Stitching Update | July 2023

We’re now a full week into July – what a whirlwind! This has been a vacation week for us – Matthew is on vacation and our homeschooling is on a break – so we’re enjoying a quieter pace and fewer obligations. Screen times have shot up and I’m 100% okay with that. We all deserve a little spoiling! The weather has turned HOT and it feels like summer again, so we’re a tiny bit grumpier than usual. July and August are the hardest months for me but I keep reminding myself that they have their benefits. I sometimes go back to reread my Dear August post as proof!

Today I’m sharing the progress of my active stitching projects. My preference is to stitch in the evenings once the kids are in bed, but that’s so late during these long days of summer and sometimes I end up going straight to bed myself. I’ve made progress by keeping these projects in the kitchen and just picking them up whenever I sense that a quiet moment might happen. I typically do that with books but I haven’t felt particularly motivated for that, so it’s felt natural to switch to stitching for now. So here’s the update on a pair of socks, a sweater, and a handsewn quilt that has held my attention in the last couple of weeks:

DRK Everyday Socks #5

I got stalled on my latest pair of DRK Everyday socks (Ravelry link) for months because I was waiting for a quiet time to knit the gusset and turn the heel. The leg, of course, is so straightforward that it could be knit during a hurricane. But I managed to turn the heel on Tuesday and it’s moving right along again.

Let’s talk cast off edge. I’ve always done Jenny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off on my socks, but dislike the ruffling that happens at the top. I used the suspended cast off method on my last pair of socks and it worked great. I thought this solved all of my problems! And then I tried the suspended cast off on the first sock in this pair and it was so.tight. I had to rip it out and reknit it with Jenny’s SSBO.

So I’m planning to try the tubular bind off with the second one. I’ve watched several tutorials and it doesn’t look much different than the kitchener stitch? Just tricky to the get the rhythm right but manageable. Wish me luck!

Next pair of socks: Sarah’s Runaway Shorties! I’ve never made a pair of shorties (crazy, I know) so this should be a fun summer project.

Junction Sweater:

I don’t have a picture of it, but I have tried on my Junction sweater and I’m pretty sure the fit is going to be good enough. Whew!

I’ve finished the fourth and last increase row and am now starting the main body pattern. In about 2″ I’ll be able to separate the body from the sleeves and hope that I’ll find my groove after that. This is moving very slowly and I’m skeptical that I’ll find the motivation to work on it in this really hot weather! But I also want to be able to slip this on as soon as the cooler weather of fall hits. I am imagining it in an apple orchard with a pair of black skinny jeans and am swooning. That’s the type of motivation I need to stay consistent!

Mandolin Quilt

I’m not finished with the eighth block in my Mandolin quilt yet (you can see my finished blocks in this post from April), but I’ve been working on it. I’m not sold on the fabric combination I’ve chosen for this one so I’m pushing the pause button for now. I need to find a good moment to pull out all of my Liberty fabric and see what might work better. The pink inside squares aren’t right for the center print and I’m not liking the contrast between the blue diamonds/triangles and the outside squares – there’s too much white in both prints. I think it’s back to the drawing board with this one!

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Today’s agenda: more prepping for our next school session! I was lucky enough to have two (almost) uninterrupted hours on Wednesday afternoon devoted to prep work. I am already miles ahead of where I was last year. Last July we were all sick with covid and I wasn’t able to get anything ready. And then Colton got giardia during my last window of time for prepping. I spent the whole year just making do because I never got caught up! I’m thankful for these opportunities to get my bearings.

The weekend is a wild card for me and I have no idea what to expect from it, other than a few hours at the library on Saturday. I’m crossing my fingers for a return of my reading mojo and some energy in the evenings to pick up my needles.

I hope your weekend is full of exactly what you need. Take good care!