colors of summer

Started some new projects! The Shelter is for the third hat in the fringehatalong. I figured I should finish this one before the fourth pattern is announced in August. So far so good. I love lace patterns that are simple to memorize. Just finished with the lace back panel for the Morning Mist tee. A little concerned about how big it's looking, so planning on giving it a good soak and then some time in the dryer. My past experiences with Hempathy is that it tightens up a bit after a wash and dry. Fingers crossed!

There are lots of marigolds popping up in the garden. The tomatoes are also starting to come in. I should keep better notes of what varieties were planted. One tomato plant that I thought were just of the plain cherry variety are coming up a rose color. Pretty and sweet but I have no idea what kind they are. I also need to trim out my hydrangea bushes. They are taking over the front yard!

And as you can probably figure out from the Camp Tolt goodies: 1) I went on a little shopping spree 2) which might have involved the purchasing of some yarn and 3) another item can be checked off the summer bucket list. I hope that you too are enjoying every minute of this beautiful summer :)

havra shawl & summer bucket list update

Can't believe that it is already the middle of July! This summer is just cruising along too fast. There are still a couple of items to be checked off from the summer bucket list. We have yet to go camping but hopefully that will be in the stars soon. Unfortunately for my waistline, I have managed to eat ice cream everyday (high priority item on the list as far as the little guy is concerned) and grilling up a storm (tonight's dinner of grilled lime coconut chicken with coconut rice and grilled pineapple was particularly delicious). And happily, the beach knitting this summer has been pretty productive. I even finished the shawl for the Shetland Trader MKAL, now named Havra, in a reasonable amount of time.

I am completely thrilled with how it turned out. Gudrun Johnston is such a wonderful designer with a great sense of style. With any MKAL, one has to have a lot of trust and confidence in the designer. It can be both thrilling and scary, depending on your knitting personality. The knitting on this was pure pleasure. The pattern was very intuitive and I love the strong lines created by the combination of garter and twisted stitches. The only hiccup was running out of yarn in the middle of the last clue. Luckily, I was able to get my hands on another skein. I knitted the small size but the shawl blocked out to be a little larger, which was a happy accident in gauge.

Ending this post with some knitting eyecandy of the highest order. I was lucky to have won a pair of mittens handknitted by Chrisknits which arrived on Monday.

Aren't they gorgeous!!! Can't wait to wear them this winter.

on the verge

the view from terrapin beach, a mile's walk from my house

Summer around these parts includes lots of trips to the ocean which is happily less than two hours away. Even though we are lucky to have several beautiful local beaches here on the island, there's just something so compelling about the vast expanse of sand and sea and the pounding waves only to be found at the shore. Plus there's the boardwalk fries, ice cream, fudge and salt water taffy. I am missing it already! Also love all the beach knitting that was achieved while we were there last week and now I am finding myself on the verge of finishing a couple of projects:

just the bind off & blocking left on the Shetland Trader MKAL shawl

hitofude cardigan

Can't wait to get started on a couple of new projects as soon as these are done. I've got the yarn already lined up for a Morning Mist tee. Simple stockinette with a cute lace detail on the back. Perfect beach knitting project.

Have a happy and safe Fourth of July weekend for those of you who celebrate. I just ordered my first grill and can't wait to try all of the yummy summer recipes that I've been collecting over the years. Grilled pineapples...chicken kebabs...flank steaks....! What is your favorite thing to cook on the grill? Would love any recipe suggestions/links you might have.