• A Summer Knitter's Queue

A Summer Knitter's Queue

I love summer. Even though, like most of you, I still have the usual day-to-day responsibilities of work and family, the days are longer, and there seems to be a lot more time for leisure activities. Perhaps it just seems that way because the activities take place outdoors, but never mind, perception is everything! On June 21, the first day of summer, I made a little checklist of my summer knitting projects. Here's how it looks:

• Fair Isle socks. They are a must-knit, as they're slated to appear in the book I'm writing with my friend Dot. While there is nothing on the needles as of this writing, the socks and pattern are to be finished and shipped by July 15.
• Lacy beaded shell. I designed and knitted it for myself a couple of years ago, and it is my go-to top for any dressy (or not so dressy) summer occasion. I'll knit another in Kollage Creamy yarn, and the instructions are scheduled to be published with Kollage's spring pattern line.
• Sweater for husband. It is an ongoing project, one that I think I was nuts to have started in the first place. My husband loves finely knit sweaters, and I'm knitting this one with two strands of lace-weight merino held together. It is my to-Europe-and-back project.
• Retirement afghan. Begun more than two years ago, my four-color mitered squares, oversized bed cover is not yet halfway finished. I figure I have at least another 10 years of working before I can retire, so that's the target finish date. This project is the backyard knitting that will stay with me through early fall evenings.
• Hat for mom. Because she had to give up driving years ago, my mother does a lot of walking, which can be a challenge during a frigid New England winter. Last year I knitted her a hat with all the requirements -- a visor to help keep the low-in-the-sky sun out of her eyes, earflaps to keep frostbite off the lobes and I-cord ties that can withstand even the fiercest winter winds. It works but would win no award in a beauty contest, so I'll try to improve on the design.
• Sweater for me. Having finished, or at least progressed, on the five original projects listed above, I want to indulge in a ritual that follows all such endeavors: knitting a sweater for myself that was designed by someone else. I've got the yarn and a vague idea, and will begin trawling for a pattern soon.

I sure hope the summer lasts well into fall, or I'll never make it. What's on your summer knitting list?

Knit on!

Judith Durant
Eternal Optimist and editor of Creative Knitting newsletter

Judith Durant loves to knit and to write, and writing about knitting is the best. She has authored, co-authored and edited many books about knitting and beadwork, including Never Knit Your Man a Sweater, Knit One, Bead Too and the best-selling One-Skein Wonders series. She is currently co-authoring a technique book with Dorothy T. Ratigan titled Knitting Know-How: Techniques, Lessons and Projects for Every Knitter's Library, which will be published in July 2012.

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