I think my knitting (and maybe also my reading, though I hope not) will slow to a crawl this summer. I started a new job on Monday, and both Monday and Tuesday I was in bed by 8:00 – reading, not sleeping, but still. My English rib sweater is progressing slowly but nicely, and I’m still reading A Storm of Swords, but I just couldn’t give you a repeat of last week’s picture – especially when I haven’t posted a single review since last Wednesday. So I’ve photographed the very beginning of the sweater’s front panel side by side with a book that arrived in the mail today: Cynthia Ozick’s The Puttermesser Papers. I want to read it soon, but I feel the same about Moby Dick, so who knows?

After I took this photo in the fading evening light, I turned around and saw my cat Cleo standing on the coffee table with the shadows of the Venetian blinds criss-crossing her body. This photo captured the moment perfectly. It looks as if she’s wearing striped pants or at least has some very dramatic lower-body markings – but no, she’s actually a solid grey everywhere except her belly, her feet, and a couple of spots on her face and under her chin. The rest is just sunlight, two evenings after the solstice.

I’ll be back soon with some book reviews, I promise.

Yarn Along is hosted by Ginny on her blog, Small Things.