Summer Vacation!

This will be my last post for a while. We're leaving our happy home in Tennessee and driving to Idaho, where we'll be kayaking on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. We'll be on the river for 6 days, so that will be non-knitting days. For the drive out, sightseeing other than on the river, and sightseeing our way home, I have packed this:








Projects in Zip-Loc baggies. I love those things. They'll all be contained in the blue bag, along with my Knit Picks needle binder and the gizmo bag. It's two scarves and ummmm... some socks. Including Socks for Soldiers.

In the "I knew better" department:





Just because the pattern says "pick up 3 stitches for every 4 all the way around the neckline" doesn't mean I should do it. I know to pick up stitch for stitch across the front and back, and use the 3/4 ratio on the curves and stitch to row pickups. And the whole time I was doing it "all the way around" this little niggling voice says "why don't you trust your own judgment???". Indeed! Well, at least the worst of it was handled with steam, and it's just a casual summer tank, and it doesn't look so bad on. In case you're wondering (because the picture isn't so great), there are very slight puckers across the bottom of the neckline, where I SHOULD have picked up stitch for stitch. KNITTER, TRUST THYSELF!!

Lastly, BC always makes me giggle when she lays like this. She doesn't do it all the time, but it's been a regular pose since she was tiny. It made me laugh then and I think it's even funnier now that she's a 14 pounder!

And I'm away. I look forward to catching back up with everyone when we get home sometime in July.

The Kittens

BC and Summer have the same unofficial birthday: May 15th. BC is 2 and Terry is 1. They're the "strictly inside" cats, and the only two that are friends.

An Opportunity

For knitting backwards.

There are only a few stitches on each side, and I'm using 2 balls of yarn. Turning was becoming annoying, so I decided to suck it up and just practice. It's slower than purling, but I'm getting better and at least I don't have to keep turning and shifting the yarn.





To forge a friendship. Terry (left) and Summer were both sound asleep when I went for the camera. Terry respects Summer and gives her room (most of the time), but I guess since Summer was asleep, Terry figured it was safe to approach closely and sleep, too. I woke them as I approached, and when Summer turned to find Terry within touching distance, she hissed and jumped down. An opportunity lost! Still, Summer has become a bit more approachable and less of a recluse since Terry came to live.


It's been a low energy, sad day for me. Mosby didn't make it thorough the weekend. I had left with instructions to the vet that if he worsened and seemed to be in pain or suffering, that they should not make him lay and suffer until I returned. He and his assistant were with him, letting him know he was cared for, when they put him down. Thank you all for thinking of us; I'm sure it was the right decision and he's no longer in pain with no hope of recovery.