The First Friday of Fall

Happy Friday, friends! I'm so excited to see September arrive, even more so because as I type this, it's 55ºF -- feels like fall! In fact, September 1 marks the first day of meteorological fall, and I am here for it. The last couple of days when I've gone outside, there's been a bit of a chill and the light has looked different. I even ran through a section of dried leaves beneath a couple of buckeye trees! We've got 90s in the forecast for the long weekend, but I think the majority of the hot, humid days are behind us.

I'm very happy to see the end of the week because it's been a really stressful one. On Wednesday afternoon, just before I was about to leave to pick Mo up from school, I got sent a 40-page layout with a lot of content that needed to be proofread -- by yesterday afternoon. I did get it done, but it was not fun, and it disrupted my usual workout routine (I couldn't go for a walk yesterday until after lunch, once I'd finished it). I'm hoping today is calmer, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for an early dismissal ahead of the long weekend.

But enough complaining -- you didn't come here for that! What you are likely to be more interested in is the crafting. I did make some progress on my current sock while I was working on that report (I got to a section where the same corrections were being made over and over again, so I'd mark them and then knit a few rounds while I read through a page at a time), and I think I'm about an inch from the heel of the second sock. I also spent the end of the day and the evening plying and finished up one last skein of handspun for August. I did not have time to set the twist, but I'll be taking care of that this morning.

This was my 23rd bag of Southern Cross Fibre spun this year, so now I have only one left to get to my doubled goal. But I don't think I'm going to stop there. If I remember correctly, I've got five more bags from 2022 unspun, so I'm going to do my best to get through them before the end of the year. Then perhaps when 2024's shipments start to come in, I can try to spin, at a minimum, one shipment from 2023 along with each new shipment each month and get caught up for the first time in my life!

I know some of you were excited about the pattern when I was test knitting it, so I wanted to let you know that Shana has released her Modular Bento Bag pattern! It's available on Ravelry and on Payhip, and it's on sale right now! I had a lot of fun knitting mine and plan to knit more of them in the future (there are four sizes in the pattern, and the largest is a great size for a market bag).

I also discovered that the second size can double as a hat!

This weekend should be a relaxing one. Tomorrow is our anniversary (16 years!), and we have reservations at one of our favorite restaurants. I have plans to get together with my mahj group on Monday morning but nothing else on the calendar. The weather is supposed to be beautiful, and one of my library holds just came in, so I plan to take full advantage of three days away from work! I hope you can do the same!