Wow! I thought summer was supposed to be relaxing and easy going. Not a care in the world. Right. I’ve been working quite a bit this summer and, as a result, I don’t want to spend my free time in front of the computer. Thus, the huge gap since my last real blog entry. So, let’s play catch up!

Like everyone else in the civilized world, I spent last weekend reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

To some, this would mean a complete loss of knitting time. However, when you just have something in plain stockinette in the round like….oh, I don’t know…. a Wonderful Wallaby, you can make a surprising amount of progress while reading 759 pages!

I’ve worked on it a little since finishing the book, but the bulk of the knitting was completed while reading. If you choose to knit while you read, I have one word of caution. Pay attention to what color yarn you are picking up when you are ready to knit stripes. If you aren’t careful, you’ll end up with this:

Those aren’t two different dye lots of green. They are two completely different colors. Silly mistake, but at least it isn’t glaring. At least they are both green.

Other knitting I’ve been doing: The MS3:

I haven’t started Clue 4 yet because I’ve been busy reading. However, that’s on my agenda for this weekend.

Yesterday, I started this:

It’s the Stag Bag from the current issue of KnitScene. If you want to make one, but you’re a little intimidated by it, I’ll be teaching a class on it at River Knits this fall. Come join us. (BTW: I’m in love with this yarn! It’s the new Ultra Alpaca Light from Berroco. YUMMY!!!)

Finally, I’ll leave you with something….um……interesting. Last week, I went to the library to pick up a book that was on hold for me. While I was there, I decided to look at crochet books. I *always* look at the knitting books, so I thought this would be a nice change. Well, I found this:

Yes, that’s a man smoking a pipe and crocheting. Inside the book, there’s this picture of the same guy:

Isn’t that a riot?!  The best part is that this book is REALLY great!  There’s tons of good info and excellent illustrations. As well as the standard bizarre garments. (Warning: All of the instructions are British, so if you decide to check out this book sometime, be forewarned. The terminology is a little different than what we use in the States.)

So, that’s what I’ve been up to. Now, I better get back to work!