Online Shopping Glee!

Ok so I know I most likely will be in trouble with B Diddy for this but the deals were way too good to pass up. Besides I work and have been picking up extra shifts, I should get something out of it too right?

Behold the yarn for the MS3 KAL is here! I got it off Etsy.
The woman I ordered it from (White Willow) hand dyed this for me. Doesn't it ROCK? It came with a little pouch of lavender and the beads tied to the label.

Below is the recent book purchases from Knit Picks which was having a book sale on 2 books that are never on sale and I decided to try their circular needles. Interweave Press had their Hurt Book sale so I got most of those at 75% off. I am in knitting book heaven. Alas I have no time to peruse the books right now as the baby shower is coming up next week for the new little one.

I must go furiously knit on the gift.

P.S. I have been bitten by the Harry Potter bug and have whipped through 5 of the books in a month. Only book 6 and the new 7th book left to read!

Camping Queen!

We went on yet another camping trip last week. I am officially all camped out. This was a trip with the camper and kids though which was fun for the family. We camped, fished, swam and ate s'mores until our eyes popped out. All the kids enjoyed it, the adults did too. My brother's 4 girls were there with 2 of their cousins too. That made 9 kids and 8 adults. They just edged us out in numbers. It was a little rainy but most of the time it was sunny but not too hot. As always the last day was the nicest. Note the elaborate tarp system the guys rigged up. It was like a web of rope around there.

I got a huge kick out of my little nieces, the littlest one is fearless. The oldest is hitting puberty big time but is still willing to spend a little time with her old Auntie. The second oldest is quietly growing up way, way too fast, such a sweetie and the second youngest is full of mischief and a lot like Miss M. The kids put on a Talent Show one day it was the highlight of their trip I think.

Little Eva singing her ABC's.

We had some really funny times but the funniest thing was when my dad was taking down his awning on his camper and my oldest niece was sitting close by in a chair. All of a sudden there was a HUGE gush of water from off the top of the awning and she got soaked! Good thing she has a sense of humor! Too bad we didn't have a video camera on her.

This is a picture of the kids on the way to camping, there is no more room in the car!
On another note:

The problem with knitting something for your friend who is home with her brand new baby is that she has lots of time to look up things like your blog. Not that I'm complaining that someone looks at my blog but, it is hard to show pictures of the thing you've been furiously knitting on for weeks. It (the gift) is coming along with a few modifications. I love, love, love it. I hope she will too. The baby, Liam, will probably not care much but it is designed to keep him warm so I guess he will like that.

So yes the baby we have all been waiting for arrived July 11th. He is a gorgeous boy with Big A## hands. Sorry Jess couldn't help it:) I have never seen a baby with such big hands. I will try post a pic, with his mom's approval of course.

I got quite a bit of knitting done and made good progress on the baby gift. I will take pictures and post once she has the gift. Hope you're all having a great summer!

Mystery Stole 3

I joined the Mystery Stole 3 Knit Along (MS3 KAL). Like I have nothing better to do, HA! My part time job feels like a full time one especially when you go camping on every weekend you have off, plus I've been picking up extra shifts since we bought a new stove and water softener (finally). Now my counters don't look very good since they are cream and the stove is white. That's what happens when you buy appliances on clearance or as returns. I am considering getting some kind of new counter tops but not sure how much that may put me back. Maybe I should consider tiling them? So I need to start knitting lace with beads like I need a hole in my head. But, when stressed somehow adding a new knitting project to my list of things to do seems like the best idea ever. We'll see how quickly I get this done, I am already behind since clue number 2 is out and I haven't started. Oh well. It might be fun you know?

This picture of a cool glass ball thingy I got at a garage sale has some of the colors I am considering for my lace mystery stole. I found some beautiful lace yarn on Etsy. The woman who makes it would be willing to special order 2 skeins in a lavender/silver colorway. The question is do I do it? or look around town for some lace weight that would work? I know there isn't much as far as choice in town. I am very tempted. Very. You knitters out there what would you do?

Exactly:) Happy knitting!

Coming soon! A baby for our friends! We're so excited, almost as excited as them!

Camping

This is a picture of Knife lake from the shore at our campsite this weekend. My annual girls camping trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness was last weekend which is always fun. The water there is just clear as day and a pretty greeny/blue color. I took some time to knit on my socks in the hammock.

We paddled on "glass" as my dad calls it. I did go fishing too and caught some smallmouth bass.
Saw many, many loons. This was my best picture, my sister probably has a better one since she has a nicer camera.
This was my favorite meal up there, Minestrone soup with bread sticks and Stawberry-Kiwi Crystal Light. Yum!
I took a moment to enjoy the evening and knit on the socks again.

Here's my progress. I decided to start knitting the other one before finishing the first since I wanted to be sure I had enough yarn. The thought being I could maybe use a different yarn on the toes if need be. I think it will be fine but you never know. So just toes left on sock number one. I brought 2 projects up but only managed to cast on for the other one not knit at all. It is busy when you're up there and tiring so I found myself having to find time to knit if I really wanted to do it.

I am still pretty exhausted, this trip is not for the faint hearted. The first leg is a 2 hour paddle and then another paddle about an hour long. Not much portaging but the longest portage was right at the end on the way in. I have to say the 6 girls who went with me are the strongest and toughest girls I know. I'm so glad they are my family and friends. We are all a good team and take care of each other when we are up there and when we are home too. I love you guys!