we bought an air conditioner for our bedroom which will help to keep the upstairs cool enough to at least get some sleep . The upside of the heat last week , I sweat off a few pounds .





I did more reading than knitting last week but I did pick up the sticks to work on the baby blanket for the Max's expected little one . But I gotta say that having a blanket on your lap doesn't help you to stay cool , so I picked up Mike's socks in progress . I cast on for these after seeing Manda's June socks in the sock a month KAL . The pattern is available as a free download on ravelry .




An interesting aside . As some of you might know my method of knitting has always been to hold the yarn in my left hand and also to throw it with the same hand to knit . This weird method comes from me being a self taught knitter , reading the instructions and feeling more comfortable doing it my way . It works . After always having to explain why I knit that way I decided to try and change it up . After a lot of practice and perseverance I now knit continental . I'm hoping to keep at it so that it becomes second nature . So far so good . I like the way my knitting looks , the tension is more even and it seems to me the stitch definition is nicer .





Off to search the Internet for some good zucchini recipes , dessert or otherwise . I used to have a really great recipe for chocolate chip zucchini cake but can't find it for love or money . Any you'd like to share ?

A rare weekend post

I just had to post because I finished the red blanket . I finished it a couple of days ago and it's packed away in Shirley's suitcase . She's leaving for Red Deer tomorrow morning . She's so excited to be visiting her son and his family . They'll be having a big party to celebrate Sidney's first birthday . I 'm looking forward to talking to her on Skype and getting to see the changes in the little guy since Christmas .

Speaking of Skype , have I ever mentioned how much I love it ! I'm able to video call my dad in Austria whenever I want . It costs nothing from computer to computer . You can call landlines or mobile phones for a minimal cost . I have a subscription for unlimited minutes to Europe for $5.95 CDN /month . I'm saving a bundle on long distance calls . Plus it's so nice to be able to see the person that you're talking to .

It'll be quiet around here as Casey and Chantal have rented a condo in Hampton Beach NH for a week . Jessey will get his first taste of the beach and the ocean . I'm missing the little guy like crazy . Casey promised to call on Skype so that we can get our Jessey fix . I looked at the weather forecast for Hampton Beach , boy , did they ever luck into perfect beach weather , sunny and hot , hot , hot . Ditto for here . That means that without air conditioning very little real work will get done here . Yours truly will be enjoying the pool , sipping cold beverages and trying to find a cool shady spot to read or knit . Such a hard life ! Man , I love summer !