For about 10 days a year I decide I like sewing. I have just entered that period. Fortunately for me it coincides with my local fabric store having a large selection of clearance fabric as the prepare to move locations. Now, do I really need fabric? No. For a person who only sews 10 days a year I sure to have a large fabric stash. Stash or not, when I find a decent knit for under $3 a yard I stock up.

This week we were in the 90s in Des Moines. That is well above our average temperature, and it was a shock. In between trips to the beach and sitting in the air conditioning I decided I should make a romper. I found the Runabout pattern from Patterns for Pirates and got to work. Did I make mistakes? Of course. Do I care? not really. I’ll be making this again. It might be what I wear all summer. For my next version I’m going to add 2-4 inches to the tank top. I’m tall, and didn’t make any adjustments to the pattern. I had several issues with the waist band (note to self: if a pattern recommends a video tutorial on a tricky step watch it). Even with all of the issues I had with this project I’m going to be happy to wear it all summer.

Elliot’s summer clothes are still packed in the basement. He has a few pairs of shorts upstairs, but he is constantly asking where they are. I decided that instead of going to the basement to get his summer clothes I would rather go to the basement to the craft room and make him a pair of shorts. He now has cool tropical shorts.

I used the Sunny Day Shorts pattern from oliver + s. I plan on making both kids a few pairs of shorts before my yearly sewing binge is done (yes, I also plan on bringing up Elliot’s summer clothes). I’m thinking of adding a pocket to the shorts.

Have you ever added pockets to a pattern that did not have pockets? Do you have any tips?

A very special thanks to Kathy and Alissa, who inspire me all year with their sewing projects. Looking at their projects is what gets me excited to sew. If they didn’t write about what they were sewing I would only sew 2-4 days a year.

I finished my April Little Known Holidays Yarn Club from Knit Spin Farm. This is Pick Strawberries Day (May 20) on her soon to be discontinued (sob! moan!) Targhee Sport base. The socks feature uneven stripes of white and yellow flower, dark and light green stem, dark and light pink strawberry with white spots, straw basket. I’m telling myself they will pass as Christmas socks and putting them away until December.

It is hot here. It was in the 90s today, so we hit the beach. The water temperature is still cold, but the kids did not mind.

I hope your week is starting well.

I try to rotate projects through the family. It was Elliot’s turn to pick what I should make him. I thought he wanted it socks. It turns out he wanted a blanket for Rubble. I was informed that Rubble’s sleeping bag is for sleep overs, and he needed a blanket for home. Far be it from me to turn down a fast project, especially when I can use a mini skein of neon yellow DK from Lady Dye Yarns that I thought would stay in my stash until my death. I cast on 25 stitches on size 10 needles and knit until the yarn was gone.

I don’t have much yellow yarn in my stash, so I hope that Rubble is happy now that he has a knit blanket and sleeping bag.

Have you finished any quick projects lately?

Last weekend Audrey and I headed to my guild’s fiber festival. The small festival raises money for the guild, so it was important to me to go support the vendors.

Audrey was excited to go to her first fiber festival. She was able to try a drum carder, which made me think I should get one so she could make me batts.

In the name of supporting the guild I picked up some fiber (not pictured, the fiber Audrey picked out).

The top four braids are from Honey Gold Acres. In my dreams she starts a fiber club. Until that happens I stock up when I see her at shows. I picked up two rambouillet braids and two merino braids. I’m regretting not getting more rambouillet from her. When I run out I’ll order more (if I can’t wait until Wisconsin). The pink and yellow fiber is merino from Fiber Cuiro and Sundries in the Margaritaville colorway. The teal is from two guys fiber and it is sparkly.

I should be all set with fiber until I hit up my next festival. The same can be said for yarn. I’m going to try to stay away from fiber purchases for the next 124 days (not that I’m counting down the days to Wisconsin or anything).

Have you been to a fiber festival recently?

I finished some Icelandic yarn this week. It is about 168 y of worsted weight yarn. I think I’ll use it for a colorwork hat or cowl.

A local train club has an open house on the first Friday of every month. Because of that, I have a hot date with Elliot every first Friday. I also get to hang out with my friend Sarah. Her daughter’s boyfriend is a member of the train club and talks to Elliot about the trains. Sarah is also a knitter, so we have big plans to bring projects to work on next month.

I read three books in March and three books in April. I’m not in the mood for reading lately, which is unusual for me. I hope my mojo returns with the warmth of spring.

March

Women’s Work: The first 20,000 years by Elizabeth Wayland Barber. This book uses archeological tools to research that women have done throughout the history of humanity – spinning and weaving. If you are a textile nerd this is a great one to pick up. I give this book four out of five stars.

The Fallen Stones by Diana Marcum. You know the expression “you get what you pay for”? That sums up this free book from Kindle First Reads. This book takes us on the adventure Marcum had while researching butterfly farms. This book would be better if it was significantly shorter. It would make a nice essay. I give it two out of five stars.

This Time for Me by Alexandra Billings. This is the story of Alexandra Billings, a trans actress best known from Transparent. Her story is dark. She has lived through some very difficult situations. I’m glad I read the book, but the difficult times she lived through were difficult for me to read. I give this book three out of five stars.

April

The Nineties by Chuck Klosterman. Oh my gosh I love this book. The history! The humor! I was sad to finish this book. There were so many memoires on the pages. He calls Dave Grohl a cuddly teddy bear! If you are a member of Gen X go read this book. As an aside, I totally had the phone on the cover of the book. I give this book five out of five stars.

Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey. Hollywood PA falls for fisherman. I really enjoy reading romantic comedies. That being said, if you are my friend and you act like someone in a romcom book I will be sitting you down and having a conversation with you about your life choices. I give this book three out of five stars.

Fuzz by Mary Roach. I didn’t know that non-fiction books about animals can be funny. This book is filled with bears that steal food and monkeys running amok. Roach is incredibly funny and I learned a lot from this book. I enjoyed it so much I picked up another book of hers from the library today. I give this book five out of five stars.

Happy reading!