hollyhocks & waterfalls

I don't know where I've been finding the time to knit, but another little sweater found it's way off the needles. I really love this one it's made from some soft alpaca handspun that I made over five years ago. Some of the first yarn I spun, I think. I'd forgotten about it, but then found it in a bag of yarn in my sister's closet this spring. I instantly reclaimed it and started to knit with it, but it took me awhile (lots of tearing out and starting over) to find the right pattern for it. Now that it's finished I love its super pastel softness - with the streaks of pink stitches that flash thru it.

We've been out and about. Our church had an outdoor service at Minnehaha Falls, which gave me a chance to snap photos of the falls. The park was already crowded, even on a Sunday morning when we got there. We live fairly close to this park and should visit it more often - I always forget how beautiful the falls are.

Hollyhocks seem to be the fad in the community garden this year. Many plots have large stands of them, but they are starting to develop that mold that always gets them this time of year. The blossoms are still pretty.

This was my first batch of deviled eggs for the season. The dill is growing like crazy in the garden right now. We've been putting it on chicken and in salads and of course in these deviled eggs. They disappeared (into our bellies) in less than twenty-four hours.

Hope your summer is going well!

Jillian

july moon

Much to my husband's delight I have been roasting brussel sprouts this week. It has been beautiful around here, so we've been grilling out as often as we can. Just soaking up the summer sunshine. We still comment on how grateful we are for this weather, which I think says a lot about just how hard it was go get through this past winter.

Happy 4th of July! We're sticking close to home, because we have a lot of family events planned for the middle of the month. We'll celebrate then. I picked up the knitting needles again, but not with the yarn I had promised. This yarn came off the spinning wheel this week. It's kinda a funny story (funny to a spinner) but I spun my plies in opposite directions. This means that I wasn't able to ply my two bobbins together when I was finished. I had to ply my yarn with another bobbin of yarn that I had saved from two years ago (another instance of "mis-plied" yarn.) But I really love the results. One bobbin had long stretches of lavender and pale blue, while the other was multiple shades of pastel pinks, green, peaches and purples. Sometimes your mistakes turn into your best color combinations.

I did end up Navajo plying the rest of my "mis-spun" yarn. I don't think it's enough for a sweater. Maybe I can make some booties or a small hat. We'll see where my inspiration takes me.

Adoption update: there's really not much to update. Our facilitator's website has really slowed down over the summer and they say this is normal. Less placements happen in the summer. Kinda a bummer for me. Our facilitator told me not to look at the website so much and just "take a vacation" myself. I wish I could do that, but I have stopped expecting so much each time I look at the website. Things should pick up again in the fall.

Thank you to all our service men and women who sacrifice so much to serve and defend our country. I love to see the flags waving on the 4th of July. Hope wherever you are tonight that fireworks are blossoming overhead.

XOXO

Jillian