Dear WitKnits*,

It's June! My son is out of school and no matter how old I get, I still relish the idea of summer and firmly believe that I too will be on summer break. This inevitably leads to a fall melancholy when it becomes clear that summer is over and those days of lounging by the pool and rocking on the porch never happened. But today that moment is a distant echo of autumns past, this year will be different, this year I will savor my summer. Really! I will . . . I hope.

On the flip side, Interweave is sure to keep me busy this summer, so my summer lounging will have to be carefully scripted. I'm currently working, to varying degrees of intensity, on four upcoming issues, culminating with Spring 2012. It's hard to fathom; in no other respect is 2012 even on my radar. Fall 2011 is the hot priority right now, but I don't want to ruin any of the suspense so that is all I will say on that topic.

Knits Summer 2011 is our current issue. It is difficult to recall just how cold and wintery it was when we shot those garments. Our models were such good sports, thinking warm summery thoughts as the cold wind bit into their bare arms. Fortunately all our outdoor shots were completed on the first day, when it was cold but clear. Overnight we had a big snowstorm. I'd tell you how much snow there was but that would require being good at estimating measurements, suffice it to say that my tall snow boots were swamped. My adventures included slipping and sliding over snow-packed roads as I went out to fetch hot soup and sandwiches for lunch. We were thankful to be in the greenhouse, where we were mostly warm and dry.

Knits Summer 2011 was the second issue I took to press. I didn't see the issue from start to finish, but I worked on a much bigger portion of the issue than I had on Knits Spring 2011. It was my first photoshoot but I had seen most of the process after the photoshoot once before. I'm still figuring the whole process out, but I'm gaining confidence and now make my edits in pen.

What will I knit as I lounge by the pool and sit on the porch swing? I'd love to make the Torch Lily Tee, or the Camp Smock.
The Torch Lily Tee is elegant and would go so nicely in my wardrobe. Not that my wardrobe is elegant, but that is what I aspire to,	. . . and  I love the shaping in the Camp Smock

	But, my knitting time seems to be more abbreviated these days so perhaps I should cast on for the Hourglass Socks and be happy if I exit sandal season with one good pair of socks ready to go.

Much of my recent knitting  has been knitting small samples for the magazine, like the popsicles in the yarn review. We've had a couple requests so, for those who must know how I made the popsicles, well they really are just a small sock toe, knit from the toe up. I don't have a row by row pattern, I made it up as I went along but the basic idea follows. I really fudge the first couple rows of all my socks and fiddle with it until I have what I want, so don't look to me for a good, or easily replicated sock toe. I recommend that you use your favorite toe-up cast on, but in a nutshell here's what I did.

Happy Knitting,

Larissa

*WitKnits - knitters with sparkling intelligence and a wry sense of humor.

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