Ice Cream Socks!

I finished my "ice cream socks" on Tuesday. They are named for Neapolitan Ice Cream! This is my first attempt at toe-up socks. They are knit using size 1 needles and Trekking XXL yarn. I used the instructions found in the Summer Interweave Knits by Ann Budd. I really liked the Eastern cast-on - far easier than using a crochet hook. Have I mentioned how much I abhor crochet hooks? My other hand feels useless with them! Anyway, since they are my first toe-ups, I chose to use a plain stockinette stitch. I am going to branch out for my next pair!

Socky goodness:

They even fit in my new Planet Shoes!

Obligatory front-view:

Durango - New Mexico should just adopt it.

A couple of weeks ago, we went on our long-anticipated Durango trip. (Much knitting was accomplished in the car!)Here are my traveling companions:

Boy

Dog

On our first afternoon there, we drove up to Silverton, which is a fantastic drive. Here are a few select pictures.

The mountains weren't bad. ha ha. There were some hot springs on the side of the road, near the honey store. I got some yummy-in-my-tummy whipped vanilla bean honey. Jon got a honeycomb.

In the picture below, if you look carefully, you can see a pretty happy little dog. He decided to sit in the front seat while we got out to take pictures.

We ate at Steamworks that night. Jon got a very good Calzone. Note to self: get the calzone next time.

In the morning, we walked around downtown, and I bought a cute skirt and a "bus shirt" for Jon from Animas Trading Post - one of my top ten stores of all time. We drove to the McPhee reservoir, but they weren't renting pontoons, so we came back to Durango and hiked along the Colorado trail. oops, blurry picture :(We camped that night at Junction Creek, and then came home. Fun times were had by all. P.S. Can I move to Durango?

The Summer of Sunshine

Rather than bore all of you hundreds of faithful readers :) with a long, drawn-out account of my summer, I will show just a few highlights here.

A camping trip to Jemez mountains

My Grandpa's birthday party in Denver

The family (or at least, part of it) in Blue

A special date up at the Sandia Crest

The International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe

Birthday Dinner

House-sitting in Rio Rancho

The Bus!

The view from the crest is too good to not have two pictures.

Regularly scheduled blogging returns

Summer is over :(, but that means I have regular access to a computer once again.

First, a knitting update:

1. I finished the Volkswagen socks. They were well-received, I think.

2. I also finished some legwarmers for a friend. They were easy and fun to make, and I loved the soft, shiny Bernat yarn.

3. I learned how to do toe-up socks from the Spring (?) Interweave Knits tutorial, which was very helpful. I am almost finished making very basic "Ice-cream socks" using those instructions. Pictures to come very soon!

4. I am making VERY slow progress on Isabella. It is basically just my "TV knitting".

5. Village Wools has a sale starting today. I am going to try to be very good, but I would like some new sock yarn :).