Happy 4th of July

I want to wish everyone a wonderful 4th of July this coming weekend! Happy Birthday America!

How has your week been?  Mine has been pretty good!  I have been plugging away at my "Your Beautiful" shawl.  It is really hard to see my progress because I really need to put it on a longer cord.

I also finished up the main part of my shrug.  Here it is blocking:

Then I seamed it up, and am adding the 2nd cuff right now....I should have the final picture for you next week.
I also finished my ardent and blocked it...it blocked out a little bit over 8 feet!

I must have been a blocking fool, because I also blocked my Susanna IC Shawl.  I gave it to a very good friend for her 50th birthday!  She loved it (and I forgot to get a picture of her with it):

Do you remember a long time ago when Paige bought some yarn from a semi-local yarn store and wanted me to make her some 'Turkish Bed Slippers'?  Well, she kinda gave me a guilt trip, so I got them started.....I finished on and have barely started the second one.

Well, that is about all I have for the knitting...but I have quite a few stash enhancements.  I am going to start with some scissors.....yup, just some plain old scissors....or maybe they are like 'snips'.  Darlene and I are always missing a pair of scissors in our bags, so she found these awesome little snips....I ordered some from overseas before she left from vacation....and I just now got them.  She has already since ordered some and gave me 1/2 of her order....now I can give her 1/2 of these.  I should also note that they are Antonio approved, so they work left handed or right handed.

Then, Knit Picks had to go and bring back Felici Self Striping yarn for a limited time....so I got 5 different colorways....I do love them....and I cannot wait to start knitting on some socks!

I also got a new 6" DPN holder and the cutest needle gauge.....I am in love with these needle gauges!

Then...I have a small story behind my next stash enhancement......Darlene saw this Hippo in the Camp Loopy #1 finished items area......copyright to alphantango on ravelry...hold on to your hippos, this is so dang cute!

and Darlene is in love with this Happy Hippo.....but it is Crochet, and Darlene does not crochet....So I bought the pattern here, and I ran home to check my stash to see what I had....you all know I cannot match for nothing, so I wanted to use the same colors as alphantango.  Well, I found some Regia 6ply in a green and turquoise that I bought back in mid/late March....well, this yarn is categorized as DK but I think it is going to work for this Hippo....worse case scenario, I make a HUGE HIPPO.  So, I found more of this Regia 6ply in a pink and purple to go with my turquoise and green.....what do you think?

I am going to try to get the hippo started tonight....I am hoping....keep your fingers crossed for me!

Anyway.....that is all I have for this week!  Have a great 4th of July and I will see you next week.....Camp Loopy #2 starts on Wednesday of this week!  Yahoo!

 Happy Happy Happy Knitting!

Summer is HERE!

It is officially Summer!  It is hot an humid here in SA, but I know it will get worse....oh well.

I am going to jump right into some stash enhancements.....I got some Inversibles Yarn from Fibernymph Dye Works....I saw these socks being knit up on Instagram and I had to get some of this yarn.....but when will I ever find time to start them.....I think I really need to go on a yarn diet (gasp, did I just say that?)!

Okay....now I am going to take you back....way back....to the beginning of the year when I made some headbands for a friend (middle of the blog post).....well, she made me 2 yarn bowls!  I got them this week...and I love them.  The detail on them is awesome.  The green and blue one says "Have you any wool?"....I just could not get the full picture of it....I love these bowls....and I am a little scared to use them so I do not break them....but I am going to use them tonight!

Now for the knitting....I really have only knit on 2 things this past week.  My Ardent for Camp Loopy (I am making it bigger than original pattern):

And my Grapes Shrug for a FB KAL I am hostessing...I only have 3 more rows and a bind off...then I need to block it, seam it, and pick up stitches for sleeves.....I cannot wait to finish this!

Well, that is all I have for the knitting....but I have a couple more things to share.  Darlene is back from vacation....you guys all know how she, her hubby and her dog travel the world on their motorcycles for 2 weeks for vacation.....but did you notice I did not complain so much that she was gone?  Do not get me wrong, I missed her like crazy...but I had some vacation days with the ROT Rally and kept busy with other things (and we texted everyday) and I am sooooo glad she is back.  She got me the most awesome Harley shirt....I cannot wait to wear this as soon as I get home from work!  Now, Darlene is not a Harley gal, so I know it is not easy to get me Harley shirts, but I sure do appreciate them.....THANK YOU SO MUCH DARLENE!!!!

I also took Precious to the groomer...I had been procrastinating taking her, and now looking at the before and after pictures, I am mad at myself for taking so long to take her....here are here before and after pics (I promise, it is the same dog!)

Well, that is really all I have....I am going to leave you with a video of Antonio and Celeste playing at a Dairy Queen on our way to see my son this past weekend!  I hope it makes you smile!

Happy Happy Happy Knitting!

Happy Happy Father's Day a little early!

I feel bad when a holiday is on a Sunday and I am always posting about it after it happened.....so this time I am going to do it early......Happy Father's Day to all you fathers out there!

I did not get a lot of knitting done this past week.....on Thursday, Jaime and I headed out to the ROT Rally in Austin....and we came back on Sunday.  I did get some knitting time in, but not as much as I would have wanted to!  All I really knit on was Camp Loopy #1.  I would actually already be done with it according to the pattern, but I am making it bigger so I can use up all of my yarn!

I am also loving my new Dyakcraft Lavendar Northern Lights needles!  While we are talking about Camp Loopy.....project #2 was announced....and I picked out yarn.  I am going to make a cotton shawl....yes, a cotton shawl.  I think I am going to go with Fly Forward....but I was reading the pattern and it is almost exactly like Ardent (my camp loopy #1 project), just bigger......so, I am not 100% sure I am doing Fly Forward, but that is the current plan.....I will be using Cascade Ultra Pima Cotton in the Chartreuse colorway.....it is YUMMY!!!!!

While I was placing my order with The Loopy Ewe, they sent a notice that my Loopy Academy Prizes were ready and went ahead and shipped them with my Yarn for Camp Loopy #2.  My prize for finishing Loopy Academy was a book bag.....okay, it is really a project bag!

And then I did the extra credit project too.....now, I still have not decided if I am going to frog the project, but I did earn the extra credit.....it is a pencil tin with 10 pencils.....then, we can use the tin for knitting knick knacks!

I am so glad I participated in the Loopy Academy and I kinda cannot wait for Sophmore Year to start!

Now, I had a surprise last Monday.....In the Camp Loopy Forum on ravelry, the Rhino's and Elephants (I am a Rhino) decided to do a small swap.....my swap package came on Monday from a lady named Cher Rickat....she way over did herself, but I love every bit of it!

As I opened, I spied an elephant, rhino and lion looking at me….

Inside this amazing project bag, were individually wrapped items…..my jaw dropped in amazement!

There was another project bag inside with knitting material and longhorn material…..I am completely in love with this bag and just might sleep with it! My two favorite things (excluding people) are the Longhorns and knitting…..Cher must have read my mind! Both of these project bags are drawstring with cute wood beads and a carrying strap….they are perfect!!!

Oh, but I did win the swap lottery and there is more….perfect animal crackers and THREE bags of coffee….yes, I love coffee! My favorite is Hazelnut….which of course Cher got me, along with Nutty Irishman flavor and Michigan Cherry! I cannot wait to try these! There was a darling rhino stuffed animal too. A beautifully smelling melon slice candle (that has already been used on my  mantle).  Last but not least, a package of chocolate covered hazelnut coffee beans! It was 93 degrees on the day I opened it and the chocolate was just a tiny bit melted, but threw them in the freezer and they are heavenly delicious!!!!

Along with a safari themed card!

Cher, I honestly cannot thank you enough! You have MADE MY MONTH! Everything is wonderful!! Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!!

I had another surprise last week.....I won some yarn from the SKA (Sock Knitters Anonymous) group...The yarn was from Stone Barn Fibers, and I got to pick the color.  I chose the transitions yarn in the Summer Solstice colorway!

 Last on the knitting stash enhancements are some stitch markers....they are the Atlantis Stitch Markers from the Miss Babs Knitting Tour destination 2.

That is really all I have this week.....Like I said last week and earlier in this post, Jaime and I went the ROT Rally......this year was the 20th year anniversary, so we got a special pin along with our t-shirt.

I had a great time seeing some friends I have not seen since last year....from the left...Brielle, Mary and Arlisa.....

and there were lots and lots of motorcycles:

That is all I have.....Have a great week everyone!