Hellooo!!

And hello, Summer. You’re really pulling out all of the stops this year. Torrential downpours and air so toxic we can’t go outside. I can’t see the sun through the smoke, but…at least I can’t fry an egg on my driveway (I see you, Texas)? What a time to be alive *sobs into coffee cup.*

Since I posted last, however, we’ve had plenty of fun moments (Parenting requires the quick pivot from Existential Crisis Mode to Full Enthusiasm Mode, amiright): Elliot and I flew to Seattle for a weekend family visit, Clementine and I were lucky enough to be able to experience the much-anticipated Taylor Swift Eras Tour in Detroit, and Mr Rae and I had a lovely kid-free weekend in Charlevoix on Lake Michigan. Elliot got braces this week, so we’ve been getting creative with soft foods. If you’re keeping track, this makes two kiddos with braces in our house.

In the studio, Elli and I are making progress on our new Garnet pattern (a preview blog post is next on the to-post list), and I’ve had a few meetup events at my studio for Sew Ann Arbor (if you’re local, please join the email list if you’re interested), and I am working on offering some local sewing workshops at my studio for the month of July.

A few other things to share…

sewing: I finished a fun bright pink jumpsuit (a WIP from 2021) out of Merchant and Mills linen procured from Oak Fabrics just in time to wear it to the Eras tour (Clementine: “We’re both going as Lover.” Me: “OK?” IYKYK). I also enjoyed sewing the Joanie Top, which is my friend Meg of Sew Liberated’s newest pattern release. I love the shawl collar and I think it will be perfect for a family road trip we have planned later this summer.

listening: Can’t recommend Wiser than Me with Julia Louis Dreyfus enough. What a great interviewer she is, and what a guest lineup!! Can’t decide on a favorite ep…maybe Carol Burnett?

knitting: I’m working on two knitting projects right now. One is the Spring Sorrel sweater by Wool and Pine (using Noro from Spun) and though my photo above shows just the yoke, I’m binding off the body now and will be headed into sleeve territory soon.

The other is the Fizz Cowl by Barker Wool. I’ve been intrigued by the assigned pooling technique, and when I saw the Seated Ballerina colorway from Madelinetosh x Barker Wool at Spun, I snapped it up and have been enjoying learning that new-to-me technique (shown below) through the pattern.

reading: Two books by Taylor Jenkins Reid books - Malibu Rising and Carrie Soto is back (Daisy Jones and the Six was my first TJR read which is also good), and while both are excellent fluffy summer reads, I’d recommend Carrie Soto if you had to pick just one. I couldn’t put it down…I think I finished it in less than 24 hours.

gardening: I don’t want to talk about it.

shopping: Lucky lucky me I have ginormous feet so there was a vast selection of sale Birks at our local downtown Birkenstock’s summer sale. I chose a rather practical navy pair (below) over a bright blue suede pair that I still think about occasionally, but sometimes you just have to do the right thing.

cooking: I made one-pot Chicken Orzo with spinach and artichokes again. But this time our power was out from the aforementioned torrential storm and so I had to cook it over the gas stove instead of in the oven and I completely and as far as I can tell irreparably scorched the bottom of the beautiful new red Dansk casserole I got for Christmas. Oh well, it’s just shit as they say. But if you have tips as to how to get it clean, please share in comments.

cutting: My hair is back to pink and back to bangs!