I realized I never posted about my July projects because I got distracted by Ravelry’s shenanigans and time continues to be a black hole with no end, so here’s my summary of my last couple months of crafting.

July

I cross-stitched this Books Sweet Books from Junebug and Darlin for a friend’s birthday. It was really fun, and I love taking pictures of the backs of my cross-stitch too. I recently bought her Maker kit but am very intimidated by it, so I haven’t started any cross-stitch projects since I finished this one, although I finally soaked and framed my Be Bold project.

A framed cross-stitch that says BOOKS SWEET BOOKS with a ring of leaves around the edge and a book near the top.

For July’s socks, I made the Red Robin Socks by Helen Stewart/Curious Handmade.

A pair of blue speckled socks with dark blue contrast heels, toes, and cuffs and a textured pattern on the instep.

I also test-knit the delightful Audacity Shawl from Transmutation Knits out of this silk-linen-alpaca blend that is just dreamy. Liam’s patterns are always really satisfying to make and have such great stories behind them, and this one was no exception.

August

I started my first mystery knit-a-long, The Sharon Show by Casapinka (er, I mean, by Sharon, of course). I’m trying to knit more from my stash, so for this one I went stash diving and came up with a pretty good combo. For a first-time MKAL, it’s been very enjoyable, even though I haven’t been participating online and am just knitting along quietly by myself.

A full-frame photo of a shawl in four different colors, with varying colorwork, stripes, and lace pattern sections.

For August’s socks, I didn’t use my FDF yarn (yet!), because I really wanted to knit up this self-striping rainbow yarn from Valkyrie Fibers. Like I said on Instagram, I’m not always a self-striping person but I might just be a convert for Lauren’s colors. I made this one up myself by cobbling together a bunch of different patterns that I liked.

A pair of self-striping rainbow socks with contrasting grey heels, toes, and cuffs.

I also spun up this Wensleydale/Lincoln blend and plied it together. I had some left over after plying, so I used up the remainder of a previous spin for a little contrast skein. I think I can squeeze a pair of socks out of these, so it’s going into my eternal knitting queue.

My hand holds two skeins of two-ply handspun yarn, one larger that is solid brown and a mini skein that spun brown and green n a barber pole pattern.

Other than that, the world is still very weird and mostly terrible. I’m still trying to find joy in smaller things and not let myself get overwhelmed. I’m still trying to make a difference, one day at a time.