Hello, summer!

How are we doing, friends? We’re a few months into this pandemic thing, Ohio has been working on opening up for about a month now, and life here is, for the most part, still pretty quiet. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy all this new-found time at home. Between that and throwing myself into my garden this season, I feel very much like I’ve found a part of me that went MIA after the birth of my son almost 6 years ago. I have missed all those summers at home, tending my garden, knitting, canning and preserving the harvest, etc so much more than I ever truly realized, I think. I knew things were different after his birth – some of it was the postpartum depression, and some of it was the adjustment to motherhood – and I never really knew what was off about how I felt… but then the pandemic happened and we were all spending so much time at home and in the garden and it was like I suddenly rediscovered myself in the best kind of way. <3

Some times I’m certain I was born in the wrong era. And then I remember I love working a job outside of the home, having my own money, and being able to have property in my name rather than my husband’s and all the amazing things that come with being an independent woman and come to my senses. 🙂

Since I last posted, I’ve been working away on some projects here and there, though not as much as I had hoped. There’s been quite a few days that the stress of work, having a kiddo out of school, a husband who was temporarily laid off, and the overall tension of the world around us was just all too much. That adjustment period was ROUGH. So, so rough. But I feel like we’re hitting a bit of a groove, now, with this “new normal” that is life. And now, here we are – Summer! The season of fresh-picked berries, garden-fresh meals, light-weight knitting (who wants to knit with heavy wool on big sweaters in this heat?! Not me!) and lazy evenings on the patio watching the fireflies dance in the yard. *swoon*

Here’s what I’ve been working on since my last update…

Pattern: Boy Cat by Julie Williams, knit for a coworker’s little baby. All of the yarn is either cotton or a cotton-blend, most of which is from Knit Picks. Sadly that mottled grey is a discontinued color, so I’m on the hunt for another yarn in a similar style for future little stuffed animals (they’re my favorite to knit and gift for little ones!)

I finished some hand-spun sock yarn with a “Scrappy Sock Bundle” from Wound Up Fiber Arts. I highly recommend Wound Up’s fiber – drafting and spinning these little bundles was dreamy, which is not always the case for other fibers I have spun. I have 2 other fibers from this vendor to still get to, but I have this really bad habit of spinning yarn and then not knitting with it. I always struggle with trying to find a “perfect” pattern to showcase the work that went into the handspun yarn. So… knitting this up into a pair of socks is first priority before I start in on the other braids of fiber in my stash.

Pattern: Nausicaa by Audrey Borrego, knit in a self-striping cotton blend yarn for summer. This pattern is meant to be a crop top but, given that I am not in my 20s anymore and am also not going to be bearing my stomach to the general public anytime soon, I opted to knit it much longer so it can be worn as a t-shirt, instead. I love, love, LOVE this top, and this pattern. Some of it is the drape of the yarn itself, whereas wool has more bounce. But the little eyelet detail with the ribbing just pleases me so much to add a bit of extra visual interest to the top. And, bonus, this thing is knit in the round from the collar down, so it’s just row after row of mindless stockinette knitting that is great for those times where you just want something to keep your hands busy without having to think too much about keeping to a pattern.

Last, but not least: more handspun yarn! This is the Shami colorway from Neighborhood Fiber. This yarn in particular was a gift spin for a sweet, dear friend of mine for her birthday. She’s been my virtual BFF for years, we had a brief stint where she moved from Idaho to Cleveland and we actually got to meet up and hang out in real life, and now she’s clear across the country again :sob: The finished yarn turned out lovely with the way the colors blended, though I will say that I was initially disappointed with the fiber that arrived – the color listed on the website is far more bright/saturated than the fiber I received above and beyond any differences in screen variations and it makes me hesitant to order more fiber from that particular vendor for that reason.

I think my next project, aside from those handspun socks, will be more knit toys. I have another baby on the way for a friend, and of course that little one needs a matching toy like big sis has, and I promised another friend I would knit a little pug, so I really need to get moving on that, too.

What have you all been up to? What all have you been working on, or are planning on casting on this summer?