New Camera

Hello Bobo!

Below, Frances the Purple, complete back.  Started the front!

Progress

So much has happened in the past 2 months! Several trips for me, some sad, some necessary, some scary, and some just for fun. The most accurate measure of the time that has passed though, is what changes have happened in my house and yard. That, and as always, my knitting!

Since we were a little late to the game, we decided to plant vegetables and herbs in pots instead of in the ground. We really had a hard time believing that they would not be demolished by insects or heat, but the rewards have proved us wrong!












We have enjoyed spaghetti sauce with tomatoes and basil grown in our backyard, pesto, tomato sandwiches, and just plain sliced tomatoes with salt and pepper. There is nothing like it in the world!

The basement has finally been totally unpacked and organized. It seemed like it would never happen, but with some extra motivation, it finally did. I hosted some knitting friends for an evening Knit and Chat when it was all done, and it is the perfect space for us girls to hang out!









And last, and probably most importantly.... my craft room. The pictures speak for them selves, and suprisingly I have just a smidge more room to acquire a few things!









Yes.....that is the stash!

My knitting continues to be very productive, and I swear it is just in the air here. I am currently blocking the pieces of Debbie Bliss's Lily and have the complete back done to her Francis, which this picture does not reflect (not to mention that it is sideways, and for the life of me I can't seem to upload it the right way, even though the original is normal!). In taking the photo of Francis, I noticed some cable errors in the picture that I somehow could not see when I looked at it in person. Go figure. They are fixed now thankfully, and before I had gotten too far away from them!







Pardon the slightly blurry photos, as I am using my phone camera. Must.charge.camera.batteries.

The weather has been beautiful here... more warm on some days than it has been the whole time we have been here. Of course, we are talking in the low 80's, so we truly have no complaint. We are still waiting on furniture to arrive for the upstairs, and when it is all here I will post pictures so you can see. We spent a weekend in Kingston, Ontario with some new friends , and really had a nice time. We hope to see more of Canada than we did Texas, despite our plans to do so. Time goes by too fast, and before you know it, you are somewhere else. I will be traveling to Rhinebeck, NY with my new knitting friends in October for the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival, and it promises to be one of the trips of a lifetime. You girls in Texas...come meet us there! I would love to see you!

There be knitting here

There has been quite a bit of knitting going on here, despite the many Knit and Chats where I sat with untouched knitting in my lap! I have finished my February Lady (the green) and have one sleeve left on Lily (the beige) I began Frances (the purple) when Lily's sleeves were giving me a touch of a gauge problem, which I have since solved. I am sure there is something in the air here that seems to make you knit faster... I have not ever finished, or come close to finishing, sweaters in such a short span of time!



I attended the World Wide Knit in Public day festivities at Shall We Knit in New Hamburg a couple of weekends back. We dyed sock blanks, my first foray into dyeing of any kind. I was skeptical of the outcome, but was pleasantly surprised when I actually started knitting with it. It was a fun day, and James tagged along and got to meet all my new friends. New Hamburg is a quaint little town with adorable shops and some of the best pizza I have had in a while.






The hair got straightened temporarily on a brief but sad visit to Orlando this past week. I always have to document it, it just looks so different!






The house is coming along, and we are slowly making it our own. After much trial and error, we are very close to having the living room finished. My office is quickly becoming a haven where I can watch the neighbors go by as I work at my computer. Although I have made sure that James has his own spot also, he has not yet taken advantage of it. We will have to fix that eh? :-)






What do you think he is thinking?

The Yard

Just a few pictures of what has come to life in the yard since we have moved in. These were taken in mid June, so even more has started blooming since then. Apparently the yard was planned to constantly be in bloom somewhere, so when some die off, others begin. We are so fortunate to have inherited such a well maintained garden. Since it was covered in snow when we purchased the house, we really had no idea what we had. James has only had to do a bit of trimming, feeding and re-mulching, and while not necessarily easy, it could have been much worse!

Contrasts

This is the townhouse that we are living in temporarily. The weather was beautiful that day, high in the 50's. James was in shorts, and he took the dogs out for a long walk.





Happy dogs going out for a walk.



Less than 24 hours later, this is what it looked like outside.







Crazy weather!

Since this is supposed to be a knitting blog, I thought it might be nice to show you all a bit of knitting that I have been doing. I finished a ruffled rib (nice, mindless knitting), started a February Lady, and another lacy scarf. Everything is green or brown. I think that is officially a color rut.

Misty Alpaca Chunky was one of my last purchases at The Shabby Sheep.



Picked up this Cascade 220 Heathers for the February Lady at one of my new LYS's in the town of Guelph. The Greenwood Quiltery is a quilt shop and a yarn shop in one. Fiber fun! It reminds me of The Shabby Sheep, only bigger.



This last was purchased at another local shop in New Hamburg called Shall We Knit?. Totally dedicated to knitting and spinning, it is a very cool shop with an excellent selection and a warm and friendly owner! They teach a class on using a knitting machine that I may have to take advantage of. There are spinning classes. There is a field trip to Shelridge Farm to learn how to dye!! Of course, I am going to that one!



I have joined the local Knitter's Guild. Check out the guest speakers over the next few months!! I am going to try to go to a local Knit and Chat.... I am really missing my regular doses of knitting conversation!! I really can't complain though, I seem to have landed in the center of the knitting universe with all the famous yarns and knitters that come from this area.

We close on our new house next week! I can't believe it is here already. It will be good to get permanently settled.

PS Hi TT! Ronda told me you are reading! :-)