Episode 27 ZK Recap

Watch Episode 27 of pjknits on you tube here for the real low down!


 The Goodie Bag - Adventure Walk Bag, Miss Bags samples, Suburban Stitcher Yarn, notions bag, phone pop-up

Fun Table Goodies

Knitting Adventures Shopping

ZK Market

As always it was a great time of being friends, knitting, adventures and yarn shopping!

I'm Back!

Debbie and I had a terrific time at Zombie Knitpocalypse last weekend.

Our table sweater this year was Avalanche and some of us actually completed it.

We enjoyed a special moment when Annette gifted a scrappy blanket to Bindu for their 30 years of friendship, all after piecing it together in front of her.

There were lots of our favorite candies, bourbon balls.

Debbie and I went out for some Knitting Adventures and visited several shops up in Minneapolis/St Paul area that were recommended by irocknits.

And one even had an adorable dog, Bella who greeted everyone.

And there was yarn purchased not only on the Knitting Adventures, but at the market on Saturday at ZK.  Watch for that post later this weekend!

Catch you on the purl side!

It Is Officially Summer

Today, is the first day of Summer!  Come over to the Ravelry Group and let's talk about the Summer of Shawls here!

I am not giving up on my Summer Sweaters, but I just love knitting on shawls in the Summer.  Not being a total sock knitter, Summer Shawls are easy to take long and I usually have one tucked in my purse for just in case knitting.

I always have a finished shawl  in the back seat of my car, because you never know when you are going to need something to cover up in the air condition at a restaurant, the movies, traveling or at the end of an evening when the hot summer sun goes down.

I wear a lot of shawlettes come the Winter when at work.  They are great to pop over the many turtlenecks I have and they double as a nice warm scarf in the Winter winds.

This Summer in the Ravelry group pjknits, on the blog and the podcast, I'll be talking about shawls.  Shawls I have, shawls I wear, shawls I want to knit, shawl books I have, shawl patterns, shawl yarns and some of my favorite shawl designer.

My Summer Shawl cast on today for the first day of Summer is going to be Shadow Shawl by Antonia Shankland.  I am using some super cool yarn that was a gift from my friend, along with the pattern.  It has some sparkle to it, and cannot wait to do some knitting on it.

Enjoy your first day of Summer, and hey, how about casting on a shawl?!

Episode 26 Show Notes

Summer of Shawls from here

Finished Objects
Sunny Baby Blanket

On the Needles
Test Knit Moduloncho

Books
From my Library all Summer long

Shawl WIP
Bamboo Wedding Shawl by Purl Soho
  out of HandMaiden Flaxen

June 21st Shawl Cast On
Shadow Shawl
  out of Neon Unicorn Studios Diamond Dust Sock and Another Crafty Girl Twinkle Sock

Shawl and Tell
Fog - A Shawl Recipe
Multnomah
Dinner in the Eiffel Tower
Lala's Simple Shawl
Bermuda
Meteor Shawl
Silk Moon Crescent

Off To ZK

Debbie and I are off to ZK in Rochester, our 1st of the year knitting adventure trips for 2019.  Stay tuned for fun, friends, knitting and shopping!

Episode 26 - Summer of Shawls

is up on You Tube.  You can find it  here

What I Am Working On This Weekend

A test knit.

Cannot wait to show the whole thing!  It is such a neat knit!!  Trust me, it is.

Finally Finished Friday

The Sunny Baby Blanket out of Jelli Beanz yarn.  Done way in advance of baby shower!

And Hospice Blankets from yesterday's meeting...none are mine, but what a beautiful array again this time.

It Was A Dance Weekend!

Because I never could dance, it is so much fun to see my grandkids dance.

 And Mom danced the Mommy/Son dance and Dad danced the Daddy/Daughter dance again this year.

Packing Some Knitting

I am off to a dance recital this weekend, so I am packing just a bit of knitting.

First up is the Sunny Baby Blanket.  I have about six more repeats to go and I am hoping to get a bit done this weekend.  It is a nice easy knit and can be done while in the car.  It is one of those timeline knitting projects and needs to be done in just over a week, so I am going to be knitting on it a lot this weekend.

My hope is to have it almost done by the time Monday rolls around.  I have my donut progress keeper in the very top row right now to see how much I really can accomplish.

Another timeline knitting project that needs to be done by the 17th is a test knit I am doing.  I have a lot of knitting to do on it, so it is coming along, but first up is the baby blanket!

And finally, a cowl for during the dance recital.  It is easily knit in the dark as it just in the round stockinette and easy to put down during the clapping.





Have a great weekend, catch you on the purl side!

The Rain Passed Us By

And at the end of the evening, as I was sitting knitting, I saw this wonderful view out my window, and just had to share the panoramic view of the most beautiful sky I have seen in a while.

Wouldn't these be some beautiful colors for a yarn or a colorwork sweater?

Another Ah Ha Moment

Sometimes, I just have to stop and figure things out.

Today was a beautiful Sunday in Central Illinois, which meant I should have been outside enjoying it, but as most of my Sundays go, sometimes, I just need a day to get some things resolved.

Our son is getting married in August and on my mind lately have been shower invitations, rehearsal invitations, what to wear to both showers, what am I going to wear to the wedding and what shoes can I get that will be comfy and my fixed foot won't grown at.  All of these have been weighing heavily on my mind, but this morning, with the help of friends who I appreciate their giving it to me straight, I have narrowed down the wedding dress to to possibilities, which I am waiting for the second one to be shipped and then the final decision will be made.  I have ordered yet another pair of sandals from Zappos.  Thank goodness for their liberal return plans.  I have tried a lot of shoes on so far.  And the invites, well, one is on their way to me and the other, I will firm up later next week.  So at least on the wedding front, things are definitely looking up!

Now for the knitting.  Can you stay overextended?  Not really over extended, I guess, but more I want to knit all the things for all the people and all of them have deadlines of 2 1/2 weeks from now to the end of the month.  On the positive side, if I stick to my eating only at meal times, and stay focused on the knitting, I shouldn't have a problem getting the June deadlines done and maybe shed a pound or two!  I will blog about the projects next week.

An interesting ah ha moment this morning came to me while watching stories on instagram.  I get so many ideas from Instagram for my knitting and this one was truly a moment that elated me.  As I have been quite honest before about, I, like many women dislike our upper arms.  I never wear sleeveless, well, there was one time when it was stinking hot at a wedding outside and I  said the heck with it and took my black long sleeve jacket off, but for the most part, my arms have to be covered.

At work, I wear tanks, but always have the simple crew neck, button down front on over it.  This lack of wanting to bare the arms in public, frustrates me, because there are so many cute sweaters to be knit out there that have these little cap sleeves.  Now, sure I can make the sleeves longer and wear them and I do quite often, but on Instagram the ah ha moment was, a cute knit I saw with patterning at the hem, and patterning at the neck.  The Instagrammer wearing it, put a cute little jean jacket over it and it was so dang cute.

This ah ha moment, reminded me I have four jean jacket like jackets in my closet, a yellow one, a hot pink one, a Caribbean blue one with yellow trim and a really truly jean jacket.  This revelation opened a whole new possible world of knits for me with cap sleeves.  

So, I am off to plan more Summer knits that may just have to be cast on right away!

Enjoy your Sunday, I am!