I thought I’d share with you some things that are inspiring me these days. They aren’t in any particular order, though the first one is special to me:

#1. You must check out this brand new blog by a young gal who has a beautiful outlook on life and is so very creative! Click here to go directly to her blog. And for a special treat for you knitters…click here for a tutorial for making your own stitch markers! Fabulous photography here! (Ahem…the writer of this new blog just so happens to be my oldest daughter Catherine! above portrait of her;)

#2. I absolutely love following the Little Woollie blog. I recently tried my hand at Tapestry Crochet, following Julie’s tutorial. It worked out great! Although I think I will use yarns that are not 100% cotton, as I think this might allow the running “hidden” yarn to actually hide in between the stitches better. But she now has an awesome pattern for sale to make a few different washcloths using this method! I love her color combinations too! Oh, and someday I want to make myself a new pincushion like hers!

#3. Ever since I saw the movie, The Way, I’ve wanted to walk the Camino de Compastello, or at least some kind of long walk or hike over several days, perhaps weeks. I enjoyed following Jennifer Lawson’s blog as she and a friend hiked the entire Camino in a month! Wow! And I love her idea of Art Abandonment, where she leaves a little sketch behind in a cafe or somewhere for someone else to find. Pretty cool.

#4. I also enjoy following this English gal on her blog Twisted Yarn! She lives in a brewery (go figure!) with her husband and twin kids and knits and crochets all sorts of things! Her recent endeavor was to knit a mandala, not crochet one. Crocheted mandalas are all the rage now (Sheri, you would LOVE these!), but this gal decided to chart her own two-stranded fair isle version of a mandala…quite impressive if you ask me!

And there you go, Four things for you to enjoy if you have a spare minute or two in between the cookouts and parties on this July 4th!

OH! I almost forgot! I’m offering a 20% DISCOUNT on anything in my Etsy shop for the July 4th weekend! Patterns, cards, whatever you might like to have for a reduced rate! Just use the Discount Code FIREWORKS to receive your discount! This recent review of one of my patterns made me smile!