Ah, Summer

Real summer has finally arrived in central Maine. The sign? We're using our fans at night now. I absolutely could not live where it was hot and humid all of the time-- the next two months will give me more than enough of that weather.

Other signs include the arrival of MIFF (the Maine International Film Festival) in Waterville. We've already used our pass twice and have plans for using up the rest of it -- we purchase and share a "partial pass" which gives 10 entrances to movies. We never have trouble finding interesting films to see -- so far we've seen our annual Bollywood film (Dabongg - probably my least favorite of all the Bollywood films I've seen) and Madame Butterfly (in technicolor). MB was beautiful and very enjoyable, even though it was in Italian with intermittent English narration, but no subtitles. Lt. Pinkerton was a cad.

In addition to MIFF movies, we've been catching ourselves back up on Harry Potter. We somehow managed to miss seeing Part 1 of the Deathly Hallows, so needed to see that before going to see Part 2. We watched that last night.

The garden is growing leaps and bounds -- we've already harvested radishes and spinach. Soon we'll have beans. Flowers are going nuts -- lots of previously empty spaces are full of blooms that are attracting butterflies and bumblebees. We've been enjoying dinner on the patio when we can.

Although the hot weather isn't entirely conducive to knitting, I've been making good progress on a number of projects. I cast off the back of Isla last night and cast on the fronts. Following my recent habit, I'm planning to knit both fronts at the same time and then both sleeves at the same time. The yarn and colors are just scrumptious, though I did just notice that my swatch, which I soaked and blocked, is actually somewhat lighter in color than the sweater. I think I'll try steam-blocking the sweater instead of soaking it when I finish it. Even faded it is a lovely color, just not as intense.

I was able to get a shawlette out of the rest of my Jewel yarn from MochasFibers. I did have to take out two four-row repeats, so it is about 2" shorter than it would have been if I'd done the whole pattern, but those two inches don't keep it from being useful as a lace scarf. I loved the yarn and hope to get some more when she dyes some colors I like -- stock is low at the moment.

I've finished the vest I bought the yarn for on a whim. Can't think of the yarn name at the moment. When I say I finished, I mean that I finished the knitting. Now I need to review how to use a crochet hook as the instructions include slip-stitching the shoulder seams and single crochet around the neckline and armholes. I have to re-learn crochet every time I need to use it.

I also finished (really finished) the Skew Socks which I've been working on for way too long. They were an interesting exercise, but not my favorite project ever. It also gave me an excuse to use some sparkly sock yarn. Who knows how much I'll actually wear them.

And, I picked up Mom's quilt last Friday morning from the machine quilter (Marcia O'Donnell in Albion - she does a great job). Yesterday I made the binding and sewed the first binding seam. Now I need to hand stitch the binding down around the other side of the quilt. A good project to pick up and work on bit by bit, though not great for hot weather as you're always sitting under a blanket. My plan, at the moment, is to have it done for her birthday, which comes after my brother's wedding. I'm thinking there may be a bit of letdown after that big event and hopefully this will cheer her up.

Speaking of quilts, the Maine Quilts show is less than 2 weeks away! I'm taking two classes (Friday and Sunday, I think) and need to start getting things together for them. One is being taught by Jo Morton, a quilting rock star, and focuses on some traditional blocks and accurate piecing. The second is by one of my favorite teachers, Leslie Volpe, who specializes in miniature quilting. She's from Maine, so I've taken a couple of classes with her over the years. Regular blog readers will know about my fascination with all things miniature (remember the mini-sweaters last winter?). Maine Quilts, in the words of one veteran, is almost always the hottest weekend of the summer -- keep your fingers crossed that the AC at the Civic Center doesn't give out like it did one year (in fact, that was the first time I took one of Leslie's classes!).

So, that's my project update for the moment. Working half-time is lovely -- a good balance of busy time at work and flexible time. I just work the afternoon today, so I need to go get some birthday stuff together this morning! My sons turn 22 on the 22nd -- maybe not so momentous as last year's 21st birthdays, but important nonetheless.