Summer Ramblings

Aloha, friends! I hope you're all enjoying Summer so far. Summer in Hawaii is the time I am less likely to be found enjoying outdoor activities, other than the pool or beach, of course. The weather the rest of the year is not quite as hot, so we do the zoo/museum/gardens/hikes during those other months.

My most favorite recent photo:

The weather is not stopping my kids from playing outside all day, every day, though. They are sweaty and tan. Which left me twiddling my thumbs for a few weeks wondering what to do with myself and eventually reminding myself not to feel guilty for free time because my kids are able to have the safe-to-roam summer that many people in our country wish for their kids these days. So I'm thankful.

And I've been sewing! I've really had to reevaluate my sewing lately, though. After another recent closet clean-out, I tried to figure out what kinds of things I really wear on a daily basis. The answer is mostly easy knit dresses and shorts with tanks. What I don't make myself these days, I get from Stitch Fix and my most favorite things from Stitch Fix are those same kinds of items. So those are the things I've been focusing on making lately.

I got this knit last month at my FabricMart and didn't really know what to do with it until I remembered I had the Lady Skater pattern in my file box. I've attempted a couple of these before, but no longer have either one. The fit just wasn't right. I decided to pull it out and fix those fit problems and I'm so glad I did!

(Yes, I got a hair cut and I love it).

I think I'll wear this dress a lot and now that I got the pattern right, I look forward to making more! If you're wondering, I eliminated the curve at the bottom of the bodice pieces and used a short waist adjustment, as well as adding tiny darts to the arm holes toward the bust (common for me), narrowing the outside shoulders and applying my favorite kind of knit binding rather that using the neck band piece.

In other news, I'm ordering my homeschool curriculum today!! I get super excited about this, I don't know why. I used to get really excited when that big box of new books came back in the day when I myself was homeschooled too. I went to a used curriculum fair a few weekends ago and scored lots of great books and many on my list! My favorite find, though, was these old art mini books! They were inside a grocery bag, inside a cardboard box marked "free". YES!! Check it out.

We use Charlotte Mason's method of art study and my kids (and I!) are now able to recognize the styles of a handful of famous artists. One of the things about homeschooling that makes me giddy is getting to learn about all the things I missed from my own public school education, especially all things related to history. I was homeschooled for a few years and those are the things I really remember--like the European capitals, for instance .. thanks, Mom, those things have been useful.

My tower garden has given me a plethora of cherry tomatoes. Now I know that I'm supposed to prune the tomato plants so they don't get quite so big, ha! I had birds stealing them right from under my eyes, so I'm picking them and letting them ripen in the window instead.

Happy Summer! :)