Too Darn Hot

So on Sunday night, I went to the grocery store at 7 p.m. The thermometer in the car read 100 degrees. At 7 p.m. It's about now every year where I recommit to not living in the Deep South.

I generally dislike really hot weather, though I will allow that there's something kind of natural and fundamental about sweating outside in the heat. Sunday afternoon we took the puppy on a short hike at Huntley Meadows, and then did yardwork for a couple of hours. Man, was I sweaty. One big sweat-mess, with a lovely potpourri of dirt and bug spray all over my skin. And it felt kind of good - especially the refreshing shower afterwards.

My problem is that the activities that I enjoy most don't mesh well with hot weather. Like cooking -- who wants to stand over a hot stove? Or turn the oven on when the AC is already running nonstop? Or knitting: it's hard to think about wool sweaters at a time like this. Or even burrowing under a blanket, which I love to do, is not possible when it's already 75 degrees inside.

This probably won't be my last whine about summer -- after all, it makes walking the mile to work pretty miserable. Though I won't complain about my hair getting lighter and my freckles coming out.

And, I've cast on a new project in cotton. RYC Cashcotton, to be exact. (Cashcotton being the most favored type of cotton in my world.)

That's the February Baby Sweater from Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitters Almanac. Destined for one of the many babies arriving this summer to friends. I've wanted to try this pattern for a long time, and I was happy to find stash yarn that was suitable. The pattern is pretty simple, though it does require reading ahead and planning things out. (She doesn't mention the buttonholes until you already should have one in, for example. My sweater will have one less button.)

Of course, the fabulous grownup version by Pamela Wynne has also caught my eye. And at MDSW this year, I saw an amazing version with elbow-length sleeves on a gal who'd made it out of Louet fingering. It was cherry-colored. I can't find it on Ravelry. (Ring any bells, fellow bloggers?)

In any event, that's all the knitting for now. My summer class requires far more time than I'd like to give it, but at least it's interesting. And I've been gardening. How the garden grows:

(Click on through for the detailed photo.)

The tomatoes have small blooms, and the carrots and peppers are starting to show signs of life. The cucumber blooms, though, are spectacular:

Cucumbers soon, I hope!

Finally, a gratuitous picture of a groggy puppy.