Fall-ish

It is an overcast, rainy Monday morning here in Pittsburgh. We certainly need the rain, badly, but it makes it that much harder to get up when the alarm goes off -- and that seemed to be the case for both the Mister and Molly, who both got back into bed after their alarms went off this morning. I would have liked to do the same, but someone has to get the household moving!

Yesterday was, of course, the first day of fall, but it still feels very much like summer here. This week we're supposed to get more rain and highs are going to be a little lower than last week (in the upper 70s as opposed to the mid-80s), but it still does not feel like fall. I'm a bit jealous of those who have weather cool enough to wear handknits, and frankly I'm starting to worry we're going to skip directly from summer to winter.

We had a fairly low-key weekend, which was much needed. Work was quiet enough for me on Friday that I was able to get some cleaning and laundry done, freeing up my Saturday, and that meant extra time reading and crafting. I finally finished up the double-ended hat Saturday afternoon:

I used my pattern (Ravelry link) and the skein of Malabrigo Ultimate Sock that came home with me from the retreat in July. I'm still undecided as to whether this is going in the charity pile or if it will go to my middle nephew, but either way it's done and another skein has been used up.

Now my main focus is finishing up my Sugarplummed socks -- my only WIP right now, if you can believe it!

I've got about three inches of foot left before I start the toe, and as this is all I'm actively working on at the moment, I expect these socks will be a finished pair by midweek.

Now that summer is officially over, I want to say a quick thanks to Kym for hosting her Summer Vibes Scavenger Hunt and for encouraging me to embrace the summer months instead of resenting them for making me feel like a warm puddle of goo. I received some lovely gifts from her for my participation:

Kym, I don't know if you just picked out things that appealed to you or if you had me in mind, but you couldn't have selected more perfect items for me -- thank you!

I hope you aren't having too much trouble getting your Monday started! I will see you back here on Wednesday with a crafting and reading update.