The sun WAS shining...

Last week was beautiful out - the sun was shining, the air was warm, and the breeze was cool. However, this week is NOT working out the same. It's been raining for days! I'm so disappointed because my parents are on vacation and they left me their convertible mustang to drive if I would take in their mail and newspaper. I only have had one day where I could put the top down. Ugh!
But to reminisce about last week, I have a dog park picture or two for ya'll. Maddie and Mia really enjoyed their time running around in the wind.As you can see from the above picture, our little 5.5 lb Maltese decided she didn't want to play with the cute little red ball we brought from home. Instead she found some dirty, full sized tennis ball in the park that she could barely fit her mouth around. She's so funny sometimes. But she had fun (and we did too), so that's all that really matters I guess.

On to projects that I'm currently working on -
1. I just finished two pairs of "Better than booties" baby socks written by Ann Budd available for free download from Knitting Daily. I made two pairs from a skein of Panda Silk Yarn. I had seriously an extra 4 inches of yarn left over when I was done with the pairs. I was sweating bullets at the end thinking I wouldn't have enough to finish the last sock! I knitted the pair on size U.S. 1 needles in a beautiful bamboo green color. The first pair I knitted were the "Chevron Lace" version and the second pair was the "Chevron Lace" but I adapted the lace pattern to be a reflection of itself so the lace came out looking like diamonds instead of chevrons. It was a fun pattern and I enjoyed learning a new technique for the toe. Try them out - it's a good pattern (but slightly difficult if you're new to sewing. I would rate this pattern as a moderately difficult pattern).
2. I just purchased the book "Vintage Baby Knits" by Kristen Rengren. I'm not usually one to purchase a book without trying it out at the library first, but it was so darn cute and had some really neat looking patterns. Most of the patterns look slightly fussy with construction. They are vintage, so there seams to be a lot of construction to them (meaning a LOT of seaming). But the patterns look timeless and matter-of-fact. I made the soakers first, deciding to knit them in the round and doing a double needle bind off at the crotch so I avoided all seaming. It was a very basic construction - not much to it. I probably won't make them again. But then again, they give the stitch count, etc. and they are a pretty basic pattern that you could spiffy up in a jiffy. So perhaps I might give it more thought.

That's it for now. I'm still working hard on the Playmat Blanket - I have 3 strips out of the 7 strips done. I pick it up every so often and work on it. I don't want to make it a chore, but actually enjoy it. Hopefully I'll be done with the blanket sometime this century... Keeping my fingers crossed.