My goodness... September's here...

... and for the first time since 5th grade, it's not back-to-school time for me... no classes to take, no classes to teach... it's a bit of an odd feeling. I mean, I'm actually going to be on VACATION the day after Labour Day. And then back to work. Weird. And now I have no excuse to go out and buy me some new school supplies (don't let me loose in Staples... my Visa can't handle it) OR new back-to-school outfits. Of course, that didn't stop me from hitting the last mall weekend and buying two cotton blend jackets and a new purse. Hey, they were on sale. And I donated THREE garbage bags of my old clothes to Salvation Army... so I'm not going to feel guilty! So I've actually finished some stuff. Vacations are wonderful things, let me tell you! The first item up for display is a pair of ankle socks in KnitPicks "Dancing" for my sister. I had a lot of trouble with this yarn.. I think I was stretching it too much as I knit, so it wasn't tight enough around the ankle. But they are pretty, and I think they'll hold up OK! Next, we have another pair of socks, this time in KnitPicks "Sock Garden". I used Jeannie Townsend's Cascading Leaves pattern. I LOVE these socks SO much. I wear them around the house all day and I hate taking them off... I will definitely be using this yarn again! I also finished my leafy scarf from the Spring/Summer 2005 Vogue Knitting. This scarf has barely left me neck since I finished it - it's the perfect accessory for super-air-conditioned offices like mine! And yet it's still summery enough that I don't look like a moron wearing it. I'm really enjoying the feel of TLC Cotton Plus - soft, stretchy, and just the warmness that I wanted in this type of scarf. I also tried Kool-Aid dyeing for the first time with some of that KnitPicks dye-your-own sock yarn. (Can you tell I got a big box of yarn from KP?? Can you tell that I'll be ordering from them again??) This was seriously fun. I tried both the stovetop steam and microwave method, and they worked equally well. I did have to put the microwaved hank in a plastic strainer basket so that I didn't get a big brown pool of grossness, but I think it turned out OK in the end: And here's a little pic of the red/pink yarn steaming away.. I also saw this crocheted scarf at Jacob Connexion the other day. I quite simply had to have it. So here it is. It would look hotter with a fringe, but I only had one skein of Andean Silk, so it just had to do as is. I might get another skein of this stuff and fringe away... Of course, I have to put in at least one gratuitous vacation picture, just to prove to y'all that I actually *do* leave the house/office once in a while! This was the rather lovely river where we swam every day... OK, that's all for now...