Fourth of July blahs and works in progress

I hate the 4th of July! There, I said it. My neighbors are pleasant enough 358 days of the year, but from the date fireworks go on sale to the day they stop, I don't like them at.all! The drunken party like a mass of 12-year-old boys that extends all day today starts in a few minutes and I'm trying to post something before I need to sedate my dogs and cats and steel myself to the mayhem and noise that will cause us to suffer miserably for the next 12 hours. I also have to work today - the evening shift. I hope no one dies because I can't hear what the doctors are saying. I'm praying for severe thunderstorms from 5 to 11 tonight. I'm listening to Paul Simon's American Tune and Steve Earle's Ashes to Ashes to express my sentiment towards this holiday. I hate the 4th, I tell you; I hate it!

I haven't written in awhile because I've been busy and quite frankly, I hate the process of taking pictures, making them halfway presentable, and then saving and posting them on the blog. However, it's not a blog without pictures, so since it's a day of coping with the things I don't like, I'm going to post a few works in progress.

I finished a sock. I'm working on #2, but it's a slow process. The yarn is a Knit Picks Felici sock yarn in colorway called Coastal. It's a mindless sock pattern that doesn't call for any stitch pattern and I'm just letting the stripes stand out. It's fun enough, I can work on it in social settings, and the end product is functional.



A few weeks ago I went to The Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, Oregon, and the only thing I bought was this RickRack rayon from Interlacements. I got a free feather and fan shawl pattern with the yarn and started making it right away. This one is for me.



I don't know why nothing stood out for me at Black Sheep. I've certainly seen enough from others who bought fiber, yarn, tools, and gadgets that I've been admiring from the festival. I had just bought a spinning wheel, so I guess I just felt I should be frugal. I did buy a fast flyer for my Kromski, so I came away with a cool tool.

I've been spending a bit of time at StitchCraft and Nicholette has started Saturday knitting in the store. We're supposed to sit outside, but it was over 100 last Saturday and we sat indoors. Nicholette assisted me in picking out colors for a Chevron scarf and I eventually chose Lorna's Laces sport-weight merino in Aslan and something Lake. I'm pretty satisfied with the results. I want to do another scarf in Lake Huron and Gold Hill. The Chevron scarf is my new favorite mindless project. I think I have the hang of picking out contrasting colors that work together now and I know I'll be doing this scarf a few times.



I'm also knitting a shawl for someone, but can't post it here yet.

Within the next few weeks, Carol from spinning group is going to teach Betsy, Nicholette and me how to use a Turkish spindle. She's very adept at this and we're looking forward to the lesson. Carol has an amazing story behind her spinning. I'm waiting for her to tell it on her blog and then I'll link to it.

The garden is bearing fruit and vegetables. Lyn just brought me in a handful of ripe raspberries and we've been enjoying blueberries in various forms for the last few days. This week our local CSA, Purple Rain, delivered the best strawberries I've ever tasted and we devoured them straight from the box. Our figs are huge this year.

I hope you all enjoy a safe and happy 4th of July; just because I won't be happy doesn't mean you all shouldn't be. For those of you who secretly suffer, especially those of you who have pets that suffer, you have my sympathies!