Blocking Pics

Yesterday turned out to be a very productive day.  While my car was in the shop I had a day all to myself stuck at home.  I took advantage of the time and blocked 2 shawls.  The first is with my handspun.  The blocking pic here does not show the detail of this lovely design.  I will have to get a pic with light behind it so you can see the pretty daisies and dropped stitches.  This is just a teaser photo to show off my lovely handspun.  I really love these earthy colors.  This is the Rishikesh colorway from Crown Mountain Farms and is yummy polwarth.  It is ever so soft and squishy and will feel like a big hug being wrapped in this shawl.

The mystery shawl I've been working on is next and this one is being entered in the fair next month.  It is called Back To The Garden by BadCatDesigns.  I have totally LOVED this knitting journey.  I love the yarn, (Jaggerspun Zephyr 50/50 merino/silk) love the beads, (Miyuki 10 seed beads in olive AB) love the Signature needles, loved the knit. 

Here is a closeup of the beads.  They are tiny but so sparkly.  I love tiny beads to add just a hint of sparkle and not too much weight.

Here is a shot of the garden sprites keeping watch over their domain.  I think they are just too cute.

I also had time to bake two loaves of zuchinni bread, finish knitting the body of the Bella Blouse and work a few more rows on Teagan's Batty Bat Shawl.  A supplement to clue 1 has been released today on the new mystery shawl I'm knitting called Tread Softly so I'll be working on that later.
My car is ready after two days of work on it.  You know how warranties always expire and THEN you find out something that needs to be fixed?  Well, this is one time I got to take advantage of the warranty BEFORE it expired.  Come to find out, there had been a recall on the heater core of the Saturn Vue.  I bought this 2008 SUV on a day of 91 degrees outside.  The AC worked great and I'd been using the AC exclusively with all the humidity we've had.  One day, two weeks into the 30 day warranty, I was fiddling around with all the new-fangled gizmos (this is my very first car with power windows-just so you know where I've been) so I needed to go through the book and see all what I had in this baby.  Turning on the heater blasted me with an unpleasant burned maple syrup smell.  Hmmm.  Contacted the dealer and they hadn't noticed it either since who is even going to think of turning on the heat during the hot summer?  Good thing this replacement was covered.  It was over $500!!!!  Poor Ben was not covered for the recall  because the time limit had run out in January.  He took care of me though and I'm ever so grateful.  I can highly recommend Glen's Auto Sales in Fremont.  I will be shopping there again.  Of course, I keep a car for 10-14 years so it will be a while.  Stan's car is right up there in years so perhaps he will be shopping there soon.   I have to say, I love this car and Gryphon seems to like the seats down and all the room he has now.  He goes up and down the ramp like a pro and with tinted windows in the back, he is protected from the glare of the sun and I think it keeps it cooler back there for him.  So now I'm all set for winter and my trip to the White Mountains.  I'm counting the days........................................

Thought for the day:  He who knows he has enough is rich.' Tao Te Jing by Lao Tsu