Autumn Adventures

This morning is crisp and cool. Down the street is a maple whose streaks of red leaves welcome autumn. The birds are more active at the feeders. A red-breasted nuthatch flits in the birch outside my window. The green in the birch leaves fades to yellow and brown. This afternoon I begin the last weeding of the perennials along the fence. The perennials look sad and dry. Who knows what will survive this summer's heat and drought. Saturday we dug up and divided two patches of overgrown iris. Before replanting the separated iris, my husband unearthed some compost and we spaded it into the ground. In the process we found potatoes growing in one corner of the bins. They grew from the tops of last year's plants. Gardening is an adventure. 

Making is also an adventure. Wednesdays I link with Kat and the Unravelers to post about making and reading. The hat for my daughter-in-law is finished and looks like something she will enjoy. It was a one skein project with a few yards leftover. I had ordered two skeins of the KP's Swish because they are only 123 yards each. I'm happy to tuck the extra into my stash for hats and mittens for kids. This summer I learned an Omaha hospital accepts hats to give out in their hospital and emergency rooms. I have a bag of superwash DK scraps that is destined to become hats for them. 

Since the hat was finished, I put another gift in the Christmas project bag. I usually knit a pair of socks for my daughter. I saw the colorway above in the local yarn shop in August and knew it was perfect for her. Dee mentioned this pattern and I thought it was a good match for this yarn. I decided an "eye of partridge" heel flap complimented the yarn. Yesterday we drove to an orchard to pick up some fresh apples and I finished the heel flap, turned the heel, and picked up gusset stitches. 

Falkland Fiber

I am making a two-ply yarn with this Falkland Fiber. One of the many interesting things about spinning is how the look of the fiber changes during the process. I plied a short skein and then washed and finished it to check the twist. It's better than the last fiber I plied. I picked up some tips from Maggie Casey and her book on the basics of spinning. 

I finished The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich. When I began this book, I was upset by the news swirling around me. I also had a hard time getting beyond the vigilante justice and lynching of Native Americans that is the core story so I set it aside. The discussion in the Erdrich-Along Group spurred me to begin again. I read the story in bigger chunks which helped keep the characters and their relationships sorted in my mind. Erdrich is a master writer about difficult subjects. For me, her writing is worth rereading. At times I feel like I'm reading prose poetry. Even considering her style of storytelling, I felt like this narrative was a little disjointed than others.  As always, I enjoyed the layering of story and themes in this novel. Reading it reminded of one of my favorite quotes about story. I found it in the book, Writing for Your Life by Deena Metzger

"Stories move in circles. They don't move in straight lines. So it helps if you listen in circles. There are stories inside of stories and stories between stories, and finding your way through them is as easy and as hard as finding your way home. And part of the finding is the getting lost. And when you're lost, you start to look around and to listen."

Corey Fisher, Albert Greenberg, and Naomi Newman of a "A Traveling Jewish Theatre," Coming from a Great Distance  

Here's to listening and to autumn adventures. 

Ravelry Links

J's Bankhead Hat

Candy Floss Socks