Happy 4th of July

I want to wish everyone a wonderful 4th of July this coming weekend! Happy Birthday America!

How has your week been?  Mine has been pretty good!  I have been plugging away at my "Your Beautiful" shawl.  It is really hard to see my progress because I really need to put it on a longer cord.

I also finished up the main part of my shrug.  Here it is blocking:

Then I seamed it up, and am adding the 2nd cuff right now....I should have the final picture for you next week.
I also finished my ardent and blocked it...it blocked out a little bit over 8 feet!

I must have been a blocking fool, because I also blocked my Susanna IC Shawl.  I gave it to a very good friend for her 50th birthday!  She loved it (and I forgot to get a picture of her with it):

Do you remember a long time ago when Paige bought some yarn from a semi-local yarn store and wanted me to make her some 'Turkish Bed Slippers'?  Well, she kinda gave me a guilt trip, so I got them started.....I finished on and have barely started the second one.

Well, that is about all I have for the knitting...but I have quite a few stash enhancements.  I am going to start with some scissors.....yup, just some plain old scissors....or maybe they are like 'snips'.  Darlene and I are always missing a pair of scissors in our bags, so she found these awesome little snips....I ordered some from overseas before she left from vacation....and I just now got them.  She has already since ordered some and gave me 1/2 of her order....now I can give her 1/2 of these.  I should also note that they are Antonio approved, so they work left handed or right handed.

Then, Knit Picks had to go and bring back Felici Self Striping yarn for a limited time....so I got 5 different colorways....I do love them....and I cannot wait to start knitting on some socks!

I also got a new 6" DPN holder and the cutest needle gauge.....I am in love with these needle gauges!

Then...I have a small story behind my next stash enhancement......Darlene saw this Hippo in the Camp Loopy #1 finished items area......copyright to alphantango on ravelry...hold on to your hippos, this is so dang cute!

and Darlene is in love with this Happy Hippo.....but it is Crochet, and Darlene does not crochet....So I bought the pattern here, and I ran home to check my stash to see what I had....you all know I cannot match for nothing, so I wanted to use the same colors as alphantango.  Well, I found some Regia 6ply in a green and turquoise that I bought back in mid/late March....well, this yarn is categorized as DK but I think it is going to work for this Hippo....worse case scenario, I make a HUGE HIPPO.  So, I found more of this Regia 6ply in a pink and purple to go with my turquoise and green.....what do you think?

I am going to try to get the hippo started tonight....I am hoping....keep your fingers crossed for me!

Anyway.....that is all I have for this week!  Have a great 4th of July and I will see you next week.....Camp Loopy #2 starts on Wednesday of this week!  Yahoo!

 Happy Happy Happy Knitting!

Summer is HERE!

It is officially Summer!  It is hot an humid here in SA, but I know it will get worse....oh well.

I am going to jump right into some stash enhancements.....I got some Inversibles Yarn from Fibernymph Dye Works....I saw these socks being knit up on Instagram and I had to get some of this yarn.....but when will I ever find time to start them.....I think I really need to go on a yarn diet (gasp, did I just say that?)!

Okay....now I am going to take you back....way back....to the beginning of the year when I made some headbands for a friend (middle of the blog post).....well, she made me 2 yarn bowls!  I got them this week...and I love them.  The detail on them is awesome.  The green and blue one says "Have you any wool?"....I just could not get the full picture of it....I love these bowls....and I am a little scared to use them so I do not break them....but I am going to use them tonight!

Now for the knitting....I really have only knit on 2 things this past week.  My Ardent for Camp Loopy (I am making it bigger than original pattern):

And my Grapes Shrug for a FB KAL I am hostessing...I only have 3 more rows and a bind off...then I need to block it, seam it, and pick up stitches for sleeves.....I cannot wait to finish this!

Well, that is all I have for the knitting....but I have a couple more things to share.  Darlene is back from vacation....you guys all know how she, her hubby and her dog travel the world on their motorcycles for 2 weeks for vacation.....but did you notice I did not complain so much that she was gone?  Do not get me wrong, I missed her like crazy...but I had some vacation days with the ROT Rally and kept busy with other things (and we texted everyday) and I am sooooo glad she is back.  She got me the most awesome Harley shirt....I cannot wait to wear this as soon as I get home from work!  Now, Darlene is not a Harley gal, so I know it is not easy to get me Harley shirts, but I sure do appreciate them.....THANK YOU SO MUCH DARLENE!!!!

I also took Precious to the groomer...I had been procrastinating taking her, and now looking at the before and after pictures, I am mad at myself for taking so long to take her....here are here before and after pics (I promise, it is the same dog!)

Well, that is really all I have....I am going to leave you with a video of Antonio and Celeste playing at a Dairy Queen on our way to see my son this past weekend!  I hope it makes you smile!

Happy Happy Happy Knitting!

My College Girl!

Hello everyone!  Today is Paige's first day of college!  Yes, she went to barber college, but for some reason, that just was not the same for me.  She is taking a summer semester at NW Vista here in town (a community college)....just two classes, but with a full time job and a 3 1/2 year old, two classes is plenty.  I told her that my work is just across the street from her college if she ever wants to go to lunch and she said, "Awh that's so sweet.  You would leave your knitting for me" because she knows I knit with my friends at lunch.  Anyway....I just had to share my proud mamma moment!

I got a little bit of knitting in this past week....I worked on my Camp Loopy number 1 project...the first pictures shows the pops of purple better.

This project is super easy, but even easier is plain stockinette....which is what the Your Beautiful shawl is (with an increase here and there)....so I worked mostly on this at the lake this past weekend (more on that later)....the cable is really scrunched up (I need to put on bigger cable), but I am one row away from being done with the first section....so, 26.44% done.

and I started the tour de sock sock (stage 1) but did not get far....too much thinking at the beginning:

Oh, and my Miss Babs Destination 2 arrived.....we are traveling to Atlantis!  It is gorgeous yarn, but I have not decided if I am going to make the pattern that the tour came with....I just do not think I will wear the shape that often...but I have not decided yet.

Can you believe that is pretty much all I worked on?

This coming week I go to the ROT rally...this year is the 20th anniversary so it should be a big bang!  I am taking my knitting and I hope I get some done.....but who knows.

I am going to leave you with another episode of picture overload!  Antonio had a blast at the lake...he rode the jet ski with his cousin Sean (he calls him John, but is getting close to the SHHHHH sound) and uncle Jim.....he took a boat ride with almost all the family (My mom and I stayed back with the dogs), he went swimming in a lake (that he still calls a pool) and just had an all around great time!

We got there early Friday evening/late afternoon.

Ready in his new Ninja Turtle Swim outfit along with Swim Shoes

Getting in with cousin Sean

He is able to stand on his own!

 

Time to get on the jet ski...Sean in front and Uncle Jim in back!

 

Now look at how brave he is getting in on his own!

When the day was over, he had enough energy to still wear hissuper blanket cape at night sitting in the big swing chairs!

Day two actually started with some playing....and then an early nap!

Now ready for a boat ride with cousin Nathan!

Now the whole family is aboard!

  Sitting with Tante Janice: 

 

We stayed Saturday night again...and came home around 2 on Sunday....I (Gaa-Ma) was pooped!

Happy Happy Knitting everyone!