Happy Independence Day for those of us in the USA!  I read somewhere that a news reporter said it commemorated our victory in the war for Independence which makes me worry about the education that reporter had -- ah well.   Happy Commemoration of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence.  I hope  everyone gets a great view of the fireworks at the Dam tonight!  I'll be in bed trying to get to sleep :)
Anyway.  Updates.  I've been extremely remiss in pics ( I won't bore you with the list of troubles the camera and I have with each other).  So here we go:

Here is the Sun Hat I began on, oh, Thursday?  I ripped out most of it on Friday and here it is near the end of Friday.  I had a deadline -- I was to go to a birthday party in a park on Saturday.  I had no 'nice' sun hat.  My older 'nice' hats have begun to look like **old** gardening hats.  Complete with discoloration.  So, as I said.  Deadline.  So not many pics.  I was crocheting at warp speed.  It is black so you can't see much.  It is the pattern our very own Mistell West wrote -- Euroflax sport linen with Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille for a brow band and two rows on the brim -- I only have a tiny brim at this point.

Ok, here is a pic that my friend most kindly took of my husband and I at the park birthday party.  I'm wearing my hat, my summer top made of SR Kertzer's Sari and Rani -- and my black linen skirt that you can't see.  I finished the hat Friday night at home.  There is plastic corset boning in the brim which holds it up.  I crocheted the cotton chenille around it.  All black.  Because  I like black. :)  And yes, I choose this one because you can see the hat . . . but not us very well.  Told you I don't like cameras. :)

Next up: Summer top.  I did this rather some weeks ago.  It is out of Posh by S. Charles.  A 4 spi gauge and done in diamond modules.  Very cool.  I didn't do much of a neck border because I like my necks very open in the summer -- makes me feel cooler and the way I am built means I can have a lower neckline without showing cleavage.  The sleeves are a modification -- just straight (as in no increases or decreases) on a few sizes larger needle to be more airy and open.  I don't do sleeveless. :)

A close up of the yarn and a module which you can't see. Come in sometime -- I wear my two summer tops as much as I can.  I feel MUCH cooler in them than my commercial summer tops.  Maybe it's the texture.  Not sure.  But I LOVE my hand made summer tops!

Ok.  Here is something I picked up partially out of guilt.  This is a sweater for my husband made from Cascade's Bulky Leisure which is an alpaca cotton blend.  VERY yummy to work with.  Shows pattern nicely too.  The cables are pretty big --8 stitches and I think 10 or maybe 12 rows apart (notes are at work, I'm at home).  There are cables down the front just in a bit from each shoulder and down each shoulder and sleeve.  This is a Barbara Walker Seamless Saddle Shoulder from the neck down.  I need to do another before I get it in my head.  I don't like learning techniques from books -- which is ironic since it is mainly how I do learn them.    I simply LOVE this thing.  Of course the 3 stitches per inch gauge helps :)  I haven't touched the neck yet.  I want to do the sleeves and then I'll do the neck and then steam on down the body.  I'll be doing a small cable for ribbing I think -- like a 4 stitch cable.  We'll see.  The sleeves are being worked at the same time on two 24" addi turbos and the body stitches are on a cord from the Denise Interchangeable Needle set.  Which I am finally playing with myself.  I have heard wonderful things about them, have sold them for over 2 years and only now am allowing myself to have a set to play with.  Sigh.
I hope to see everyone at our Annual Summer Sale this week!  Remember -- the whole shop is on sale -- ranging from 10-60% off! 
Take care and Happy Knitting and Crocheting!!
~Briony