how can it be june already???

Tomorrow is the first of june. That means I have about 45 days until I take my test.
YIKES!! Even though I've been studying for nearly a year, it hardly seems like I'm ready. Yesterday I officially "committed", so onward!

The clematis bag is done.
I know, it's HUGE. That's the way it works with felting. This one is going to take a while to shrink into submission. I'm just hoping it turns out cool. It's going to be a blast to take it to sock summit as my working bag. I'm sure I'll be the only kid on the block with one.











Next up "hey teach" from Knitty. I want to have a nice, lightweight sweater to take to the summit for those air-conditioned rooms.

Sock Summit, here I come......

Well, who knew????
If my husband didn't already have no hair, it would be all gone now after registering me for sock summit. I ended up with a couple of extras, as did a lot of folks, but I know they'll get around to me and I'll be able to turn those back in.
I KNOW I'll just end up spending it in the SWAG shop anyway when that opens.

I'm almost afraid to admit that I got my dream schedule:
Thurs: Cool Socks A - Lucy Neatby
Fri: Creative Mosaic Knitting - Barbara Walker
Sat: Cast on Cornucopia/Bind off Bonanza
Sun: Textured Colorwork

and a ticket to the reception.

I tried to take classes that I thought I would improve my knitting skills.

Maybe it was just good luck, maybe it was karma, it is, after my 50th birthday that weekend.
My husband says it was hard work and patience. I'll give him that.
I'm over-the-moon, beside myself excited to be there.
Now I just have to start saving my allowance for the marketplace and SWAG shop.

And now for something entirely different

It's been a very yarny week, in spite of that little detour to hang like a bat.

I've made great progress on the clematis purse. Right now it looks like a sweater for an elephant. Felting is SO amazing! I have 2 more rows of stripes and then the flowers. Hopefully it will be done this week.












Because I also have THIS. The latest shipment from the sock club.
Love the color. Can't wait to get started.











I also got this...
It's for the Faery Ring KAL that starts in july, so it's going in the stash for a bit
It's Cascade 220, doeskin heather. I think it's going to make a great faery ring.




I'm totally stressed out about the sock summit registration. It starts at 10 am tomorrow, and I'll be having a pilates session at the time. I'm worried that by the time I get to it, all the classes will be taken, and I REALLY want to go. We already have hotel reservations, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Sister's worried too, this is her worried look.......








Let's finish with a little garden happiness.

Back from"hanging like a bat"

I managed to survive two days of advanced pilates, not too much worse for the wear.
Just a little tired.....
Good thing tomorrow's a holiday.

finished and blocking

Well, it's been a productive knitting week. The flirty tank is finished and blocking. This was a fun, challenging but easy knit. I would definitely do it again.

I also started on the clematis purse. I want to use it as my knitting bag for sock summit.

I think it's cool, although it does seem a bit gaudy. It will definitely attract some attention!

Now, I just NEED the sock summit registration to OPEN, OPEN, OPEN!

I'm afraid it's going to be a day when I'm tied up, and I won't get the classes I want.

Plenty of classes to choose from, but I think there's about half a million folks that want to go.

Don't EVEN get me started on the vendor list from it. My credit card is crying as we speak.

I'm so excited to even be able to go.

Check out my wisteria! This is the most it's bloomed in it's life. It had to be drastically chopped back because it broke off in the snow. Seems it LIKES to be abused a bit. Really, it's beautiful, and it smells really sweet.

In other news, next weekend is my final required pilates workshop, so it's off to Portland. All advanced. Cadillac, chair and barrels. Very difficult stuff, very physical, and very cirque du soleil. YIKES. Good thing monday is a holiday and I can sleep in.

For our doggie pic today, a little squiggi torture. Don't worry, no cats were harmed. He actually loves the attention. The cat protests, bonks her hard on the head, and five minutes later is back for more!

we've had some visitors here

this is donald and daisy. Don't know where they came from, we just came home the other day and daisy was quite comfortable on top of the hot tub.

The kitty doesn't have a name yet. It's been hanging around. We think it's abandoned, so we've been feeding it. It's very scared of people, but it hangs out on the porch waiting for the morning hand out.

Stash Enhancement

But with specific projects in mind.
This week, I bought the yarn for the clematis purse. I worried over trying to use some of my stash yarn, but just decided to go with all new in the recommended yarn and colors. I think it will look better.





Because they had free shipping on $75 or more, I HAD to add some, so I also got this to do "hey teach". I'm just drawn to greens, so I'm going with it right now. I have to say, I highly recommend yarn country I ordered my yarn on thursday, and, there it was in my mailbox on friday. Amazing!












The LYS also had a sale, my two favorite things, sale and yarn, so I HAD to get some of that too. I have a tank in mind that I think I'm going to really like. I'm trying to focus on some summer knitting that I will wear.











Made quite a bit of progress on the flirty tank. I keep thinking it's a bit too big, but we'll see......














And finally, our doggie pic for the week.

Ok, I'm moving on

I spent a week wallowing in my flow failure. AGAIN.
I give up. I was determined not to let it get the best of me, but it's gone back to the frog pond. Maybe next time.

In an effort to find something "summery", I fished out this project from last season.
Flirty Tank from Y2knit. It's just lacy enough to be fun, but not so much that is shows more than you would want. A relatively easy knit, too. I started this yesterday afternoon and after 2 movies, this was how far I'd gotten. I'm thinking I'm going to like this. I just hope it fits!











Anyway, I'm working on it because I'm going to need some summer stuff to wear to Sock Summit.

I fell in love with this also, and had to immediately order the pattern.
Clematis Bag
There's a sale at my LYS next weekend, so I plan to get what I need to do this. I think it's gaudy, but cool. Call me crazy.
I can also use some of the stash to make the flowers, etc.

For our doggie distraction of the day.....
WHAT could be so fascinating??







This guy, of course!