Summer knitting - or trying to

A tale of perseverance and ice cream.

I know it’s very British to start with the weather but I am at risk of boring myself at this point. I’m just going to wish cool thoughts in your general direction and leave it at that.

I have been determined to adapt to the hot weather and carry on knitting this year. If this is to be our new normal then I simply cannot down knitting tools and earn no money during the summer months - I have socks to knit, shawls to design and a million different ideas for designs whirling around in my brain.

If I don’t let some of these design ideas out of my brain soon they are likely to start causing shenanigans 🤣

I did manage a bit of bus knitting this week that I was very impressed with. I alternated this with bursts of fanning myself with a snazzy paper fan I picked up from a local market for a few pounds. It folds up neatly into my handbag and delivers a welcome cooling waft with a deft wrist flick - for an added bonus it makes me feel a little like a side character in a Jane Austen novel, although without the impressively hoisted bosoms.

I’m really enjoying the simplicity of this coffee-themed self stripe yarn. It’s way too hot to be faffing with measuring for heels or for turning a heel for that matter. So I am just knitting a super long sock snake and snipping it into separate socks later.

I have a tutorial here if you are interested in such sock wizardry. It’s a great way to get people talking at your local knit night.

What’s making me smile this week -

☀️ If you read just one article this week, please make it this one by Jonathan. It’s a brilliantly researched and very entertaining read about how the history of knitting circles and how knitting (and other handcrafts) were integrated into activities of daily life - because they had to be.

Going A-Sitting: The 200-Year-Old Knitting Circles That Came With Their Own Songs

☀️ I’m slowly making my way through these easy ice-cream recipes on the BBC Food website.

☀️ My gardening journey is off to a slow start - with a grand total of 2 courgettes so far. But I was really impressed with this idea for a vertical salad bar from Bees & Beyond

☀️ Couch to 5K but for reading. If you like the idea of a gamified reading challenge you might like this. Full disclosure: I have fully fallen off my own A-Z reading challenge wagon so I have no room to talk. It looks like fun but I know I would bail halfway through. For summer my aim is to get back into a regular reading habit - just picking up a book would be a good start at this point 🤣

And I am also planning to do a review of the A-Z progress so far once I am back from holiday.

☀️ Knitty First Fall 2026 is out and I couldn’t resist a look. My favourite by far is Birdhouse in Your Soul by Amy Sadler and I can definitely see myself knitting this at some point in my future - when it finally cools down.

Right, I’m going to peel myself away from the fan and go in search of an ice cream - I think we have a few left in the freezer. Until next time…