November 4th

Leaves fall gently on this warm November day. This week we will make one more pass through the yard to make certain the outdoor and garden paraphernalia is stored for winter. Drip hoses are still staked down in the tomato patch and there may be a stake or two lingering in the perennial bed. Yesterday was a gorgeous fall day with a clear blue sky. I walked late in the afternoon and the trees were filled with autumn light. Today's sky, with a few clouds on the horizon, is not quite as bright. 

To Kat and Kym and all the other poll workers, letter writers, and volunteers, thank you for your service. Now we wait. Once again I am thankful that Gram taught me to knit all those many years ago. When the 19th amendment was adopted she was sixteen. Now I wish I had asked her about that time. She was never short an opinion. Occasionally she worked at polling places. I can imagine her knitting or hand sewing in a corner of her davenport (couch) while listening to election results on a radio and later on a small black and white television. Mom would have cross-stitched as she and Dad followed the news. The idea of joining a large contingent of knitters this week and in the weeks to come is comforting. 

Last night I finished the little baby sweater and darned if I don't still have some bits of leftover yarn. Sometimes I think that as socks disappear in the wash, yarn multiplies in project bags. The sweater needs a wash to keep the bottom ribbing flat and then I'll weave in the ends. The color-blocking made a fun sweater for some little person. 

I knit a few more inches on the poncho. I am enjoying knitting it. Not much else to write about a rectangle of stockinette. 

I cast on a vanilla ribbed sock out of stash yarn. Honestly I looked for yarn that wasn't blue and this is what I found. I need another project that isn't round and round stockinette. On the other hand, winter is coning and the Connecticut kids have outgrown their hats and mittens. I love to knit for them. As soon as I have current measurements or reports on whose hat fits, I will be knitting hats and mittens. 

I finished Mozart's Starling in the wee hours of last night. This is a lovely book of nature writing, music, Mozart, and birds. A passage about the murmurations of starlings and the science behind these beautiful waves of flight fascinated me. I will never be a big fan of starlings but now I will appreciate some of their behavior and characteristics. When I read during the day (which is not often) I pick up Three Guineas by Virginia Woolf. Her writing about women's suffrage, the right of women to a college degree and to work in professions previously open only to men, and views on war is brilliant if a little hard to follow. I find this nonfiction worth the effort. Her footnotes and more extensive notes at the end of the book provide helpful explanation and context. 

I'm linking with Kat and the Unravelers for Unraveled Wednesday. Gentle readers, hang on tight and keep the faith under this November sky. 

Ravelry links:

Baby Sweater

Poncho with a Cable

Ribbed Socks