The beach, some knitting and a giveaway!



It was a perfect long weekend. I spent HOURS just sitting on the beach. I read, I knit, I slept, I got charbroiled. Excellent! Check out that sky - soooo blue and no clouds. I so did NOT want to come home. I just love it there.

Things near my sister's house had changed a bit since my last visit.


The picture on the right was taken in early April. The picture on the left was taken this past weekend. Look how crazy green everything is now! And chock full of wildlife too. I saw tons of birds, a turtle, a snake, a deer and lots of frogs. Sitting on the balcony with this view was just as pleasant as sitting on the beach.

Of course there was knitting. What else is a girl supposed to do with all that delicious free time? Last week, I started another Jaywalker. I wanted something mindless and easy to work on.


I'm using the Lorna's Laces that I got the last time I went to the beach. This is the first time I have ever used size 0 needles to make a sock. I gotta say... it's killing me. It's just so sloooow. But I tried it on larger needles, and it just wasn't working for me. The size 0's seem to work best with this yarn. And since I don't currently own a size 0 circular, I decided to forego my normal magic loop and use dpns. Despite the slowness, I really like how this yarn is working up. It's even pretty on the inside too!

Hopefully I will stay motivated through to the second sock!

I suppose I should mention that the Obsidian socks have been frogged and the yarn sent back to the stash. They just weren't making me happy. I know exactly what I want to do, but I was having problems with the execution. So, for now, it is once again, a ball of yarn!

I also put in some time with my Doubled Bordered Scarf. This isn't the best picture, but it does show some progress.

I'm ready to be done with this. I think it's going to be really pretty when I'm done, but I'm kinda bored with it.

Before I left for the beach, I got caught by the toy knitting bug again....

bug... get it! hahahahah! (I'm a dork, I know!)

It's another pattern from the Crafty Alien booklet. I am just loving these patterns. They are so quick to knit. The pattern calls for the ladybug to have legs, but I decided not to add them. I kinda like it this way. I used some leftover Selkirk from the Arwen sweater and some Nature Spun I had in my stash. The Selkirk didn't felt so well. I don't like that you can still see the stitches. But the Nature Spun felted perfectly. I also chose not to embroider on the knots. I embroidered the line down the back and thought it was pretty tedious. So, I just needle felted the spots on. I used the scraps of Nature Spun leftover after the knitting was done. The eyes are also needle felted.

I'm sure I will be making the bee pretty soon. I'm going to need more shelf space in my room for all these toys!

So.... a little giveaway!

I was recently contacted by someone from Mira Books and asked to review the newest Debbie Macomber book here on my blog. Coincidentally, my housemate had just finished telling me about these books. It's a series of fiction books about a knitting shop and how knitting brought different women together. I read the second book, A Good Yarn, while I was at the beach. It was perfect beach reading and I must say, I enjoyed it.

Well, today, I received a package containing not one but TWO copies of the newest book in the series, Back on Blossom Street.

Well, my good fortune is your good fortune. I will have a random drawing and give this book away. Leave me a comment between now and hmmm... let's say Monday, June 4th. All commenters will be entered into the drawing.

Bring on the comments!!