The State Fair is coming

The State Fair opens Wednesday. Once again, I entered a photograph, and for the first time, entered a scrapbook layout and a pair of socks. I'm hoping with three projects entered I'll have a better chance of receiving a ribbon. I'm not holding my breath, though. I've entered photos in the past and they haven't placed. I don't really care for judged events, so why am I entering? Beats me. Guess I'm still striving for a ribbon - recognition of a job well done. I'll post photos of the projects after the fair.

Got back from the scrapbook retreat on Sunday. Two friends of mine and I went to Tahoe on Tuesday and stayed until Sunday. Every year we go I have big plans to get all caught up on my scrapbooks. I did manage to make 26 pages, make some cards, plus finished knitting a pair of socks, and worked on a sweater I'm making, but what I did for the most part was just relax and visit with good friends. We spoil ourselves while we're there, and we wait all year for this event. I will say that there were no bear break-ins this year! I made sure to clean out my Suburban and vacuum it well before we left. Here are some pictures of where we were, and some cards I made:

The deck - where we ate breakfast and dinner!

Our scrapbook area for five days

Finished the sweater! Actually, I've had it finished for a while, but just put the buttons on it today. Same pattern as the purple sweater, only I used two colors. I rarely stray from the exact pattern instructions, so I'm feeling a little proud of myself for making even this easy change to a pattern!

Blog Candy

Found this sight while up late at night surfing. Blog candy - what a great idea! I may have to try it myself. In celebration of hitting 25,000 hits on her blog, Frances is offering blog candy, and lots of it. See her blog for more info.

July Sketch Challenge

I love working with sketches. A little help for my brain. This is July's sketch for our PAWS group and I wanted to share. Found this one out in cyberspace somewhere - maybe sketches by suzy?

My daughter made these boxes to put the gifts (purple sweater and hat, see below) for the baby shower in. Start out with a square piece of paper, then make some folds and you've got a sweet-looking box!

Tomorrow I am going to a baby shower for a friend of mine. She has four boys, and is finally getting her girl! I am sure I will be seeing a lot of pink at this shower. I am so excited for her. I am pretty sure she doesn't read this blog, so I am posting pictures of what I've made for her.

That clone trooper is courtesy of my little guy. I love this pattern - by 2 Knit Whits, The Baby Matinee, purchased by Jimmy Beans Wool.


A matching hat. I used Rowan All Seasons Cotton to make both the sweater and hat. It is so soft. The pattern I got from Ravelry. I've got a link to it in my notebook. Look me up - I'm stitchnscrap there.

I liked this pattern so much I am making another one. The sweater is actually more of a brownish color than the green my camera picked up.