Pheelin' like Phelps

Hey Robin!
Things have been massively busy 'round here as we burn-through the last of the dog days of summer. We've had to run the a/c THREE WHOLE DAYS!! What's becoming of the world's weather patterns?! Seriously...

We've had a few coming-up-to-Kindergarden playdate type things in local parks and it's been nice to see how Little Guy socializes with the other new kids (that would be "not much at all") and the other Moms seem like pretty nice people so this should be an interesting year... adding to that the fact that I had to put my size-8.5 foot in my mouth and volunteer with the PTSA to organize the event photos for the year! Wow... what on EARTH was I thinking?? I must have been martini'd when I wrote that email.... never volunteer alone...

I've got some FO's to show off! I have completed two of my three events for the Ravelympics and I'm feelin' GOOD (or I was until I saw that there are people doing knitting Decathlons... people... don't you SLEEP? Do you get up to PEE??) I just have the Laceweight Long Jump project left and I am feeling the pressure. This is a project that can only be done after L.G. is in bed and I just can't keep my eyes open late at night lately! It's a gorgeous lace though, I am seriously looking forward to the finish-line on this one...

Here's the finished Hat Dash items:
#1: Star Crossed Slouchy Beret by Natalie Larson I love this beret. I chose to make it from a colorway of Malabrigo Worsted called: "Paris Nights". Perfect eh? Paris? Beret?

It really makes for a lovely/smooshy beret. My BFF already wants one :) Sorry there's no pick of it on me, my pictures suck lately as you will see...

#2: Bucket Hat by Bonnie Marie Burns. I actually PAID for a hat pattern in order to make this. I KNOW!! That's a rarity for me... Anyway, I wanted a good cotton-type hat to use my Malabrigo Organic Cotton with (Lima colorway, which I am loving). And this one won the coin toss. It's a FAST knit so I almost felt like I was cheating my Ravelympic co-athletes but what the hey. Live and learn!

When I get the energy I am going to wet-block this one. The brim is puckering and I don't like that. I cast on as loose as I could manage... perhaps it wasn't loose enough? Or perhaps I just need to get to work on blocking it. Over all, the cotton makes a nice fabric and I am happy with the pattern! I think it could seriously be dressed up with different yarns and embellisments etc. Could make some fun gifts!

The laceweight is farther along than this picture shows, but I like the fabric so I wanna show it off a little:

OK so it doesn't look as great in the photo as it does in person so you will have to take my word for it. It's pretty. This is Malabrigo Lace in the Mariposa colorway. I am using the Serpentine scarf pattern by Keiran Foley. It's just a 50-row repeat and each 50 rows is about 5 inches of length. Give or take. I am almost done with 2 repeats. It's slow going folks, let me tell ya...

This is definitely a project that will improve with the blocking.

Oh, and how jealous are you of me? I just got a new gardening-crew. They are totally organic and work for FREE!! What are the chances of finding these guys to help me out with the grass??

Anyhoo! That's what I have going on, give or take the chores and the fussing-at-the-5-year-old! I hope all is well in The Swampy MidWest!!

Later...