Christmas is just around the corner. I know, because we got our first Christmas catalog today; a Linen and Things brochure with a picture of Santa himself on the cover. How can this be? Wasn't it just the beginning of summer? Now I think all of the apprehension I suffered about whether or not to buy a new bathing suit, or just simply swim with an old t shirt and shorts. Spending hours trying to get my huge, overgrown perennial garden in some kind of order was a waste of my time because in a matter of weeks it will cut down anyway. Why did we spend thousands of dollars opening the pool, getting the filter fixed, etc, when no one has gone in it, except me, and that was one time.

So if Christmas is really almost here, we better get moving with gift knitting! Shawls, scarves, quick vests and sweaters for kids, wristlets and mittens, caps, afghans, felted purses, socks, the list is endless. So many of us are crazy about lace right now, and the lacy sweater patterns I saw today are so seductive that even the most conservative project starter will succumb! There are so many beautiful, but quick knits featured in the latest knitting magazines. The new yarns in the shop are just crying out to be fondled and used! Oh, I have to hurry and finish just one thing so I can start something new! Just one darn thing!

Here is some the knitting I saw this week....










Jill's lovely Stonington Shawl of Lorna's Laces with the lace edging in progress.













Kristen's wonderful mohair boucle project; she said we dyed it but I don't remember! It's so beautiful, we better find out what colorway it is and get the dye pots out!













Rosemary's Clapotis of hand dyed milk cotton. It is really lovely. By the way, she is the fastest chemo cap knitter I know; so far, I think she's knit ten for us.





Leila's beautiful Clapotis of Lorna's Laces Happy Valley. It's wonderfully drapey.



Lastly, below is the view from one of the decks at the house my son rented on Lake Lanier near Atlanta last month. When I went to visit, I sat there and knit. It was really quite wonderful. You can see the water line is down approximately 15 feet because of drought, and neighboring states taking the water for irrigating. I think of it whenever I see the sod farm near the shop irrigating their sod fields.