Welcome to May! It’s a nice feeling, very much spring, and not quite summer yet. It’s also an excellent time of the year for projects. Just being outside feels nice, whether it’s working in the garden, knitting outside with a good book in the sun or sewing and enjoying a breeze through the window. It makes working on things very pleasant.
Which is good since I’ve got a long list of projects to work on! The biggest one of course is planting the garden. We are now officially past the last frost date (50/50 day is April 16, 90/10 day is April 29) so it’s time to get all the plants outside. This even includes the eggplant and basil seedlings since it’s supposed to stay above 50 degrees for the next 10 days. By the end of next week we’re even looking at highs in the 80’s and lows in the 60’s so I should enjoy the feeling of spring while it lasts.
As such, everything is going out this weekend: tomatoes and peppers (the important producers!), the ground cherry (experiment year 2!), basil (purple and green pesto this year!), zinnias (since direct seeding was hard…), eggplants (the new experiment!) and lots of seeds (bush and pole beans, zucchini, acorn squash, butternut squash, buttercup squash, cucumbers, corn and maybe some nasturtiums). So that’s going to be my morning tomorrow. In all likelihood Patrick will wake up and everything will be planted. Hopefully it all goes well, I’ve been trying very hard to do everything properly and not put in more than I can handle.
I will have to wait and see how it turns out in a couple weeks when things start to get going.
I also have some sewing and knitting projects to sort out. I just finished my first set of spring/fall PJs. I used a combination of KwikSew 3553 for the top and Sewaholic’s Tofinos for the bottom (short sleeves and long pants). I’m really happy with how they turned out. The advantage of PJs is you can use cute prints that you wouldn’t be able to get away with wearing outside the house. The next set will be with the same patterns but using a little blue with small white flowers.
After I finish my second set of PJs I need to decide how I’m going to use all the seersucker I ordered this spring. Kaufman had a really awesome set of seersucker plaids in bright colors, so I ordered as much as I could find since most seersucker seems to only come in pastels for some reason. I’m planning to use it for a dress and some shirts for me and Patrick this summer. It’s hard to beat seersucker for staying cool and it doesn’t matter if it gets wrinkled since it starts out that way! These should all be patterns I’ve used before so sewing them should be straightforward, even if shirts are more complex. And I like sewing shirts (despite all the buttonholes…) and dresses. I should also finish sewing up the second black wool skirt for work. I’ve got the lining done, I just need to cut out and sew the wool pieces. I should also make up the couple of shirts for work that I have fabric waiting for. But work clothes aren’t half as fun as summer clothes.
I’m not sure why it’s so fun to sew summer things, but it is. Maybe because the fabric is light and airy and feels wonderful?
Speaking of summer sewing, I also should probably get around to figuring out how to edit my shorts pattern. I’ve been using the Thurlow pattern from Sewaholic which is comfortable, but I don’t think the flair on the shorts works well on me. So I need to figure out if I want to edit the pattern or try a new one… I’m thinking about trying Kwik Sew 3614 (despite the terrible picture) they’re described as “fitted shorts” which might work for me. I will have to find a copy though. It’s out of stock at the JoAnn’s and on Amazon. Maybe I’ll have better luck at G-Street. Even if it means going to G-Street. .. 🙁 This area has a class problem in some places that if they don’t think you’re “fancy” enough they’re going to ruin your day. G-Street is one of those places, and as an engineer who lives frugally because it seems prudent, and who sews her own clothes because it’s practical and fun, I’m very much not what they think of as fancy. Though when I buy the nice wool suiting (yay designer lengths on sale!) and know to get the good lining fabric they will at least be polite. Maybe I can get my invisible zipper foot while I’m at it. The fact that Bernina will only sell feet for their machines through their dealers and the fact that the only local dealer (G-Street) is both rude and is always out of stock of half of them is not a good time. Oh! I could bike there on my day off when it’s nice out, that makes it more appealing! Then I’ll have my zipper foot, my pattern and maybe something cool from the remnant pile. We’ll see…
I also have to decide what I want to knit next. I finished my cropped cardigan so I need another big project. My “Summer Flies” shawl is my current portable project. I have a couple of sweaters in my queue and I want to make my father-in-law more socks at some point. Or I could start working on my vest again…hm… It’ll probably be the vest or the socks, spring is to new for me to want to think about sweaters right now!
