Glanalaw - delighting in pure song

Yesterday I went with a friend to the BalloonFest.  It happens annually but I think it's been at least 6 years since I went! This was also the first time I didn't go with my family, so that was interesting.  There are vendors and carnival rides and junk food, and of course hot air balloons.  We wandered and looked at everything, ran into a few people we knew, ate bad-for-you but tasty carnival food, rode a few rides, and generally had a blast! The launch was pretty small this year, since it was fairly windy - only 3 of the 40 or so balloons actually flew.  But some of the others inflated themselves for the glow, which happens just at nightfall.  It's like a field full of gigantic coloured Chinese lanterns.     Also, since this is me, there was knitting while we listened to the live music ( Annabelle Road , and quite good!) and waited for the balloons to launch.

I've long wanted to learn to play the guitar, and I decided that this summer, since my mother's guitar is in easy reach and I'm not doing much else, the time is right. Day two and my fingers are already sore, but I'm enjoying myself.  Maybe by the end of summer I'll actually be able to play something!

Our catalpa tree is in full bloom, filling the yard with its fragrance and covering the grass around it with a frilly white blanket of fallen blossoms.

I've got a brand-new beautiful quilt in the shop and I'm so pleased with it.  The colours and prints are so cheerful!  It makes me smile.   The size is perfect either for a crib or, later, for a child's floor quilt.  My dolls used it for their tea-party this afternoon, just to make sure it was in good working order. They say it passed the test, so you can find it now in the shop ! (I've also put up a listing for my Dobby Socks , as a custom-knit made-to-order deal, so check those out as well!)

I made you a cake.

Socks in the shop .  Flowers on the back deck, looking lovely.

    I've finished up a pair of fingerless mitts for my shop , and today Kate and I took them out for a glamour shoot.  They're the same pattern as these which I knit last year, just in a different colour.  I like these even better! Again, these are inspired by Rose Tyler's mitts from the finale of Doctor Who season 2.  I just can't pass up an opportunity to recreate fantastic knitwear!  I didn't have the gravelly beach and David Tennant for my photoshoot, but at least I had some water. Knitted in a strokably soft baby alpaca yarn.  I really want to keep these! But I won't.  Find them here !

  The first rose.  Balm for the soul.

The green socks are finished!  I decided they just had to be named after Ireland since the colourway was called "Lucky" and I had a friend traveling over there the whole time I was knitting them.  So, these are the Éire socks. Pattern is " Slipstream " from Knitty.com.  They were definitely a bit fiddly to knit but I love how they came out - the shaping is ingenious and they fit very well.  And since it's currently 54 degrees here my feet are glad of some wooly warmth!

There is a robin's nest in the climbing rose this year, with two (maybe three? maybe more?) tiny baby robins in it.  Mama Robin gets pretty upset if you come near it, so I'm guessing. And the roses will bloom soon.  Soon! Later, we'll have peaches.   The trees are loaded.