I Love Vacation!

I had my mini vacation this past weekend (just a 3 day weekend) and we went to Copano bay....it was awesome....here was my first knitting view

Then we went out to eat......I love Shrimp Brochette!

I had worked on my Clapotis a little on the drive down there

And I was going to work on it some more when.....BAMB!!!!  Robert caught a fish....a 19" black drum.  Robert is not my son or Jaime's, but he is kind of adopted by both of us...both of our kids know him and I just love him to death....he is a great kid (who turned 21 this past Thursday)!!  Happy Birthday Robert!

So....I did some more knitting.....and thankfully on Wednesday night I pre-made 2 pans of lasagne....so while they boys were inhaling this

I was enjoying Copano Bay

For those that do not know....Copano Bay is by Rockport.....here is a red pin dot to show where I was:

Before I knew it, it was time to say goodbye to Rockport and head back to reality

Thankfully, reality had a nice surprise waiting for me at home.....some yarn!

Paige wants 2 cardigans for winter....this will be the first.  She decided on "Breezy Cardigan"....and I will use this Quince & Co. Tern Yarn in the Barnacle colorway (because Paige wanted one just like the picture).

So I have it ready to cast on...but have not cast on yet:

While in Copano Bay/Rockport....I did get some major progress done on Jaime's Socks...One heel turned, one almost turned and just 2 legs/cuffs to do and I am finished!

My Clapotis is also growing...I am more than 1/2 way now:

Well, that is all that I have for knitting....I hope to be almost done with my clapotis the next time I talk to you guys....keep your fingers crossed for me.

I have a friend, Jill, who has a blog and is always putting some great recipes on it.....I tried one last week that was awesome.  Her blog is located here and the recipe I tried is called Enchillada Cube Steak...Jaime and I really liked it but I think next time I will try with a different steak cut...I like cube steak, but during the week, I do not have a lot of time to let it cook longer to get more tender...but it was yummy!

I leave you with a picture of Paige and Antonio and then with just Antonio....he came over to visit me (I miss him terribly) and he loves to wear grandpa's hat (and looks darn cute in it too!)

Happy Happy Happy Knitting!  I hope you all have a great week!

Vacation Brain!

Hi everyone!  I have vacation brain......we are going to Copano Bay this coming weekend and I cannot wait!  One last mini vacation before school starts!  Here is a view from the last time we went to Copano Bay...it will be pretty warm this weekend (100 degrees plus), but have no fear, I will have a cold beverage near by!

I have been making a little bit of progress towards my organization of my yarn stuff into a nice yarn room!  Here are a few piles of 'stuff':

And here it is starting to be put away.......just the start....I still have another set of shelves to put together.....

Yes, those are all WIP's hanging from that shelving unit and that is not even all of them....there are a few more that need to be hung.......wow!

So what have I been knitting (to try do decrease some of those wips)?  My Camp Loopy Project #3.....it is called Clapotis.  The original pattern calls for Aran weight yarn, and this yarn is called Kauni and it is considered sport weight (but to me it feels like fingering).....the original pattern also calls for 13 center/straight repeats.  I thought since I was doing it with a thinner yarn, I may need to double the repeats to 26.....I was wrong....I need to almost quadruple it in order to get 800 yards (camp requirement), so I will be doing 47 center repeats....Here it is at just 16 repeats done....just about 1/3 of the way.

I am enjoying the pattern, but it is getting a bit boring....the changing of the yarn color is keeping my attention......then, there is a new cast on....many of you have heard me talk about my bff, Darlene aka AwesomeGrannie, well I think I have come to the conclusion that she has a worse case of startitis than I do.  She started The Tan House Brook Shawl (THBS) and said I have to start it with her....it is a gorgeous pattern and I had a perfect skein of yarn for it so who am I to say no?

Remember last week when I was telling you how a friend of mine, Paula H, scored a BagsByAwesomeGrannie bag with a divider in it....well I did to...this Hungry Caterpillar Bag that I am using for my Tan House Brook Shawl has a divider in.  I love the Hungry Caterpillar story and used to read it to my kids all the time...now I read it to my grandkids.

Speaking of Darlene.....she also has a new wine bag about to hit her shop.  You all know what a wine lover I am......and I love this bag set (you all know you will want one)!

The two bags above are my newest stash enhancements.....and I have another enhancement.....the Hiya Hiya Patterns KAL group did a SWAP.....I got these lovely pearl stitch markers, a stitch marker bracelet holder, a yarn bra, cascade heritage yarn sample, and some gorgeous note cards.....in return, I gave the SWAP hostess 2 skeins of sock yarn.....this was the first time doing a swap, so the group is still working through all the rules, etc......but it was a fun swap to do.

My list knitting discussion has to do with my daughter....she sent me a text over the weekend and she saw a lady at a coffee shop and loved her cardigan.  In this picture, there is not much of the cardigan to see....it just looks like a plain square type top.  Paige said it was a little fitted in the waist and it did have a belt/tie.....I asked her what color she wanted and she said that after I find a pattern, we can go to a yarn store together to pick out some yarn.....how fun......so I will be searching for a pattern like this....you let me know if you find one and place it in the comments!

That is all I have this week....I hope to have more next week after a weekend fun of knitting...I hope to get knit brain!

Happy Happy Happy Knitting!

Crazy Week......

It feels like it has been a month since I posted, yet it has only been 6 days....and I also feel in those 6 days I have hardly gotten any knitting done because I have been so busy.

After I posted last week, I got sick....Yuck!  So I was out of commission last Wednesday.....one would think I got tons of knitting done...but no....I did manage to finish the second placemat for Paige.

She does love them...and is not so patiently waiting for two more....but I have too much going on in August.....Camp Loopy project 3 started on Friday....and I barely got my Clapotis started.....I was going out of town to visit my son so barely any knitting Friday or Saturday.

I am only on the second increase section and I have 12 increase sections to do......so I better get with it!

I also started some socks for my boyfriend....I think I told you guys (a long time ago) that I made some worsted weight socks for him to wear hunting...well, he took them on a motorcycle ride in October of 2012 when it was VERY cold and they kept his feet very warm...but he made the mistake of washing and drying them.....it was Malabrigo worsted so it felted and now they fit me (yeah!)....so I told him I would make him some more out of a super wash yarn....Malabrigo Rios....he goes on a motorcycle ride early September so I have less then a month to get these done for him so I better get with it....thankfully they are plain vanilla socks!

Are you noticing my awesome bags in the background of my knitting....Yup, those are Bags by Awesome Grannie....my bff, Darlene.....she is wonderfully Awesome!  There was a lady that had posted in the Camp Forum that we needed new pink bags for our awesome pink yarn.....Well, Darlene and I both thought she was right so she made us these awesome pink sets for us to use for our Clapotis'....for Camp Loopy #3 (of course we are making the same thing for Camp...we always do!)

The Hot Air Balloon Bag is one I have admired from day one....she had a shop update last night and has some new Medium size bags and I just had to snag this one....the rainbow inside is just gorgeous...it is one of my favorite insides!

Then we all know how much I love orange.....Aren't these hearts (both inside and outside) perfect....and I love deer.....so the perfect bag set for me.......

I do have a couple of stash enhancements for the week......first, my Barking Dogs Yarn Club Shipment for August came in....it is called Red Berries....it is very pretty!

Suzan put in some extras this time with tea and stitch markers....they are great.  The pattern this month is by a designer I have never heard of before.  His ravelry name is Thatbaldguyknits....which I think is funny.....the pattern is called On the Edge of Maelstrom....the pattern is probably more complicated than what I want to try...but it is gorgeous!

Then, I got some stitch markers from Vanessa at Vintage rose....I got turtles and little bells....I love them!  I will probably use them on my Clapotis along with some turquoise ones from Darlene....Clapotis takes 18 stitch markers, so I need a bunch!

 

It has been a CRAZY week....I hope this week is better and I get more knitting done.....

I leave you with pics of my grand children...this is all of them.  I did not actually get to see Alexxis or Antonio this past weekend...but I did see Celeste and Cataleya......here they are in order of birth!

Celeste......

 Antonio.....

Cataleya....

Alexxis......

One more on the way.....Alexxis' brother is due in December.......

Happy Happy Happy Happy Knitting everyone!!!