What I did on my Summer Vacation

July has not been quite as hectic as June, but I have still been pretty busy.
I started the Swellegant Elegance sweater designed by Peter Franzi.  Peter gifted me the yarn for my birthday in April and it finally came in.  Saucon Sock yarn by Kraemer Yarns.  It is fingering wt, 44% cotton, 43% acrylic, and 13% nylon.  The color is Loganberry, so kinda a purple color.  I know, not my usual earth tones, but I decided to try something a little different.  As of right now, the sweater only has 1/2 sleeve, assembly and ribbing left to do.  I plan to wear it to the next guild meeting on 8/21.
I have taken a couple of breaks from the sweater.  I learned 2 new dc stitches this month, so had to make a scarf in each stitch.  The first is the linked dc and the other was the herringbone dc.  I learned the linked while I was reviewing my first portfolio for the Masters Program and the herringbone dc was used in a border from Edie Eckman's book Around the Corner Crocheted Borders.  I will be teaching both of these stitches at the next guild meeting.  Come join us.
The scarves will be going to Dawn for her annual holiday packages for the troops.
I crocheted borders on 5 small fleece blankies for Project Linus, using Edie's book.  Some beautiful borders in there!
Our friend, Anne, brought a bag of crocheted flower motifs to Penny last week.  So I sat down and worked out how to turn them into squares.  Penny loves squares and makes several ghans a month for Project Linus.
And, speaking of Project Linus, Laurie and I went with Alice to San Francisco this month. KPMG was having their semi-annual meeting at the Palace Hotel (wow! is the only word that applies here).  Part of their meeting is a charity or community project in the city where they are meeting.  Vicky, from New York, is part of Project Linus in her area.  She and Debbie, from Dallas contacted Alice.  We went to help them put together tied fleece blankets.  They ordered the fabric, a nice weight and some really cool designs, to be paired with some bright colored solids.  Before we even got there, they had done all the cutting and had them ready to cut the strips on the sides and tie.  There were about 30 people cutting and tying for an hour and a half.
They completed 21 out of 35.  We brought 14 with us to be tied at the next PL meeting. Or maybe we will crochet borders on them.  When the meeting was over, we checked our push-pushes at the hotel and went to dinner.  We sure looked like a trio of bag ladies trying to get back to the BART station!  But I was surprised at how many people offered to help us carry the rolling carts down the stairs.  It was great fun, and I would be honored if Alice requested my help again.