This summer has been refreshing. Class is over for another month and the upcoming semester will be less intense than others have been in my PhD program. Though it is sweltering outside, my knitting hasn’t slowed. I’ve been working on a dress for about a month. I’m making it out Amy Butler Belle Organic DK in an indigo color. I have these socks going because I can’t knit monogamously and I usually have some sort of thoughtless stockinette project going in the background.  It’s some Opal self-striping yarn I’ve had in my stash for quite awhile.

I’m scheming for my next projects as well. Liesl is soon to come, as well as Howlcat as the weather cools. I have a hat to publish soon. It’s called The Unexpected Hat and I started a class on it yesterday at Hand Held Knitting. The class focuses on learning continental style knitting, so I wanted to have them make a project with an equal amount of knits and purls to get lots of practice. Here is a little sneak peek:

There are nine people in the class. They’re a good group. It’s intense teaching that many at once, but everyone seems patient with the process, which is helpful. I checked the pattern twice myself, making a sample for Hand Held and one for myself. I’ll publish it on Ravelry and link to it from my blog at the end of this class. I want to make sure all of the instructions are clear to other people. I think when providing instructions, I tend to be more wordy than necessary in an attempt to make sure I provide exacting information that is easy to follow, but I might be providing too much information.

Lately, I keep waking up in the middle of the night and I have trouble going back to sleep. Then I think about things I want to knit or design and my heart really starts pumping. Then it’s really hard to go back to sleep. I guess it’s pretty lovely to have this kind of passion for fibers. I have been stashing some Habu A-21 silk and stainless steel yarn, and some A-33 merino since I went to NYC two summers ago. I’ve been dreaming up a project for that lace weight fiber, and I just bought some A-60 linen paper. I’m not sure what I will make with the paper yet, but I’m excited to work with it. I don’t mind having an abundance of future knitted projects waiting to be born.

I just turned 30, and I think it’s going to be a great year.