Alright, already!

Apparently some of my readers are just itching to see more images of my dog wearing hats since y'all (both of you that aren't family anyway) have told me you're sick of the orchids by now. But what can I tell ya? I've been BUSY. Sheesh. (OK, really, it's good to be loved and wanted. No matter how many times I tell myself that the blog is for me, I still want to know that people are reading it.)

I had a busy June with work and then we went on a much needed vacation (more to come on that) - when we got home, I went straight to work and it's been kind of crazy. A good crazy though - some nice jobs that pay well - what more could a freelancer ask for? However, this is who I got to spend part of the vacation with - isn't she adorable? (Yes, I AM biased.) She's not very interested in knitting though (yet!).

At any rate, I DID manage to get a little bit of knitting done - perhaps nothing spectacular as I am not a very speedy knitter - but a few accomplishments none the less. Exhibit A is my baby gift to my neighbor. Again, I cannot over state how much I love Barbara Walker - the top down pants turned out great (in my opinion). I was inspired by the Kittyville devil hat and the pants in the Stich 'n' Bitch book - but I decided to do my own version. The pants are all in one piece except for the tail which I fashioned "Eeyore" style so that Mom can take it off when it gets to be a nuisance and still have some pants that are functional. The beauty of this gift is that Daddy is a Hell's Angel (yes, really - and one of the best neighbors ever, by the way) so I thought it especially appropriate to do the Little Devil outfit. Now I just have to wait for the baby shower.

I also managed to FINALLY finish one of the socks and am over halfway through the second one. I have decided that maybe I don't hate knitting socks so much after all - they're just not all that practical for us here in California - except maybe for me. The joy of wool socks was prosletyzed (sp?) to me by a wardrobe supervisor a few years back. I decided to give it a shot since she went on and on about them. I picked up a few pair at REI and lo and behold - she was right! I couldn't believe how much better my feet - and legs - felt after a day in good socks. I spend a lot of time on my feet for work, so I have some seriously ugly, but comfortable shoes (this is hard as I am a shoe whore by nature - I really want to wear pretty shoes, but I've seen ballerinas feet close up - trust me - comfortable shoes are where it's at for work) - but the socks, they made it better. So, I'm thinking that making custom socks for myself might just be worth it. Sweet Babboo even bought me a skein of sock yarn with aloe in it - how cool is that? It feels pretty soft, so I'll keep you posted.

And my proudest moment - just to keep you all on the edges of your knitting chairs - I finished the lace wrap. It needs to be blocked, so I'll have photos soon (I promise) - but it turned out pretty good as far as I can tell at the moment. So good that I've started another lace project. I think I might be in love with lace. I'll keep you informed......

My other vacation companions (her baby is cute too...)