On the water

Glenn, Amy, and the girls are here so we've spent the last few days at the lake. We take stuff for sandwiches, along with chips and a cooler of cokes and bottled water, and enjoy the sun and water.


After everyone is thoroughly tired, we head home, make supper, eat, and then rest.

We have a plan

All the blocks for the Mitered Squares Blanket are seamed. I threw them on the living room floor, arranged and re-arranged, and got Joan's approval for the final plan.

Now I'm going to pin the blocks together to form strips, and seam some more!

Sarah's Ribby Cardi

Finished just in time! Sarah leaves for school in three weeks and she'll be able to take her Ribby Cardi with her, ready for the cooler weather that will eventually come.

This project had been languishing in my knitting bag for months, almost finished, but not quite. I have a terrible habit of slowing down on a project as it nears completion - I don't enjoy the finishing work that goes into the garment as much as I do the straight knitting. Weaving in yarn ends, blocking, seaming together - and for this cardigan, sewing in a zipper - all leave me less than thrilled. But I made myself buckle down and finish and I'm so glad I did! I love the pattern and I love my daughter.

And isn't she cute in it?!

Best-laid plans

I had big plans for this summer. Thus far, the summer has not gone according to my plan, and it has been delightful!

But I'm thinking planning for one day rather than an entire month or season might be a better idea. So today I plan to:

1. Fold and put away clean laundry.



2. Knit on a dishcloth (for a wedding gift), seam a few mitered square blocks, and seam together a cardigan.



3. Go over once again tomorrow's lesson for the 2 & 3 year old Sunday school class and read a bit in a couple of books I have going.

I love The Pig

Temperatures today are pleasantly warm - not hot - and the sun is shining, so I thought I'd walk all my errands. I had to go to the Post Office, the bank, and the Piggly Wiggly for a few items.

I had a list of groceries to keep me on track: bread, buns, and barbeque sauce.

I made a fatal error when I walked into the store, however. I got a shopping cart rather than a basket. Within seconds I'd forgotten that I only came in for three items - items that would be easy to carry home - and I'd loaded the cart with bread, buns, barbeque sauce, paper plates, napkins, strawberries, grapes, a pineapple, two bags of potato chips, frozen french fries, and cheese.

As I was writing my check and chatting with the cashier, I remembered that I had walked. Oooops!

I told the cashier what I'd done, and that I'd need to make two trips to get my groceries home. The manager/owner heard me and said I could take the shopping cart and trundle all my stuff home, then return the cart later.

So I walked home pushing the Piggly Wiggly shopping cart, doubtless causing passing motorists to wonder what was going on. When I got home, I unloaded the groceries, then walked the cart back to the Piggly Wiggly.

I love The Pig!

Squares into blocks

Joan and I moved squares around trying various combinations. After several tries we came up with a plan she liked. Now I'll seam and after I have the blocks completed, we'll decide in what order they'll be for the finished product.

Last of the mitered squares

Now all 80 squares are completed for Joan's Mitered Squares Blanket. As soon as she's willing, we'll throw the squares on the floor and play with color combinations again, then I'll begin seaming squares together. That will take time, but will be pretty boring, so I think it will do as a movie-watching activity in the evenings.

4th of July

"This is a day of memory -
'Tis Freedom's Jubilee!"

Babette for Marley

Marley chose the Babette Blanket by Kathy Merrick for me to make for her. Like the Lizard Ridge Afghan by Laura Aylor that I made for Jacy, or the Mitered Squares Blanket by Ann and Kay of Mason Dixon Knitting that I'm knitting for Joan, this blanket is made of individual squares seamed together. So it will be another portable project - at least until the very end.

I do plan to used worsted weight wool yarn rather than the superfine superwash yarn recommended in the pattern.

Got to hurry up now and finish the Mitered Squares blanket!

Because the Time Is Near

Last month I read Because the Time Is Near by John MacArthur. It's been quite a while since I've read anything by John MacArthur, but this explanation or commentary on the book of Revelation was just as good, if not better, than any of the other books of his that I've read.

I've read several commentaries on Revelation, but I think I liked this one the best. MacArthur goes through Revelation verse by verse using the rest of scripture to comment and expound and explain this book. I thought that he was pretty careful not to impose his own interpretations on passages, but to allow scripture to interpret scripture. It's not a hard book to read and understand, and even made a good read-aloud. (I started out by reading it to Steve as he grilled our dinner, then continued for a bit longer.) Steve and I both agreed that this is a book we will keep for our personal library.

Friends at the lake

I have been trying to take Sam, Joshua, and Quintin to the lake as often as possible. Joshua and Quintin live next door to us and they play with Sam every day. Last summer we brought them to the lake with us a few times and they loved it, but they didn't know how to swim. This summer we're trying to teach them to swim - at least a little bit. They like being in the water and play well together.

Yesterday they got out with David and he taught them to kick and float. My job was to sit on the beach and watch, shout encouragement, and knit. It was a great day!

New yarn

Yesterday afternoon I went to the only local yarn store and went a little crazy buying yarn for the NEXT blanket. I already bought a pattern for a blanket for Marley and I'm looking forward to crocheting it.

The yarn store is closing soon because the owner is moving to another state. She gave me a 20% discount, so I threw in a few skeins of sock yarn, too.

I have to knit six more mitered squares, then I can start sewing them together. The border should not take much time to knit, and then I can start a new project! (Or finish a few old ones... .)