Goodness, it seems like it's been forever since I have visited with you nice folks who are interested in the little projects that I work on now and then. I don't consider myself very adept at computer, digital camera, or blogging skills, so I was surprised just how quickly I was able to put this together today. Sorry it's been a while in coming; we have actually been home from our trip to Greece for almost a week--just takes me a while to get caught up.

We aren't the typical tourists when we go; we go mainly to keep up with a little piece of property their that my husband inherited from his father. There are about 90 olive trees on a section of the property, about 1/2 of them that my husband planted a few years ago. We typically go in late fall or early winter for the olive harvest, but because of a family wedding in August and a drought that will limit the olive production, we opted to go in the summer this year. Sorry, no photos for you from Greece; I didn't take my digital camera, only the "film" camera--to make it easier to share family photos while we were there.

We were blessed that we were not directly affected by the many fires, although we were able to smell the smoke some days; there was a smoky haze in our view of the mountains; and one day 7 firefighting planes flew over our little house. So tragic; my heart breaks for the people who have lost all that they have ever known. But they were blessed after the tragedy in that there was an outpouring of help from the throughout the world. I could write quite an epistle of my impressions, but it could not begin to convey my emotions of confusion as to why the arsonists think they have anything to gain, or my respect for the faith and resiliency of those affected--so I will spare your reading an inadequate account of those feelings.

Instead I will share with you how I spent my leisure time between family visits, basking in the sun, and trying to stay cool in the early weeks of our visit. (Many--actually most-- days, there was a prayer said with each knitted stitch.)


The early, hot days I was happy that I had taken my cotton with me. These are 6 of the 11 dishcloths I made. These came home with me and I left the other 5 there. I made 8 mini versions also--coasters.


Some of you may remember the "hoodie" that I made for my granddaughter. This is a scarf from the leftover yarn, that will no doubt be a Christmas or birthday gift for my son.


This scarf was going to be for my sister, but (not being accustomed to knitting with mohair) I somehow managed to go from 54 to 39 stitched in the rows. So I'll keep it for myself and try again for her. I found a couple of the "drops", and I actually don't know if the rest are dropped stitches or unplanned "decreases". I'm not willing to take the chance on having it unravel on her, though!

And yes, HOORAY, I knit myself a pair of socs:

I'll alter the pattern next time to accommodate my German ancestry large calves. I'll make the top shorter (I'll need to "bunch" these at the ankle), by using a larger needle until I get to the foot. But, overall, I'm pleased with my first attempt--so much so that I'm using the leftover for a newborn pair for our expected 11th grandchild:


And now that I'm home I can get back to the quilting--too hard to take that with me.


I need to get scooting to buy a birthday present for our dear Zoe and get it in the mail--it's not her turn for a sweater until next year. But, hmmm, I do have to choose a vest pattern for young Joseph. Gosh, a vest--no sleeves, I just might be finished in 29 days! I'll keep you posted.