Good that I mowed on Monday

Another rainy day. The dog doesn't even want to get up or go out.

I've started another lace project with some unidentified yarn.

It seems to be a cotton blend, two strands twisted loosely together. I think it will be on the needles for a very long time. I'm knitting the free pattern 198 yards of heaven, but it will be far more then 198 yards. I can only hope when I finish that it still feels heavenly.

Dropped off boxes of stuff at Goodwill yesterday after knitting. The gentlemen unloading my car was less then "gentlemenly" with the stuff as he put it in the bins. I could hear the unmistakeable sound of breakage. But I just grit my teeth and reminded myself that like a gift, once something is donated it is no longer yours to worry about. I only hope that my fear of damage is over estimated. It was truly a "walk away" moment.

After that DD2 and I stopped at Joann's. I bought her yarn to 2 more baby sweaters, 1 for charity one for a relative's upcoming baby. Also bought her yarn for a baby blanket she spotted in her new knitting book/mag. Since she hasn't had any response on job applications or the internship she's trying to set up she is knitting a baby sweater a week for the charity group Bundles of Love. Good for Bundles, not so good for her.

Motherbear Raglan Sleeve

In honor of an amazing knitter, Gisela, people in the Mother bear community on Ravelry have been knitting pink themed bears this month. I decided that this would be the perfect time to work on knitting a top down raglan sleeve bear. I've been knitting my bears top down for over a year, but always split off for 8 rows after knitting the head, then rejoin for the rest of the body. Then coming back and picking up stitches for the arms. It works, but if you can knit a sweater top down with raglan sleeves then certainly you can knit a bear the same way.

It seems to be working. When I'm finished I'll post my notes here and on the rav project page.

This definitely qualifies as a "something new" for me.

My other something new is I now am the proud owner of an ipad. So I've been downloading apps, games and e-editions. I downloaded Kindle (free) and some free books from Amazon. I changed my paper edition of the local paper to the e-version. I set up ibooks so I can store digital copies of pdf files (patterns). Love it!

Knit in Public

DD2 and I knitting in public at the base of the Walleye statute on Lake Milacs.

Enough said.

New toy

I broke down and bought an ipad. I really like Apple products, even though I admittedly don't use them to their full potential. I've had an ipod for years, have played with some knitting apps and enjoy a variety of podcasts. The knitmore girls and Brenda Dane got me through alot of lawn mowing. We,(DH especially) even enjoy a few of the games. I don't have an iphone, wrong service provider and no real need to be connected to the internet on my phone as cool as it is..just can't justify it. But something about the ipad just really delighted me.

So with my Target Redcard 5% off, coupled with an extra 5% off for pharmacy purchases (what a great deal from Target). I splurge and bought a new ipad2 this weekend. I've downloaded my fav knitting apps, games, and podcasts. I downloaded the kindle app so I can use it as an e-reader, switched my newspaper subscription to the e version. I'm off and running into the i-world.

June Bundles of Love Done

I finished the Maile sweater for Bundles of Love last night. The finished object is darling. The yarn is lovely. There is enough to make a matching hat. The buttons are from a my button stash, accumulated from clearance at Joann's, thrift store finds, and other failed projects. I think that the little pearl style buttons are perfect for this sweater. They even look slightly yellow against the sweater. Like I said..perfect.

I have made good progress on my sweater. The miles and miles of stockinette in sock yarn are going great. I made the sweater body much longer then called for in the pattern. There has been (knock on wood) no serious frogging.

I even seem to have successfully picked up the gazillion stitches around the front of the sweater to start the band. I've decided not to do a button, but use it as an excuse for acquiring a lovely shawl pin.

And where did I do all this knitting? In the car enroute to and from the lake. And sitting at the cabin looking out at this scene.

I submit it doesn't get much better then this.

Oh I also knit while watching the TWINS play. An interesting collection of players pulled up from the minors since many of the big names are injured. I love love love knitting while watching baseball on tv.

lids

Today when I was emptying the dishwasher I noticed the silverware holder needed cleaning. When I finished that I cleaned and purged the other kitchen drawers. Why on earth did I ever buy nut crackers and nut picks? Don't think I've ever used them but there they were taking up space. I had two pastry cutters! Then I decided to tackle the cupboard with the tupperware. How does it happen that there are containers with no lids and lids with no containers? While my kitchen was torn apart, DD2 was doing a mountain of laundry. So of course that's when the county assessor arrived to do the periodic review of the house for valuation. I wonder if we could lose taxable value for chaos? I didn't think not letting him in was really an option.

I don't recall being home when they stopped in the past so they must have just guessed. About the only big change we've made since we built was to finish the lower level...which BTW was also in disarray. Things from my Mother's house, stuff that didn't find a home after redoing the basement etc. Yep, definitely think we should get a tax discount for my mess.

Weekend Wedding

We drove from MN to SD for a family wedding. That's alot of car time and alot of sitting around "visiting" with family. So I did quite a bit of knitting, not during the wedding but I was tempted. As a result I made great progress on my Amiga. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/amiga-2

If you only like to knit challenging lace or cables this is not the project for you. But if you like to have some mindless knitting for times you know you'll be interrupted or can't fuss with a pattern or chart this is a great project. I think it will be a very wearable sweater for times you just need a little something.

As for the wedding, it was nice. The bride was beautiful, the groom was handsome. The flowers included lilacs, something I've not seen before. We enjoyed one another's company...always a plus when hanging around with family you rarely see. Since I don't feel comfortable posting other peoples pictures without their permission I'll just post this one

Sis and Bro-in-law's corgi and HUGE cat wrestle and play all the time. It's a hoot to watch them chase around. The cat always lets the corgi win. You know he does, because clearly the cat could exit the area at any point.

In the works..more of my Amiga and a KAL for the organization Bundles of Love. For June we are doing the Maile baby sweater, also found on Ravelry. The sweater is darling. Just a little bit of lace, bottom up, raglan sleeve. This actually counts as something new for me. I've never done a raglan sleeve construction from the bottom up before.