One of the downsides of being away from home is that you can’t always fix the server.  There is a chance that my brilliant David may be able to do it and so I’m writing this post inside Word on the off chance that I’ll get to post something while I’m here in Texas.

It’s hot, it’s humid and I find that I don’t mind.  I seem to have an “it is what it is” attitude about the weather here. I don’t have to be outside often and for the small amount of time I’ve been outside, it’s been livable. I’ve been on a few walks, I’ve been on a few shopping trips, I’ve been over to my sister’s house a fair amount of time and yes, it’s been hot, the car has been uncomfortable for a few moments but it’s okay. I’m in Texas. I’m with my family. Not to mention, the humidity makes my skin feel really nice.

Only small amounts of knitting and crocheting have been going on.  I have been reading some cute books. I couldn’t find the next Mary Russell book at Barnes and Noble, so I nabbed these off the new release (in trade paperback) shelf.  They’re both first in a new series, Curiosity Thrilled the Cat and Last Wool and Testament. I also picked up a Linux for Dummies book. I’m branching out in my nerd endeavors.

On Monday, I got to visit with my friend Rachel, one of the knit night gals who moved to Houston.  I didn’t get to visit with her the last time I was down here so I was pleased to be able to do so this time. We met at a place called Panera bread.  What is not to love about a place that has “Bread” in the title? I started on the Virginia shawl and quickly ran into a problem. I got to row s 18-19 and was getting one stitch too many, or one stitch too few. I tinked back and it happened again, and again. I ripped it all the way back, started over and still ran into a problem. The printed instructions don’t match the chart :/  I went back to work on the baby blanket and a knitted dishcloth. We ate and chatted and knitted. We encountered a fellow knitter out in the wild who invited us to her knit night that takes place at that very location on Thursday nights. Rachel had family coming into town and couldn’t go, but I eagerly accepted.

This is the baby blanket progress so far.  I’ve finished one skein and have one skein to go. I wonder if I’ll get to finish without having to use one yard of a third skein.

On Thursday, I met lots of nice ladies at the Sheepish Knit – Tomball, Spring Texas knit night who were so nice and welcoming. I’m going back this Thursday.  This upcoming Wednesday I will be meeting Rachel again for breakfast, chatting, knitting and lunch. It’s a fabulous place with comfy chairs and internet access. Twice now I’ve had their cinnamon scones.  I may or may not have greatly exceeded my allowed carb count. YUM!

On Friday, I got to watch my nephew Adrian at Tai Kwon Do practice, isn’t he handsome?

Saturday I left a message for the designer of the Virginia shawl (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/virginia-4) and she confirmed for me that I should use the chart rather than the printed instructions so I’ll get going on the shawl again soon.  I’d like to use it as an OWL for HPKCHC. The dear lady then sent me a corrected .pdf file of the shawl.  I was excited by this because now I can have the .pdf on the iPad and carry it with me instead of the chart.  I love this woman! It’s such a gorgeous shawl that I can’t wait to see it finished and the swatch shows that the yarn I chose will drape really well and make a great shawl.  THEN she offered me a free pattern for catching the mistakes in her pattern.  I chose her lace fingerless mitts (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fingerless-lace-mittens)since I have a real crush on fingerless mitts and am always looking to make more.

Here is the shawl swatch. I love the colors and the shiny gold thread running through it.

Tomorrow is Labor Day, I have a long and horrid history with Labor Days, and hopefully this one will be nice.  My dad is going to make a brisket and I adore his briskets.  My sister and nephews are coming over and I think a trip to the pool is planned. I plan on knitting and eating my dad’s brisket.

Handsome and Handy Hubby got the blog up and running (he has long arms) and so I get to post! Happy Labor Day, y’all.