I am back from an awesome vacation in Washington DC, and Steve and I had a blast.  We saw so many things, but I am sure we didn’t even  scratch the surface. We were gone for just about a week, but I wanted to share some of the fun here since it was not easy to blog while on gone   I did get some knitting in (I finished 1 of the vacation socks) that will be a post for another day.

We had some major flight delays leaving Chicago (about 2 hours late on top of already being a red eye flight) but made it to DC and checked into hotel around 3:30 am.  Luckily we didn’t have plans to get up early on Saturday, but we did hit the DC101 Chili Cook-Off Concert  which was pretty awesome, lots of great bands and good food, but shockingly not much chili, maybe 1 food vendor had it, not sure what was up with that?! Anyways we enjoy some good music and got some good sun!

The next few days were full of sight seeing, We checked out the major things like the Capital,  White House, All the Monuments at the National Mall, Ford Theater, National Archives, Natural History Museum, Air and Space Museum, National Art Galleries, and also checked out the International Spy Museum. So many things, but way to much to share about each, so just a few photos follow.

We also checked out the Zoo, Can’t beat that, one of the 2 places in the US to see panda bears! Which was just awesome to see them in person, I also made friends with some lovely animals, in particual, an ALPACA!

All in all it was an awesome trip, We figured out that we walked over 51 miles in the 7 days we walked about, which doesn’t sound like much but some days that we 10+ miles we def felt when we kicked out feet up for the night.  I also got to nab a skein of souvenir yarn from Looped Yarn Works which if you are ever in DC is well worth the visit, great shop and super wonderful staff.  I will share more about knitting progress and the goodies I picked up later this week as this post is already getting long.

Until next time, Keep on Knitting Rain or Shine!

Anyways, lets kick this blog off with some knitting talk right (I almost posted some fitnessy things yesterday, but being its primarily a knitting blog I decided to hold off on that for the first real post.)

I am in the process of reknitting/renaming/re-layouting all of the designs I currently have out in the world, I have learned a ton about knitting since I started designing, and about pattern writing, so new sizes, better info on gauge, new photos are all in the works!

First  WIP on the needles is the Simple Ridges Hat

This time using a major improvement in yarn choice, originally the pattern was done with Acrylic, which is not my personal favorite, but at least it was my favorite of acrylics – Hobby Lobby I Love this Yarn,  but this stunning purple is Cascade 220 Superwash in Plum Crazy colorway.  I am loving it, I started decreases at knit night, but lets be honest counting and talking are not two things i do well together!

Next on the needles is the Brick By Brick Socks -

I am knitting these bad boys on US 1.5 or 2.50mm, out of Malabrigo Sock in Zarzamora. I must say I am loving this yarn, the colors aren’t the best in the photo, (Taken at tonights Panera Bread Knitting Meetup *Yeah Knit Nights*) but I’ll try to get some better ones next time.

Thats all I have for the kick off post, I have a few other things going, but haven’t been touched much the last few days so I’ll save those for later, and I will have some pretty new Stripey Socks to show off after Friday – The Hubby and I are headed out to DC for a nice and much needed Vacation, and Stripey socks are my favorite airport/airplane knitting!

Until Next time, Keep on Knitting Rain or Shine!

Knitting Necklace – From Shiny Metals on Etsy

When I ended the Podcast officially, I already had plans to turn this site into something more. My life finally feels stable, but there are still changes in the works, and I still want to share them with whatever corner of the world feels like reading about it all. So here we go, I am making a leap into the blogging world as that is a much easier task to manage. I am sure there will be far more updates as its easier to just pop in and share a little note.

I look forward to sharing with everyone again and to be able to share other things in life besides knitting, and I hope you all chime in regularly with the comments; I’d love to get updates on readers and be able to get to know you all better. I hope you all enjoy the new Rainlover Knits!

Its with a sad heart that I post this message…I have thought long about this, and I am sure the majority of you saw it coming, but I have decided to no longer podcast. My heart just isn’t in it anymore, and I always said when it was no longer fun, that I would quit. I attempted to come back after a long Hiatus, but all it did is reminded me why I took a break in the first place. I’m not required to share my reasons I know, but I feel I do owe some explanation of where this is coming from for the few of you that have always been fans.

Time is a major factor here, there is so much work that goes on behind what you see, and with all the changes I have had in the last year, I just don’t have the time required to produce a quality product.

Things to talk about – My knitting time as been decreasing like crazy with outside obligations, and I just can’t make enough progress to feel like I have anything to share.

I don’t feel like I have anything special to offer anymore with the mass numbers of other podcasts that are available to the knitting community.

Those are just to name a few. I am honored that so many watched and enjoyed. I am not going away, there are many new ventures in my life and in my knitting I will be focusing on.

Thank you all for your understanding, and I will miss you all!