Guess What I'm Doing?

I know, a bit behind once again on the posts. The end of last week was crazy as usual and we took off first thing on Monday morning to head out on the last great escape of the summer. Back to Cape Cod, this time with my sister. Her boss has a lovely home in Eastham that we stay at, just down the road from a lovely bayside beach. For those of you unfamiliar with the geopgraphy of Cape Cod, it's the hook off the eastern end of Massachusetts. So one side has beaches that are exposed directly to the Atlantic, most of them part of the National Seashore and simply breathtaking. Nothing like the raw beauty of the waves and such of the Atlantic.

The otherside has equally lovely beaches, but rather than being directly on the open ocean, they access Cape Cod Bay. They are quite serene and peaceful and perfect for families with small children. The water is warmer, small little waves and at lowtide, you can walk out forever. Lots of little tidal pools are created and they are great for exploring.

Yesterday, Jackson and I took a walk out (sans camera of course) and witnessed one seagull with a crab in his beak, another digging one out the sand in one of the shallow tidal pools and a third munching away on what appeared to be a delicious crab lunch. Gotta love seagulls with good taste.

What has been the highlight of the trip been for the kids you ask? This:

And this:

Whether it's been at the beach, at the beach house or in our own backyard, it has been the summer of baseball for these two.

What has been great about this trip for me is this:

I have actually been knitting and actually making progress on a project. It's for the next knitalong on the podcast and I am very excited about the sweater and how much I've accomplished. I've been feeling a bit defeated by our knitalongs lately. Not because I haven't liked the projects, but I just can't ever seem to finish. Either life gets in the way or I get distracted by something else. Pixie is so good and diligent and keeps it all on track and I am forever behind. But I am extra motivated by the next knitalong which starts up in a couple of weeks. What is the garment you ask? It's this:

The Tilted Duster from Interweave Knits Fall 07 issue. It was designed by Norah Gaughan, so you know it's going to be intriguing. Norah will be joining us on the podcast to kick off the knitalong and she'll be making an appearance at the store on Wednesday, September 12th from 5pm-7pm. We'll talk more about the knitalong, present the Berroco fall line and trunk show of the garments. So you see, I am under even more pressure to complete this project. What am I going to say "Oh, hi Norah, love the design, thanks for coming on the show, but geez, I've just been too darn busy to knit your awesome pattern". Uh, no, that is not going to fly. So I am knitting like crazy. Fortunately, I love Peruvia from Berroco and have since the first sneak peek I saw of it many moons ago. It knits like a dream and up on a #10 goes FAST! The pattern itself is ingenious of course and I like how it's done in pieces - they are like small little rewards. I am hoping to have sleeve #1 done by the time we get home tomorrow and sleeve #2 done by early next week. I've already completed the back and two front pieces. The skirt itself will be time consuming, so I need to keep making forward progress.

Of course, my sock is still calling me (and my Jonathan is asking if they will be ready for the first day of school - my response - "oh honey, it's going to be much too WARM for socks on the first day of school. Let's hope we don't have an early frost this year).

My crocheted "Not Just an Apron" is in the mix too. It has been frogged and I've been working on it periodically - I am still angry with it though.

Then there's this:

Also from Interweave Knits fall issue. Both Cirilia and Melissa are well underway with this project and it is talking to me as well. But it has to wait - take a number oh lovely Minimalist Cardigan.

The boys should be back from mini golf any time now, so I better get this posted. Not sure if today is going to pan out to be a beach day, but it certainly is going to be a great knitting day. We head for home in a couple of days, the kids will be back in school in just two short weeks. . . . where has the summer gone? At least we've got some great memories:

Kathy

P.S. Also, check out the Snowflake Hat also in this issue of IK. It's an adorable design and uses our lovely Florence from our Valley Yarns collection.

P.P.S. In case you haven't read between the blog-lines, this issue of Interweave Knits is VERY good, IMHO. If you haven't picked up a copy, stop into your LYS and check it out.