Now that I have just about recovered from jet lag and mostly caught up on work after being away for a week, I'm trying to get to some of those items on my very long to-do list.
I finally got around to weeding the bed in the front yard by the mailbox. It's been needing it for months and every time I picked up the mail or the paper, or went out for a run, I'd look down and say to myself, "I really need to pull the weeds out of that bed," and then I'd go on my merry way and forget all about it. Now that I've finally done it, it looks SO much better!
I also dug into the mending pile. One of mending projects was a skirt to be remade for my daughter. It was given to me last summer, and really only needed a casing stitched in and some waist elastic, but it has been sitting on the sewing table for an entire year now, still waiting. Now it is finally done, and didn't take all that long either.
Here is the lower half of my daughter modelling the aforementioned skirt. She is very happy with it. I can tell because she wore it the next day without any coercion. Really!
More weeding yesterday, in the back yard this time, and I've already started in on our CSA vegetables (community supported agriculture - we bought a "share" at the beginning of the season and get a box of whatever vegetables are ready in a given week). The beets are steamed and waiting in the fridge for me to figure out what to do with them. A nice big batch of pesto is made and in the freezer. And last night's dinner was a yummy pasta dish using our summer squash. Yay! Maybe I'll manage to use all the vegetables from the box this week before the next box comes!
I'm enjoying the summer flowers. These are my daylilies in the back yard. I have a bunch more in the front yard, but the deer have eaten the buds off of every last one of them. Guess it's time to invest in some of that foul-smelling deer repellent.
Last but not least, an FO! TA DA!
2-at-a-time 1x1 ribbed toe-up socks in a lovely hand-dyed variegated yarn. I used the iron heel (here's a description/tutorial: http://pencraftco.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/the-iron-heel/), which puts the heel stitch under my heel, where I tend to wear out the socks. I'm hoping these heels will hold up better than a standard heel. The heel definitely feels different. I'll have to wait until the weather gets cold and I can wear the socks to find out just how good a fit this heel is for me. I also used Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off, http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall09/FEATjssbo.php, and it really is surprisingly stretchy, and very easy to do. I'll definitely be using that bind off again on socks, and anything else that needs a stretchy bind off.
Couldn't resist another sock photo - I'm so happy that I finished them. Now I can move on to another project!
Shelley in CT
