Sock Masterpieces and a published pattern.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, there has been knitting and quite a bit of it.  Masterpieces are what we call finished objects in our podcast and so I figured I'd start with the socks I've finished so far.  I had planned to knit a pair a month but as usually life happens.  I did get I think 8 pair this year so that's a good number.

Recently, I taught my first toe-up sock knitting class at my local yarn store Stash - a place for yarn.  I was so nervous before the class because I had never taught a technique class.  I've taught plenty of people how to knit but never has someone paid me to teach them.  Yes, I was a middle school teacher for 3 years, so not saying I haven't been paid to teach but not paid to teach outside of that.  Anyway, the class went really well!  I got some great feedback and we've already scheduled my next teaching gig at the shop! 

While I was planning for the class, I decided that I really wanted them to leave the class with a pattern for the socks.  During the class we created tiny socks but here is a download link for you for the adult size socks that I published.  The socks have links to YouTube video tutorials within the pattern for your reference.  Since this is the pattern I have been using most lately, I had plenty of test knits for it!  Below are the 2 that I used as a reference to create this pattern.

Project details
Pattern: One More Row socks by Natalie Rush
Yarn: Patons North America Kroy Socks Ragg Shades in the blue stripped Ragg colorway
Cast on date: June 9th, 2014
Finished date: August 13th, 2014
Notes: I love this colorway!  These were the 2nd of this colorway that I knit because I put the heel in the wrong place the first time but those first sock now live with my niece SurferGirl.  She has bigger feet than I do so it worked out perfectly!  I just got a picture of her wearing them and there is nothing that I love more than getting pictures of my hand knits in use!

Project details
Pattern: One More Row socks by Natalie Rush
Yarn: Patons North America Kroy Socks Ragg Shades in the Grey Brown Marl colowary
Cast on date: August 13th, 2014
Finished date: August 25th, 2014
Notes: I cast these on the night I finished the previous pair.  Always socks on the needles, always!  These were knit during the time I was waiting for my surgery date, waiting to go into surgery, and while I recovered.  They came out so well and are so warm and comfy!  They were perfect to knit during a very stressful time in my life.

Happy Sock Knitting!! 

What is your go to sock pattern?  Please let me know if you use this pattern and you have any questions about it. 

Knitting: hexipuffin, cotton, and more

There was little time for knitting in the past couple months since Maria was born, however, thankfully that has changed!  For the first couple months all I   managed to knit was a couple hexipuffs...but I didn't really start knitting again until I went back to work.

Best knitting time right now is during lunch and during my pump breaks! :) Hands-free pump bra makes pumping so much better by allowing me to knit a couple rows and ignore the fact that I'm stuck in a room pumping.  Not a fan of the whole pumping thing...but we'll talk about that another day. It's all worth it though and knitting, and Netflix or HBOGo make it easier.

When I first started my leave, I was able to finish a couple things.  I finished up the pair of Spring Forward socks for Carmen and Maria's Grant Robin!  I also knit a cute pair of matching toddler socks for Maria!

My latest new project I started recently is a Little Abbey top in some cotton I bought at a local yarn shop for $1 a skein!!  It's coming out great!  I'm hoping to have enough yarn to knit Maria one too but this one is a 2T one for Carmen.  I thought I'd maybe knit the 4T but she's so little still that wouldn't fit her for ages!  Hoping this one fits well enough.  I already tried it over her head and it fit well.

I have a lot of things as usual I want to cast on but for now I am hoping to finish this soon and cast on matching one for Maria.  I hope to resist the startitis I seem to e suffering from until things start fitting into the house cup.  I am still hoping to get our family stockings done this year...or at least the girl's done!  Here's hoping!!

Happy Knitting!

What projects are you working on?

Carmen's First Birthday Socks...Published!

Socks, socks, everywhere socks!  I love socks...I love wearing them and I love knitting them!  When Carmen was born I knit her a tiny pair of infant socks and she wore them a couple times but they were so adorable on her!  When I was looking for a pattern to knit socks for her for her first birthday, I couldn't find a pattern that was her size but how I knit socks. I don't like knitting from formulas as sometimes, especially when it comes to socks which are my brainless knits, I want it already spelled out!  I want to just see the numbers and go from there. So, I came up with this pattern so I can knit her multiple pairs.

Carmen's First Birthday Socks

If you find any errors or have any questions, please contact me. As bigger sizes are worked, I will add the stitch counts to the pattern. Can’t wait to see the little socks others knit from this pattern! Enjoy!

Happy Sock Knitting!

PS...with a walking toddler...it's amazingly hard to get a good picture of her wearing these socks.  

crafting, decorations, and knitting....oh my!

I'm busy getting ready for Carmen's first birthday Party on Saturday!! Her birthday is Thursday and I just can't believe it's almost been a year...I'll talk more about that later.  I've got lots to do between now and then but wanted to share some pics of things I've done for the party.  Here is a sneak peak of the decorations for the party!  

and what I did with the crayons from yesterday!  They are all ready to head to the daycare tomorrow for the kiddos!

can't get this to go in here right! Will fix later!

Happy Week!

PS...a sneak peak of a new pattern that will be going up free!  Carmen's First Birthday Socks aka Toddlers socks!

Padfoot Socks Pattern Design Published!

Barknknit Design's First Pattern!!

A couple months back, my friend Shelby, from Shelby B's Designs, was sending me a skein of yarn as a thank you and asked me what my favorite Harry Potter character was and naturally since he turns into a dog it's Sirius Black. She had not created a colorway for him yet and she decided to create one! She came up with this beauty...
After receiving this beautiful yarn and not being able to find a pattern to knit with it, the Padfoot socks pattern was born.
It's a top down cabled ribbed pattern with a seed stitch panel.
I think it's a great pattern for sock yarns that have many colors.The pattern includes both a chart and written instructions. It is now available for purchase on www.barknknit.com and Ravelry.

Last week while I was working on publishing this pattern, my friend's dog Scorpio was hit by a car. He had gotten out of her backyard and someone hit him and never stopped. As someone who has gone through this, I decided that I wanted to donate 30% of all proceeds from the sock pattern from now until March 15th to help her offset some of the costs of his vet expenses and surgery. I'm hoping this helps her even just a little bit with the un-expected cost an accident like this incurs.

Well, I hope you enjoy this pattern and please feel free to send me any feedback as this is hopefully the first design of many.

Thank you to all those who have already purchased the pattern and for all the support my friends have given me! I appreciate you all!

New Podcast, Knitting, Frogging, and a Gift.

After some inspiration from my podcast and some encouragement, my husband Special K and his brother have decided to start a podcast. Their podcast is about sports and it's called This Week in Sports Podcast and now can be found on Itunes!! If you are interested in sports and think you'd enjoy two brothers chatting about sports and their opinions please go over and check it out. Their language can be colorful at some points but overall I think you'll enjoy it.

This is a picture of Kenny and Jackjack while he podcasted. Jackjack looks so comfy! ;)
After spending most the day knitting and helping Kenny with his podcast on Saturday, Sunday was spent cleaning up and relaxing as well. My podcast listeners had a Virtual Knit Meet up on Stickam.com and while I was chatting with them I decided to finally tackle the mess I made by frogging a vest that I had knit a couple months back from my handspun Romney that I didn't like. Instead of being a good frogger and make sure I wrapped the yarn right while I was frogging the project...I just ripped the knitting apart and created a huge mess!!

Well...that caused lots of knots and frustration but I finally did get it all wound up in the end! YAY!
After I successfully finished all my Ravelympics projects which I'll post a picture of soon! I cast on a vanilla sock using the Knitmore Girls Vanilla pattern. Can I say Genius! It's a simple knit pattern but it goes so fast and I really am enjoying it. This was my progress on Saturday.

I have since finished the first sock and am well on my way knitting the 2nd. I'm hoping to be done by Friday...considering I'm already turning the heel. I think I might be able to get it done.

My sister Tammy who is always great at good little gifts, asked me to swing by this weekend because she had something for me. I've been working on knitting something for everyone in my immediate family by the end of the year and she got me these to put on my knitted items! How awesome is she!! I love them!! I can't wait to sew these into some of my projects!
Thank you Tammy!!

Well...I hope you've enjoyed the catching up. I have lots of plans in the works right now and I'm working on getting some of them out to you all soon. So, look for some new and fun things coming. I'm still working on keeping this blog updated. I do not plan on letting it go anytime soon. I hope you are still with me!

Natalie

A sock FO, test knitting, and Ravelympics begins!!

So, my goal for today was to finish up the Spring Forward sock that I've been knitting prior to the start of the Ravelympics...and I did it! They came out great! These are knit from the Franconia yarn from NHKnittingmama.com in the colorway Darcie. I love this base as well as the color. What do you think??
I'm also planning to knit my third pair of this sock pattern. This time it's a test knit for NHKnittimama.com out of her Farmington base.
Today is the first day of the Olympics also the first day of the Ravelympics. I'm planning to knit the Shalom Cardigan by Megan McFalane in some Eco Wool + in the Rainer Heather colorway. I saw this cardigan knit up at SAFF and I just really liked it so I added it to my queue and then I saw another version at knit night and knew it had to be my Ravelympics project! I have the yarn all wound up, swatched, and ready to go! We can't cast on until the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics so I have a couple hours to go, but I'm getting ready to knit like the wind!!

Hope you are having a great weekend!! Happy Valentine's Day!!

Padfoot socks sneak peak.

Soon...I'll be publishing my first pattern. I decided to try designing a pattern when Shelby from Shelby B's Designs sent me this beautiful colorway. It's called "Sirius" after Sirius Black from Harry Potter. Shelby dyes beautiful Harry Potter colorways and I actually got to meet her and interview her at SAFF. When I first met her she asked me what my favorite Harry Potter character was and naturally it's Sirius Black because umm...he turns into a dog and he's named after the Dog star. So, she came up with a colorway and send me this...I then started searching for a pattern for this lovely sock yarn and I just couldn't find one. So, I came up with one. The first sock is completed and the 2nd is in the works. I don't have any pictures of it but I'll get them and you'll get to see them soon. My friend Courtney is test knitting my pattern for me so as soon as she's complete and makes sure there are no major errors...then the pattern will be published on Ravelry! I'm so excited!!!

Well...there is my sneak peak...you'll just have to come back for the pictures and the pattern!

Happy Monday!!!

Natalie

Dogs on Thursday with some Sock Madness

So, today is the start of Sock Madness 3! The pattern was release this morning and I cast on during one of my trainings and was finished with the cuff by the end of lunch. I'm enjoying the pattern because it's easy but don't like that it doesn't have a mindless repeat that I can memorize. It's just because I'm lazy and a bit tired lately. I have the perfect person in mind to gift this too when it's done!
The pattern is the Tropical Mer-tini by Ronni Smith. She is very active in the Sock Madness group and I'm happy to be knitting one of her patterns. :) I'm using the Dream in Color Smooshy that was from the frogged Clapotis. It's a pretty green color called Spring Tickle. Perfect time to be using it.

Well..since it's Dogs on Thursday. Here are my pups taking a break to train during their outside fun. They were a bit distracted by the barking dog down the street. :) They are so cute though.
Well, I'm heading back to knit until I head over to my sister's house to help my niece with a knitting project. I'll tell you all about it later and show pictures!

Have a great day and don't forget to go check out this week's very informative DOT post on the blog! Sue did a great post!!

Happy Knitting, spinning, and loving your dogs!

Spinning Meet-up and my first finished Entrelac Sock!

Today I went to my first Pinellas Weavers and Spinners Guild's monthly spinning meet-up and I had such a great time. I met a bunch of wonderful woman and learned that they are a wealth of knowledge!! Many of them are snow birds, however, they are here long enough so I hope to get to know them all better. During this meet-up, I was asked if I would like to be the Spinning Chair for our guild and I agreed! I'm not sure exactly when my duties will begin but I'll find out more at the next meeting, which is next Saturday. So far I know I will be in charge of organizing our meet-ups and if I want to submit spinning articles to our newsletter. They said I could do as much as I want with the chair position. I'm excited to meet more members and to get to know more of the spinners.

We meet the first Saturday of every month at a member's house. This week was at a nice woman named Judy's house. There was a pretty big turn out. Was great to see.
I brought my wheel and worked on my hand dyed domestic wool I showed you in the last post. I'm spinning it as thin as I can and I'm loving how it's turning out. Another Judy at our group, who sat next to me said that it looks very citrusey. And she's so right!
I really enjoyed the meet-up and I look forward to next weeks meeting, which I've volunteered to help set up for our Annual Market Sale which I hear is pretty awesome! I'm excited because I heard a woman at the meet-up say she was bringing some fleeces from her daughter's sheep. I'm going to look a those. I'm wanting to get my hands on a fleece soon so I can start spinning for a contest for Spin-off magazine. It's call All Wrapped up in Natural Fiber and you have to process your own fiber, spin it, and then knit up a scarf. If I can find a fleece I can afford then I am hoping to work on a project to send in.

On to Knitting! Yes, I have been knitting monogamously on my Entrelac socks. I bound off the cuff last night for the first one and quickly cast on the 2nd toe. I'm hoping to finish these this week before Sock Madness starts! I'm loving how they are coming out. There are a couple holes but that's ok. None too noticeable. I showed them off a the spinning meet-up for show and tell and got good comments. :)

Well, I'm off to knit a bit since I've spun most the day before we head to dinner with SK's step family. I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Happy Spinning and Knitting!

PS...Abby's daddy gave her a bath today and she smells so good..and is clean so she gets lots of loving from me. She's been bringing in a lot of pollen and it hasn't been helping my breathing but I sure do love her. :)

Pictures!! Brother-in-laws and my sock!

So, I promised some pictures and then I've been busy or lazy or distracted...you name it. First off this week has been good...just tiring. My allergies for one have been making me have a runny nose every morning but I've started taking my meds every night so it seems to be helping. Last night, I had guitar and I'm learning to pick and bend strings so the tips of my fingers are sore but I'm LOVING it! I'm learning to do a solo!

Ok...so now some pictures to catch up with. While my dad was here for the world series, his girls and him played a good game of cards. We played one my families favorites, Russian Rummy. Here's a picture of us all playing cards. We were only missing Cristina, who lives in CA.

Well, Cris made it for the wedding and the holidays...so I guess we can include a picture of her. This is a picture of Cristina and me, doing something over the stove. :) A lot of people say we look a lot a like. It's hard to see how we all look so alike yet so different. :) For one thing, I'm the only one with wavy hair. I like this picture for some reason. I think it's cute.And now the pictures I was promising. My dad told me while he was here and after he watched that movie the Bucket List with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nickolson that he was able to cross of two things off his Bucket List. First was going to a World Series game and then watching his youngest and the last of his biological daughters get married. That made me tear up. One of my biggest fears growing up was that my father wouldn't be there at my wedding. It was really big that he got to walk me down the isle. It wouldn't have been the same if I didn't have a parent there. My mother was missed a lot at the ceremony and always but I'm so glad my dad was here.

Well...since the Martinez's girls as we are known are now all married off. He wanted to make sure we got a picture of us all while we are all together. Cristina's husband Kevin and her live in CA so we don't see that all that much. The rest of us all live pretty much in the same neighborhood...so we see each other plenty. :)

So...all the brother-in-law's from oldest to youngest...shortest to tallest. (left to right)

And all the brother-in-laws and their wives. It's pretty amazing that we all married younger men. Some months apart and others longer. Special K and I have the biggest difference with about 4 years.

I hope you've enjoyed the pictures. I haven't forgotten the Spam post. I'll try to get that up this weekend!

I'm off to lay in bed and work on my Entrelac sock. I'm having so much fun knitting it! Here's a progress pic.

Happy Knitting, Spinning, and loving on your pups!!

My first Calorimetry and more!

So, yesterday when I got up and was getting ready for work after I walked the dogs, I realized I had finished my Wedding Week Cubbie Socks the night before. What do you think? Forgive my green pijama pants. :)
Having finished them...I realized I had NOTHING else on the needles!! Nothing..no more socks...no dishcloths...nothing!! I have already decided what my next project would be but I wasn't getting the pattern until Saturday. So, I quickly thought on my feet of what I would knit during lunch. I figured I could do a Calorimetry which I've been wanting to make. So, I wound some of my handspun into a ball and quickly printed the pattern and headed to work.

A cast on during lunch, and recast on at knit night at Panera because I was told that I shouldn't follow the recommended cast on. I only cast on 100 and I think I could have cast on less. Well..I knit it at knit night and then in bed later and I finished it! It was a quick knit and worked wonderful with handspum. Edit: just wanted to let you know that the yarn was spun and plied on my homemade spindle.

So...this morning it was cold again with frost on the ground so I decided why not wear it. I had not sewn the button on so I used ribbon to fasten it. :)

Here I am during lunch today! What do you think?

Another pic of me at the post office mailing some pictures to Sharimom and SK's grandparents!
Well..I'm very happy with it. It kind of looks like I'm wearing a hat if I have my hair back but right now my hair is MONSTROUS!! I need a trim or a cut soon. It's getting long and giving me headaches!

Well...next I have a survey for you to do. Yesterday as I was leaving work, my co-worker and I got into a discussion of the age of people who knit. I was telling him, he would be surprised that many younger people knit. So, to prove him wrong...I set up a survey. Please go over and answer the 2 question survey! :) It's quick and you'll be surprised at the survey results already. Please only fill out if you knit, spin, crochet, or craft!

Edit:If you don't craft and want to see the results check here.

Thank you!

Hope everyone stays warm and safe! Special K and I are staying home tonight and having a good dinner and then tomorrow if the Florida State FAIR!! fun!! I'll try to take some pictures to share with you!

Have a great weekend!!!

Gnat

Thankful Tuesday!! and quick update!

Today I am thankful that Jackjack is feeling better. We went to the vet on Saturday and he took x-rays and the pins have not moved. The vet says that the surgery was amazing and that his arm looks great, however, he is developing arthritis in that arm now. That is the cause of the pain. He had to take a blood test so he could put Jackjack on some pain meds and then we'd retest in two weeks. So, Jackjack is feeling much better. Here is the proof!!



Before you press play be mindful that Jackjack has a loud voice! :) I uploaded a couple others videos to Youtube.com of Jackjack and Abigail's puppy cousin's visit. :) They had fun.

So, Jackjack is better and I'm very thankful that we are not having to do surgery. YEAH!!

Abigail is doing well also. He said her skin looks a whole lot better since we did the allergy test and that her itchy ears are due to the allergies. We have her on some medication for her ears. She will always have ear and skin issues but she's doing well.

I guess that's all I have to say for now. I've been knitting on my 9-5 socks and I'm at the heel finally!! I think I should be done by Sunday!

Work is going really well. I had my 90 day review and I think it was a positive one. I've been working out at 6am still and I'm actually off to bed soon so I can be up at 5:45 to make it to the spinning class.

Hope you are all well!

Thankful Tuesdays!

I'm thankful this week for knitting. I know what your thinking..."duh" or as my family will think..."are you serious?" I just want to say that knitting has brought a lot to my life. I feel acomplishment when I finish a project or get through a tough part of a project I'm working on. I am ok with ripping back and reknitting. I feel great when I am able to do a new technique I didn't think I could do. I love how I feel I can complete any project if I just take it one stitch at a time. I need to start thinking about life like I do knitting. It's ok to take a step back with things that need work. I can accomplish anything as long as I take it one day at a time. Try new things because I'll feel great afterwards. Knitting may seem like just a hobby but it's brought friends and wonderful feelings into my life.

Speaking of knitting....it's also nice when you get tons of free yarn in goodie bags!! This past saturday's Stitch n pitch was so fun...but the bags added to that. (Yes, the company was great too) They contained a bunch of great stuff. Here's a quick piture of the bags and stuff in it. PS...It had Encore and some other yarn but I traded for some more sock yarn. :)

They started giving away more bags after the 6th inning so I scored a couple bags and a ton of sock yarn!!

Since I ended up with so many extra bags I'm planning a contest. When I finally get my next podcast episode up I'll post about my contest and talk about it on there. :) It's my motivation.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Happy Knitting!!

Weekend update!

After a long week of cubs games and work, it was nice to just hang around the house and knit. Last night, I cooked dinner and ate with Special K and worked on my 9-5 socks. They sure are coming out pretty!!
And I had to get a picture of Abby sitting and waiting for me to throw her ball. She would drop it in my lap while I was knitting and I'd throw it and knit. :) We had a good time. She's so cute!!
My knitting plan is to finish this sock tonight and cast on for the second one. Then work on my clapotis tonight too. Tomorrow I need to finally rip back the 6 rows and fix the wedding shawl so I can start making some forward progress on that. Then I have some stuff I want to start but I think I really need to get these socks done and some progress on the two bigger projects before I cast on anything else. :)

Well....Tonights the Rays Stitch n Pitch so I'll hopefully have some fun pictures and stories for you tomorrow. :)

Have a great night!!

Happy Knitting!!

Dogs on Thursday on friday and an update.

Hey, just wanted to let everyone know I'm ok. :) Work has been good and I've been keeping pretty busy. The puppies have been good. We even started running a bit during our morning walks. I tried again for the focused sit picture in my backyard. Look...Jakjack still won't look at me. I know I should be happy with just the fact that he would sit and stay there for me but when I tried to get him to down he was not having it. I had to admit there was a sneaky squirrel that had his attention more than me so I let it go for now. We came inside after he wouldn't down the second time.
But check out the attention I get when this is done inside and they are waiting for me to fix their food bowls. :) I have Jackjack's FULL attention then. hmmm. Oh and we tried a bunch of downs when we came inside to remind him what that word means. Let me tell you it was an instant down. UGH...need some more outdoor training with some yummy treats.

I've been working a lot on the clapotis and it's coming along nicely I think. I love the color and the pattern is so simple. You just have to keep track of what row you are on but it's only different on the beginning and the end of the row the rest is mindless. :)


During lunch at work I've been doing a lot of knitting on my 9-5 socks. I'm at the heel of the first sock but since it's solely my lunch time knitting...it's slow going.

Well...I've got to get finished getting ready for work. I'm sleepy today...but I've been tired all week. I'm hoping to get a big cup of coffee when I get to work to wake me up.

Have a great day and Happy Knitting.

PS..Don't forget Sat. is WWKIP day!!

Week update!!

My first week at my new job has been good. I've been doing a lot of observing and will be excited to start answering questions and get into the meat of things. My co-workers are nice and I'm glad to be working with them. I've started getting up and walking the dogs on long walks before work so that's made me feel great. This week has been flying by and I haven't had much time to post this week...better luck next week.

I've been working on my shawl and realized that I made a mistake about 5 rows back so I guess I have to rip it again. I've been switching back and forth from the shawl to the clapotis and I have to admit now that I have to rip back it's been put down for this week. I'll sit with it this weekend and rip back. I might need a beer or two to get me through. ;)

I haven't gotten any knitting done during work hours. I haven't really been taking full lunches but i did do 2 rows of the 9-5 socks during lunch yesterday. I left the sock at work and just plan to work on it during lunch for a while. I need to get the shawl and clapotis done...well, not done but I need to work on them. :) I still need to wash the sock yarn from the first 9-5 sock so I'm not ready to finish the first sock....I know I'm stalling but it will all get done. My plan is to get the sock done but the end of June and as much as I can on the other two. No biggie. :)

Well, it's getting to that time where I need to start convincing Special K that the tv needs to be turned off so I can sleep good. It's an every night battle. I like to fall to sleep in silence and he likes to watch tv until he can't hold his eyes open and then turns it off and falls asleep. If I'm tired enough I'll just fall asleep with it on but sometimes I just can't ignore it. :) The joys of a TV in the bedroom. Let me tell you I fought it but lost.

Ok...hope all is well. I'll try to get a DOT post up tomorrow after work.

Happy Knitting!!

Sunday wrap up!

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Last week was so rough that I promised myself and asked Special K that everything we do this weekend be relaxing and refreshing. It wasn't perfect but I had a great weekend. Friday night we hung out and relaxed with some beer and I knit.

Saturday, I met my friend Sheryl for our first of many saturday morning walks with the pups. We walked almost 4 miles with the pups. They were tired and hot but I brought plenty of water for them. They slept most the afternoon. The afternoon was spent knitting and relaxing. We grilled brats and Special K's friend and his dog, Ginger came over for the evening. It was tons of fun and surprisingly Abby still had energy to play play play. :) Ginger was fond of Special K.


I finished the Bellatrix socks that night and just had to kitchener stitch up the toes on Sunday morning. I love how they look!! As Special K says they are LOUD but they are awesome!! So, May socks done and on we go!!


I joined a KAL for LetsKnit2gether Podcast for the Clapotis. I've been wanting to knit this so I decided to go for it. It's starting out nicely. I'm enjoying the pattern a lot.
Today after I went to knitting for a bit, Special K and I hit the beach. It was a nice hot day and the water is still cool enough for some relief from the sun. We had a great and very relaxing time. What do you think??


Tonight, Special K made french toast for dinner and it was yummy!! I'm relaxing and knitting some more and preparing for my new job tomorrow. Not really sure what to do to prepare other than to "let go" of my last job. It should be easy but last week wasn't the best one I've had there. I'm just really glad it's over. I am very excited about tomorrow and just hope to find a job that doesn't feel like a "job." Well, hope everyone has a great Monday and I'll let you know how my first day goes!

Happy Knitting!! and for those of you starting your summer break...Happy Summer!!

Quick Post from the Keys!

Hey, I hope everyone is doing well. We made it safely to Big Pine Key yesterday. Sea Camp has been a blast so far. Only trouble was last night was very hot and I had trouble sleeping. Today was full of fun in the sun. Tomorrow is going to be even better with two boat trips to the coral reefs!! Just hope the wind dies down so we can head out on the flat top boats. The kids are doing good and I'm enjoying the free time to knit. I've got a TON of knitting done. I brought three projects with me to work on...so I don't get bored with one. :) I brought the Malabrigo hat that I'm knitting for Surfer Girl, the 9-5 socks that I'm redoing, and my Bellatrix socks for May's Sockdown and my person may socks. So...I've got tons to work on and my ipod is full of great podcasts. I listened to them and rotated my knitting the whole 8 hrs it took to get down here. :) I plan to do the same on the way back. I've only been knitting my socks while I've been here because I don't mind if a couple sand particles sneak into my sock. I can wash that easier than I can wash the malabrigo hat.

I think my Bellatrix socks are coming along nicely. I didn't use the 0s for the leg. The ribbing was pretty tight so I figured the gauge would be fine with the 1s. They fit snug but they are good!! I think they are pretty!!


Well...I hope everyone is good. I'm glad this is my last trip for a while because I do miss my time with Special K and my puppies. I haven't had a lot of time with them in the last couple weeks. I'm excited to get my life in order and start a new job soon.

Well, our night wade is about to start so gotta go! Happy Knitting!!