Still knitting!

Some knitters take the summer off. I don't. I like to have something on my needles at all times.

These felted coin purses are a good way to use up odds and ends of worsted wool yarn. They're also much more convenient, I find, for storing credit cards, gift cards, insurance cards, etc., than putting them in those "file" areas of one's wallet. When I need a specific card, I can remove all of them at once from the coin purse and quickly sift through them to find the one I want.

The little purses are hand knit and machine felted. I used the "Felted Coin Purse" pattern by Viola Soffe. It's a free pattern on Ravelry.

We were in Camden recently, and when I go to Camden, my first stop is always The Cashmere Goat, a lovely yarn shop. I made a beeline for the "discount yarn" bins and selected two skeins of wool blend yarns to make hats for charity. The first hat is done: "Barley," by Tin Can Knits. It's another free pattern, and the hat is a joy to knit. I made it in the "Adult S" size, but the pattern has directions from size Baby to Adult Large.

Finally, I've been wanting to try Kristien Rettig's "Gingersnap" baby cardigan. I used three balls of mystery cotton or cotton blend that I bought at a yarn sale years ago. I suspect the yarn is DK rather than the worsted called for, but I did end up with a baby cardigan, so I'll donate it somewhere when the time is right. The pattern is a free download on Ravelry, and there's also a pattern for a matching cardigan for an 18" doll.

Horses and tomatoes

While Sage and I were out walking one evening recently, and I was encouraging her to do her Final Wizz of the Day, suddenly we heard the sound of pounding hooves.

I looked back toward our driveway, then directly across the road at our neighbor's driveway. There, coming out of their driveway, were their three horses, on the lam.

Sage and I stood perfectly still as the horses galloped past us to the neighbors down the road.

By now the horses' owners and Ken, too, were onto what the horses had done, so they took off, on foot, in pursuit of them

Minutes later the horses came galloping back up the road, past their own driveway, and on to the neighbors just up the road.

There they were taken into custody and marched back to their pasture. I suspect their fifteen or so minutes of freedom were worth it.

 Meanwhile, on our back deck, the patio tomatoes are doing well. We'll be eating fresh tomatoes before much longer.

There's nothing like a fresh tomato, unless it's a fresh cucumber. No cucumbers were available for this photo shoot on the deck, since they're down in my garden patch,with the rest of my tomato plants, but we might start enjoying them as early as next week.