This and That

Randomness to start the holiday weekend:

1) In an attempt - mostly vain - to keep Leia away from the stairs and corralled in one room, Dick erected blockades in doors and hallways. Did they work? Heck, no. Leia made one attempt to climb over, one attempt to go around, and when neither worked she just bulldozed her way through. Dick kept adding more and more stuff, including a couple of spinning wheels. Leia thought it was great fun. 2) AJ says, "is she gone yet?" 3) I started yet another shawl project. Saw this doily picture in a book and thought dang, that would look great as a shawl if I just . . . . a couple of tweeks later, like bigger yarn, bigger hook, and more pineapples down the sides, I've got this - It's stash yarn - Dalegarn's Svale (cotton & silk blend; feels wonderful and makes a great summer wrap) - and so far I'm loving the pattern. This is row 10 of 20, so I think it's going to be plenty big. If not, I'll just adjust the border to get what I want. 'Have hook, will conquer.'

4) A friend's husband recently passed away and the knitting group at my LYS got together to make a comfort blanket for her. I contributed three squares - where the arrows are in the photo - but only took pix of one. It's "On The Road Again" by Jessica Gil but I think of it as a friendship circle. Yarn is Araucania's Nature Wool in orange. Loved the yarn and the pattern.

5) Happy 4th of July to those of us in the 'states' - and happy start of the Tour de France, too! Haven't decided what my Tour project is going to be this year but I'm leaning toward spinning. We'll see . . . the Tour doesn't start until tomorrow morning, so what's the rush. Right?