Vacation time...

...and time for a vacation.  I need one, my friends. My dance card for August is already filling up, and I have to carve out pieces here and there just for moi.  Here I am, living a mere ten miles from the Atlantic, and I've not yet had time to go to the beach!  How crazy is that? So, gentle knitters, I'll say farewell for a month, but not before I announce yet another interesting contest.  YOU can win a very nice book (if you live in the US of A), which I will review below, by posting a comment on this blog before August 9th at 11.59 p.m.  Just tell me why you want the book.

Since I already own the book--a review copy, thanks to Sixth and Spring, the publisher--and don't need to tell you why I want it, I'll tell you why I like it very much. First, it's all about beautiful ways to use some of Cascade's nicest yarn, Venezia, which is a merino-silk blend with a beautiful hand and drape. Second, the patterns are really excellent and all accessory-sized, so they'll not take too long to make. And third, there are sixty patterns in one book--as I am wont to say, that's a lot of bang for the buck. But that's also the appeal of much of Cascade's yarns--the yardage is excellent, the colors beautiful, and the fiber is highest quality. I love Cascade yarns without reserve. I've just finished a pair of socks in Cascade's Heritage Paints yarn, and they are breathtakingly beautiful.

Now I'll bid you happy rest of the summer, and say see you in September, when I'll announce the winner of 60 Quick Luxury Knits, and point you towards some of my newer writing projects. I'll be doing a column of personal essays about knitting and life on the Lion Brand website, and attending to my sundry other online and offline articles, fiction, etc. etc. Thanks for asking, and happy knitting, mes amis!