The last hurrahs of summer

It's a beautiful day here in New England, and I couldn't resist snapping a couple photos of the last days of summer. The roses have been our biggest surprise this year. We live next to Pfizer and they have been buying houses on the outskirts of our neighborhood to act as a buffer from the company grounds, so this spring they bought the house kitty corner across the street from our house. Well they tore the house down but never did anything else with the land. The house had been there for years and all the landscaping was still intact. Well needless to say, all the neighbors had a field day digging all the plants, bushes, trees, bulbs in the yard. At first we were hesitant but what the heck, everyone else is doing it. So we brought our wheelbarrow and loaded up on hostas, lillies, daisies. A few days later, my husband walks in with a rose bush. "Hey look what I found". Well I have never had luck with roses, but why not plant it and see what happens. Well we thought it had died, but later in the summer it came back in full force and look at it now. There are still more buds waiting to bloom. It's so beautiful.

Here's my babies fattening up for the winter. Can you believe they aren't even a year old yet, but they are big fat fuzzy bunnies now!








This is my current sock on the needles. Its Regia in a camoflage color. This will be for my daughter for Xmas. Seems camo is very big this year for the teens. I wish I knew where to find some wool in camo so I could felt my daughter a bag. I know she would love that! The pretty purple flowers in the background are another one of our saves. My cousin had them growing in her yard, and gave me one last year. Well, again, I planted it, looked like it died and then this year, really took off. I don't know what they are, but the flowers are so vibrant. I think I will move these to the front of the house in the spring.


Lastly, my attempt at a garden of sorts this year. My peppers are now really starting to grow. It seemed all summer long they would blossom, but the blossoms would fall off. Then a few weeks ago, they started forming the peppers. We have to plants and together have about 10 growing. I hope the frost holds offs at least a couple more weeks so they can get bigger.



I joined Socktoberfest and she had a list of questions related to sock knitting:

When did you start making socks? Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class?
I started at the beginning of the year. I taught myself using Silver's tutorial.
What was your first pair? How have they "held up" over time?
My first pair was just awful!! I used Woolease and one ended up much smaller than the other!
What would you have done differently?
I would have definitely started with a true "sock yarn" and would have been more careful with the measuring. The still sit in my drawer because I can't bear to get rid of them, but I know I will never wear them.
What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?
Well I haven't experimented too much with different yarns, but I enjoyed working with Knitpicks Dancing, and I'm using Regia 4-ply right now which I am enjoying.
Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method?
I have only used DPNs, which scared me at first but now I love them. I would like to learn on 2 circs or the Magic Loop though.
Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?)
Well I would definitely have to say flap because I haven't tried the short row yet. Hey, something to try this month maybe!
How many pairs have you made?
Hmm, maybe 8 pair now??

Well, still waiting for my KTS2 pal and Purse Swap pals to receive their packages! I hope they get them today! I also have been having fun with my Sock-ret pal. I've e-mailed her a few times and have a list of things I want to add to her box for this month. Im not sure what kind of socks I want to make her yet. I also won some sock yarn yesterday in a contest that Rachel was running. Yea, I never win anything so this is cool!