Welcome Summer!

I'm just starting to get back into the swing of things after a long weekend in Maine. A whole bunch of my agility friends went, and we had a blast. None of us did very well in the qualifying department (I think there were only about 5 qualifying rounds total amongst the 6 of us and our 36 runs!) but we had so much fun just hanging out and wandering around Freeport at night. We ate at one AMAZING bar-b-que restaurant (I couldn't stop saying how good my sandwich of pulled pork, fried jalapeños and chipotle sauce was!), wandered LL Bean and got some ice cream. The weather was a bit iffy - hot and humid when the sun came out, beautiful when it was overcast. We did get a few thunderstorms also. Good thing Tucker doesn't mind them!

I also spent a lot of time watching the Standardbreds train. There was a track right next door to the area we were at, so inbetween runs, Tucker and I would walk over and watch. We were so close that you could smell the horses - it really took me back to my "horsey" days. They were just memorizing flying around the track. I'm always surprised how many agility people are ex-horse people. I guess it's very similar to Showjumping, but on a smaller scale!

Believe it or not, I have also been doing a little knitting. As I mentioned in my previous post, I managed to get the sleeves and body of the Phyllo pullover all on one circular - now, with about 300 stitches per round, it's taking a while, but I know that the end is near and the fun part of the pattern is about to begin!

I'm hoping to do some more on it this week. Seems like nights have just been going so fast lately that I barely have time to sit down and eat dinner, then it's time for bed!

In honor of the start of Summer of Socks 2008, and the fact that I haven't knit on a sock in I can't remember how long, I cast on for the Spring Forward socks. (looks like Jessica had the same idea!) The yarn - Woolarina Shimmer, a wool/nylon/bamboo blend - just screamed summer to me. It reminds me of sherbet (I'd really like to put another "r" in it - sher-BERT - but spell check insists it has none. I guess I've always pronounced it wrong?). The pattern is easy to memorize, and knits up fairly quickly (when you work on it!).

I think these will be for my sister. We'll have to see if she likes them....