Hello September

Hello Gentle Readers and Hello September. Last evening a strong prairie wind blew in cool temperatures as well as an unhealthy level of wildfire smoke. I deferred this morning's walk until air quality improves. Last week our son visited us. He combined two vacation days with three days of remote work. While here, he participated in a fantasy football draft with a group of friends and helped me celebrate my seventy second birthday. Aaron and I cooked my birthday dinner, meaning he grilled some delicious salmon and I made a salad, sweet corn, and a rustic peach tart. He is a great cook and his grilled salmon is one of my favorites. The peach tart was pretty good too. My husband brought me a bouquet of flowers and I talked to the Connecticut crew. It was a delightful day and week.

Today is Unraveled Wednesday with Kat and friends. I am participating in the HusKAL with Knit Paper Scissors, a local yarn shop. Although this is my first time joining, the KAL is eight years old. In late August the store puts together kits for the fall knit-along. Sections of the pattern arrive on Fridays so participants can knit along with the UNL football schedule. This year, the project is a wrap of different textures in four different colors. Some kits include traditional red, cream, gray of UNL colors but there are other options, including a build your own. Being the rebel I am, I built my own kit of light pink, two shades of gray, and a cream. This year happens to be the 100th year anniversary of UNL's Memorial Stadium so the kit contains some UNL related stitch markers. Back in the day my parents held season tickets to the football games and my sibs are UNL grads. I've been in the stadium a fair number of times. The wrap and the yarn appealed to me and it is a good way to support the shop. So off I go on this project. 

In between visits with our family, I blocked this shawl. This yarn, with cashmere content is the star in this simple pattern. The blue color was leftover from another shawl and I can't remember why I bought the lavender skein. At any rate, the yarn was worth knitting into a project. I added extra eyelet rows in the lavender section for fun. It's a nice piece that may go in the gift bag. 

I'm chugging along on the second sleeve of Norah's sweater. Most of the yarn is DK weight. The green and yellow stripes are knit with with two strands of fingering stash. With a tee shirt in her size as a guide, I decided the ribbing could be a few rows shorter. Sleeves this small knit up quickly. I'll block the piece before I pick up and knit the button band.  

As for reading, I finished The Age of Phillisby Honorée Fanonne-Jeffers. Information about Wheatley is fragmented and fraught with the racism of her time. Poetry was the perfect way to convey the story of Wheatley's life. An essay and notes about nearly every poem aided my understanding. By the way, the cover of the hardback is beautiful. I listened to The Queen of Dirt Island by Donal Ryan. Whether the Irish Brogue of the narrator was authentic or not, I thoroughly enjoyed the audio. I loved this novel of four generations of strong, fiesty women finding their way together. Currently I'm reading Pieces of the Plains: Memories and Predictions from the Heart of America. The author, John Janovy, Jr. is an Emeritus Professor of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska. This book was published locally in 2009 but a kindle version is still available. For some reason I never read the entire book. Since it is on my bookshelf, I picked it up while waiting for some library holds. I've read other books by Janovy and enjoyed them. I'm anxious to see how predictions made in 2009 hold up today. 

Here's to September and cooler days ahead.

Ravelry Links

Shawl of Leftovers

HusKAL Wrap

Norah's Sweater