Mystery Solved

The mystery has been solved, although it has unearthed another mystery.

Kristin was sortof right when she thought it might be something with berries, except this one is actually flavored with plums.

Karin put it beautifully when she said it is "a bit like the color of late-afternoon-sunlight-at-the-end-of-summer reflecting on water." That is quite true!

Someone named "Beth" correctly guessed that my mystery picture is...sun tea. The orange object at the top of the picture is the ball holding the loose-leaf tea. Curiously enough, I can't figure out who Beth is. I thought she might be my cousin, Beth, but she denies it. Hmmmmm...

I guess I'm the one left guessing.

The Wedding Singer

I went to my cousin, Luanne's, wedding in Ontario over the weekend. No, I'm not singing in the photo. Until last weekend, all 4 of us women on the Shantz side of the family have been single. Now we're down to 3. At the reception we felt we must tell the story of our pact a few years ago. If any one of us wanted to bring a man to the Shantz Christmas dinner, we would contact the other women so they could each bring a man as a decoy to take the pressure off the "real" boyfriend. Well, Luanne must have felt confident enough with her choice because she surprised a few of us by bringing someone to Christmas dinner. We think she made a good choice. Here we are all dressed up for the wedding.
My nieces REALLY want to be flower girls. Unfortunately for them, my cousin has 6 nieces of her own and the littlest one got to be her flower girl. Cheyanne is trying to set me up with her imaginary friend, Mortimer, so they can fulfill their flower girl dream.

Mystery Picture

This is possibly my favorite thing about summer.
Can anyone figure out what it is?

Another Reason to Knit

Ooooooh, I'm so excited! I just learned how to set up an online store for myself so I can sell my knitting!!!! Now, I don't really have much inventory yet but I do have a store now so I'd better keep knitting. I have plenty of projects on my list for the people I love, but now and then I'm sure I'll have things to post for sale. Check it out and bookmark it for those gift-giving occasions in your life. :) You can find me at:

knitb4sleep.etsy.com

Yesterday was such gorgeous weather that I kept the windows open all day and didn't turn on the A/C. Today, however, it warmed up again and I've been inside most of the day. I did venture out to water some plants.

The "babies" that I was given when I came back from Illinois are also feeling the heat. They do have fur, after all, so they have spent the day on the t.v. because it is the closest spot to the air conditioner.



While we've all been keeping cool, I also whipped up a Nano Sock. I needed something to keep my Ipod in while traveling next week and this is just the thing! You can find the pattern here: http://annypurls.blogspot.com/2005/12/nano-warmer.html



I'm also making some homemade peach ice cream with some juicy peaches I picked up at the market. YUM!

Taking Care of My Flock

When I left Illinois last week, my nieces scrambled to find some "babies" for me to take along. Cheyanne told me that I must take them everywhere I go and "pet them every five minutes." It's a big responsibility. I thought I'd post a picture of what the babies have been up to lately. They enjoy helping me in the garden. I had to put the unicorn in charge of the bunny, though, so he wouldn't nibble anything like his cousins did earlier in the season.

What have I done?

inMany of you probably know that I am not one to do things very spontaneously. I am compelled to consider all of the worst case scenarios and warn others against them. Well, today I realized that those parts of my personality, which probably drive other people crazy, actually work quite well for me. Unfortunately, I threw caution to the wind today and, well, you'll see...
Okay, so I've been knitting a cardigan for myself since last summer. I've finished many other knitting projects in the meantime, but the sweater has taken way to long. I finally decided to knit nothing else until I finished it. I had decided to make one size large than initially planned. Well, after running out of yarn and buying 2 more balls, I barely had enough to bind off and sew it up. Really, I have only scraps of yarn left. I put it on and, it is WAY too big for me. I was so disappointed, and frustrated, that I threw it in the washer (on hot) and let it go. Keep in mind, it was knit with yarn made of merino wool, alpaca, and silk. I thought it would be fine. Afterall, it was much, much too big. Besides, I'd felted a bag recently that took nearly 6 washings to felt. Well, when I took the sweater out of the washer IT HAD FELTED. Now, if someone else had told me they were planning to do this, I would have warned them to check it every 5 minutes so it doesn't felt too much. I wish I had followed my own advice.


I'm still hoping it will make a nice, and very warm, little jacket in the fall.