Newest neighbor ~

Meet our sweet Scooter, our neighbor's newly adopted 9 year old cross of a red healer and boarder collie. I apologize if I am misspelling the breeds, as I do not know much about dogs.

He is very sweet, and he already loves us and the neighborhood!

I'm not sure how he feels about knitting, but we will be checking that out too...

Fabulous Fuchsia ~

I scored this malabrigo lace at my favorite yarn shop for 50% off during their anniversary sale. I will make the Jewel Cowl (free pattern on Ravelry). There is a beautiful sample in my favorite yarn shop, and each time I see it, I vow to knit this cowl.... I need to get beads and a crochet hook soon, so I can cast on!

As I was looking at it, while knitting on these socks, I noticed how similar the colors are....fuchsia is so lovely!

Skein left behind ~

Jitteryknitter takes her daughter up to the same college where we just attended orientation. (Does this sound like the opening line of a joke, "A knitter walks into a bar...." ?)   Really... they go to the same college a week after we are there, just so her daughter can check out the school and think about transferring. I am hoping they love the school so we have a better chance of getting to Knit Night on Tuesdays.... Around mid day, I get a picture and text from Jitteryknitter, "Did you leave this here?"

OMG Yes!  That was my daughter's second choice (and my first choice) and we were very sad to leave it there.  Then more sadness as Jitteryknitter did not bring it home for us.... she said, "..it seared my eyes right out of my head.."  Um, that is the point with neon...right?

River Knitting, too ~

A finished project at the river, yes!  This is a big part of why I love camping at the river!  I finished knitting this great hat, and it looks fabulous!

If I knit is again, I will decrease every other row on the top, instead of every row.  In other words, I will follow the directions on the pattern.  The reason I did not for this hat, is because I was worried the hat would be too long and floppy while my daughter is running. However, if I decreased every other row, the tops of the runners would be easier to see....We still love this hat! Hurrah for a finished project!

River Knitting ~

Finally, we went camping to our river spot. First time this summer, so I have missed out on tons of river knitting. Lucky for me, we were able to camp for a long weekend, so I was able to make progress on a few projects.

Here are the amazing Miss Babs socks. This yarn is even more beautiful by the river

(I know, you are asking how Miss Babs could be more beautiful...the river is magical, really).

College Knit Night ~

After a great "girls night" with my 15 year old, we picked up our 18 year old this morning. We headed back to our favorite part of town to have a yummy breakfast, and she was telling us all about the classes she is registered for this fall. We parked next to our favorite shop in town, and pointed out our new favorite local yarn shop.

My 18 year old said, "Hey mom, we can go to knit night on Tuesdays!"  (Ahhhhh, if only I could!!!) She knows how score points with me!!!

College Orientation ~

My daughter's and I took a road trip to get our oldest to college orientation. While she was getting placed in honors calculus, we were visiting the local yarn shop.

I love this place!  I told the super nice staff person that she and I would become best friends for the next four years as my daughter was starting school there in September. She was pleased, and we found some great sock yarn to celebrate....it was a tough choice, but my youngest chose this one..

Lovely yarn by Fly Designs. Can't wait to cast on!

Close to Finish Line ~

This hat is turning out to be a super fun knit.  I am now working on the arms of the runners, making sure that they each have two.

The color work is fabulous fun, and I love the choice of colors.  My track star is going to love this hat!  I hope to finish it when we camp this weekend!

Just Weird ~

My youngest teenager is serious about these scarves. When I asked her which one I should knit first, she agonized over the choice. Finally she announced,"Gotta love the neon." And I do love neon.

But knitting this is not knitting, it is just weird.

Three Month Anniversary ~

Just wanted to say that I am celebrating my third month of Boot Camp. My first day was in May, on my daughter's 18th birthday, so Boot Camp was a healthy gift to myself. I am seeing results and even started doing "straight leg" push ups in July.   Not many of them, but a few straight leg push ups are a big accomplishment for me!

This is our great 6:00 AM Boot Camp group, photo credits by one of our great athletes that is part of our Boot Camp experience. These are strong and fun people, and I look forward to seeing them at 6:00 AM!

Amazing Miss Babs ~

I might be the only knitter on earth who has not cast on with Miss Babs yarn by now. I could say that I don't know why I waited this long, but I do know why.  In all the shows where I see Miss Babs yarn, I can never, ever pick out one skein.  They are all beautiful and soft and perfect. Too perfect to choose just one or two. As many of you already know, the Rabbit Hole of Miss Babs yarn is a slippery place that many a knitter have stumbled into.  I only have two skeins of Miss Babs, both scored on Ebay.  Somehow when there is only one skein to look at, there is not the dizzyness associated with her yarn booth, so I was able to bid and win.

When I presented my oldest with her Graduation Socks, she knew that also meant that she could now choose the next skein of sock yarn that would become her next pair of hand knit socks.  I was thrilled when she picked Miss Babs. Casting on was so exciting, especially since I forced myself to wait until both birthday knitting projects of July were DONE!

Plying today ~

Today was a marvelous day with my Pocket Wheel. We had not had time together in several weeks, so I was looking forward to finally plying my merino/tencel.

I started out in the morning with these two lovely bobbins of 4 ounces each, spun over many many weeks, yet looking so pretty, with similar colors in different order.  I knew the final yarn would be stunning!

By the end of the day, after many interruptions, there was one beautiful bobbin of yarn delight! This turned out so pretty, and such fun to be plying again after so long. This fiber was from the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival, and we are looking forward to going again in September!