How do I love thee…

…let me count the ways!  I’m so happy with my loop scarf.  I’ve been wearing it whenever I get a chance.

#1 As a scarf

 So I asked Kristen to take some more photos of me when she stopped by.

#2 Over my head

 Here are a few pictures that show my favorite ways to wear the loop scarf.  I can also just have it wrapped twice around my neck for a really warm neck in the winter.

#3 As a wrap

 My favorite way to wear it is wrapped around my shoulders and held in place with my shawl pin from our trip to Canada.

#4 From the back

It even looks good from the back!  It has been great to wear in restaurants where the air conditioning is too cold.

Pretty, pretty

I have completed my loop scarf!  It is so awesome!  So soft, so drapey, so light and airy.  I wore it last night at a restaurant over short sleeves and it was perfect.  Kept me from being over air-conditioned!  I really love it!

As a scarf

The only problem is getting a decent photo of myself!  I took over a dozen and this is the best!  First, the lighting in my bathroom is not the greatest.  The scarf is white!  Second, I concentrate so hard on taking the picture the look on my face is very scary!  So, I will have more pictures soon, when I can find someone else to take them.

Where to begin?

July has been filled with so many things to blog about, but because I was doing these things, I didn’t have time to blog!  So, I’m going to tell you about some of the highlights.  

Up first:  Our trip to Canada.  We went to New Brunswick.  It was the first time since we got alpacas that we spent 5 days away together!  Truly an overdue vacation. (Thanks to great friends and neighbors for taking care of the alpacas and everything else!)  We went to visit wonderful friends in Dipper Harbour (that is the proper Canadian spelling), with day trips to St. Andrews and Saint John.  Another day was spent on the coast of Maine.  So relaxing.  So beautiful.  So fun.  Remember the topper I knit?

What’s new?

 Check out the new shawl pin I found on our trip.

Love it!

I found it at Cricket Cove in Blacks Harbour.  It was the only one like it and displayed on a scarf.  The gal in the store was nice enough to let me take it right off the display.  I knew it would be perfect with my topper.  And I think it will look great with my loop scarf, too.  And speaking of that….

Nearly done

All that is left to finish my scarf / wrap is to kitchener the ends together.  I’m hoping to finish that soon and show you pictures!

Things are growing well here

Summer time is flying by!  So far there is really nothing new to show or tell you.  But many things are progressing at a wonderful ordinary pace.  What things?  These things:

Georgie's cria

She’s now 3 weeks old.

Spotsie's cria

He’s now 2 weeks old and growing like a weed.

Good friends

They play and run together and keep us all entertained!

Any day now

While not quite as obvious, Annie’s cria is growing inside and should make its debut this week.

In a few weeks

Carley is due in about 3 weeks.  And with those 4 crias, we will be done having babies here this year. 

Gnome garden

The hollyhocks are growing, too.  Along the house in the back of the gnome garden, the hollyhocks are budding.  Flowers will be blooming soon.

Loop scarf

My loop scarf for me is coming along, too.  That is beauty of summer – all things are meant to grow!  Enjoy all that Mother Nature has to offer!

Next up – for me!

Now that my topper is finished and I have been wearing it, I was looking for another project to make for me.  This is what I decided on:

My next project

The pattern calls for mohair, but I have some super fine (about 16 micron) alpaca yarn that is between lace and fingering weight.  It is so yummy.  So I started this loop scarf.

So far...

The pink at the beginning is a provisional cast on.  When finished with the knitting, I’ll pickup the stitches from the pink and kitchener beginning to end to make a loop scarf with no visible seam. 

Close up

It is stockinette stitch, but on every knit row, I increase at the beginning and decrease at the end.  This is a brilliant way to keep the stockinette from curling on the edges.  While it grows pretty quickly because of the large needles, it is still going to be a long term project.  There will be many hours of knitting to be done here!  Think I can finish by the chilling nights of fall?