It’s that time again, gentle readers. May I present the rank and file of things finished this month past in service of my nerd-teams:

 

 

So, from left to right, top to bottom: Kate’s hat, a dumpling for the kitten, Heather’s wedding stole, a reusable reversable Swiffer cover, a plastic-bag-yarn baggie to keep yarn balls in, and July Socks. That is one blue month I had.

Whew. All six challenges, completed again. Sadly, the loser this round was the sweater I signed on as a three-month project. I didn’t make it to the 50% mark I had to for the “midterm” check-in, partly because I neglected it utterly, and partly because when casting on the body portion it took me three inches of ribbing to figure out I’d cast on the number of stitches intended for the next size down. Curses. Well, I ripped it all out and started over, but only just got the ribbing re-knit by the end of the month. I’m carrying it along today, and hope to make 3-4 inches of progress on the body tonight before I start planning next month’s challenges in earnest.

Speaking of tonight, I carried the fire from posts previous into the here and now, and signed up for a sewing class. That’s right. For the next four weeks, Monday evenings will find me bent over a machine in a little studio in midtown, my concentration happily turned to Beginner’s Dress Construction. Squee! Our first class is tonight, and I’m super-excited. Perhaps soon, those adorable little Colette dresses that have been tempting me so deviously will be within the reach of my skill.

Jumping back to planning ahead for August, I’m gung-ho to try for another six completed challenges, but I’m realistically pretty sure that it won’t happen. August is sort of a short month for us, since Mr. Boyfriend and I will be heading to Portland towards the end of it for a wedding and general home-visit. But, logic be damned, here’s the plan so far:

  • Another crochet hat. This is becoming an epidemic.
  • A cotton coaster for me to use at work. A quickie.
  • The waterlily stole I started in April. It’s about 35% done, give or take.
  • The Endpaper Mitts I started last summer. One mitt is done.

The two half-finished projects will count as one challenge. Gifting the finished mitts to one of my grandmothers will count as another. That leaves two projects left to plan. And the savvy reader will note that August Socks do not appear on that list. Sigh. I’m not sure what challenge I can fit them into. I could swap months around again, but that doesn’t help me much. I’m contemplating swapping out patterns again, but I’m also not super crazy about that idea, since it feels rather like cheating on the whole “club” idea I’ve been working with. Sigh.

So that’s life-type things at the moment.

On fun notes, I got my Spotify (link) invite, and I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the program, especially making my own custom playlists, and subscribing to lists made by my friends. If you have Spotify already, you might want to give a listen to this list (link) I created. It’s kind of my summer anthem at the moment, and it’s a lot of fun.

On silly notes, I’ve become completely re-obsessed with Castle. For those not in the know, it’s a comedic take on procedural crime shows, with a great cast of characters led by Nathan Fillion, who’s probably best known as Captain Malcolm Reynolds from the short-lived (but awesome) show Firefly. I watched the most recent season’s finale last night, and now September 19 cannot come fast enough. I shall have to content myself with finishing the re-watch of Season 2 in the meantime. Oh, patience.