Hello June

I walked this cool morning and enjoyed the birdsong and all the flowers. I noticed the sweetest patch of bachelor buttons in bloom. Late last Thursday, we arrived home from a visit with our daughter and family in Connecticut. Sharing a week of their ordinary days was very sweet. All four grands play a form of baseball so we cheered them on at six games. Norah wanted her nails painted to match her T-ball shirt and uses a pink bat. Never mind, she loves flowers and is the smallest and the only girl on her team, she is all business on the field. 

Emmett, the oldest is just about to surpass me in height. We take this photo every visit. 

One morning while everyone was in school, Kate and I drove to RJ Julia Booksellers, a fabulous independent bookstore in Madison, Ct. The store had a large well curated selection of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, as well as an upper floor devoted to books for children and young adults. If you are anywhere near and enjoy browsing bookstores, I recommend this one. Madison is a small quaint New England town. 

Today is the day a group of bloggers gather with Kat to post about making and reading. Between our trip and catching up in the garden, I am still working on the same projects. Since our return, I finished the star table runner. The piecing isn't perfect but I did enjoy the hand-quilting. The runner goes well with our worn dining table. 

When we travel to see either of our children, I knit a pair of socks. This time I chose a Polka Dot Sheep yarn in the colorway Knitmeg because Connecticut is the nutmeg state. The colors turned out to be more than appropriate. By Wednesday, June 7, they reminded me of the colors of the very smoky air and sky. I'm sure you saw photos of the skies in the northeast. We were fortunate to be flying home the next day when flights were departing LaGuardia. At the time, they weren't landing. Anyway, as per my routine, I knit the cuff and established the pattern the day before we left and came home with a sock and a half. 

Last night, I worked a little on the second mitten from handspun. Because this yarn is more like a DK/sport weight, I knit an extra cable repeat to make the hand long enough. I also twisted the cables on the second mitt to mirror those on the first. 

As for reading, I'm enjoying the poetry anthology, How to Love the World in the photograph. It was one of the books I purchased at RJ Julia. While traveling, I read The Cottingley Secret. This was an average work of historical fiction with storylines in two different time periods. The story is neat and tidy, although I did like the way the main character, a young woman, went her own way at the end of the story. Driving to ballgames, we listened to part of the second Harry Potter book with Kate and the kids. Jonah likes the "magic and wonder" in the stories. I may have to read a few more of that series. Late to the party, I'm currently listening to Magpie Murders as I wait for other library audiobooks. It's good entertainment while I knit. Seems I've begun June with some light reads.

I hope the first days of June are treating you well. 

 Ravelry Links

Knitmeg Socks

Handspun Mittens