dog days: a making journal for mid-august

Every time we open the door, a wall of heat and humidity pushes its way into the house.  The pavement shimmers and is too hot for bare feet.  If I forget to water our patio plants in the morning, they're wilted by noon.  I spend my days driving M to cross country practice and work, pleading with him to keep hydrated: "Do you have your water bottle? And enough water?" "YES, Mom."  Can you just hear his exasperation? :) We drive to Paraklesis services, some of us nightly, praying that the car has a chance to cool down before we arrive at church.  Some days it does, other days it doesn't.  Our legs stick to the car seats and our clothes, but the boys still insist upon wearing long-sleeved shirts under their altar boy robes.  We spend most of our time in the darkened, air-conditioned house.  The goal is to keep the house cool enough that the 100 degree heat feels refreshing when we walk outside.  It's too hot to sit by the pool; I venture all the way under, which is unusual for me.  Though the dog days of summer officially ended on August 11, in my mind, they always drag to the very end of August.   

Our return from vacation inaugurated an especially prolific making period for all of us.  I finally finished Little M's summer wardrobe over last weekend, and just have the button bands left for the cardigan I've knit for my great-niece.  The pattern is Anna's Summer Cardigan by PetiteKnit.  On my iPad, I must have an older version than the one I printed out to knit from.  I couldn't find the printed pattern the other night, and searched in my iBooks app.  The cover of the older pattern featured a short-sleeved version, which is perfect for Texas winter (my nephew and his family are right near the Mexican border and average winter highs are in the 60s).  But that short-sleeved version isn't on my paper printout?  Score one for laziness and absent-mindedness.  If I hadn't lost the paper version (and been too lazy to look for it), I woudn't have seen the version I ultimately knit.  The yarn is O-Wool O-Wash Sport in the colorway Pearly Mussel, knit in the 1-2 year size, but shortened a little because my great-niece is quite petite.  I'm trying a new technique for the button bands--I read/skimmed this Knitty article, and opted to block the garment before picking up stitches.  I'll let you know if that leads to a more professional finish.

I have been making stitch markers for very tiny needles out of little beads we have on hand; I mostly use very tiny needles for very thin yarn, and these stitch markers are nice because they don't have extra bulk or diameter.  They are easy to lose, though, and I spend a good chunk of my time chasing down stitch markers that have fallen between couch cushions.

Inspired by Morgan of Knitting Nellie, I machine-stitched a 12"x12" house quilt patch out of scraps.  And then a quilted project bag, also completely out of scraps.  Just to see if I could make with my hands the ideas knocking around in my head.  I am immensely proud of the cotton twill tape seam binding.  I'm grateful that my sewing machine didn't give up the ghost while stitching through the umpteen layers of fabric, batting, and twill tape. There aren't any bells or whistles for the project bag, but maybe I'll venture into the territory of internal pockets and side loops with the next one.  I'm hoping to use that house patch for a big, I mean MONSTER-sized, project bag.  I'm still letting that idea marinate.

While I waited for the baby cardigan to finish blocking, I pulled out a sock that I hadn't touched since April or May.  I banged out two pattern repeats in a half hour this morning, and realized that I could probably finish one this weekend, and the whole pair next week, if I just put my mind to it.  If. 

The rest of the children have had some creative stretches, too.  T has been getting a jump on paper sloyd.  Z turned a too-small dress into a skirt.  Big M, when he's not running or lifeguarding, has been tying flies in our dungeon of a basement.  Little M writes letters to all of her little friends.  G is immersed in his Lego construction.  

We while away our last few days and hours before our minds and hands are called into service for the school year, and eagerly anticipate all that brings with it.  We know that homeschool is a form of creativity, of fitting together the puzzle of books to read and activities to complete, of creating a beautiful space, both physically and spiritually, so that we can flourish, and of forming the relations that are the work of education.  May it be blessed.