I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes unto the Hills.....

While I build up the posts about my summer list (many, many pictures...) I thought I might show you one of the big reasons I like where I live.

These are all views I enjoy when I take a walk around my neighborhood. Today, I share them with you. Happy October from Pennsylvania.

Summer Vacation, Part Two

So I think you all got that I didn't get any re-decorating done. I didn't even get the woodwork scraped and ready to refinish, but I did get about half of the wallpaper border taken down in Elder Son's room. Yay me!

Before I get to the summer knitting report, I promised a picture of the tallis I made (yipes!) last October. Here is the Bar Mitzvah boy holding it up so you can see most of the stars. There are four large stars representing his parents and his maternal grandparents (the Jewish side), eighteen medium stars for life and thirty-six small stars for double life (c'hai in Hebrew, I could explain how each Hebrew letter has a numerical equivlent and why, but that would take a whole 'nother posting). The band across the top has the prayer he says just before he puts on the tallis. Hand embroidered

These are my roulette socks. As you can see I got a few extra things. The knit towel just matches my bathroom (that I redid eight years ago). The tiny sock blocker is hanging on my purse and the second sock has been knit. Sadly, I finished it in June and it was too warm to wear wool socks. With October here, it won't be long before I need them.

OK, on to the summer knitting list:

I finished one or two things, but not everything. Not by a long shot! I did, however, dye yarn!!! Whee!!! Early in the summer, youngest niece and I took a dying class in Nazareth PA (Kraemer Yarns). We had lots of fun and both came home with two skeins of colorful yarn. One of mine went to Amy Lane with greens (for Green), grey (for Bracken), and sunshine yellow (for Corey). She has promised to post a picture, so I won't bore you (hint, hint). These are yarns I died in the back yard at the end of summer. Youngest Niece sent me a kit and yarn blank for my birthday last year and I finally got around to using it. After I had dyed all the blanks I had, I had some dye left over and went hunting through the house for some KnitPicks' bare yarn. That's the rainbow colored stuff on the end. I think that is my favorite. It is in light worsted weight so maybe a scarf?

This is the Warm Shawl by Veronik Avery. I must have picked up that book six or seven times before I finally made the commitment. It is knit from KnitPicks Elegance (have you picked up that I use a lot of KnitPick's yarn? Good price, reasonable quality, and they have that "spend $50 and we'll ship for free" thing going). Any way, back to the shawl. I have worn it to services a few times and been so warm I needed to hang it over the pew in front of me. Youngest Great Nephew took a short (very short, he's pretty active) nap on it. So, nice and warm. Hella impressive and really soft. I can see this getting a lot of wear over the winter. Warning: There is an error in the lace edging chart check Ravelry for erratta before you knit this.

This is Elder-Great-Nephew's Steggie. Knit with Vanna White's acrylic. Shhh! I know it's not really harder to take care of wool (then again something that can be thrown in the washer seems to get washed earlier than something that has to be washed by hand, but I digress....), but I want him to wear it to death before he grows out of the dinosaur phase. Everyone at school loved it, to the tune of "can you make one for me?" Ha. It was fun to knit with no errors in the pattern. I think I switched needle sized between the body and the hood but that will just keep his ears warmer. Right?

Well, there you go. That was most of the summer yarn goodness. Next time (well, maybe) the crafty, social, other summer projects. Happy Veteran's Day.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation - Part 1

Yes, I know it's October, but I've finally got some free time and a whole lot o catching up to do.
Every spring, before school lets out, I make a list of the things I would like to accomplish with all the free time ahead of me. This year's list?
House
Re-decorate Elder Son's room and make it our bedroom
Re-decorate our room and make it the new sewing room
Re-decorate the sewing room and make it a TV/guest room

Sadly, due to the whole boom, poof (when the bedroom ceiling fell down?) we had to table the redecorating until we could get a contractor to remover the present ceiling, clean the joists (?) to be sure there is no mold growing, insert insulation, apply dry wall to new ceiling, sand floor, and repair the closet. Now that it's October, The Husband has promised to get on with it.

Knitting/Yarn
Sweater for a friend (promised who knows how many years back)
Nona Shawl (KnitPicks kit)
Steggie sweater for great nephew
Lace Shawl for me!
Warm Shawl from Knitting Classic Style
Another Fish Hat for someone....
Afghan for DIL to be
Dye yarn blanks

Sewing
Eldest niece's wedding quilt (They have a six-year-old child, I really need to get on this!)
Youngest niece's quilt (Four-year-old, and don't think I don't hear about it)
New Duvet cover for our newly decorated bedroom
Snowman embroidery I've been working on for years, years I tell you.
Cat embroidery, ditto
Doll for Great Niece
Tote bag from dragonfly materiel

Gardening
Mulch Lavender and Roses
The Husband's Zen garden
Plant annuals in the corner garden
Make Lavender Vinegar

Craft
Refinish Oak Desk
Refinish Oak Bookcase
Refinish Dressing Table
Refinish Oak Chair
Refinish armoire

Miscellaneous
Finish all the books in my book box
Take a trip
Lose twenty pounds
Swim three times a week
Digitize all my Ed Ames Albums

Well, that was this summer's list. Next time I will let you know how things worked out and even post some pictures. Now, where's that gift list for the winter holidays?