Late Summer Knitting

It has been a pretty cool summer so far making it not terribly difficult to knit this year.  I've been working on a few projects I can't talk about (Christmas gifts are kind of hush-hush you know) but I am working on two things right now that I can talk about.

First up is the Plein Air Tote out of Interweave Knits Fall 2010.  It is a really nice looking pattern and I am using up some basic Fisherman's Wool yarn that I was give for my birthday on this project.  I have changed up a few things, like using smaller needles since I am using worsted rather than aran weight yarn and mixing two colors for the moss sides.  It has been pretty easy to follow so far, I already have both cabled sides and the moss stitch panels all done.  This is one project I fear may end up hibernating for awhile though, since the pattern calls for a sewn lining and I'll need to find some leather handles for it.  Since I am not a fan of thrift shops I am not really sure what I am going to do to find inexpensive handles, maybe I should enlist some of my more thrift store-friendly buddies for help.

My second work in progress is Lil' Misses cardigan for back to school in a few weeks.  She chose the Olearia pattern by Georgie Hallam which I must say is fantastic.  It was definitely a little confusing at first since there are several variations to the cardigan included in the one pattern, so I would suggest to anyone else using the pattern to read through it first as I found I needed to.  The cardigan is being knit with some lovely Knit Picks Comfy sport weight yarn is the bison colorway, I know, it's not exactly the first color that comes to mind when you think of a 6 year old girl.  However, since we have already bought some new clothes for fall and the one thing they seem to have in common is brown, I though this color made the most sense for a cardigan (I feel like I am knitting with chocolate when I work with it which is a special bonus!).  Plus everyone, even a 6 year old, needs some nice neutral colors in their closet!