Fall, Officially

I think we can safely call an end to the 2026 gardening season. The thermometer read 30F when I got up yesterday morning and again this morning. I am not unhappy about this as I am more than ready to hibernate for the winter. The rest of the squash will get put in the greenhouse. The husband rolled up hoses for me and got the last of the apples off the trees.

Our kids were here this weekend along with future SIL’s parents. We had a wonderful time visiting and getting to know them. (I had met his mom a couple of times before in Seattle.) The craft co-op also had its sale this weekend and Sunnie came up from Texas to participate. It was so good to see her again; I missed her visit over the summer because of bike tour.

Things should slow down now, at least for a few weeks. I don’t have as many non-negotiable or time-sensitive projects on the calendar. The items that are on the schedule are all directly tied to sewing classes, the podcast, or stuff here at home, like salsa production.

This was a very educational summer for me. I learned a lot about professional relationships and what some people think passes for acceptable adult behavior. I stopped volunteering with an organization that took my work—hard work that produced spectacular results—for granted. The world does not operate the way I do and I have to stop expecting it to do so. You would think that I would have learned that lesson a long time ago, but perhaps I am perpetually optimistic.

Going forward, my energy is going to be directed at me and at my projects.

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I am re-knitting the hat project. I didn’t like the way the other one was going. The new version is much better. No photos of the new one until I decide how I want to shape the top.

I might try to sew this week or I might just wait until October and spend the last few days of September getting ducks lined up.

Kennis, the designer behind Itch to Stitch, just released the Salas Jacket, a wonderful quilted jacket just in time for fall. Once again, she hit it out of the park. I don’t know if I will make this one, but I love all the options:

When I do start sewing again, I am going to finish projects that are already in the pipeline before I start anything else. Some of them just need an afternoon’s worth of work and it is silly to let them languish.