The Done, the Almost Done and the Undone

Whew!  August is here and I can’t believe all the stuff DH and I packed into July. Much driving; house selling, house buying, family visits, a festival, a fair, and a LOT of knitting!

First up, since there were several comments; yes, we sold our house in three weeks!  (Five if you count the week and a half it took waiting on the offer-counter-offer transactions).  Unbelievable; we truly didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.  If you read the paper or watch the news you will know that it is still very much a buyers market and from our recent house-hunting I can tell you that buyers can afford to be very picky and they will be.  (At least we were!)  The only thing I can say is that it helps to have a really nice house in a good location, to clean it really well before any showings and to price it right.  Those are my real estate tips for the day.  On the buying end, we did find a house in Central Iowa on our last trip and are waiting on the final acceptance from the seller; I’ll have more to tell when everything is solid.

So in-between all of that excitement we packed in a lot of travel.  The big trip was the Family Reunion for my Mom, her Sister and their offspring.  There were 5 kids in my family and my Aunt has 4 kids.  All in all we are a big group.  Here’s a group shot of my Mom, Dad and 4 out of 5 of us kids with spouses, 10 of 16 grandkids (plus a couple spouses) and three great grandkids. 

My youngest brother couldn’t attend because he is still over in Iraq but his wife and sons did.  Some of the nieces and nephews couldn’t attend due to work/life etc.  (One niece was on pregnancy-related bed rest / baby born July 28^th). Only my biological daughters attended from our family since the step-daughters weren’t available.  Still a big group with missing family members!  We had a weekend with my cousins and a whole week with our clan.  Great fun; and of course much spoiling of my two grandkids who were there.  

Now I’m sure that you are ready for some knitting right?

I got the Flower Child sweater done:

(and a shot of the recipient modeling it!)

Pattern: Flower Child by Nora Gaughn

Yarn:  Berroco Pure Pima in Nectar

Size 6 Needles

I actually had to let DD do the neck edging in the car on the way to the airport (for her flight back home) because she crochets much better than I do.  This was a fun pattern, but way too much seaming involved in the construction for me.

I finished some socks:

Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A (Knitty)

Yarn: Claudia Handpainted in Eat Your Veggies

Size 2.5mm needles /dpn

The Lone Monkey is alone no more! I knit one sock originally as a shop sample and when the shop closed I picked up another skein of the yarn to knit sock #2.

 

Then I finished the July Challenge socks from the pre-empted Summer of Socks II Challenge. 

Pattern: Angee by Cookie A (Sock Innovation)

Yarn: Knitpicks Essential Kettle dyed in gold

Size 2.25 mm needles / Magic loop 2 at a time

I also got a new job teaching at a shop that just opened in a nearby city.  Of course I broke the heart of the owner when I told her I’d be leaving after August.   But, she asked me to do a sample and I couldn’t resist the yarn or the pattern:

Pattern: Design 26 from Noro Designer Mini Knits by Jenny Watson

Yarn: Noro Silk Garden, color 87

Size 6 / 8 US needles

This was a really quick knit and I may make one again for me someday.  It’s missing buttons because I didn’t have any in my stash that worked and I’ll be taking it in to the shop tomorrow, so I’ll pick some out then.

I also finished one of the two hoodies I’ve been working on for our twin nephews. 

Pattern:  Daisy by Stephanie Pearl McPhee (Knitty)

Yarn: Super 10 “Butterfly” Cotton, color Midnight / Scarlett

Size 5 needles

This also needs buttons because I didn’t have a needle/thread with me on that trip. I also cast on for the next one which will have the colors reversed.

I started a pair of anklets:

Pattern: Simply Lovely Lace Socks by Karen Baumer (IK Spring 2006)

Yarn: Panda Cotton

Size 2.25 mm needles magic loop

And I think I might have shown you this project or maybe mentioned it, Big Ball of Joy – I’m making this for a friend at church who is expecting (soonish).  I have 5 out of 12 pentagons knitted.

Hmm, there might also have been a square for a swap and bazillion dishcloths for the ladies at the family reunion, but now things are getting hazy.  Anyway, that’s what I’ve been doing; I can already tell you that August is going to be a wild ride, so I’ll do my best to stay up to date.

Happy Knitting!

Nana