Lately, I’ve been neglecting my knitting for a few things that are a bit more cool temperature-wise. It’s been nice and warm around here with some lovely humidity thrown in with a rain shower here and there to cool things off. Dirt, flowers and herbs have been one of my distractions. This year, I’ve planted two tomatoes (one has already become a snack for a friendly neighborhood critter), peppermint, two arugula plants, a bell pepper, two cilantro plants which have gone insane and are more beautiful than the cilantro at the store, basil moved from the kitchen pot to the outside pot, two gerbera daisies, three lavendar plants (also critter snack but coming around), I was given a cherry tomato by a friend (another snack which sadly may not recover) and I’ve moved the jade plant from the kitchen to the front porch. I have so many plants this year that it’s been hard to name them all. Mrs. Tomato was such a wonderful tomato plant last year. I think the tomato plants this year will have to be named soon to do as well. So I’ve been busy over the last two weekends planting and repotting all of these plants. I still have to plant a hosta that we “won” at a retirement party last week from the Champaign-Urbana Herb Society. My plan is to plant it with it’s pot in the ground so that when we move I can take her with us.

Sunday after a hard rain, I decided it was a perfect time to get out and plant my lavender plants that had been pelted by the rain running off of our gutters over the front porch. It was the perfect time to be out in the dirt, it was soft and slightly muddy, I expected it to be more muddy but I guess we’re desperate for the rain. The lavender is definitely happy in it’s new home alongside a yellow day lily that’s already there. At first I was worried about planting the lavender in the ground since I didn’t have the landlord’s permission but then my good friend S said, “Are they going to get mad for you making the place look nice?” She’s right. The daisies are beautiful on the front porch and really make the place feel like home. Now if I could just get the neighborhood critters to stay out of our bell pepper and tomato plants. Fortunately, they don’t like the cilantro or basil. Last week, Bryan said he saw a squirrel standing on its hind legs on his bike seat, which is right under one of the arugula plants. I’m sure it’s the same squirrel that entertains George at the kitchen window.

Another distraction from knitting is my sewing machine. In the last month, I’ve made a few smaller things such as two vintage bunnies and a bag for a friend and her daughters from Romantic Home Sewing by Christina Strutt. Friday I planned to start on a skirt that I’d bought fabric for back in March. At the fabric store another fabric caught my eye and had several times before. It’s the perfect fabric for a cute easy summer skirt and it was deeply on sale. Can’t beat a $3 skirt. I think the thread cost more than the fabric. Friday and part of Saturday, I made four muslin skirts trying to get everything just right before I cut into my cute skirt fabric. My grandmother taught me that muslin will save you many heartaches when sewing. Finally after a lot of tweaking, I was able to cut out my skirt on Sunday morning and had it almost completely finished by Sunday evening, except for the hem. It survived a day at work and is a bit rumpled in the photo. Of course, I couldn’t have done the waistband without the help of S. She saved my life. Monday evening, she completely surprised me with an sewing related early half-birthday present. She said she had some sewing notions for me. I figured something small to make life easier, I had no idea that she’d have a rotary cutter, mat and straight edge for me. I’ve never received a half-birthday present, but I could definitely get used to it if I had to.

Tuesday it was back to normal life after four days off and this week I hope to get some knitting done to finish the Moderne Baby blanket. I’m 15 garter ridges into the bottom blocks, which are 36 ridges long, then it’s 18 long ridges along the right hand side before I’m finished. It’s a beautiful blanket and once again, I’ve amazed myself. I love that feeling of “Wow” that I still get with so many knitting projects, even the most simple patterns, it’s part of what keeps me knitting. I had that feeling with my skirt this weekend and it will definitely keep me sewing.

I know I mentioned this in my last post but I’ve really come to terms with how I want my blog to move forward. I thought about it for almost three weeks and decided that it’s going to be about sharing what life brings and sharing my projects. My grandfather (G-pa) reads this nearly everyday, he’s one of my biggest fans and my biggest reason for continuing. There are no expectations any more, when the mood strikes me I’ll post. It may not seem different to all of you but to me it’s very freeing and a more relaxed feeling toward the blog.

Time seems to be in a bit of a time warp around here. Thank you all for your kind words about my blog. Since I wrote my “not sure” post I feel a bit less stressed about the blog. Before I felt like I had to post something so people would read and thought there was almost no one reading. Then all of your comments and emails started to pour in and it made me realize I’m not just writing things and posting them in the great beyond that no one reads and no one cares about. It’s sort of the blog version of Sally Field’s “you like me, you really like me.” There have been times in the last few weeks where I’ve thought, I should post this on the blog but honestly do you really want to see each block of the Moderne Baby blanket finished? I think not.

In the last few weeks, Bryan has graduated and earned his MLS. Last Monday, it hit him he’d finally earned this degree that for so long had been so far away.

I’m enjoying my last summer of freedom for a few years. I’ve been knitting exclusively on the Moderne Baby blanket since I finished the Cat’s Paw shawl a few weeks ago. The shawl is beautiful and I wore it to Bryan’s graduation. Unfortunately, I think I’ll be ripping out the bound-off edge and knitting at least another inch or two onto it since it feels a bit short when I wear it. An easily fixed problem, thank goodness. I will post a better photo of the shawl soon. Back to the blanket, it’s amazing how much knitting you get done on one project when it’s your only project. I don’t remember the last time I had only one project in progress, I’m not counting the single sock that needs to be finished. I’m hoping to finish the blanket before the June heat rolls in. My goal for the blanket is to finish knitting it by June 1, that doesn’t include sewing in the ends.

Thirty-three years ago my mom celebrated her first Mother’s Day. She had a baby who hated to sleep, wasn’t a morning person, traveled all over town by backpack and loved her more than the world itself. Things have changed a bit in those thirty-three years. I still have nights where I don’t want to go to bed, am definitely not a morning person and now I travel by car, bike or foot. One thing that hasn’t changed, I still love her more than the world itself. My mom taught me to be a strong woman, not just settle but persevere, have a sense of humor, for goodness sakes, have a sense of style in your clothes and your home, and so many other things that I can’t think of at the moment. Almost thirty years ago, she became a mom a second time to my little sister, M. She’s been a wonderful mother to my sister and I.

She wears all of the scarves I’ve knitted for her proudly and loves the handknitted socks she inherited, she wears them all the time.

On this day that my husband is graduating, my mom will definitely not be forgotten in all of the celebrating!

**Sorry, Mom these are the only photos I could find in a pinch.