*waves*

I can't believe it's been a month since I've visited the forum! I didn't mean to take a break, but this summer has been so full, somehow the days have flown by. Also, I got a new computer that's a desktop instead of a laptop, so my couch time has been full of knitting and reading instead of internet-ing (my hands approve of this). Sorry about that; I have thought of you all in the meantime, and I'm looking forward to catching up. (My desktop computer & wireless keyboard allows me to be much more ergonomic about my computer time, which is lovely.) Anyway, when I got e-mail notifications of a couple messages to discover it's my turn in the challenge chain, I thought I might as well jump back into forum life.

I've had to change my photo set up, as I got a couch, so rearranged my furniture: I might have to do a bit more experimenting, because my face looks awfully odd in these shots. Maybe I'm just out of practice. Anyway, I think I look shorter in these pics, which is more realistic at least.

So here's what I'm wearing today, a typical variation of my summer uniform: boxy over boxy, with detail-laden blouses, and my hair up to keep it off my neck. We've actually had a remarkably cool and cloudy summer so far (highs in the 90s instead of 100s), which is a relief.

I love the colour of this blouse (is it French Blue? I'm never completely sure what medium, greyed blues should be called), and the pin tucks and crisp ruffles make me happy too. I really love this colour with burgundy and grey, and I don't have burgundy shorts, so I opted for my grey chambray pair and my cotton burgundy cardigan. It has very slim sleeves, and they don't work perfectly with the puffed sleeves of the blouse, but if anyone is staring that closely at my upper arms, too bad. I do like how the more fitted cardigan adds a bit of structure, although I don't wear it all day: it comes on and off as the a/c and sun dictate, hence two sets of photos. I'm wearing it now though: my desk is right next to the a/c vent, so when it kicks on, I'm in a stream of cold air.

For accessories, I couldn't resist bookending the cardi with my latest pair of hand knit socks: they're in a leaf lace pattern and make me very happy. I also have perpetually cold feet, so I wear wool socks around the house almost all of the time. I decided gold jewelry would be more interesting than silver, so put on my gold rings & my newest brooch: a little mushroom that I don't think I've shown you yet. Finally, today was a shampoo day, which means my hair would just slip out of braids, so I did a tuck undo instead and added a grey ribbon to echo the shorts. And because I'm addicted to velvet.