Whoosh...

WARNING: Embrace the Lace Spoiler

July flew by in a flash. Here are some highlights:

My brother-in-law, James, got married to Liz, a longtime family friend.

When they were younger they referred to each other with such affectionate names as “little bother” and “big blister”. Liz has been like part of the family for so long that it’s a joy for us to officially welcome her as one of our own.

Less than a week later our daughter, Jessica, celebrated her 24th birthday.

The very next day she was excited to learn that she had successfully landed the new job she had applied for. If her first shift yesterday is any indication, she is going to love it. We couldn’t be happier for her.

Last week our household was reduced by one, when our youngest son, Colin, moved into his new condo.

It is strange to see his room so empty (and clean!) and know that he will not be coming home to stay, only dropping by now and then for a visit. But he hasn’t gone far—just a few blocks—and any feelings of sadness we have are far outweighed by our sense of pride at his accomplishment.

By far the highlight of this July was the celebration of our 25th wedding anniversary.

In some ways it feels like we’ve been together for only a few years but in others like we’ve been together forever (in a good way!). The best part is that we both love and like each other after all this time and truly enjoy spending time together.

We just got back from a few days away. We spent the first night in a luxury cabin on a golf course. This was the view from our deck.


We didn’t want to leave and checked out at the very last minute.

From there we drove to Kelowna where, despite some record high temperatures, we enjoyed a great round of golf on Saturday. I also checked out the city’s two yarn shops and made some souvenir purchases.

We spent the final night at our family cabin near Clinton, where we celebrated my dad’s birthday a few days early.

There were no big knitting highlights in July. I only managed to knit one complete pair of socks (Journeyman Socks) and finish up a couple of others.

I am looking forward to a much quieter and more productive August (at least as far as knitting is concerned). The day we left for holidays the latest shipment of the Embrace the Lace club arrived with a pattern and yarn for a triangular shawl (in addition to other assorted goodies), which I’m itching to cast on.

Since returning home a few days ago I’ve been almost exclusively occupied with the knitting of the Secret Garden mystery shawl, a KAL offered through The Unique Sheep. I’ve now finished Clue 4 and have another week to go before the final clue is revealed.

I also cast on a couple of last minute projects for SKA’s July sockdown and am working my way through the Pink Ribbon socks and Marie Antoinette.

I’d attempted both patterns before but didn’t have good luck with my choice of yarn; I’m happy to report that they’re working out better the second time around.

If you don’t hear from me for a while don’t worry. I'll be in a corner somewhere getting my knitting fix before crazy starts all over again in September.