Is it summer already?

It's the end of May and while it's technically still spring in the Northern Hemisphere, summer is in full swing in Florida. The monsoons (daily afternoon thunderstorms) have started again, and I'm remembering being a kid again and knowing that if it was raining when we lined up for the school buses every afternoon, it meant that school was almost over and summer was nearly here. While I don't have the same itchy sense of impending freedom behind it, I still feel that little wisp of childish glee now that the rains have returned. Especially since Florida's been hit hard with a drought lately and we've faced water restrictions and fire safety protocols. We've already had one big brush fire this year, and I'm hoping these rains can help prevent another one.

Because of the changing weather, I'm compelled to knit things a little more summer-friendly these days. A couple weeks ago, I knit this little dress for my daughter. It's a bit shorter than I'd meant to make it, but I'd definitely double-checked the measurements and it's definitely the length I intended to make it, so that must mean... my daughter's growing?! It feels like just yesterday she weighed 8 and a half pounds and was just shy of 2 feet tall. And now a dress with a 12 inch side seam is a bit too short... Where does the time go?

I've also been trying out some skirts. I had an idea and it wasn't quite working out. The main problem I'm having is getting the increases for the shape I want
right. It will seem to be working and seem to be working and then suddenly it's too many and it's just insanely, unreasonably full. I'm working on a third one now, and the way this one is going, I think it's going to be The One. The previous two lost length to the ruffle, but this one has remained pretty full while maintaining length, so I've got my fingers crossed that I've found the magic number.

In addition, I'm taking another look at the first pattern I ever released - Scaley Vase Cozy -  (available here on Ravelry and here and here on my blog) because it was written five years ago, way before I really knew what I was doing. That pattern is a mess. So I'm going over it, and re-making it and seeing if I can pull something presentable out of it to present to you guys in the future.

Well, I guess that's it for now. Until next time. :)