What I did on my summer vacation.
Just in case you've been wondering where the heck I've been for the last week...
Yep, we pooled all of our garage sale money and headed for Destin, Florida...home of the world's most beautiful beaches. Our family has been going there for years. The last couple of years, we've stayed at the Sandestin resort, which has tons of stuff for the kids and tennis for mom & dad. One of my best friends from high school, Leslie, lives in the area and told us we should try coming in early May - she was so right! It was in the 70s and sunny every day, and the crystal-clear water was the perfect temperature. (Unfortunately, Leslie had to fly to Tulsa for the week to visit her ailing dad...I missed our annual catch-up girl talk :(
I took tons of pix but most are of my kids...so I will show you this nice shot of Brent and I on the beach, taken by our youngest:
And this is the shot taken right before it, where we are both trying to tell her how to work the camera:
The downside, for some, is that Destin is a 15-hour drive for Tulsa. But for me, a knitter, this is a HUGE upside! I started and finished this whole shell in Rowan Cotton Rope. It's similar to the one by Blue Sky Alpacas that has been so popular, but it has a great little tipped neckline and armholes. Gina H. said I would love knitting with Cotton Rope - and I did - it is smooth and a VERY quick knit at just 3 stitches per inch on #10s - yet the finished product is not too heavy. I love the slimming effect of the long ribbing at the bottom (I doubled the number of ribbing rows from 18 to 36, to cover the tummy). This pattern is in the Cotton Rope Collection book and uses 7 balls (main color) and 1 ball (contrast color) of Cotton Rope.
On our return trip, I made some good progress on that Louisa Harding cardigan in Coquette and Nautical Cotton. When the Coquette with tiny sequins arrived, I quickly worked up part of a sleeve to see how it would look - then dropped it awhile. Now that I've picked it back up, I'm really loving the Nautical Cotton - very similar to Tahki Cotton Classic, but feels smoother, and we have Louisa's more subtle color pallette. You will also notice I have the back crammed on to Lantern Moon straights - I just adore these needles and will always try to get away with this rather than using circulars.
When I got back in town yesterday, I ran into Patti at Lambrusco'Z and she was carrying her darling, original purse design:
Okay Patti, we're gonna need that pattern! Don't you love the little Zecca button she chose? Also noticed that Patti was carrying a copy of "A Good Yarn" by Debbie Macomber. Debbie was in town last week for a Junior Leauge event. She asked everyone which was the best yarn in town - of course they said Loops! - and she surprised us with a visit. She was just lovely, and signed all of her novels that we had in stock. There are just a few left...
When I returned to the store, there were some fun surprises waiting for me, including Delight, a one-of-a-kind yarn from Suss, which we ordered way back in January at the San Diego Show. I'm going to grab some today and start a summer scarf...
Also from Suss, we got some adorable kits for a crochet Bohemian Scarf (great first crochet project - c'mon, you know you've always wanted to learn - why not schedule a private lesson with Billie Anne, Dawn or Kendall?), as well as some super-cute purse kits complete with handles and applique flowers.
Okay, hopefully this huge blog entry has made up for my beach absence. Keep an eye on the blog for the next couple of days...my next entry will be a short but substantial announcement! (Hint: Loops two-year anniversary is this week and we plan to celebrate this weekend!)
- Shelley
Yep, we pooled all of our garage sale money and headed for Destin, Florida...home of the world's most beautiful beaches. Our family has been going there for years. The last couple of years, we've stayed at the Sandestin resort, which has tons of stuff for the kids and tennis for mom & dad. One of my best friends from high school, Leslie, lives in the area and told us we should try coming in early May - she was so right! It was in the 70s and sunny every day, and the crystal-clear water was the perfect temperature. (Unfortunately, Leslie had to fly to Tulsa for the week to visit her ailing dad...I missed our annual catch-up girl talk :(
I took tons of pix but most are of my kids...so I will show you this nice shot of Brent and I on the beach, taken by our youngest:
And this is the shot taken right before it, where we are both trying to tell her how to work the camera:
The downside, for some, is that Destin is a 15-hour drive for Tulsa. But for me, a knitter, this is a HUGE upside! I started and finished this whole shell in Rowan Cotton Rope. It's similar to the one by Blue Sky Alpacas that has been so popular, but it has a great little tipped neckline and armholes. Gina H. said I would love knitting with Cotton Rope - and I did - it is smooth and a VERY quick knit at just 3 stitches per inch on #10s - yet the finished product is not too heavy. I love the slimming effect of the long ribbing at the bottom (I doubled the number of ribbing rows from 18 to 36, to cover the tummy). This pattern is in the Cotton Rope Collection book and uses 7 balls (main color) and 1 ball (contrast color) of Cotton Rope.
On our return trip, I made some good progress on that Louisa Harding cardigan in Coquette and Nautical Cotton. When the Coquette with tiny sequins arrived, I quickly worked up part of a sleeve to see how it would look - then dropped it awhile. Now that I've picked it back up, I'm really loving the Nautical Cotton - very similar to Tahki Cotton Classic, but feels smoother, and we have Louisa's more subtle color pallette. You will also notice I have the back crammed on to Lantern Moon straights - I just adore these needles and will always try to get away with this rather than using circulars.
When I got back in town yesterday, I ran into Patti at Lambrusco'Z and she was carrying her darling, original purse design:
Okay Patti, we're gonna need that pattern! Don't you love the little Zecca button she chose? Also noticed that Patti was carrying a copy of "A Good Yarn" by Debbie Macomber. Debbie was in town last week for a Junior Leauge event. She asked everyone which was the best yarn in town - of course they said Loops! - and she surprised us with a visit. She was just lovely, and signed all of her novels that we had in stock. There are just a few left...
When I returned to the store, there were some fun surprises waiting for me, including Delight, a one-of-a-kind yarn from Suss, which we ordered way back in January at the San Diego Show. I'm going to grab some today and start a summer scarf...
Also from Suss, we got some adorable kits for a crochet Bohemian Scarf (great first crochet project - c'mon, you know you've always wanted to learn - why not schedule a private lesson with Billie Anne, Dawn or Kendall?), as well as some super-cute purse kits complete with handles and applique flowers.
Okay, hopefully this huge blog entry has made up for my beach absence. Keep an eye on the blog for the next couple of days...my next entry will be a short but substantial announcement! (Hint: Loops two-year anniversary is this week and we plan to celebrate this weekend!)
- Shelley
posted by Shelley Brander at
5:12 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home