Summer Heat, Fall Knitting

It's been a good week for knitting. And yarn shopping. Although I played a dangerous game of yarn chicken whilst knitting my Handbrake cowl (and lost), I used that as a good excuse to buy more squishy, delicious Manos Maxima (I see a matching hat in the very near future).

In truth, this knitting emergency could have been easily avoided if I had been paying a bit more attention, but this cowl was such a joy to knit, and allowed me to put a serious dent in my Drums of Autumn audiobook, that by the time I realized I was perilously short on yarn, it was too late. Totally worth the extra trip to Gather Here, though- and the finished cowl was definitely worth it.

I took advantage of the visit to Gather Here to nab some Quince and Co. Lark for the Oak Crest hat from the latest issue of Pom Pom Quarterly.

So far I'm really liking the yarn (and the hat pattern)- it's wooly, but not rough and scratchy. I think once it's blocked and the yarn blooms up a bit it'll be perfect!

I also began working on my Mosaic socks again. I transferred the stitches to my new ChiaoGoo circular needles and continued working them two at a time. For some reason I find this to be much slower than working on each sock individually- I might go back to that method after these are done (if they ever get done). At least the stripes are lining up perfectly!

Yesterday I woke up to some pretty awesome news... I was one of two winners in the TV Nerd Knits August KAL with my Laurel Hat! I got to choose any one of Megan Sanders's patterns and decided on the Carrie shawl, which she generously gifted to me. I love Megan's patterns, and have joined her September KAL for the Lilith socks she recently released. I'll definitely be knitting these one at a time, though- once I decide on a yarn.

The other KAL which I'm super excited about is for Helen Stewart's (Curious Handmade) Summertide Shawl MKAL. Since it's a mystery, I have no idea what it will look like once it's complete, but that's part of the fun! It's a two color shawl, and I know for sure that I want to use the Skeinny Dipping yarn I picked up in Gauge and Tension, but I'm still undecided on the contrast color. I've gotten some great suggestions for color pairings on Instagram, but I am still on the fence. It may require a few trips to the yarn shop, or (as I'm sure my husband would prefer) stash diving.

I still can't believe September is here, it certainly doesn't feel like it with the thermometer reading 90 at the moment, but Fall is just around the corner. If you need me, I'll be knitting with wool in the central air, dreaming of picking apples, Rhinebeck, and pumpkin spice everything!