Please tell me

. . . that this, seemingly little but of zephyr laceweight in pewter, from Rosie’s Yarn Cellar (thanks, girls!), will be enough for Enes?

And, in hopes of a successful start to this shawl, I cast-on in 50 stitch increments over the past several days. All 375 stitches are on the needle . . so far so good.

Memorial Day = the Unofficial Start of Summer

Memorial Day, in my mind, is the beginning of summer. So in preparation for the weekend take a look at the summer goals:

1. socks
2. start AND finish Enes Shawl
3. Choose a fall sweater to knit . . . and knit it!!
4. finish fanning the flame mitten
5. Anemoi Mittens
6. Learn to crochet, so I can add all the spiffy little crocheted hems to my knitting-wear.

I am a list-making, goal-setting knitter, but even if I weren’t I would have, just to get in on the contest over at Skein her Way! And I have Karen to thank for that!

American Idol

Well this season is over and so are the Idol Socks! Remember when I said I was only going to knit these while watching the show? Well that’s what I did, and during the finale, I finished!


The end definitely justifies the means with these sweet things. The pattern drove me a little crazy, but I loved the yarn, and I think the socks look terriific. So here we go, Socks for May finished, and already marked as a gift for someone------

Booking Through Tuesday

What is this?

This is the summer book basket. I decided that I was going to collect (read: buy, pull off our bookshelves) all of the books that would be both enriching and interesting for my 2 children. There are things in the basket that we own, but neither of them have had the chance to read (Eragon, The Hobbit). There are new books which I have bought knowing they would really love (Tangerine, Speak) them, and there are some classics (The Diary of Ann Frank, Call of the Wild) which, unless I beg and barter, neither of them would pick. The summer book basket is the WOW! LOOK AT THIS, THERE’S SO MANY INTERESTING BOOKS WHERE DO I BEGIN, IT IS LIKE A BOOKSTORE RIGHT IN OUR FAMILY ROOM container.

My Personal Summer Reading Goals, for this year’s Summer Reading Challenge:

1. Read 25 books
2. Read (and attempt to enjoy!) Don Quixote

Shawl

The Lacy Kerchief Shawl, from Interweave's Holiday Knits Issue is finished . . .


This shawl is so much lovelier than the photos in the magazine, and my photo certainly doesn't do it the justice it deserves. I finished it, and wrapped it around me, ran out the door for dinner on Saturday night, and got zillions of compliments!

Booking Through Tuesday

Let’s do a little recap on the books challenge think, shall we?

4/5 read +6 others read

to read: Fever 1794

als0 read: The Blind Assassin, The Joy Luck Club, Blue Shoes and Happiness, Ahab’s Wife additional reads: The Road, Madame Bovary, The Reluctant Fundalmentalist, Love in the Time of Cholera, Eat*Pray*Love, Wicket’s Remedy

3/3 read

read: Woman in White, Ahab’s Wife, The Book Thief

0/4 read

better get busy!

I have also decided to take the plunge, joining Tilting at Windmills, where everyone is reading Don Quixote. I am not sure I am up for this particular challenge, but I am going to give it a “whirl” and see if I can make it my personal summer challenge. Do you want to work through this with us? Go buy the book and join us!

After detangling and winding, my money (and knitting) is on the "I think I'll have enough yarn for the tank":
I am a little more than half way! And Happy Mother's Day to all of you who are mothers, and all of you who are wonderful aunts and mentors!

Check out this mess

The thought of knitting the tank, without knowing if I had enough yarn to finish it, got to me today. Now my entire stash doesn't look like this, but this is the basket of misfit knitting---knitting that I was fed up with, so I tossed it in, never wanting to see it again. So that tangled mess is the rest of my tank. And the idol sock is in the photo as decoration only.

Can you spell sock (and blog) slacker?

My goal was to knit a pair of socks each month, so by Christmas I would have a dozen pair to wrap up for gifts--April came and went, it is May and I didn’t get a pair finished. Rats! I have 1 almost finished Roza, 1 3/4s of a pair of Idol Socks, and I am ready to cast-on for a new pair. It just doesn’t seem right not to have 3 socks going at the same time! But which pattern? Which yarn? Which size needles?
And check this out--this cotton fleece was a tangled mess in my stash, and inspired by my daughter’s new flip-flops, I decided (Sunday afternoon, 4:00) to knit a tank. who knows if i even have enough yarn. Obviously, the lovely sunny weather is getting to me!