Long time, no blog...

I can't say we've been particularly busy, or that I have any reason beyond summer laziness for not blogging in almost a month. I have been knitting, but not as much as I'd like. It's nice to be able to say that I've knit 4 pairs of socks since I last blogged - even if they are itty bitty socks! They're my usual top-down sock pattern, made from leftovers of socks I've made in Jitterbug, Yummy, and the tiny one in STR. Hopefully they will make cute ornaments for our Christmas tree this year. I have many more planned, as I just joined a STR mini-skein swap on the STR Ravelry group.



I've got my very first Clapotis on the needles, and it's about halfway done. The yarn is ONline Supersocke 100 Summer Color #789, Tequila Sunrise. I was feeling inspired by a Clappy and matching socks made by a knitting group friend, Laurie, that she showed off last week. She used an ONline Beach color in blues and tans, which I have in stash but not enough yardage of it. Laurie's yarn came from my sister's destash a few months ago, and my orange yarn also came from a trade with Sarah, which I think it just perfectly perfect for some reason. If I'm lucky I will have enough of the orange left (I started with 7.4oz) to make myself some matching shortie socks as well. Since I'm about 6 rows short of being exactly halfway through the pattern, and have used less than half of my yarn, it's looking good! At this rate - I've knit nothing but this since starting it a week ago! - I will have it long-finished before we leave for the beach on the 16th, which is my goal.

KnitPicks introduced a new line of sock yarns, Stroll, which is really just their "old" Essential rebranded, but they've made it a bit more exciting by adding new heathered colors, multis, and handpaints, along with Stroll in a DK sock weight. I couldn't hold myself back, and placed an order for 4 heathered Stroll colors, and one Multi color to knit socks with. L to R : Tidepool Heather, Twinkle Heather, Sapphire Heather, Firecracker Heather, Hearth Multi.

Yesterday marked the beginning of youth soccer season here in our area, which means I'll be spending about 90 minutes at the practice fields 3 nights a week - I think of this as bonus knitting time! 2 weeks ago I interviewed for a job in downtown Baltimore, which resulted in a job offer last week - I start on the 27th, once the kids are back to school, and I'm really looking forward to it.

The kids and I are all counting down to our beach vacation lately, we're very much looking forward to returning to Emerald Isle, NC on August 16th. This will be my 2nd trip there, Lucas's 2nd (3rd if you count the fact that I was there while pregnant with him, lol), and Dillon's 4th - it's our favorite beach to visit! We'll be traveling with my parents and sister, and hopefully my brother will be able to make it as well.

Off to make dinner before we hit the soccer fields at 6pm!