I'd pat my back – if I could reach it!

I finished a hat last night, a beanie. I know – no big deal. Beanies are small, quick projects, even in their more ornate forms. Thing is, I don't even like hats; I only knit them as gifts for people who do. Yet here I sit with my laptop, a hat on my head, feeling rather pleased with myself even though "it doesn't suit me" (no, it's not red).

Let's back up a bit. This hat was born out of some yarn left over from knitting my dad a pair of fingerless mitts (my parents each got a pair when they were here; early Christmas gifties!). I like to use up leftovers; a hat came to mind, but I wasn't sure I had enough yardage. So I thought of incorporating lace – more holes, less yarn. ;-)  I conferred with my knitting mentor, looked at lace motifs and settled on "cat paw," cast on 108 stitches and started knitting.

I set the hat aside for Tour de Fleece and just last week pulled it out again. Now, where was I? I made a stab at it and actually finished it yesterday, but wasn't completely pleased with the design or size. So I ripped back to where it had been when I picked it up and tried again, crossing my fingers that I had enough yarn to do it right. In the end, I had a wee ball of yarn left – and a cute, perfectly fitting hat (not its fault I don't have the head and face for it) I'm inordinately pleased with! I suppose I should write out a "pattern" while it's still fresh in my mind in case I ever want to repeat it.

Knitting was not how I spent the majority of my Sunday, though. Rick went to a meeting so I needed to keep Brian occupied by myself – without the benefit of weekday schoolwork. Since our incredible weather continues, I decided to torture him enlist his help in getting the garden cleaned up for winter. We spent hours with hoes, shovel and rake, leaving the garden looking better than it ever has this time of year. It was not without trauma – the effort left my whole body aching – or drama! (I finally issued an ultimatum: any more wailing and gnashing of teeth and Brian couldn't call a friend for a play date afterwards. Just another chapter in the volume "Parenting is Not For Wimps"....)

We left the obvious (kale, volunteer Swiss chard), but also the pepper, tomato, eggplant and zucchini plants, which are all still setting fruit. The weatherman says this dry, sunny weather could continue through the first of November, so we might as well see what ripens! I did pick a lot of green (and ripe pear) tomatoes to ensure a supply, though, along with a couple carrots and potatoes we happened to turn up.

Other creatures were hard at work, too:

No, really; the sheep are working hard growing wool and babies (I hope!),
and the microbes are composting organic matter.

That's the Sunday report from . . .