Catching Up

Dear Mom,

After a week's vacation where we've touched our toes in the Atlantic and our fingers on a moon rock, sipped Butterbeers in Hogsmeade and mojitos on the beach, sent boys off shark fishing and girls 800 feet into the air on a parasail only to return home to house guests and the annual Cul-de-sac 4th of July celebration, I am slowly catching up and happy to home.

Despite having been  home since very late Saturday night- verging on the wee hours of Sunday morning- I didn't feel like I was truly able to relax and really Be Home until I brought Patsy home from the kennel yesterday. Now the family is all under one roof again and All is Well. (Bumper may feel differently. I think he enjoyed being Only Dog for two days.)

We planned our Florida vacation and the trip to Cocoa Beach in the hopes of seeing the last shuttle launch. As these things go, as soon as the condo was reserved and flight plans in the works the mission was delayed. And I heard this morning there is a good chance that rain will cause another delay and Atlantis may not launch on Friday. We may not be able to cross "Watch a Shuttle Launch" off our Bucket List, but we did tour Kennedy Space Center and got a peek at Atlantis on the launch pad.

Our trip was a very good one; the first family vacation we've taken where our kids brought friends with them, and despite being outnumbered by teens, all went very well and everyone had a buddy.
The buddy strategy allowed My Hero and I time to relax and read. And knit.
I finished June's socks.

And I knit this shawl with my very own handspun.

This is the result of that first bag of dirty wool I brought home. The Bag o'Wool that turned me into a spinner.

I've seen many of these To Eyre shawls on ravelry and Dianne made a beautiful one that you can see here. I wish mine were just a bit bigger. I prefer a shawl that I can really wrap up in, but this one will probably be just right for warming the back of my neck and shoulders while staying put and out of the way. The pattern instructions include directions for modifying length and width, and this was a soothing, quick project, so I may have to give it another go.

And before we left I finished this wrap.

I purchased this pattern and yarn on vacation last summer, so I guess it sort of fits to post it with stuff from this year's vacation. The pattern is Braided Glory, the yarn is Louisa Harding- a silk- I don't remember the name of the yarn and right now I am too lazy to get up and go looking for the ball band. The yarn was nice to work with but I think it may be too drape-y for this pattern. Also, I didn't do all the finishing on my wrap as the pattern suggests. I was ready to be Done With It and omitted some small edging details that didn't impress me. IF I ever make this again I will be making several modifications that, in my opinion, would neaten things up. However, with so many other things I want to make, I really don't see myself making another one of these.

I have weaving classes scheduled for the end of the week. The plan is to work on a loom in class and then come home and repeat the lesson on my loom at home to solidify what I've learned. I think we do placemats or table runners in class. So, whichever I do in class, I'll do the other at home. (I may appear calm, but my Insides are doing that happy dance kids do on Christmas Eve!)

Love,
Kim