Stash Embellishment...

Last week was crazy, between my job and family stuff. Kay had outpatient surgery and I drove out to be there with her. Once we got home, she went to sleep and I left Bill to look after her for an hour while I snuck out to Kathy's Kreations in Ligonier. I love this shop, it used to be half for yarn and half for vacuums and vacuum repair, however, in the past couple years the yarn fully took over all the space (sorry vacuums, you are so unexciting next to piles of beautiful fibre). Anyway, Kathy is regularly seen in Interweave Knits and can cable like no one I know. She wasn't there (she is not in the shop on Wednesdays, I believe her husband was manning the counter, pun not intended) but I did manage to find some things I could not apparently live without. Here's a photo:The cream was on sale for $2.95, a nice cotton from Rowan, colorway of Ecru. Maybe a pretty chemo cap for Kay. The multicolored skeins (7 total)are Imagine from Classic Elite in cotton and rayon, asking price $6.25 a pop. Maybe a shrug or cropped sweater? The purple was a lone skein left, I wanted to get a couple but decided I could not leave this lonely skein sit there by herself, she is just too lovely to behold. She is some Mercerized Egyptian cotton named Provence from Classic Elite Yarns, asking price of $12.95. Maybe she would make a nice one-skein wonder ala Glampyre? Hmmm...

Kay's doing really great and is such a trooper, she even spent Saturday outside for a cookout in the yard. We were celebrating Father's Day a day early and much fun was had by all. Bill cooked a wonderful meal on an open pit fire, being careful not to mix up the vegan fare and utensils with the carnivore stuff. I brought some vegan potato salad, it was quite delicious if I don't say so myself. Kay even asked if I had a cookie with me (I LOVE LOVE LOVE the vegan oatmeal choco chip ones they bake fresh at Whole Foods and have been carrying them around with me for desert) but I did not. I love it that they will at least try the vegan stuff I eat.

So my knitting adventures have been a bit lacking of late. Take yesterday. I decided to weave in some waste yarn on my current project, a sweater, and try it on for size. My suspicions were right: WAY TOO BIG!

So I frogged it, wound up the three balls of yarn I'd already knit into the sweater, and tried not to be too upset. After all, at the rate I was using the yarn, I would have been running back to Knit One in panic mode, with the mantra, "please let them have one more ball, please let them have one more ball" escaping my lips as I entered the door. I am taking the positive approach tonight--now I should have enough yarn to finish. I refigured my math (my gauge had changed considerably from swatch to sweater), re-wrote the first part of the pattern and cast on again. I again did not make it to the Bee Hive for knitting. That's two Mondays in a row. Hopefully they will still remember me next week!

I did manage to make a necklace for my sister yesterday. Here's a pic: It's made of hemp twine and has three beads. It was my first attempt at knotwork or macrame or whatever you want to call it. The cats, who love knitting, also seemed to enjoy this craft as well. I plan to send it with some other goodies, hopefully it will get into the mail tomorrow!

Here is a crazy pic of my Izzie (Isabella Maria).
She was sleeping with her tonque out and I tried to get a pic and she woke up but still left her tongue out there.

Have a happy Summer Solstice tomorrow and get out there and enjoy nature and celebrate the day!!! Blessed be!