Through the Lens

Last week was a week of new lenses for me. On Monday we watched the total solar eclipse at a friend's country home. Despite a few cirrus clouds blowing in and out, we saw most of the moon's movement, a small solar flare, and the silver diamond ring of the sun. I thought the changes to the blue gray twilight were stunning. Naturally we wore the funky ISO approved eclipse glasses. My favorite eclipse instructions were don't drive or walk around while wearing the glasses. Well of course not, the lenses obscure everything but the sun. I was also pleased I could see the eclipse given the cataract in my left eye.

On Thursday, I had the cataract covered lens removed and a new lens inserted. Surgery went well and my eye is healing. On the drive home, I noticed bright vivid colors with sharp precise distance vision. I am forever grateful to medical personnel skilled in the newest technology. As I type, I can see all the markings on the chickadee at the feeder. Literally, I have a new way to see. Now I wonder how else I limit my vision by looking though my own cloudy point of view. It's worth considering.

While my eye heals, I have no lens in the left side of my glasses. I will need some bifocal correction for that eye and more powerful correction for the right eye. The right eye isn't ready for surgery. Until this eye heals, reading remains a challenge. Friends, family, audiobooks, enlarged fonts, and knitting are the answers. Thank you all for your kind words and thoughts.

I am also grateful to be a knitter. I finished the striped socks before the eclipse. I prepared for the post surgical transition by choosing two skeins of yarn. If I absolutely couldn't knit, I planned to wind yarn. However, the night of the surgery, I propped my glasses over the large bandage on the left eye (the doc's suggestion) and knit on this washcloth. It was comical as the glasses kept sliding down my nose. Early the next morning, the bandage was removed at a followup appointment. Since then I've finished the Gemma Shawl (it is blocking), worked on Jonah's sweater and cast on a pair of mitts.

Yesterday I found a mostly red maple leaf. The color was beautiful. Today I may wind the pink yarn for mittens or I may toss a bin of yarn just to look at the colors. Mitten and wool sock weather is around the corner.

Under the Canopy

Most days I walk in my neighborhood. I wonder if the neighbors are amused by my habits. In the summer, I walk one direction to have the sun at my back. During cooler weather, I reverse the route so the steeper hill comes first. On hot summer mornings, I zig-zag back and forth across streets to stay in the shade. I leave electronic devices at home. I look folks in the eye and greet them. Lately I've been noting the arrangements of porch furniture and pots on the small front porches. Many decorate these spaces but no one ever seems to enjoy them. Our porch is very small, about large enough for two flower pots. My dream home has a large wrap-around front porch with a swing and comfortable chairs and pillows.

This week I stopped to look up and into the canopy of trees. This morning I stood under the very dense, deep green canopy of a linden and the layered leaves of a maple. I stood in the sun dappled space under an ornamental pear and was almost hidden by low hanging limbs of a large oak. The sound of the breeze through the leaves is peaceful. I didn't have a camera. Honestly if I'd stood under trees and took photos, the neighbors might think I was really unravelling. At home, I stood still and breathed deeply from the canopy of a linden. A pair of chickadees flitted among the branches and called to each other. Across from me, a mama house finch fed a fledging. I discovered a hint of autumn in the yellow leaves. Despite the craziness in the world, the rhythm of the season continues. The trees stand in the rain, sun, wind, cold, and heat. They take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Every year they grow a little taller and stronger. I find all of this reassuring.

Earlier this summer, I picked up a copy of The Cottonwood Tree, at a used book store. It is on a list of 150 books by Nebraska authors created as part of  Nebraska's sesquicentennial celebration.After cataract surgery, I plan to read it and learn more about the tree.

In the meantime, I am knitting more than reading. Although I set these socks aside, I tried again because I wanted to learn how to knit an after-thought-heel. Never one to give up easily, I placed the sock on the table, held a magnifying glass with my left hand, and picked up heel stitches from waste yarn with my right. This first sock was a little saggy so I ripped it out. It was a tangled mess but I did manage to save the yarn.

This heel doesn't fit my foot as well as a traditional heel flap and gusset. However, I might knit it again in order to maintain the sequence of stripes in self-striping yarn. Yesterday I cast on the third sock of this pair. Three socks for the price of two - more knitting time from the same amount of yarn. I may just carry my sock and chair outdoors in order to sit under the canopy of the linden. The day is fair and the leaves are rustling in this sheltered space.

Jonah's Christmas Quilt

When my children were young, I made them each a Christmas Quilt. When they had children of their own, I gave the quilts to them. Austin now has Aaron's quilt and Emmett has Kate's quilt. Emmett loves "his" quilt and was not inclined to share it with his younger brother, Micah. Honestly, I didn't think he should have to share so I made a quilt for Micah. A week or so after I finished Micah's quilt, my daughter and son-in-law announced they were having another child. First I knit Jonah a Christmas stocking, then I began his quilt.

Jonah's quilt contains many of the same motifs as his brothers but unlike the others, I set the blocks together with sashing. After arranging them, I merrily cut and sewed the green vertical pieces to blocks, forgetting to square up the blocks. I fudged and fumed as I ripped out long and short seams. Eventually I lined up the blocks as best as I could and sewed the top together. My excuse is that I was sewing while taking antibiotics. Or maybe I'm just getting forgetful. It's a good thing I love these little guys like crazy.

I had the top machine quilted by a local woman. Her work is meticulous and she is really a quilting artist. She matches thread color to compliment each motif and piece. She combines stippling and designs in a way that makes a quilt sing. On this quilt, the red border is quilted with red Christmas trees. She quilted around each tiny snowflake in the plain bright blue fabric blocks. On the light blue fabric blocks she quilted a large snowflake. She also saved the angel by quilting a wing that I had forgotten.

Each Christmas quilt includes something unique for each child. When I made Aaron's quilt, he requested "stars that twinkle." Aaron/Austin's quilt is pieced stars with sashing that meets in a small star at the corner of each block. The three brothers have motifs I traced from an old coloring book. Kate/Emmett's quilt has a boy and a girl hanging up their stockings. Both Kate and Aaron's quilts have a poem/message written to them. Micah's quilt has an extra lamb as he has a beloved 'baa baa." Jonah won the snow and snowman lottery for winters in the northeast. The quilts are set together differently.  Each quilt contains a sprinkle of mistakes topped with a heaping scoop of love. Little Jonah will have a Christmas quilt when he moves out of his crib. Meanwhile, I have to figure out the best way to get this quilt from Nebraska to the East Coast. Perhaps a hand delivery and a hug would be best.

P.S. I realize the quilt photo skims off the top of my head. It was either me or the quilt. I opted to show the quilt.