Summer Solstice, two finished projects, and the beginnings of more

Happy Summer Solstice, everyone! And happy…does math…77? seasons together as a married couple to my beloved spouse. We’ve been stuck in a “heat dome” these last few days, and it’s absolutely miserable outside (with a “feels like” of 102, and they’re not lying when they say that a dew point over 75F is “suffocating”!). But we did venture out yesterday to harvest our garlic scapes to make a big batch of garlic scape pesto; we have some fresh for the Solstice, and then freeze the rest so that we can have a bit of garlickly summer goodness throughout the rest of the year.

We’ve had a tradition of giving kiddo “something to do, something to wear, and something to read” at each turn of the seasons, and we generally aim for at least one of those things to be a “practical” or “seasonal” item (e.g., she often gets her new winter gear at the Fall Equinox). This time, I went for “practical”: we’ve been talking about how kiddo used to help out more in the kitchen, back in our old house (the kitchen was one of the only things that was actually better in the old house), and she’s wanting to get back to that, but her old apron is literally kindergartner-sized (because that’s how old she was when we moved into this house!). So I told her I’d make her a new apron, and let her choose a fabric, and surprised her by finishing it in time to give it to her for the Solstice!

I’m modeling it because she didn’t feel like having her picture taken, which is totally fine; she’s only a couple inches shorter than me, anyway. I used our existing adult-sized apron as the “pattern”, and while it did turn out a little wonky (and the pockets ended up a tiny bit lower than I intended), it’s pretty great. And the Japanese print linen-cotton blend fabric is so delightfully weird and perfect for the kid!

(She LOVES all things cats, and is very enthusiastic about ice cream cones; we have an ice cream shop at the end of our street and she’s super excited that she gets to bring some money and buy herself a cone on the way home from school tomorrow, as a celebration of the last day of school!)

I also finished my fourth Farmhouse Cardigan yesterday! There’s not a whole lot to say about the sweater that I haven’t already said about the previous three versions!

Pattern: Farmhouse Cardigan, by Amy Christoffers
Size: Smallest size
Yarn: Cascade Eco+, in “Lake Chelan Heather” (2 full skeins, I think)
Needles: Size 8 Chiaogoo 40″ circulars
Time to knit: A few weeks? I don’t actually remember when I started!

As I always do, I knit the pockets using double knitting, and I added a bit of shaping at the back so that it hugs the curve of my lower back. It felt ridiculous to be wearing a heavy wool sweater on such a hot day, but this teal-green sweater will be such a great addition to my cold-weather wardrobe.

Speaking of wardrobes, I’ve been seeing references to “dopamine dressing” recently and y’all, that is exactly what I’m going for when I make my own clothes. Wearing things I made myself makes me happy, and it’s also one of the best ways I know to have as much color in my wardrobe as I want. Several of my nice storebought solid-color long-sleeved t-shirts that I got back when M was a baby have gotten all stretched out, and when I look for good replacements for the deep teal, magenta, purple, etc…now all I find are muddy or pastel colors (for me, these are “sad colors”), and the quality seems to have gone downhill in the last decade, too. Where can a lady get a good magenta shirt in 2024??

Well, I may not be able to find that color in a t-shirt right now (and I’m not quite to a point where I feel like I’m ready to try to sew my own close-fitting t-shirts), but a few months ago, I saw yarn in that color in an email from some yarn shop or another, and it was like…you know how in cartoons, when a character’s eyes turn into hearts? That. The yarn was Noro Silk Garden Sock Solo in an amazingly bright tweedy magenta called “Ichinomiya”, and I just couldn’t get this image out of my head of a simple yoked pullover knit in it. So I got some, and knit a swatch.

And now I’m working on that pullover. I’m using the Strange Brew top-down yoked sweater recipe as a guide, and I used the i-cord cast-on trick that Romi Hill shared on her IG for the neckline. I do most of my short-rows at the neck instead of down at the shoulders (just personal preference; it fits my body better that way), so now I’m just knitting away on the yoke.

My plan is to either do no shaping or slight A-line shaping on the body (this tends to look best when worn over my high-waisted skirts and looser-fitting dresses), and I want to do a split garter hem with i-cord edging. I’ll also do garter cuffs with i-cord edging at the bottom of the sleeves I think.

I don’t think I’ll be able to bring a sweater along with me up to Wisconsin next week, though – I think smaller projects are in order while traveling. So far, I’m planning to bring the yarn for two cowls and two pairs of socks (fingers crossed that this is enough!). The first cowl is a Candy Stripe Cowl, from a Purl Soho kit:

I got the kit in the original colors back when they were having a big sale, because it looked so bright and happy. And I think a very simple garter-stitch cowl is a good project while traveling.

I cast on for it and knit the first few rows so that I don’t have to bother with casting on while traveling, and I’m planning to do the same in the next few days for the second cowl:

This is going to become yet another Willow Cowl. (My…10th? I think? I sure do like Willow Cowls.) I just love the light grey with streaks of bright colors (it’s Madelinetosh Twist Light in “Cosmic Silver”) and I can’t wait to see what it looks like knit up.

Well, I was hoping to work on my next York Pinafore today, and I still might, but I’m certainly feeling the effects of several nights in a row of poor sleep (even with our AC running, which we’re so fortunate to have, it’s still been ~82-85F in our upstairs bedrooms overnight, and I’m someone who struggles to sleep without the weight of a blanket, so…yeah, it’s not great.) I suppose the world won’t end if I’m just an exhausted lump. Here’s hoping y’all are finding ways to stay cool, if you’re stuck in this heat dome like me!