the first day

did you know that if you visit the Interweave Knits web site they have free patterns that you can download that are not even in the magazine. and they are available many times before the newest magazine even hits the newstand or your mailbox? yep!

you know that birthday/mother's day gift certificate that traveled with me to Michigan last week well it found some yummy Julia Yarn by Kristin Nicholas. (you should check out her blog http://www.kristinnicholas.com ). you can find the blog through this site along with her fun and SO cute products!

she has some patterns that will be out in the magazine of course, but she has two patterns that are on the IK free downloads right now. i thought i was buying the yarn to make the cute little cat but you know how sometimes things change and yarn has a mind-of-it's-own. i didn't know it at the time but i'm making the Fiesta del Sol bag. only i'm really making a Fiesta del Jardin or a Fiesta del Flor bag.

yeah, i got out my husband's old English to Spanish dictionary from his missions trip years back to Nicaragua. jardin is garden and flor is flower, but you could probably figure that out. the Fiesta del Sol bag is all beautiful sunny yarn colors. i have the only 6 colors that the LYS had they are amazingly beautiful, but they are not sun inspired colors. 

listen to the names of these yarn colors: Ladies Mantle, Coleus, Geranium, Blue Thyme, Deep Blue Sea (to water the garden with, right!).

so my knitting bag is packed with my pattern, new project, and needles and i'm off to Lake Geneva with hubby and friends for the weekend.  i love car knitting!    BTW: might be making this at the same time, must have both! http://wicked_stitches.typepad.com

needed to grocery shop yesterday. you know i hadn't been home in about a week, there wasn't much left to eat around here.

i usually shop at the family owned grocery store here in town instead of the local chain grocery store. but yesterday i had 2 reasons for going to Jewel. little did i know there were 3.

you know the little machine that prints your receipt, well at this store it also prints coupons for items to use the next time you shop. and i already had one that was good for $5 off my total purchase and was set to expire. hey..5 bucks is 5 bucks, right?  and i wanted to buy flowers and they have a much better flower selection than the other store.

so...i'm all done shopping...i'm at the self-check out, love that (it reminds me a bit of playing grocery store when i was little, really it does!), put in my code for my $5 off coupon, pay for my groceries and the little machine spits out a coupon for a next visit related item and another coupon for $8 off a gas purchase at the chains gas express! 

i'm turning my head sideways trying to read it as it's coming out of the machine. i'm now becoming aware of the other muttering around me about $8. and i'm reading the fine print as i'm trying to get my act together and get my cart out of the line so someone else can scan their food and get there free $8 worth of gas.

i do need to fill up. so i load my car and head out to the gas express across the parking lot were there are dumbfound people just like me getting their first 8 bucks free and a gas attendent working in a little air condition box having the time of her life.

here in Chicago, at these prices it's only about 2 and a half gallons of gas people......but how fun is that!  BTW: the flowers were a bunch of happy face sunflowers and that's before i knew i was saving $13 instead of $5.

in about an hour i'm off for 5 days away.

heading North for some time with family and a little R&R.

some time with the kids, grandson.

hopefully some beach time and after reading Jane's ( http://yarnstorm.blogs.com ) post today, maybe i can scurry up a cherry pie too.

see you in a few days!!!!

who says that HOT weather and knitting don't go together?

 infact i think just about any kind of weather compliments knitting. cold, snowy, snuggle-in days...and knitting. rainy days...and knitting. mild, spring days...and knitting.  HOT, 100 degree, stuck inside, air conditioned days...knitting.

me and the knitting are "getting along" again.

Nessie the vest is gone, ripped, and well on her way (1/2 way done in fact) to becoming a cute cotton sweater for a little beach going boy i know!

Florence the boring Rowan shrug, is still boring but i want her so bad i continue to do "my work". i let her sit for a full 2 days and that really helped, now she gets some attention each day.

And my Manos cabled creation only gets attention at Art 4 Soul nights so no guilt about not working on it otherwise, and my Tangled Web shawl will wait til cool weather.

i still have my growing "want to do pile" but the feelings of pressure are gone. i think they washed away in that last big rain we had. when i decided to "take to the garden" for 2 days.

did lots of planting, weeding, thinning, getting muddy...

who knows maybe it was spending time with those spiders... that oldest of crafters.  the myths and and magic and mystery of spiders. the spinner of the silkened thread.

my grandson sings a little song about the spider and the rain. maybe there's something to that!

(come to think of it, maybe i should re-think it all and JUST work on that Tangled Web Shawl?)

what would happen if i drove to my LYS (local yarn shop), walked in, right past all the yarn and straight up to the counter (okay, that would never happen) and told them i needed a prescription for "knitter's ADD"?

i'm sure they would prescribe more yarn. more patterns, magazines, a comfy chair, some knitting needles and tell me i just needed ANOTHER new project, one that i could be happy with and LOVE working on!

i think i have "knitter's ADD".  i started ANOTHER project 2 days ago. i've run out of row counters, they're all busy waiting on other projects.  so i'm using a post-it note for this one.   here's the ugly truth:

• manos cabled bag; (i'm making up the pattern on this one) work on this at Art 4 Soul Knit Nights
• blue sky's headband; IK staff project, cute, could be done with this in an evening, just don't do it
• Florence shrug from Rowan Classic; love and want this sweater just soooo boring, try to do 2" a day
• Nessie vest from Rowan Classic; so close to done, will have to re-work pattern (doesn't fit) and buy more yarn, i don't have enough to finish!  i'm letting it rest because i don't know if i want to do either, may rip and use yarn later for something different.
• New Project, alpaca shawl; saw this in the window at Tangled Web yarn shop. one of the employees made it so they wrote the pattern down for me. it's on big needles, multi-colors and a real no-brainer.

AND....to make matters WORSE there are about 4-5 patterns i have on my "back of my mind" list and my daughter just mentioned something to me about the Handknit Holidays book so i pulled that back out, just to have a little look-see and re-saw a few more ideas........and the new knitty is up!!!!!!  www.knitty.com i really need those cabled, fingerless, mitts on the cover.  they would be perfect for the fall and a great traveling project for my trip to NYC that's coming up!

oh, and did i mention that i have a birthday gift certificate for a yarn shop just staring at me from my desk. 

maybe if i just don't sleep!!!!! 

fun things i did on my long, summer weekend:

• sun bathing at Oak Street Beach
• many meals including corn on the cob
• a few good DVD rentals
• some yard work
• reading
• decorated the flowerboxes with American flags
• Swedish shopping in Chicago's Andersonville
• going out to breakfast, twice
• lots of time outside
• a nice rainstorm, the flowers really needed it!
• hands-down best summer movie yet, Devil Wears Prada
• naps
• some knitting
• a parade

ode to summertime!!!  oh.. and for you knitters out there. speaking of summer, this just in from London.  you may want to whip this up for the beach. visit Anna at http://autoscopia.com/amelia to view her FREE pattern of the too cute, beachy, foldable, floppy hat.