It's Not Summer Yet

Memorial Day weekend is often referred to as the unofficial start of summer, but it was decidedly not summer-like here -- it felt more like fall, to be honest. It was downright chilly on Saturday and rained most of the day. I had to pull out wool socks and a sweater! Sunday was dry but still on the cool side. Yesterday the sun finally came out and it was pretty nice, though still not very warm, at least in comparison to the usual average temperature. I can say that it was a good weekend for crafting and reading, given that we weren't spending much time outside.

Yesterday we had a holiday gathering at my parents' and we able to gather with the extended family -- my parents; my brother and sister-in-law (and nephew-dog); my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and nephew; my in-laws; my brother's in-laws; and my uncle -- for the first time since, I think, Thanksgiving of 2019. It was absolutely delightful! We've of course seen some family in the interim, but it's amazing to think that at the last time we were all together, my nephew was just a few months old. Now he's talking and walking and getting ready to be a big brother. I shared these photos on Instagram yesterday, but I know not all of you are on IG, so I thought it would be worth sharing them here as well:

On the left are Rainbow and her cousin (my nephew) yesterday. He brought his favorite blanket, which just happened to be a hand-me-down -- it was a blanket I knit for her just before she was born. You can see her covered in it in the photo on the right, in her going-home-from-the-hospital outfit! That thing has really been put through the wringer. It's slightly felted and torn in spots, and apparently my nephew sucks on it and won't nap without it. I'm not going to suggest it be taken away from him, but seeing how well loved it's been, I think it's time I made him a new one. It also makes my heart grow a few sizes to see a handknit so loved!

My main knitting focus over the weekend was my Threipmuir, which seems to be growing faster than I would expect given that it's an adult-sized pullover worked in fingering weight. But then again, I'm on the single-color stockinette portion, which is ideal for knitting while reading or watching TV. I tried it on last night just to be sure that the fit is okay (and it is):

It's always so hard to tell if the fit is okay when you have a sweater on a single circular needle, even more so when you have a history of a warped sense of your own size, so it was very reassuring to see that it fits and has the bit of positive ease I wanted. As you can see, I'm alternating skeins now that I'm only using the main color; this yarn is hand dyed and is a non-superwash, so there is a fair amount of variation. I am using helical knitting and it seems to be working well.

Rainbow took these photos for me and insisted on doing a close-up of the yoke. Granted, the light was not great when we took these shots, but I think this one more accurately shows the lower contrast colorwork than some of the photos I've posted previously. I do like the three colors together, but part of me is wishing there was a bit more contrast -- not enough to undo what I've done, obviously, but it gives me some food for thought for future colorwork projects. I think this may be the first time I've used more than two colors in a single project, and clearly if I do it again, I'll need to consider some other color combinations.

I hope that you had better weather over the long weekend than we did and, if not, that you were able to enjoy it regardless. I will be back tomorrow with an update on the start of Summer Book Bingo!