Wow!!-Is that the sun I see?

The clouds have finally parted after 17 straight days of rain. It rained so much that we had flooding that caused roads to be closed down. In fact it took me an extra 1 1/2 hrs to get home Friday night as they detoured me thru the wild life refuge and then the only road back was slower than anything due to the increased traffic. Besides it is the road to all the casinos and nothing keeps folks from gambling on Friday night.

Remember last week when I listed what I wanted to get done this week. Well... drum roll please.....I got it all done and then some!! I finished my shawl on Saturday and blocked it that day and the next. I got to take it off the blocking board this morning and see how it really looks on me. But I had to wait for hubby to come home to get a pic of it on me. And for some reason he is not all that good with my camera and I am not pleased with the pictures. Maybe I should have someone else model it and I could take the pictures. So here are the final stats. I started it sometime in early May after buying the yarn on our trip to Paducah. It is Claudia's handpainted fingering weight in a colorway named "Hyacinth". It was purchased at Loops in Tulsa and the pattern is from "Victorian Lace Today". The main panel was knit on a size 6 Addi Turbo Circular and the border was done on size 7 DPN's. The only problems encountered was learning the hard way that you have to slip the 1st stitch on every row in the main panel. And then when knitting the border on thru these slipped stitches you must count very very accurately. I also had problems with my provisional cast-on. I should have used a very smooth yarn to allow for the stitches to pull out smoothly. And honestly I am not sure if the provisional yarn ever really pulled out since I took it out 1 stitch at a time. I used the crochet type of provisional cast on and next time I will try another method to see if I can find a better way. But I love my shawl and will be keeping it on my bedroom chair in my apartment in the city since that is where I sit and read/knit at night.

I also got my 2nd victorian lace sock on the needles. In fact I am almost down to the heel. I expected to get one front done on my baby sweater project and I got both fronts and a large part of the back. I finished my skirt and even got a few FS stars knocked out. I almost forgot I needed to put togeather a box for my Scrappy Ladies Progressive quilt project but I threw that togeather at the last minute too.

For next week I need to work diligently on the baby sweater project. I found out that I need a 2nd baby set by the end of the month and a 3rd by August. I am having trouble finding the yarn I want for the next 2 sets which will be for girls. I am enjoying the Colinette Jitterbug I bought for the boy set but can not find similar for girls. I am going to go try Carol's Knit Studio since I know they have a decent selection of Opal which has self striping and solids which are necessary for this project. I did not get any pics of the progress on the sweater as it has not been blocked and the peices are rolled up and not very attractive at the moment.

The garden is producing a little again. Actually the rome tomatos may come on strong this week as there are quite a few pinky ones now. The peppers are starting to bloom again and hopefully setting. We were finally able to mow and weed eat so the yard looks a little better although the grass is not as healthy as it should be after being under water for so long.

No reading this week as I am taking a break until Harry comes out in 3 weeks. I tried to pre-order today but am having trouble with Barnes & Noble.com. I think my email provider blocked their emails and now I am email hell!! Till next week then......

Lord-Are you sending an Arc?

It has rained all week and I may be starting to mold!! Actually I managed to catch a virus this week and spent the better part of 3 days with a hellish sore throat and a killer headache. So I did not get much knitting in. I did manage to turn corner #3 on the shawl and I also turned the heel on the Victorian Lace sock. But I did not ever get any pics so maybe next week.

Despite the lack of sun my cherry tomatos are finally starting to ripen. Once the sun comes out this week we should be able to pick them by the bowlful. No new peppers have set due to the dreary weather. The herbs love it tho and I have used quite a bit of basil, thyme and oregano. The flowers are all bright and perky especially my Dahlia's. Its been awhile since I attempted to grow these but I will from now on.

This week was Maddie's birthday. She turned 8 years old this week. But the story is not what she got as gifts but with what she gave as a gift. She decided to have her beautiful long hair cut off and given to Locks of Love in memory of a relative that had passed this week due to cancer. It must have taken a lot of courage to have then make that first cut but as always she still looked beautiful.

I did get a bit of reading done due to the monster cold. I am about 2/3 of the way thru book 6. The beginning of the war for Indepenence is looming and Jamie has had to make his true intentions known-to fight for independence. There is a lot of story to still evolve in the last few chapters of this book. I will miss the Frasier's when I finish up-Harry will have to hurry up and fill the void.........