This past weekend was a sort of an unplanned childhood summer revival. First, I bought flying saucers on a whim at the ice cream store, and Dan and I housed them. I really can’t remember the last time I ate one. And I had that same feeling I used to when I was a kid: “I ate mine without dripping or making any mess! Am a champion!” Dan just looked at me blankly.

The second half of my childhood summer revival is this week’s handmade52 project, one that I really didn’t plan. I’ve been seeing tutorials and photos making their rounds through pinterest and the blogosphere for old school friendship bracelets (I think I saw it first on Elise’s blog). And at first, I thought they were fun, I remember making those, but I’m not sure I need to make them now.

And there I was, sitting on the couch this past Sunday, watching Dexter and then baseball with Dan, and I was struck with the urge. Thanks to my cross stitching over the years, I have a pretty solid rainbow of embroidery floss on hand, which meant that five minutes after I decided to go for it, I had colors picked, and was safety pinning the knot to my throw pillow.

I ended up making three that day, and have made one more this week, and started a fifth. And I’m obsessed. When I’m at work, I want to be home tying my 4-shaped knots. I’m trying to think of which ones I should make next. It’s so childhood, but the bright colors in endless combinations, the varied patterns between the chevron (instructions here) and the standard stripes… I can’t get enough.

Maybe it’s because of the pure time capsule feeling. It sends me back to sitting in the backyard picking colors with my sister. To that giant plastic box we had to keep all of our colors organized in rainbow order. To knots taped to picnic tables at girl scout camp, the town’s summer recreation day camp. To the ones with the lighthouse pattern, where you make the knots over all the threads, instead of just one at a time. To the woven one that was so complicated but I was so proud of. To ones we made longer to turn into ankle bracelets. To that Klutz book that I came thisclose to requesting via inter-library loan at work this week. It’s just summer, pure and simple. And as I’m staring down one of the busiest Julys I’ll have maybe ever, at the stress of packing and moving and turning 30 after talking about it all year and who knows what else, pure and simple and brightly colored is EXACTLY what the doctor ordered.