Never Say Never

July is warming up. I walk around 8:00 a.m. each morning to beat the heat. I zig zag my way around the neighborhood to stay in the shade. Sometimes my husband walks with me and sometimes not. I picked the first garden cucumbers on Monday. The hollyhocks are glorious. Several evenings I walked over to visit them with a camera. I usually walk without my phone but I made an exception.

Once I said I would never take up spinning because I didn't need another set of hobby supplies. I am eating my words and learning to spin on a spindle. Sarah inspired me with her projects and made a few suggestions to my inquiry. I am amazed and grateful to the generous makers who post how-to-videos on YouTube. This week I tried plying a couple of my small bits. The first three attempts went in the trash but yesterday I made one little thick and thin skein of yarn. It's not yet knit-worthy but I am keeping it as a record of my beginning skills. Even if I never get proficient, I have added something to balance the losses of the pandemic. 

I am linking with Kat and the Unravelers today. Yesterday I unraveled a good portion of the scrappy shawl. I finished it up to the picot bind off (thank goodness I have some sense) before listening to the knitting voice in my head. I let it rest for a few days. I looked at it in the daylight, not making a decision after 8:30 p.m. Once I wrote these scraps were two different hues of purple - one with more blue, the other with more red. I kept knitting thinking, this is going to work, blocking will make a difference. In the end, it was too busy for me. It was as if I had knit two different shawls and put them together. I learned some new stitch patterns and whiled away some evenings. I saved the beginning section because that's the part I like. It's back in a bag resting. If I want to finish it, I'll need to buy a skein of yarn. Oh darn!

So I am knitting on these socks and hope to finish them this evening. I have another shawl on the needles but it is not calling my name in this July weather. A small project, like socks, fingerless mitts or mittens, is more appealing. Spinning with a spindle is also a good way to play with fiber that isn't in my lap.

I am about half-way through Curlew Moon, a book of nature writing. This story is another account of industrialization and intensive agricultural practices bringing about the decline of a once numerous species. Of course there are some individuals working to save the European curlew. Sadly, this is a universal story of our time. Some passages are beautifully written and Colwell weaves poetry and musings by other writers into the narrative about her long walk through the British Isles. I am unfamiliar with many of the other birds named. I also looking up unfamiliar vocabulary. Some words are scientific while others must be specific to the British Isles.

I am also reading Jane Hirshfield's new book of poetry, Ledger. Her accounting contains very interesting and thoughtful metaphor. I love the way she makes a poem out of everyday objects. "Spell Against Hatred" is very appropriate for this time. These poems come from the vantage point of an older woman, a viewpoint sometimes hard to find.

I hope this July day finds you in a cool and sheltered place with a project or a good book.