July Already?

Oh my, July 1st already. Half of the year is past. Whoa, how did that happen?

Before I forget to post this, books read since December 15th, 2009:
22. Casting off by Nicole R. Dickson
23. Frill Kill by Laura Childs
24. Sweater Quest, my year of knitting dangerously by Adrienne Martini

Okay, so what have I been up to? For one, baseball and more baseball. The boys are on summer break and with both of them playing ball, we have at least two practices a week and up to four games a week. Now, I am not complaining, because can we just say PRIME KNITTING TIME? I have been working on three sweaters, my Acer cardigan, my Tangled Yoke cardigan and my Bohus. And throw in there my Par 5 socks, which I have finished and kitchnered one toe. Seriously, I have had those socks finished for a couple of weeks, so what is the deal with kitchnering the toes? Maybe tonight I'll get the other one done and cast on a new pair. That way I can start something new, and not the new sweater that I bought yarn for this week.

The new sweater, honestly I wasn't planning on buying any new yarn. The boys have been at Vacation Bible School this week at a friend's church (since ours held VBS at night which doesn't work with baseball practice) and I had a doctor's appointment near the church and needed to kill about an hour and a half. So, I thought Knitty Cat is nearby, let's stop in and look around since I haven't been in there in ages. Oh boy, she's now carrying Amy Butler fabrics (which I was good about and didn't purchase, although if she would have had Anna Maria Horner I think I would have gotten into trouble). Well, I picked up a Jean Moss pattern book and ended up purchasing Araucania Ranco for a sweater and the coolest buttons which look as if they were made for this sweater. I haven't cast it on, yet....

Gardening - well the corn is actually looking good and may hit knee high by 4th of July. I also have tomatoes and jalapenos on the plants. ALTHOUGH, I have aphids. I am not happy. They are on the tomato plants and I am using the dish soap and water method to go after them. I don't know who is winning yet, but the 2 pots on the deck which look the worst have new aphid free growth. The battle is on, and I am determined to beat these bastards.

I went to the Estes Park Wool Festival. The boys had 2 baseball games that Saturday which were canceled due to the heavy rains we were having. So, I decided to hop in the car and drive myself up to Estes. So I plugged in the Ipod and drove. I believe the only time it didn't rain was when I was going out to the car with the drum carder I purchased. Thank goodness for that reprieve, a wet drum carder would not have been good. I was on a mission to buy a fleece and ended up buying two - a Jacob fleece to knit a sweater for my son and a CVM. I debated processing the fleeces myself, but ended up shipping them to Morro Fleece Works to have them made into pin drafted roving. I'll spin them when I feel my skills are at the level I want. DH did give me crap about buying a drum carder and not processing the fleeces. Imagine that.

I am going to do the Tour d Fleece this year and my only goal is to spin every day and work on my skills. I am still frustrated and hoping for this beautiful handspun that friends of mine produce, but they have been spinning for years. I need to have patience....

Well, that's it for now. Happy July everyone!