Turning Season

Summer begins to turn to Autumn. The greens are not so vivid. Grass in the neighborhood fades and leaves hang loosely from their stems. The coreopsis is spent. My garden has the end-of-summer look. Tomato vines wither from the bottom. The volunteer cherry tomato plant I stuck in the raised bed is out of control. It leaves many little rotten tomatoes as next year's volunteers. The zinnias continue to bloom but it's time to collect seed for next year. One day wool socks, the next sandals.

As the news goes from bad to worse, needle, thread, yarn, and spindle are a balm. Over the past few days, I knit this cowl mostly from my handspun. The gray stripes are knit from commerical yarn. When you knit a small project on size 7 needles, it doesn't take long. Knitting with this yarn was an adventure in thick, thin, and twist. The ribbing is a little flippy but hopefully a bath and gentle blocking will help. I enjoyed watching the handspun become knitted fabric. My next goal is to spin a more even yarn with a little less twist. It's a learning process. 

I blocked the Touchstone Shawl and wove in the ends. I can use a touchstone these days. The light peachy pink is an interesting color, a bit of a change for me. For some reason I am drawn to that lace pattern. I love to knit it and I like the way it the looks. I have knit other projects with that stitch pattern. 

I cast on the second sock of the Downpour pair. The top ribbing and the pattern set-up is finished. Often a second sock knits up faster than the first. We will see. 

I listened to the audio version of The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery. If it hadn't been a selection by my book group, I wouldn't have listened which is only one of the things I appreciate about that group. I enjoyed the book. I have a cursory knowledge of marine creatures so the book was an opportunity to learn more. I have a new respect for those who work at big Aquariums. The relationships that persons with disabilities developed with the creatures in the New England Aquarium in Boston is a touching reminder that anyone can benefit from interaction with animals and/or the natural world. The author reads this book and at first her enthusiasm and emotion seemed a little profuse. As the story went on, I grew accustomed to her presentation. I also would like to visit a big aquarium some day. 

I link with Kat and the Unravelers today. May you find a touchstone during these days. Maybe we will learn to turn toward better days. 

Ravelry Links to projects

Handspun Cowl

Touchstone Shawl