rosas

This past weekend we had such wonderfully cool, sunny days. We spent an entire afternoon outside and didn't break a sweat. We went for a morning walk and I had to wear a shawl! It's what I imagine summer in northern climes must feel like. Now I understand why some people claim summer as their favorite season. My heart still belongs to fall, but I'll take more summer weekends like this past one.

Come fall I'll have a new hat to warm my ears on crisp days because I finished this blue-gray Rosa hat. I loved knitting with handspun yarn! As soon as I cast this Rosa off, I cast on another one, this time in pink with gray stripes for my sister. It will match the fingerless mitts I made her a couple Christmases ago. I showed her the hat in progress, and she got goosebumps because she liked it so much! She's definitely knit-worthy!

I'm joining Andi's KAL/CAL, and it's already motivated me to get my knitting organized. I'm still trying to be resourceful (and frugal!), so I combed through my stash and picked out yarn for a Cable Baby hat, a baby-sized Antler Cardigan, and a Pei hat (my first stranded knitting project! wish me luck!). Are you joining in? I completely failed at the one knit along I joined before, but this one is just about finishing any projects you happen to have on the needles. I can handle that!

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And finally, I'm joining in Ginny's yarn along. I've been in a nonfiction mood for quite some time. I'm currently engrossed in The Cornbread Mafia, a book about a large-scale marijuana-growing operation (and bust) centered in Marion County, Kentucky. I find it fascinating that the author links Prohibition-era attitudes and activities in Marion County with attitudes on illegal drugs a generation or two later. The book can get pretty tangential at times, but overall it's an interesting narrative. I'm also reading Gulp, which makes me queasy. Even so, I can't stop reading it!