Over the last few months, I've been knitting my way through "special" yarn stash, including the Milena shawl and my Cyril socks. Most recently, I've finished a few more little knitted things, using up special yarn. I've never wanted to have a large stash of unused yarn. As much as I love sprinkling my life with beautiful things, yarn, like other good things, can get out of hand...

Yesterday, I stopped by my friend Jessica's house to see her and her son. I played with her little boy while she chopped veggies for a meal she was bringing to a friend that night. Whereas I prefer to follow a recipe, since I'm nervous that my kitchen experiments won't turn out, Jessica is naturally good at using up all the food in the fridge, coming up with new combinations and just "throwing together" a meal, or following a recipe with modifications, based on what she has on hand. I happened to be at her home over the lunch hour, and she offered me some yummy zucchini bread and some soup she just "made up," the previous day...

Sewing is enjoyable for me, although it still feels much more "uphill," for me. I'm rather particular about how my clothes fit me, so it only makes sense that I would be more intentional about planning how they fit, rather than flying by the seat of my pants. I had never made a muslin, but I'm realizing that this is a great time investment, especially as I make more considered fabric purchases for clothing.A muslin allows you you test the fit and feel of a pattern with a less precious fabric, so you know what adjustments need to be made...

It's hard for me to believe that it's already the end of the July. Even though it's still very much summer, with strawberries and watermelons and high temps, today was a mere ninety-two degrees, which was nice, and it just barely hinted at cooler days ahead. As much as Texas summers can feel a bit challenging for me, I am thankful that there are summers, falls, winters, and springs to mark the seasons of life. In the spirit of embracing the seasons, here is what I've been up to these past few weeks:making Creamy Sausage and Kale soup (subbing in collard greens, since that's what I had)wearing an Acadia National Park t-shirtlots of knitting with stash yarnwatching Lark Rise to Candleford with Nicholas (my third time through and still makes me laugh out loud and teary-eyed)pre-dinner naps on the couch with Nicholaslistening to the O...

I thought I'd check in and share my current projects and my progress on the three month make-a-long, Summer of Basics. I've been knitting quite a lot, lately. Sewing is trickier for me just to take up when the mood strikes, because it requires a lot of space, and long (uninterrupted) periods of time. Both of which are a bit tricky in our apartment...