Forever and a day

It feels like it's been forever and a day since I last posted, and in some ways, it has been.  Since the last time I posted, I've packed up a house, quit my job, moved, unpacked some things, moved other things around, tried to settle into a routine, and started homeschooling my children.  I did start to go into withdrawal from knitting a bit, so I picked up a skein from a local shop with a set of needles, and got started on this pattern:

It's Monkey, by Cookie A.  Surprisingly, I have never knit them.  However, I'm in good company, from what I can see - the Yarn Harlot recently knit up a pair too.  So, it must be Monkey season.  Socks are great for the summer - small so it doesn't get hot while knitting them in your lap, portable in case you're traveling, and fast so you can take advantage of the daylight and getting stuff done.  I also stumbled across an old project, and since I still haven't set up everything yet and 90 percent of my crafting supplies are boxed up in various locations, I restarted it.  It's a lace project - another great summer project idea.  I started it 5 years ago or so...and it's just been sitting there, lonely.  Well, I busted it out, ripped it back since I had no idea where I was in the pattern, and started fresh.  I'm only 12 rows in, and it's about an inch.  Nothing really to brag about, but I do feel better now that I have 2 projects, instead of only one.  Also, I spent an obscene amount of time in a local store getting fabric tonight for a quilt.  I plan on doing this quilt truly in an old fashioned manner - completely by hand.  I'm going to do a simple pattern - as a matter of fact, it's just going to be large half-square triangles.  And I will cut the fabric, sew it, and quilt it all by hand.  I went to the local library yesterday and got our library cards (a necessity like a new driver's license and vehicle registration changes in my mind) and checked out this book:

I think I may have read it, or read part of it, before, but it's a fast read (I started it yesterday and am about halfway through) and enjoyable.  It's nothing heavy, no deep philosophy or intricate plot.  It's just a lovely little story with quilting as the main theme.  Silly to some, I'm sure, but it's a nice vacation type book, and being as it's summer, and I have 3 small children that demand my attention.  Sometimes simple is all I can handle.  So, how is your summer going?  Any new projects you've started, or old ones you've rediscovered?