My Bucket is 40% Full

My Bucket is 40% Full

It’s Tuesday and you know what that means…Carole wants an update my Summer Bucket List to see how I am doing…

Oh boy…

Here is the link to the original post

Now, how am I doing?

Undone:

Done:

However, I need to have a frank discussion with myself about the chance of success for completing the undone. I might be able to get one or two more things completed, but 100% is highly unlikely.

I mean, it is August 2nd and there are only thirty-three days until Labor Day…There is your depressing thought for the day.

You’re welcome.

Did you have a Summer Bucket List? If yes, how are you doing?

Standing Room Only

Standing Room Only

It was a full weekend here. Very full.

There was a lovely ushering in of the weekend on Friday, including the new edition to the Happiness Hour – the “Pig Out” Pig plate.

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But, the best part of the weekend was the excitement and wonder of seeing Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine on Saturday when they made a campaign stop in Pittsburgh. While it was a LONG day. We got down to the Convention Center just before noon on Saturday and waited in line for about 2 hours before the doors opened so we could stand in another line. In all we waited, standing, for about 6 hours along with about 5000 others (and almost 2000 outside who did not get in). Wall to wall people and everyone was pleasant, polite, and cheerful. The.Entire.Time. It was nice seeing so many young people there, and even nicer to hear some of these young people speak! There was a nice “pre-game” show for Hillary – I got to hear some of the local politicians. And, Mark Cuban was there to announce his support for Hillary – he got the honor of introducing her to us.

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It was so incredible to see her, and to be lucky enough to be about 15′ away from the podium so we could get some great photos.

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It was a long day, but hearing her speak was worth every single minute of waiting.

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Sunday was a bit quieter, I taught a friend how to knit a heel flap and gusset on her first pair of socks! (Thanks, Carole for your fantastic pattern which makes it so simple to teach! I just needed to do a bit of math to adjust to the number of stitches she cast on.) I hope a new sock knitter has been born. She is not a very confident knitter, and I am not quite sure how to foster this in her. She has knit a few top down sweaters (I know… how can she have no confidence??) but she struggles with many aspects of knitting. Anyway, I am hoping that she will gain some confidence in this project.

And, before I knew it, Sunday was over and with it the month of July. I am left wanting to put the brakes on summer and savor the days that seem to be racing by!

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How was your weekend?

Sock Spinning

Sock Spinning

I learned quite a bit during the 20+ days of Tour de Fleece – and one of the things I really honed in on was how to produce a 3-ply fingering weight sock yarn.

Actual fingering weight – not heavy fingering weight. But, fingering weight that will knit to gauge on a 1.5mm needle!

So, I had this Perendale from Sheepspot hanging around. Only one bump, so I divided the fiber in half and split each half into 3 sections – one for each ply. I almost have ½ of it spun up – so it is going fairly quickly. I am not spinning more than an hour or so in the evenings.

 

My goal with spin a more “striped” sock yarn – keeping the colorways intact and hopefully very little barber pole effect. I am not sure how much yardage I will get – I might have to figure out toe up socks!

I am also cruising along on Tales from the Isle of Purbeck. I am into the third chart and should be done with this very soon.

Friday Links:

(FYI: there are only 77 days until Rhinebeck, sweater weather is coming…)

Now for a bit of political bragging…feel free to skip if you are so inclined. However, no matter your political leanings, the fact that we have a woman nominated for the highest office in the land is something that we should all be proud of. Bravo America!!

That is all I have for this week – have a fantastic weekend!

The Living is Easy

The Living is Easy

We have some much-needed rain in the forecast today – the skies are cloudy and it smells like rain.

It’s the perfect day to make a batch of Salsa Verde and a jar of Sweet Pickles.

And…by week’s end I think I will have enough little tomatoes to make a batch of Roasted Cherry Tomatoes.

The only other thing on my agenda today is a wee bit of letter writing!

What’s on your agenda today?

A Mystery Solved

A Mystery Solved

Over the weekend I finished Through the Loops Mystery Shawl, from cast on to epic bind off it took me 52 days. Over the course of 5 weeks, a portion of the pattern was released in a clue a week.

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This is my fourth summer for participating in Kirsten’s summer mystery shawl and each year I am absolutely amazed at the pattern that unfolds. This year’s shawl was no different – I truly loved the pattern this year. Thistle Brambles is indeed a fitting name – the Thistle patterning is striking. It was my first time knitting with Jill Draper’s yarns and I really loved Esopus. Her color sense is excellent and the dyeing is done expertly. There was not even a hint of color in the water after I soaked the shawl in preparation for blocking.

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I am listening to The Book Thief and I am about half way though. I am really enjoying it. When it is completed, I will have my first Bingo of the summer! After that, I am hoping they will be falling into place fairly quickly. We shall see…

And, new knitting? Well, I got out my basket and I pulled out Tales from the Isle of Purbeck to try to figure out where I was, and what I found was a bunch of mistakes! So, I ripped back…all.the.way. Thankfully, the second time was the charm, because it has been smooth sailing. For right now, I am avoiding the Jen Lucas shawl because I wanted to knit something with a slightly larger gauge, in hopes that would help me finish sooner! Or at it might feel like it is going faster! I am just starting on the second of four charts, so hopefully I will be half way done soon. I am pondering doing an extra repeat of a chart, but see how much yarn I have left when I have completed chart 4. I am using Elsawool and I am so happy with it! Soft, lofty, and the color is so rich!

Joining Ginny in her Yarn Along today.

What’s on your needles today?

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