Finished

Here we go into the first lamblike week of March. The birdsong is more noticeable as I walk. This morning I saw one junco in the back yard. Soon they will be gone for the season. The little house finches flit around in pairs. Spring is around the corner, I'm just not sure which one. Last weekend neighbors cleaned out gardens and flower beds. As I wrote in a comment response, I had a walk around the yard, took one look at all of the Creeping Charlie, and went for a walk. Maybe it will be ground cover. In spite of a few sixty degree days, our last frost date is around May 10. I'm not ready to uncover perennials yet. Last year's daffodils were a little thin and I haven't seen any poking out of the ground. My husband might have to dig up that area so I can amend and add to the soil. The older I get I like the idea of gardening more than the actual process.

I finished three projects so I am casting on some new ones. I am trying these mitts and cast on a shawl for my daughter. She said she would like a neutral colored shawl that is bigger than the one I made when she was pregnant with her second child. Time flies. Now she has four children. Shawls and mittens/mitts are my favorite things to knit unless I'm knitting something else.

I am pleased with the Rewilding Shawl The yarn is wonderfully soft around the neck.

I also finished the baby sweater and made a hat to go with it. After consulting the baby's grandmother, I went ahead and let the colors of the yarn play out in the sleeves. I am not sure I could have matched the stripes even if I had cut the second skein apart. I hope the playful look of this sweater encourages the parents to use the sweater. The pattern, Little Nugget, is a good basic sweater in multiple baby and child sizes. Although it calls for fingering weight yarn, I used this light DK, knitting the smallest size to get about a 6 month size for this April baby.

The scrappy Hitchhiker is finished with 38 teeth but who is counting. I will forever associate this project with recovery from a sore back and the audio version of The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes. The story set in Kentucky in the 1930s makes me wonder how much progress we've made when it comes to rich powerful men who run businesses without much thought for employees or the environment. The friendship of the women librarians is heartwarming and they are all strong characters. The ending of the book seemed abrupt and weak to me. I would write more but I don't want to spoil the story for prospective readers. Currently there is some controversy about possible plagiarism that, for me, removes the shine from this novel. Given the storyline, it is a little ironic.

I savored every word of Erosion: Essays of Undoing by Terry Tempest Williams. The way Williams weaves personal and ideas about public lands is masterful. I read a few chapters at a time in order to think about her ideas. What a thoughtful voice.

After Williams' book, I needed to read something different, Then the The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow appeared in my Overdrive Account. I'm not sure how to categorize this novel but am enjoying the two stories I've encountered. Maybe this novel is fantasy or magical realism?

As usual on Wednesday, I am linking with Kat and the Unravelers and will read the news of knitting and reading.

As this crazy winter comes to a close, enjoy these early March days.