Sideways Summer

Whether your whole summer is feeling a bit sideways, or just your lace, this overskirt is perfect for those steamy summer days. Who says your can’t wear handknits in a heatwave?!

Knit sideways and shaped with short rows, this lightweight lace pattern is oh-so-easy to customize to any size. Directions are included for waists 24″-38″, but detailed tips for customizing to other sizes are also included.

A lovely bonus to a summer overskirt is its flexibility. Throw it over different underskirts to completely change up your look!

Sideways Summer is available on Ravelry, Payhip, and LoveCrafts. Be sure to check it out today!

Yarn Fumes

I’ve been trying hard to knit down my stash, and I’ve been doing a pretty good job. I did buy new yarn for the cardigan to wear to my cousin’s wedding, but since that never made it into the stash I figure it doesn’t count.

However.

Yesterday I went back to my old school to move the last of my stuff out of my old classroom, and then I was going to go to lunch with some colleagues. I finished packing up early and had some time to kill, so I figured I’d go “just look around” in the yarn shop down the block. Silly girl.

Look what followed me home!

Clearly I forgot about the dangers of yarn fumes. Before I knew it all this great stuff just leapt into my bag. It looked so lonely and hopeful, I pretty much had to bring it home with me. Yarn fumes are infamous for weakening your resolve like that. So I am now the proud owner of:

                                          Zitron Unisono, a German sock-weight Merino

A fairly generic black Mini Mochi, which I will pair with some gorgeous green Dragonfly Fibers I have in stash.

The inexplicably named Berroco Comfort DK, which is a sport weight synthetic.

A simple shawl pin and button for Carnaby

The buttons meant I could finally finish the skirt I finished knitting nearly a week ago. Sewing on button while wearing the skirt was kind of a weird experience, but it was the best way I could find to get them in the perfect place.

Sewing on buttons

Only the top button is actually needed for getting the skirt on and off. If the buttons didn’t look so cool I probably could have just sewn a seam up the rest of the skirt. The finished product looks really cute and fits great though!

Nikol Lohr’s “Carnaby”, finished at last!

 

P.S. Just a reminder – I’m leaving for vacation tomorrow and won’t be home for a week. I’ve set up some pre-written posts to entertain you while I’m gone!

Quick Update

This’ll be a quickie since I’m super busy at the moment, but Carnaby is done minus her buttons. I don’t have the right buttons in my stash, so I’ll be heading to the store at some point.

Knitting complete!

In the mean time Pole is underway but not looking particularly special yet. It’s lovely and squishy, but as hot as it’s been lately I can definitely see myself being tempted away by something light and silky. I’m going to try to be strong though because September 2 is not that far away. At least I should have plenty of time to work on it during the drive to Ontario next weekend. Maybe I’ll actually sit down long enough to work on it during our vacation as well.

Squoooosh!

Tomorrow is Family Day in my husband’s unit and while I’m grateful it’s not supposed to be as hot as it’s been, the whole “unseasonably cool and rainy” motif for Family Days is getting pretty old. It also makes it annoyingly tough to decide what to wear.

 

As an aside, if you’ve got some spare change, donate to your favorite Colorado charity (I donated to the Colorado Professional Firefighters Foundation myself). Colorado’s had a rough couple of weeks.

Busy Bee

Like the bees buzzing about outside right now, I’ve been very busy lately. All sorts of progress is being made right now, in many many parts of my life. I am having such a good time with it all, too! There’s a reason summer is my favorite season.

On the professional front, I have a new job! Or rather, the same job in a new school district. My new job is closer to home and has me traveling against traffic during rush hour, which means my commute just got a whole lot sweeter. It’s also in one of the fastest growing districts in the area, which means (almost) no more worrying about whether my job will still exist next year. You have no idea how much happy dancing I’ve done in the last day or two.

A whole lot less of this! Photo by Jon Sullivan.

On the garden front, the peppers are nearly big enough to eat now and the tomatoes and herbs are growing like weeds. It’s also prime fruit season around here, which means we’ve been bringing home mountains of blueberries and blackberries and peaches and all sorts of other deliciousness from the farmers’ market lately. My belly is so happy lately it’s ridiculous.

Yum!

On the knitting front, I’ve made significant progress on Carnaby – I may actually be able to finish before the yarn for Pole gets here. I would definitely feel a bit better about the number of projects on my needles then. I’m also feeling pretty good about the number of designs I’ve got in queue for publication right now, and I’m excited in particular about one that should be ready for publication by early August. I can not wait to share it with you guys!

Halfway done, maybe?

In the mean time, back to work!

Relief

There were some big storms last night and this time they actually brought cool air with them. You know, like they’re supposed to. Oh my goodness I feel like a new woman. The forecast high for today is only 86 (30 C) and while that’s only slightly below normal for this time of year, after the heat wave we’ve had it sounds like the most balmy, deliciously comfortable weather ever.

Carnaby in progress – I forgot how fast patterns go when I don’t have to do all the math myself.

In fact, it’s so nice that I actually took my knitting outside for a bit this morning. Bliss! I love the way the air smells after a good rain; I can almost forget that I live in the city. It’s also nice that my Sky Scarf finally has a break in all the blue (that sounds like an odd thing to be happy about, I know). It seems like the weather has broken all over the U.S., because my cousin out west says the fires are finally about under control there and people are beginning to pick up the pieces.

On the other hand, the peppers loved all the hot and dry the last couple weeks, so despite the best efforts of that surprise derecho we had, they are looking bushy and strong and I’m starting to get some baby peppers!! Can not wait to start eating those!

Baby peppers!

As an aside, my parents actually missed out on most of the heat with a well-timed vacation to Alaska. They brought me back what has to be the most unique souvenir I’ve ever seen – a crochet hook made of moose bone. I feel like it needs an extra special project to christen it. Any suggestions?

It appears to be an L hook. Quite large.

Knitters’ Fallacies

There seems to be a core set of “Knitters’ Fallacies” we all tell ourselves – or at least, all the knitters I know. Have you noticed this? We tell ourselves time after time that “x” is absolutely the truth, and we should really believe it, and almost every time we’re wrong. Yet we keep believing. For instance, here are a few I’ve caught myself doing in the past week:

1. This project is boring. You could totally whip out a second, side project in no time. That 3 WIPs rule you set for yourself is way too restrictive.

I can absolutely crank out a Carnaby without neglecting my other projects. I swear.

That’s how I wound up with a Carnaby on the needles, and no measurable progress on the design I’m trying to have ready for publishing in the spring. Oops. (In case you can’t tell from the lousy webcam photo, green won in the Carnaby yarn poll).

2. That’s not nearly enough knitting for how long you’re going to be out. You’re totally going to run out. Panic!!

This is a picture of the game progressing.

Last night I went to a baseball game. I know how much I can get done during an average hockey or soccer game, and I knew that baseball games are often a bit longer. I also knew that we had awesome seats and that it was 104 degrees outside. Somehow, though, the only part that sank into my Knitter Brain is “Baseball games are long. You are totally going to finish that whole sock.” So I looked up and wrote out the remainder of the directions for the sock in my purse and even came up with a weird short-hand code for the chart on the leg, and still worried that I might not have enough to keep me busy. Then I went to the game, settled into my seat, and melted. I did not pick up my knitting, or anything else but beer and water, until the train ride home.

This is a picture of my sock, not progressing.

3. Oh, you have [insert event here] coming up? And it’s really soon? You could totally whip out a new sweater for that in time!

Pic by anneleterme, pattern is “Pole” by Joji Locatelli. I can totally get this done in time. Right? RIGHT?

My cousin is getting married the first weekend of September, and I’d been planning to wear one of my cute, summery party dresses to the (partially outdoor) wedding. Yesterday, I abruptly remembered that the wedding is in Upstate New York, and New York in September is just not the same as Virginia in September. I don’t really have any cool weather dresses, and somehow all of my cardigans just seemed too casual or too colorful to go with such brightly colored summer dresses. This is when lunacy set it. This is when I decided that the only logical option was to knit myself a new cardigan by the wedding. Seven weeks was totally enough time! Well, minus the time it will take my yarn to arrive. And the time I’ll spend knitting Carnaby. And my design samples. And the whole having a job and a life thing. Uh oh.

4. Oh, it doesn’t really matter what the weather’s like out. You have air conditioning! You’ll definitely feel like knitting with winter fibers for the next few weeks!

This is the actual temperature right now. Wool is totally a good idea.

That sweater I’m making for the wedding? Merino. Black merino. Did I mention it’s currently 108 degrees outside? I might have a death wish.

So there you have one little week’s worth of the lies I tell myself when knitting. What Knitters’ Fallacies are you trying hard to believe right now?

Carnaby Distractions

Whether she knows it or not, reWOLLuzza has talked me into making a Carnaby skirt. The urge has been bubbling away in my brain for a week or so now, but I finished a design sample yesterday, so I feel like I deserve a new project just for me. Anyway, that’s what I tell myself.

In any case, I went stash diving and came up with…choices. I’m not sure if that’s exciting (yay choices!) or just sad (I have that much stash?!) but I have a couple of options for which yarn to use. I can’t decide, so that means it’s up to you, my wonderful readers, to help me pick.

I have:

Berroco Peruvia in grey and red (would have to use both, most likely)

Patons Classic Wool in purple

and Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherds Wool in green