We spent our Fourth very quietly. The weather forcast was for increasingly nasty weather so there were no great plans. I love unplanned days like this. All five of us, for once all the girls were home at the same time, watched Star Wars. We have been slowly working our way through all 6 movies (except for no. 1 which no one likes) and we are now on the "good ones". I have such fond memories of standing in line to see this movie and seeing it 12 or so times in the theater (no vcrs in 1977). It was the most amazing film I had ever seen and still remains one of my all time favorites (although the Lord of the Rings has pushed it aside just a bit). On July 3rd our town had it fireworks display. We gathered at the school at 6:30 and ate a picnic dinner and just enjoyed the outdoors. It also gives us a chance to see some of the children we watched grow up into lovely young men and women as the whole town gathers for this event. One of Emily's friends is in Bagdad and we miss him. We were just talking about what kind of care package to send and decided he needed some hand made socks. So we got some nice warm wool (it's cold in the winter!) and will start shortly. The Red Cross has an interesting web site where you can read patterns from both world wars for socks, hats and sweaters for soldiers.
My monkey socks are tooling along. I am almost finished the first one and it looks great. No progress shot, the weather is lousy today and the light is nonexistent. I plan to spend much of the next couple of days finishing it and getting as much done on number 2 as I can before the Tour de France kal begins.
Thanks to everyone who offered tips and info on proper knitting technique. I am doing ok with the "new" way but once in a while, if I am not paying attention, I slip. Much cursing and ripping ensues!