No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth...

I've been consumed with kid things, and summer things, and dog things - but that's a story for another day.

Thanks Shirani and Sue for a lovely birthday surprise!!! The ice cream cake was what just what I needed to cool off after our walk around the hot track. And it was great to see so many Cultured Purl friends out supporting the Relay for Life this weekend. Cultured Purl raised more than $9,000, (mostly from the sale of the lovely crystal bracelets), for the fight against cancer.

I am about half way through my summer sock. It's done in Austermann with aloe and it is one of the true striped colorways - red and grey, a very interesting combination. I'll post a photo soon. It's very slow going though because I'm also spending as much free time as I can working on another passion of mine: genealogy.


I've traced lines going back to 1600s France, England, Germany. But I'm a little stuck (strangely enough) on the American part...

dear Elsie Mae, I should have picked your brain more when I had the chance.

Grammie was the first person I remember talking to about knitting: I sat in the rocking chair in her living room as she walked down memory lane and shared with me the story of how her mother had helped her knit a beautiful pale blue dress for a party. It took her FOREVER, but when she was done, she was SO proud, and she thought to herself that she'd never looked more beautiful. She never made much time for knitting once she married, but she always remembered the feeling of wearing the soft blue dress she'd knit herself. Remembering that story, kind of makes me wonder what I'll be telling my grandchildren someday; what will be the thing I loved knitting the most?

Well, this has motivated me to get moving on the red and grey sock...

yours in knitting,
Claire