May Makes, Faves, and WIPs

I have to be honest, this month really got away from me!

Makes

The only thing I finished this month was this pair of socks for my mom, for Mother's Day! This pattern is Suska's Socks by Andrea Mowry, and I used some Knit Picks Hawthorne Kettle-Dyed held with some Rowan Kidsilk Classic. They were pretty easy and quick (if you don't mind a lot of purling), but I did find out after my mom tried them on that the cuffs were not very stretchy! These are a folded sewn cuff, and I guess I did not sew them down loosely enough, so my mom had to really tug on them to get them over the heel of her foot. So, lesson learned for next time, I'll either just do a non-folded picot bind-off or I'll just do a standard ribbed cuff with a stretchy bind-off.

Faves

This month, I have been obsessed with:

• Archer & Olive's Vegan Leather Travel Accessory Pouch With Insert, but specifically the insert! They had released this last fall, and by the time I realized how cool it was and that I wanted one, it was sold out. They brought it back with their summer collection, and I immediately had to jump on this. What's cool about the insert is that the pen loops fit my fountain pens (including my enormous BENU Euphoria) on one side, and then the clear zip pouch can hold washi tape, normal pens, etc. The actual pouch it comes in is nice too, and has two perfect little pockets that can hold my tape runner and my white-out tape, but it tends to look a little warped when I zip it shut (probably because of how I've stuffed it) and also, it doesn't have a strap--it's a bit awkward to carry it around as a clutch. 
• Ilia's Limitless Lash mascara-- I've used this before, and I've always liked it, but for some reason right now, it's just REALLY working for me. It's a more subtle, everyday mascara, rather than being super dramatic, but these days, I'm not wearing super heavy eye makeup or anything, so this mascara really pops against a one-and-done eyeshadow look. It's also quite effortless--it's got my favorite mascara wand of all time (I prefer the spikier ones over the bristle kind), and it doesn't build up SO quickly that all of a sudden you've got goopy clumps.
• While I do still have a paper planner/bullet journal, I have to admit that I've been gravitating more towards digital planning lately! Specifically, the kind of digital planners that you use in PDF annotation apps (like Goodnotes) and you can write all over them with a stylus (like an Apple Pencil). I'd like to shout out my two favorite digital planner companies, Good Mondays Paper Co and Laurel Studio! Honestly, I like them both equally when it comes to their layouts and options. I don't know if I'm QUITE ready to completely ditch paper planning (I have a fear that my iPad will either be out of juice or just go completely kerplunk in a moment when I really need it and I will lose EVERYTHING---god knows why, since I do everything else digitally?!?), but if I do, it will be for one of their planners.
• I'm still trying to figure out my fitness/training situation, but something that has been really inspiring for me is to listen to old and new episodes from The Strength Academy Podcast and Fiercely Fueled Nutrition's podcast. They are both co-hosted by Dr. Kristin Lander--I was listening to TSA's podcast back when they were called Female Strength Academy, and KL was co-hosting it with Mary Morton, who I ended up working with for nutrition coaching because she took an intuitive eating approach. (Sadly, Mary is no longer doing nutrition coaching, though I am happy that she has moved on to something else she feels passionate about. I miss you, Mary!) Both podcasts cover a range of topics related to strength sports, and even though I'm not yet back to my full strong self, I want to be someday, and their information about nutrition, recovery, and mindset are really informative and keep me inspired!
• Giants baseball. We've got some interesting, promising new rookies right now, and the games are a good time to knit :) 

WIPs

Still the same, still the same. Sadly, as of posting this, I will have missed the deadlines for both the Trine Weekender KAL hosted by Spincycle Yarns, as well as Andrea Mowry's DRK March to May KAL-- I've just been so unmotivated to work on my Weekender sweater, because it's a whole lot of plain, boring knitting for a large number of inches! A little too late, I just started trying to push through on finishing the body this past weekend and am finally making some headway. I decided I wanted to make this more like a cropped sweatshirt, so I'll be stopping the body at 12 inches instead of 15. Or, I might decide to persevere through those last three inches after all.

(Note: when I say "plain, boring knitting," that is NOT shade at the designer or anything. What I mean is that, I get easily bored when I just have to just knit in a circle for a really long time without any signposts or points of interest to break up the monotony like colorwork or shaping or anything. Some people find it to be good, mindless knitting, and I do admit that it's handy for when I'm watching, reading, or listening to something at the same time, but overall, it just feels like it takes me FOREVER.)

I plan to focus just on my Weekender for now (hopefully I'll get to share my finished product in next month's recap post!), and then finally finish the socks I started for Jimmy, and THEN finish the DRK Everyday Cowl I have started. 

On the sewing front, I have been wanting to sew a pair of Bob Pants forever, so I finally purchased the pattern. I'm basically waiting for summer break to start so I can get in a large chunk of time assembling all the pages, cutting pieces, etc.

Here's hoping for a productive June! And if not a productive one, then a restful one. Bring it on, summer!