Today is the last of several warm January days. Sunshine makes all the difference. Walking with the sun on my back encourages me to walk a longer route. So does pounding on the house. Currently a dedicated crew is putting new siding on our home. After thirty years and several hail storms, the siding needed to be replaced. The company selected a great week weather-wise and the materials arrived on time. Sometimes the stars align. I appreciate their work and will be even happier when it is finished. I don't think anyone will be going barefoot in our yard, deck, or patio for quite some time. The crew cleans up each evening but it is a construction site. I'm hoping the herb garden survives all the debris.
Several knitting projects are also in progress. I am enjoying the construction of the purple sweater. This new-to-me method requires a little attention to knit the sleeve and body increases. The pattern is well written, specific, and easy to follow. Knitting the mock cables down the front, back, and sleeves keeps the project interesting. My row gauge is slightly off so I've added extra rest rows between increase rows. I hope this adds enough length to the armhole but won't know until I separate the sleeves from the body. So far so good. Math and sweater knitting are an adventure.
I cast on mitts for myself. I am using the leftover yarn from the set I made for Norah and Kate. The yarn knits like butter and the leaf/ thumb gusset is fun to knit. I'm knitting lots of wishes for traveling into these mitts. I hope to take them to Connecticut this year.
I put a few rows on the scrappy Habitation Throw but haven't taken any new photos. I'm well supplied with fingering weight scraps and leftovers for this long term project.
As usual, I am reading several books. The details of Winter World tie me to this winter season. I'd love to visit a Maine forest in the winter. The Pull of the Stars is a thoroughly enjoyable work of fiction about a nurse/midwife working in the maternity/influenza ward of Dublin Hospital in 1918. This World War One story is about women and mothers. Pandemic details such as someone who doesn't want to wear a mask, the toll of influenza on women who live in poverty, and the fear of contagion on public transportation are eerily familiar. Published in July 2020, I wonder when the final proofs were read and edited.
As I link with Kat and the Unravelers, I hope your works in progress are treating you well.
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With new windows and new siding, it sounds like you can enjoy a new house, accomplished without moving! I love that you are knitting mitts for yourself from the same yarn you used for Norah and Kate. May the traveling wishes you knit into them take you and your matching mitts to Connecticut this year.
ReplyDeleteI like those mitts! I am hoping there is so much traveling in those stitches! You always have the best books! I am off to find out if my library has one or the other!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing your sweater and love the mitts. Thanks for the book suggestions, have Pull of the Stars on hold.
ReplyDeleteThat is going to be a gorgeous sweater Jane! And I'm echoing others thoughts and prayers that your traveling wishes come true with those mitts. A picture of all 3 of you in the same mitts would be awesome! I had Pull of the Stars on hold via Overdrive but when it came through I let it go - I thought it would be a little too close for comfort right now. Winter World is a fine book and Bernd Heinrich is a favorite author of mine.
ReplyDeleteWe are going to be replacing our roof in a couple of months, and I have a feeling I'm going to want to increase the length of my walks to escape the pounding then!
ReplyDeleteI have The Pull of the Stars on hold at the library, and it's a long wait, so I'm glad to hear it's a good read.
I really enjoyed The Pull of the Stars. At first, I didn't want to read it because it seemed to be a little too "real" with the pandemic storyline and all. But I actually think it made me understand that . . . the more things change, the more things stay the same. I'm so glad your siding installation worked out so perfectly -- especially in the middle of winter!
ReplyDeleteOH I have to check that leaf thumb gusset!!! so pretty
ReplyDeletethat is a beautiful shade of purple and in January I do like having my knits be challenging but not too challenging. We have rainy weather today (boo).
ReplyDeleteI am so happy you mentioned that book. I bought it when it first came out and have not read it but I am adding it to my next up stack.
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