Knittinggarden

to our lovely Laura. We took her to Portland yesterday to meet her group for the flight back to Spain. We hated to say goodbye - it was such a fun and educational month. We did and saw things around our own home that we hadn't done in ages and I have a list of 28 new Spanish words and phrases to work on. She promised to continue sending me new words via e-mail, so by the time we visit her in San Sebastian I'll be able to make a few sentences! We went to the King County Fair last Saturday. I hadn't been to that one in years, and it was lots of fun. We saw lots of animals (here are some cerdos) ate fair food, including hot dogs and scones and generally had a very pleasant time. We stopped by Lake Wilderness on the way back to show Laura where our summer cabin is, and here are the girls on the dock at the park. We also visited the Pike Place Market, where we saw more cerdos. We had a campfire on the patio and made s'mores, which were enjoyed by all.

I just returned from a fabulous, though hot, week in Palm Desert, CA. We had been having beautiful and quite hot weather here in Seattle for awhile, so it wasn't such a shock to go outside at 9 AM and find the temperature in the 90s. (Ok, it still was a shock but I survived.) I was alone (yes, alone!) for three days, then my daughter and Spanish guest arrived. I got lots of knitting done, some early morning walking and bike riding, and some sunbathing. I finished my Victorian Lace Socks and am pretty happy with them. They were fun to knit; the rib pattern was different, but not too hard. Of course, I also worked on my MS3 clue and finished the second one. I had my daughter print out Clue 3 and bring it to me when she arrived so I wouldn't be too far behind. We have two weeks to do Clue 4, so I should be able to finish the rest of 3 and get 4 done without too much trouble. Although being back in the land of gardening and housework slows me down a little. Here's my ...

I just finished Clue 1 of Mystery Stole 3. I have to really concentrate to follow the charts, but I'm pleased so far. Now on to the next one! My word of the day is fuente (fountain.) Here's our guest in front of the fountain near the Olympic Sculpture Garden in Seattle. Today was our first visit to the park, and it was beautiful. A beautiful day, and very interesting art. Do you remember these? I know I'm dating myself when I say I remember using them. (The picture isn't the best, but the sculpture is huge and very cool.)

than your own. Our exchange student, Laura, told her mother about the fun times she is having with us, and of course her mother thought that since Laurie "wanted to trade families", she would trade daughters to one who didn't use American slang! We are having a great time with her. We took a ferry ride the other day and enjoyed the beautiful weather. My new words: nadar (swim), tortuga (turtle), and anacardos (cashews). I don't know if I can use them in a sentence. I also learned that cardo alone means a rude or abrupt person. Laura and I took Buddy for a walk today around Green Lake and had a great time. We saw turtles (tortugas), a great blue heron, lots of dogs and, of course, many people. Everything is new to her and I enjoy seeing it through new eyes. My new Mystery Stole 3 progress: This is chart A of Clue 1. I'm busily trying to get Chart B done before Clue 2 is published tomorrow. With the Yarn Harlot 's announcement today that she has joine...

is my motto for July. We welcomed Laura from San Sebastian, Spain into our family for the month and she is graciously teaching me a new Spanish word each day. So far we have perro (dog), calor (hot), pelicula (movie), and gofre (waffle). DD says these words are random, but they refer to things we've done or talked about, so they're good for me! Here is our guest snuggled up with Buddy and everyone looks happy. The first clue for Mystery Stole 3 was published on Friday, and I managed to get through Chart A (half of the first clue) by last night. (Yes, it looks like thong underw*ear, but not for long!) I'm doing pretty well with it, but the yarn (Lane Borgosesia Cashwool) is quite fine and light, and I have to be really careful and pay close attention so I don't mess it up. Even fingering weight sock yarn seems thick after using this stuff! I don't know if I'll be a lace fanatic after this project, but I'll certainly improve my experience. As the tria...

to get me excited. I went to Michael's today in search of Dishrag cotton and came back with three balls of Sugar 'n Cream (the "original"). I'm going to try making one of them - I made sure to get a ball with two bias-knit dishcloth patterns on it so I can see just how easy this can be. Since I have to start off our team's relay, I'll have to be super quick. In looking at their blogs, it seems that some of my teammates are very accomplished knitters. I don't want to be the weak link in the chain! Speaking of getting yarn, I had a great mail day on Monday. I got my package from The Loopy Ewe (it's true - Sheri is lightening fast). Along with the laceweight Lane Borgosesia Cashwool, I got some new sock yarns to try. There's Dream in Color Smooshy in the Nightwatch colorway, Fiesta Boomerang in Rhubarb, and yarn from The Knittery in Chocolate Royale. You can see my little swatch there for MS3. I really like the light feel of the fabric...

I get to be a Team Captain for Dishrag Tag. The power! The responsibility! I hope I can fulfill my duties in a competent manner. PTA President is nothing compared to this... Seriously, it will be a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to meeting my team members online (they're from all across the country). Actually making the dishrag will probably be the smallest part. I've never made one, but I imagine it will only take a few hours. Maybe I should start training now so I won't let the team down by being any slower than usual. I'm training for Mystery Stole now. In addition to the Victorian Lace and Waving Lace socks I've been working on, I started the Branching Out Scarf from Knitty.com. I'm making it with Handmaiden Camelspin, which felt so soft when I picked it up that I couldn't resist it. I thought the color was beautiful, too; a variegated mix of chocolate brown, black, and blue. Yum! I got it at Beehive Wool on a recent trip to Victoria...

I've signed up for two more knitalongs in the last few days. The first one, called Dish Rag Tag, I read about here. I thought it sounded fun and easy, and would be a way to add more "imaginary friends" to my circle. Word spreads so fast that it closed within days with over 200 participants. It doesn't begin until August 1, but the "teams" will be assigned soon and it will be fun to see who I will be racing with. The second one, which I can't remember where I saw, is Mystery Stole 3. The idea is fun: you are given a list of supplies to purchase, and then on a start date, the first "clue" is revealed. Every Friday another clue is posted and if you follow the instructions, you will end up with a lace stole. I'm just getting into lace knitting with some socks, and enjoying it immensely. I finally figured out how to read a chart, and how to make sure the pattern is correct as I knit. I hope this project won't be too difficult. I ju...

We had a great weekend that continued through Monday! We had a super time with family members visiting from Boston and Las Vegas on Saturday, I participated in a tribute to a beloved music director from our Temple on Sunday, and yesterday we visited College/Working Boy and brought him some items he needs for his new rental house on the other side of the mountains. And, there was a box of yarn from The Loopy Ewe in the mailbox when we got home! On Saturday, we had a wonderful time visiting with cousins we rarely see, since they had the nerve to move far away from the Seattle area. It's great now that baby K is walking; ever notice how a get-together turns into a "show" when there's a baby, puppy, or kitten as the center of attention? That's how it was, but everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. Baby K really liked the chocolate cake! Sunday was a tribute to Samuel Goldfarb, music director of the Temple our family belonged to when I was growing up. My sister and I j...

But it's not supposed to happen in one day! Here in the Seattle area, in the last week, we've had beautiful clear skies with temperatures in the 80s, light breezes, and generally our idea of wonderful summer weather. Then, in a matter of a day, or sometimes only hours, we are treated to humidity, drizzle, still-warm temperatures, thunderstorms, heavy cloudbursting rain and a now grand temperature of 50. Planning daily activities becomes somewhat of a challenge unless you are always prepared to sit indoors or outdoors and knit! I've finished about half of my first Waving Lace sock, and finally had an "aha" moment when starting over on the lace pattern for about the fourth time. I realized that when I looked at the chart, all the purl symbols lined up; therefore, each row's pattern had to have the purls on top of the other purls. Suddenly there was clarity and my knitting flew along. It was fun to see the pattern emerge, and look like the picture in the bo...

Wow, 11 years. It seems like the blink of any eye that we went from this to this And now it's even a year later than when we posed for this photo; two boys successfully finishing freshman year of college, and the baby is driving. It's been an adventure, and one that promises to continue with even more surprises, excitement, and love. You'll always be my car guy, and I love you.

"It's a good day when yarn comes in the mail" is my new motto, and yesterday was a good day. I got a package from The Sweet Sheep with a skein of Colinette Jitterbug. I've been reading good things about it and "needed" to add it to my considerable stash of sock yarn. The colorway is Bright Charcoal, which has some black in it, which is what I've been looking for. I also had tea with my friend Sandy at my local LYS, Village Yarn and Tea , which is a fabulous place. It's just like it sounds - you can have tea and scones, shop for yarn, sit and knit, and/or all three at once! The people there are so friendly and helpful, too. It's always great to stop by, and more times than not I leave with new yarn. I went to yoga with my friend Priscilla, which was also great. Yesterday was my class at 2 Dog , and Tuesday and Thursday are classes at Treehouse . We had quite a workout today! I fin ally finished my Panda Cotton socks last night. I frogged ...

It's a beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest and I'm having trouble deciding whether to knit, garden, walk the dog, or none of the above. So, I'm sitting here trying to figure out how to enter the fascinating world of Blogdom without spending all my time in front of the computer. It's not working out real well. Since millions of others have gone before me, I'm confident that I, too, will succeed. These are squares knitted and sent to Laura in Kansas to help victims of the tornado. They're easy to do, fun, and it's great to watch her reports of squares coming in. This is a hat and blanket I made from wool (blanket is Lion Wool and hat is Lamb's Pride worsted) and sent to afghans for Afghans . I knit for them often, and feel good about being able to help people in some small way, at the same time doing something I love!