Summer in the City

Yesterday was one of those days that reminded me of the Lovin’ Spoonful‘s “Summer in the City.”

I won’t even tell you what the back of my neck was like, and when I sat down outside to take the one picture for today’s post, it was definitely hotter than a match head.  It was just too hot for elaborate photography (or multiple shots!).

This is an almost finished beanie I’m making from bulky stash yarn.  “What??” you say.  “You’re knitting with a bulky acrylic blend in that heat?”  Not to worry, most of it was completed while I sat in the air conditioned jury duty waiting room.

This is just a simple ribbed beanie that will eventually become a Christmas present for one of my male cousins as part of my Holiday Stashdown Challenge.  I plan to make something similar for his brother (meaning, another beanie from an easy care stash yarn).  I used some Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick for the cuff and Moda Dea Tweedle Dee for the rest of the hat.  I just started it on Monday but it should be finished soon thanks to the size 15 needles (and the uninterrupted knitting time in the jury duty waiting room).  I’ve been really pushing myself to use up stash yarn and I’m starting to see a little progress.  By the end of the month, I think I will have emptied out an entire plastic tub of yarn.  Yippee!

As for reading, I’m about 20% through The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories by H.G. Wells.  The book starts with a brief biography, which was very eye-opening for me. I learned that Wells was a bit of a philanderer, and that one of his relationships was with one of America’s most famous eugenicists, Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood.  (Apparently, he was a supporter of eugenics as well.)  I was kind of bummed out about that although on the other side of the coin, it does humanize him as a normal person with flaws rather than some Perfect Science Fiction Genius Person.  The book also includes an introduction by Wells, who curated this collection of his short stories.  The stories are totally random and unrelated.  Some are really great and others are kind of silly.  He suggests you don’t sit down and read them all at once, but sort of jump in and out of the book.  I think that actually makes the most sense although I’ve been reading 1 or 2 a day.  I will probably pick up another book to read in between the short stories.

For more Works in Progress, visit Tami’s Amis.  For more Yarn Along posts, visit Small Things.

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