Summer Vacation

So it seems I've taken an extended vacation from posting about my knitting exploits, but I've noticed that others have done the same thing - so much to do in the summer!  I've been enjoying various blog posts about vacations and there have been some wonderful pictures to go along with them, like woolythyme's trip to Africa and along the Maine Coast, Gale Zucker's blog about her trip to Maine (Maine was very popular this summer!) and, of course, any photos that are posted by loritimes five.  If you don't follow her blog, head over there to take a peek; she is a really amazing photographer and a very fine knitter.

We took a trip to Southern California for a wedding and made a trip to the Mission at San Juan Capistrano, home of the swallows who return every March from South America:


                                                                                     

  The mission built a huge church and it was the pride of the mission system, but unfortunately, it was destroyed in the earthquake of 1812 and was never rebuilt.   The remains of the church are still there and it is to that spot that the swallows come back every year to build their nests in the ruins of the church walls:

                                                                                        

 

These are the original bells from the church:

One of my favorite things to do in the summer is to go to our nearby lake, get in some swimming and sit in the sun and read.  Here are a couple of books that I read this summer:

                                                                           

                                                                       

The End of Your Life Book Club is really a wonderful book and not at all depressing, despite the title.  If you are a reader, you will enjoy this story of a son and his mother who read voraciously and discuss the books throughout this story.  At the end of the book is a list of all the books mentioned and I marked off the ones I wanted to read as I went along.

And, oh yes, I did a little knitting, including the following projects:


The Freeport Vest by Elizabeth Smith:


                                                                                 

A pair of Opal Nightlife socks:

                                                                                    

And my current project, Carrie Bostick Hoge's Sibella:

                                                                              

  I'm using Quince and Co's Chickadee yarn in the color Bird's Egg.  Not much to look at yet, so here's a picture of Carrie's sweater:

                                                                                             

       

A little more detail:

                                                                   

  
That's it for now; looking forward to catching up with what everyone else has been knitting!

                                                    

Not So Happy WIP

                                                                                       

                                                                                           

Well,  I know this happens to all of us.  I'm finishing up my Montague Vest which was a pretty easy project and I'm feeling pretty good about all this when I went and tried it on and stood in front of the mirror and realized this just does not look good on me!  I took it off and tried it on again the next morning to see if things had improved (perhaps my body shape had changed overnight?) and came to the realization that this is just not going to work for me.  For starters, it's a little too big, even though I did knit a swatch and got gauge ( I thought) but the yarn used in the project was Tahki Montana and the  unlabeled Tess' Yarn from my stash looks alot more chunky than the intended effect.  

                                                                                               

    

I'm going to let it sit in my project bag for awhile until I decide what to do next.  I like the yarn and actually envisioned knitting a jacket with it while I was working away on this vest; perhaps this yarn is better suited for something like that.  

Anyway, on to my current work in progress: the Freeport Vest:

                                                                                     

                     

This is really an easy project that is knit in the round using Elizabeth Zimmerman's "Phony Seam" which I have done for the first time. You can see how to do it here on Elizabeth Smith's  web site.  It's pretty easy to do and I think will produce a nicer fitting vest.

                                                                       

   

I'm using the yarn that she used for this project, Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride Bulky:

                                                                           

     

Yes, another project with bulky yarn, hopefully, with a better outcome!   Head over to Tami's blog to see what some really talented knitters are up to.  


                             

More About Maine

                                                                                       

In the midst of this sweltering heat, I am finishing up my chunky wool Montague Vest and I keep thinking about my trip to Maine and those cool breezes along the ocean where I walked every day:












                                                                             



                                                                                   

I'm also starting to read this book called Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan about a family with three generations summering at their house in Cape Neddick:


                                                                               

And every morning I walk into my kitchen and see this:


                                                                     

All of this has gotten me in the mood to ditch this heavy woolen knitting once I finish this vest and do another easy summer project like this cotton Sanibel Cowl which is a free project on Ravelry:

Is anyone else a big fan of  Gale Zucker's blog, she shoots sheep shots?   Go check out her latest post on a road trip to Maine; what a great time she had!  Gale is a professional photographer as well as a fellow knitter and her photos are wonderful of sheep and wool in Down East Maine as well as some great yard sale finds.  Here's a picture of their camping spot:

                                                                                     

Have a great Fourth everyone and stay cool! To see what other folks are working on, check out Work in Progress Wednesday.