Books and such

I ordered a couple of books and they came yesterday!  One is by Jade Starmore, and the other is from Rowan.  Lots of lovely projects to knit and wonderful inspiration.
The past couple of weeks have been interesting in terms of weather.  We were lucky to dodge the damaging winds that hit above and below us.  Recently, there were some amazing cloud formations and I could not resist taking photos until the sun set.

Looking west

Right now I am making a simple, neck-down, short-sleeved cardigan for summer.  You would think that I could knock it out in just a few days, but for some reason (inattention?) I had to keep frogging it.  Now I am on the right track and ready to work the sleeves.  To add a new skein, I did a Russian join, which worked nicely.  I whipped the  end of the yarn on either end so the threads are not noticeable.  In the meantime, it is time to decide what project to do next.  I believe I found a good pattern for the Shepherd's Choice yarn.  Other possibilities for the stash are Amaryllis or Wild Saffron from the Purelife Autumn book.   In the stash:  18 skeins of Kathmandu Aran Tweed and 14 skeins of Classic Elite Skye Tweed.  I will have to check yardage--especially with the Aranmor near disaster!

Taking a walk

We've been pretty lucky the past week because the weather's been very pleasant.  The grass is so green, and the sky is very blue.  I decided to take a walk on the clouds the other day.  When I was a little girl, my sister and I used to walk on the clouds.  I was out on the deck enjoying the nice day.  I spread out a blanket, took my shoes off (so I could feel the softness) and stood on a puffy, white cloud for a few moments (I made my socks on my last trip to Germany--a good way to admire my work).  Ahhh, it was wonderful--so soft and fluffy!  The breeze was light, so the little cloud passed by slowly.  I highly recommend this form of exercise, as it's quite good for lifting one's mood.  I miss my sister very much, and I'm sure she was peeking over a cloud watching me.  She probably wanted to tickle my feet!

Tick-tock, switch-swatch

Now I have the back done on the vest! I have a project swatched for the Ravelympics and it'll be mindless enough when I watch swimming. It's the Kori vest from Berroco booklet #268, Something About Stripes. The shop had two bags of Noro Kureyon on sale, soooo I got 8 skeins. First, I found the corrections on Berroco's website. The squares are fun to knit and will be portable. The colors in the skein looked garish in spots, but knitted up they are really pretty--just like the gardens on the Bodensee.
Yesterday was such a nice day I sat on the deck in the shade and knitted before Jim came home. Eevee joined me. The photos came out nice and the sky with the pristine white clouds was lovely. If it's still nice this afternoon, I'll have to fix a little pot of tea and do the same while I work on the vest. It should go smoothly since the back is finished--one cable panel per side!
As you can see, the German Club t-shirt design is different. I think the Ampelmanner are a perfect touch.