the last of the summer makes with a side of reality

I finished the last of M's dresses before the summer ended (for us) and also a bonus knitted top!  Woohoo!  When she came down for breakfast this morning wearing the dress, I marched her outside for a modeling session in front of our tomato fence and wild milkweed. 

The Knit Top

pattern: Anna's Summer Cardigan, turned into a pullover.  

I used the same stitch count for the front as written for the back and made the neck opening larger by casting on the number of stitches I would have had after the first raglan increases.  I had to tinker with the eyelet placement, but it wasn't too difficult.

size: 4/5 

Little M is petite, but all the same I wish I had made this with more ease.  I was hoping for a boxy, cropped look.

yarn: O-Wool O-Wash Sport in pearly mussel

It knits up more like a DK. No complaints here--I'm a big fan of plump yarns.  The top took a little more than a skein.

The Dress

pattern: another Happy Homemade vol. 2 dress.  

It's the same pattern as the red gingham one pictured on the cover.  The size I chose is a little large, with plenty of room for Little M to grow into it.  

fabric:

Kaufman Kitchen Window Wovens in Slate.  The hand of this fabric is exactly what I was looking for--not so thin as the synthetic/cotton blends at the stores I've visited.

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The first week of school is in the books.  I re-read my end-of-school post last week and was skeptical.  There's no way I was tired of educating everyone at the end of May.  School is grand!  We love our new materials!  Everyone is cooperative!  Why on earth didn't we continue through the summer?!  Surely that's what we'll do next year.  Ha.  It's amazing how much energy we have at the outset of our lessons each fall (or late summer).  I also marvel at the amount of brain space I have in the summer to plan for the first term.  And at the same time, there's a heaping dose of reality here, as evinced by the mess on our table.  There are the same perennial challenges, both the personal ones and the ones with which I watch my students struggle.  I don't have all the answers or the skills it takes to do this thing successfully.  I don't even have enough of the answers and skills to homeschool with mediocrity!  A friend recently recommended Teaching from Rest, which I promptly pulled from the shelf to re-read.  And Auntie Leila's post last week (and today's for that matter) were so encouraging!  I hope you find them to be so, too.