doggies love the beach

so, on friday before the long weekend, we packed up the doggies and went to the beach. Doggies love the beach and a good time was had by all.










We saw some sights......










picked some rocks....... (oregon agates)











and generally hung out, with a stop at Twisted in portland on the way down where I was unusually good and didn't spend a dime (saving it for sock summit). Did some knitting too, on the socks and the fragipani shawl for sock summit. Pics next time....


When we came home, this was on the porch waiting to say "hi". Now that we're on vacation the rest of the week, trying to get some things done around the house, it's pouring rain. Guess it'll be INSIDE projects for today.

A week of FO's (sort of)

This week brought the finish of Batik. I think it turned out beautifully. A little too heavy for sock summit, but it should be great for next winter.












I also FINALLY finished the mermaid KAL (sort of). It turned out WAY better than I was expecting, but the bind off is WAY too tight. Like, half of what it needs to be too tight. I'm totally mad at myself because I kept going and even wove in the ends, but when it got to blocking.....WAY too tight. Now it's going to have to dry and I'm going to have to pick out the bind off and do it again. Yes, I did use a "stretchy" bind off technique, but there's no stretch there. Next time, bigger needle and a different technique. It's going to rest for a while, though, 'cause I need to move on to sock summit projects.










Stitch markers.......
















A shawl with the anzula yarn that should be here any day. I'm thinking Fragipani by kitman. (the same person who did Batik). I would have done damask, but that's SO done already by someone else. I want mine to be different.


And, yes, I DO still knit socks. (I certainly have enough yarn!)












The good news here is the weather has improved........
The bad news, not much........



















next week.....stash enhancement!

only 14 rows to go

on the mermaid shawl.
I'm down to the part now where each row has about 800 stitches and it takes me about an hour each. I really want to finish this so that I can move on to sock summit projects and some man-socks.

This week was pretty eventful knitting-wise. I finished Batik. (it needs a bath, though)













Ordered yarn for my Rosalia, bought some watermelon sock yarn. (love this stuff - have to make socks for the summit with it - perfect summer socks), also bought some anzula cloud for a damask shawl. I'm volunteering for anzula at sock summit, so I thought it would be fun to have a little something made out of their yarn to wear in the booth. Lots of sock summit plans happening. This week, I think I'll make a trip out to shipwreck beads for some stitch marker materials. So many projects, so little time.......



On a happy note, our litte ozzie ozzborne turns 1. Has it been that long already?

A bit of excitement this week!

This week brought a bit of excitement. Registration for SOCK SUMMIT!!!!!!!
So, wed. at exactly 11:55, we hunkered down with a class list, credit card and a lot of patience. Even the doggies were excited.











I'm happy to report that this time it went very smoothly (for me at least) and I got the one class I wanted - tesselations with franklin habit, the opening ceremonies, and two lectures, pooling and stephanie's talk on sat night. I'm so excited I can hardly sit still! Oh, and swag. Did I mention swag? T-shirt, zipper, thingy, and button, of course.
We had such a great time last summit and met SO many great friends (knitnana).
This experience will be a bit different, not so many classes (planned that way), and I'm working for a vendor on sat morning. Plenty of time for shopping, eating out, and flash mobbing. (note to self - still need to get that extra tiara for P.)
If it sounds like a wild crazy fun time, it IS......
Is is july yet?????



There was a bit of fun too.....the loopy ewe mother's day kit. Loved the colors of the yarn.







And some progress on little mermaid and batik.















I also signed up for the next one - the phoenix and the carpet.
This week, a stop by yorkshire yarns for sweater yarn for the mary scott huff class, and possibly a trip to shipwreck to find stitch marker beads for the sock summit swap.
Is is july yet?

happy may day!

Wow! the first of may already.....
Maybe we'll finally get some spring here.
The final clue of the shawl was released this week, I'm still on the last one.....
I definitely want to sign up for the next KAL though. The yarn and patterns are gorgeous and definitely worth the effort.

Batik is making progress. I've kind of been going back and forth..












The big development this week is sock summit registration. I'm not really looking to take a full schedule of classes last time....lots of time for shopping, demos, etc.
But, I WILL be there wed. to get my opening ceremony tickets and I'm looking at one class and a couple of lectures. Hopefully registration will go smoothly and i'll have the time to get in. We'll still go anyway, there's just too much fun and it will not be missed!
Yogi is very excited about it.