Camp Loopy 2015 - Or What I Did This Summer

So it's been awhile but I am back.  Let's talk about Camp Loopy, which is part of What I Did This Summer.  ;-)

The theme was Safari.  The first month, June, was to be something you'd see on safari, if I recall.  I was watching my Tivo'd episodes of the Amazing Race and they were on safari and one of the challenges was to go to find elephants.  So using that as my guide, I found a pattern on Ravelry with elephants.

Without further ado, here are the Elephant Sox.

The above is the completed photo.  I actually wear navy pants and purple sweaters / shirts a lot, so this winter, they will be lovely.

June was a month of travel for me.  Here are the sox at the end of the IASA national conference in Las Vegas.  My sister and I went and we went early so we could have some long visits with our aunt Susie and our cousin Laura.  Totally worth it.  The conference keynote speakers were Peyton Manning, Condi Rice and the daughter of Alan Funt of Candid Camera.

Once I returned from Las Vegas, I was then off to Puerto Rico with Renee for an immersion trip.  A great trip.  Good kids, good parents, good guide and a good time.  Well paced and nicely done.  The above photo was taken on a catamaran.  We headed out to 2 places to snorkel and swim.  Not much knitting was done because rum punch was involved....

There is also a fantastic story about how our boat was parked between two other party boats (we had kids so we were tame.  The party boats were all adults - not so tame) and the winds drove us into one of those boats.  Our first mate Dolly (a lovely young woman) got us through that and then flipped off the other boat's captain.  I commented that action needed no translation and she replied that he was her ex.  Enough said.

This day was the last day I knit the sox in PR.  It is being held in this photo by our lovely tour director Melani and we are at El Morro, the oldest fort in the New World.  Lots of history here.

PR was beautiful and I would love to go back as a family.  Pro tip: invest in a 5 star hotel.

The third trip saw no sox knitting, but we went to The Birthplace, which any girl scout can tell you is Savannah, GA.  That trip was super hot and I heard so much about Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, I bought the book for my Kindle and started reading it right then and there.  I also found The Frayed Knot yarn shop and made a contribution to the local economy.  I think I would love Savannah in the winter.

The second month, July, had a challenge of a pattern found in the wild - on your travels and serendipity.  I had started to read the Yarn Harlot's blog from the beginning and I chose her snowdrop shawl.  People at work asked to see it and so the pic is on a cube wall.  Random, but effective.  Yes, I like pink.  Move along...

There was no travel in July.  I was gone nearly 3 weeks in June and while I had adventures, one thing we did learn is that we like to have Ted with when we travel.  Vegas was different because it was Kim and she had never been to Vegas to see Aunt Susie and that was totally worth it.  But when Renee and I travelled in June on the other two trips, we realized that Ted needs to be there...

On to August.  August's challenge was to make something amazing.  Well, I am here to tell you I feel that this item will look amazing on me.  So there!

I have given up on buttons and now use cardigan clips.

I haven't worn this sweater yet but the weather has turned so bring on fall.

Another thing that happened in August was a significant change for me at work.  I have been in my present position for 8 years.  I do project work for the Controllers division at my work.  I love what I do.  I've already done what I want to professionally so I decided when I moved here I would only do accounting that I loved.  

Anyway, another department in Controllers (there are 14 departments) lost one supervisor to her posting to another area and the second one was pregnant.  The decision was made to add a supervisor in on a temporary basis to get through.  My project before my current one was implementing their new system so I know the product, the people and the process.  Long story short, everyone cleared it with everyone else before I was talked to.

Of course I took it.  It has been a while since I supervised people but they are a good group, which is wonderful.  It was to be a temporary position, but the new mama has chosen to stay home.  So I guess it's permanent.  Since I plan to be at my current employer for the next 20+ years, I need to have some mobility.

And that is how I spent my summer.

Las Vegas Knitting

I couldn't knit on the flight out or the flight back.  We took Southwest but our boarding group was C and so we were last on the plane.  This meant that we had center seats between strangers.  On the way out, we were separated by 10 rows.  On the way back we were in the same row on different sides of the aisle and the people who each had the aisle seats were co-workers so they chatted and understood us chatting over them.  My sister was my guest on this trip; we have family in Las Vegas.  My aunt was crying she was so happy to see us.

Anyway, I did a lot of knitting for Camp Loopy at the conference.  Insurance accounting is not as critical as say, a medical conference, so I can multitask.  I mean, I can listen to Peyton Manning talk for an hour and get 7 rows on the chart done.  Can't think of a better way to pass the time.

This is where the sox were at the end of the conference.  I am pleased.  This also meant I took 10 dpn through airport security twice and lived to tell about it.

Tonight my daughter and I drive up to take an early flight out of O'Hare in the morning to Puerto Rico.  We are going as a group with many students in the district for a Spanish language excursion.  I hope to do the heels, which are in navy, on the flight down.  I already told Renee that I get the aisle and she takes the middle and no one will get hurt.

In quilty news, I am #8 on the queen's list and I have a king to bind.  I hope people take their time so I can get it bound in time.

Camp Loopy!!!

Yep, I am a proud camper this year!  Last year I tried and it didn't work out, but this year I was committed. 

All 3 projects are for me.  So there!

The first one is the Skoosh Shawl.  The criteria was to be inspired by a favorite book, movie, etc.  Using the line ‘never before have we clothed strangers in the garb of our people’ from Lord of the Rings, I made this shawl.  And in orange not green, because I could.  It lives at work in my cube for days when the A/C is going too strong in one building or room or another.

The second one is the Lincoln Cardi.  This one was to be about a vacation.  I was going to start it on vacation, so I was thinking something to do with either Laura Ingalls Wilder or Mount Rushmore, but oh no.  My family stepped in and said Washington DC, pandas and cherry blossoms.  OK, then.  So I hunted and found this pattern in a book called Capitol Knits and thankfully you can buy just the one pattern.  I made it in pink from a yarn by Lorna’s Laces that is named Galena, which is where General Grant is from.  Did I tell you I’m from Illinois?

The third one is Leaf Top.  This one was to be in your favorite colors, but I already did that with the Lincoln Cardi.  So this time, I took a cue from the Preppy Handbook, and went with useful (‘Useful” is used as often as “cute” in a girl’s wardrobe.).  A cream colored short sleeve sweater.   The first 30 rows were the design, so I took that one row at a time.  The rest was plain TV or car knitting and that went fast enough.

So it was a successful Camp Loopy.

And I finish just to find out about Loopy Academy.  ZOMG!

Still. Cannot. Stop. Knitting.

Yes it's true, I cannot stop knitting.  I am enjoying it so!

Today is the start of the first challenge for Camp Loopy.  I am making a shawl that is very simple and very bright.  I want it to stay at work for those times that the building folks cannot regulate the building temp correctly.  This happens more than you know.  And if I got back to the ITS building, that place is a meat locker year-round.

I have also set a yarn challenge for myself for this year.  I want to finish 12 items this year, so about 1 per month.  I have a manageable stash right now and I'd actually like it to reduce by half, if not more.

So here are the first 3 finishes.  I'm very excited!

These are handmitts for a girlfriend on her birthday.  Renee is modeling them.  Yarn is The Loopy Ewe's solid series in barn red.  Pattern is Kujeillen.

These are my handmitts, which are larger in diameter because I'm a larger person.  Yarn is The Loopy Ewe's Loopy Legends series in Tamra's Day Brightener.  How can you go wrong with a yarn called Tamra's Day Brightener?!?!?!  Same pattern, but I put a braided cable in my pattern section.

And here are some socks. Same yarn.  Pattern is Basic Ribbed Socks.

In the queue for June:

More socks in that red yarn up there.  I finished them today but the sock blockers are in use.
A mandala for Attic24.
Camp Loopy June project.

That would get me to 6 projects completed in the first 6 months of the year, which makes me right on track.  So yay!

(And yes, there has been some quilting going on too...)