July 22

Greetings! It's good to be home :) We had a great week away! We enjoyed good weather, wonderful water... puzzles, games and of course... knitting. I will also say that I spent much of the time in 1742 Scotland, following the adventures of Claire and Jamie (Outlander)! What a fun book... and I'm well into the second. I worked primarily on my 3/4 Hap Shawl which has two areas of increases creating more of a square shape. The top starts in a solid color then switches to the secondary color, rotating the two with a feather & fan pattern... one of my favorites. I chose black and a variegated green in Heritage sock and love the result. The shop in Maine is always fun to visit and I always seem to be there during her 20% summer sale.... so it's no surprise I also picked up enough Cascade 128 (in a black tweed) to do a wide ribbed cozy pullover with a hood. We were joined by our older son and his girlfriend (yes, I've taught her to knit) and she enjoyed the shop as well. They brought the game 'Scattergories' and we had a BALL playing it! My new favorite game for sure..... and spelling doesn't count! Perfect ;)

I found some great vintage buttons and a way cool vintage hassock from the 50's.... that has storage inside! It's deep maroon and is in the living room, we love it.

We had a wild storm yesterday that just missed our house though we did get a bit of rain and some wind.... but all around was booming thunder and Paul saw hail and lots of trees on power lines... even uprooted old trees which is always sad to see. It didn't last long but was intense and some lost power for the day..... back to sun today!

I'll be offering two bags with colored handles next week and cases will return as well. Saturday I hope to pick up more of the cuticle salve, I know some of you are waiting :)

I didn't get back to work in total full swing as soon as we got back, but have hit my stride now! The realization of how much I love my work is always a good one. It's so good to get away and like Paul says.... we can't put our lives in reverse, but if we're lucky, we can sometimes get it to neutral. And we did.

Till next week.... stay cool, enjoy the full moon on Sunday & knit on good women!

Martha.