My days have been recently filled with blue – from clear blue skies (read, no rain and lots of sun), to Indigo colored fabrics, and denim blue yarns. Clearly, this is not my usual color palette – however, I am truly in love with these blues – so much so in fact, that I am knitting a Beach Glass Blues shawl for my third month of Loopy’s Summer Safari.

Blue skies and warm days are the stuff that gardens dream of, unless they are exceedingly warm and lack rain in which case, things begin to look worn and tired and production dips significantly. Shade was the answer – in the form of some creatively “stitched together” sheets of burlap – which allows for just the perfect filtered amount of sunlight through to my parched tomatoes. It was one long, hot day to install this creation, but my garden did the dance of joy upon completion. The work looking tomatoes are now growing new foliage and are budding again. The peppers are not fazed by long, hot, sunny days – I just made six pans of stuffed peppers (yes you read that right) to freeze for the winter. I am eating about six tomatoes a day and life in general is abundant.

Bees on the Butterfly Bush

Some weeks ago, I pulled out my sewing machine and made a couple of crib blankets for Genevieve. I had not sewed anything in years and I found it incredibly rewarding. Fast forward to when this enabler extraordinaire tweeted about 100 Acts of Sewing patterns. I clicked the link, looked at her patterns, and bought one I thought might be a nice transition piece from summer to fall. I found some fabric that I thought might work at Loopy Ewe and the plan was in action!

Now, here is the amazing part – in one short evening I had this lovely dress completely finished!

What?

One evening?

Yes – as in about 3 hours from start to finish! I am not kidding you. Clear, concise instructions for everything from cutting out to making your own coordinating bias tape.

I made a few modifications to the pattern. I wanted a nice clean finished seam so I did flat felled seams. This was the first time I had ever tried them and I found a super clear tutorial here, if you want to try them yourself. I did double-sided pockets – lined with the same material I made the bias tape from because I did not want fraying fabric inside the pockets. I am exceedingly happy with the results.

I have plans for another dress made of some gorgeous linen, which I will make longer in length with shorter sleeves.

The blues continued when I saw this cute pattern on Ravelry. I had this amazing skein of yarn from a past Loopy Giftable Club – great yarn and I think it will be so perfect for Genevieve! Soft and warm – perfect to take her into fall! I loved the pattern – it was a quick and easy knit. The size range in great so there will likely be another in few months’ time. As it is, I have plans to knit this cute dress by the same designer.

Litchfield

I have wanted to knit Litchfield for ages, but just have never gotten around to it. Thanks to Loopy it will be complete by the end of the month, come hell or high water! I am knitting it with some lovely washed shades of Madelinetosh Merino Light. They remind me of well-worn beach glass and sun faded sand. A departure for me on colors, but I am really loving the combination.

Bonus for today is that I watched a new free “mini-Craftsy” class by Carol Feller about short rows this morning. She is a great way to ease into a morning before the rush of the day starts. I watched her, swatched, and sipped my iced coffee. Knitting: Truly, the thing soothes the savage beast that can be the day. My swatching also incorporated something that Jillian talked about in a blog post here. I am a “thrower” so I plied with this process in mind. I put just a bit more twist in and I have to say, I really like the fabric. It is more cohesive and my stitches seem a bit tighter. I also learned that with my style of knitting looseness – Japanese short rows are completely invisible – and this, gentle reader, is a wonder indeed!

Cooper’s Hawk

I hope that you are finding joy in the warmth of August. Stay tuned because I will have an update soon about my first installment from the Sheepspot Breed School, and trust me, you won’t want to miss this.

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