Hello Gentle Readers. Summer with hundred degree temperatures over the weekend and Monday has another story to tell. Day by day, this week will be slightly cooler. The zinnias, cosmos, cone flowers, and butterfly bush continue to bloom. Monday morning I walked at 8:00 a.m. to beat the heat. I heard a ten minute chorus of blue jays from all over the neighborhood. I know jays sound a predator alarm for other birds but this was a friendly call and response.
My handsome Texas grandson moved onto Tarelton State University campus this past week. His text messages, with the y'all, make me smile. All the university students mean hope for the future. I wish all of them the best year and college experience.
Wednesday is the day to link with Kat and the Unravelers. I finally have a finish. After a consultation with Bonny about binding off in the middle of a repeat, I finished the hitchhiker. As I came to the end of the yarn, I didn't have enough to complete the full repeat and asked for her expert advice. I decided to use as much of the yarn as possible and bound off on Row 6 instead of a Row 8. I pinned out that last point and it's fine. Someone who has knit a hitchhiker could see a slight difference but knitters are too kind to point out the discrepancy. This one-skein hitchhiker finished with 35 teeth.
I also finished the embroidered watering can block to go with Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks. I need one more block of some description. I'm considering designs that came from the Depression Era of quilts. Since finishing these two projects, I went back to another shawl in progress and a Christmas gift project.
Right now the library hold list is in the feast stage. I have four books on my desk but am reading Enlightenment by Sarah Perry. At two-thirds of the way through, I have mixed feelings about this novel. Mostly the writing is excellent, although there is repetition in the rustling, hissing etc. of silk. The story set in modern England has a Victorian/Gothic bent that feels disjointed. At times I marvel at the way the author weaves themes in and out of the story and at other times I wonder why I'm reading it. She has combined some interesting ideas - unrequited love, fundamentalist Christian beliefs, homosexuality, and a mystery/ghost story all loosely tied together with astronomy. I will finish it though.
I'm off to water. Have a good week.
Best wishes to your grandson! What an exciting time for him. I have only made one Hitchhiker (so far), and Bonny was an excellent consultant for me. I'd never be able to see any "hitches" with your bind off, by the way. I read Enlightenment as a pre-publication copy from NetGalley, and never did resolve my "mixed feelings" for the novel. I'm not unhappy that I read it, but . . . it was only middling (for me) by the end.
ReplyDeleteYour Hitchhiker is beautiful! Even looking up close, it's not immediately apparent that you had to cut the last repeat short.
ReplyDeleteI'm also reading Enlightenment right now (I'm about 1/3 of the way through). I'm enjoying the writing but also finding that I really don't know where it's going, and I do hope it gets pulled together at the end.
Congratulations and best wishes to your grandson - what an exciting time for him!! Your Hitchhiker is lovely and even though I have knit several, I would not necessarily pick up on the fact that you bound off early. I have read a couple of books by Sarah Perry and have to say I've been a bit under-whelmed. I don't know if I will try Enlightenment or not - definitely not today anyway!
ReplyDeleteWe have some end-of-summer heat today, and then I'm hoping for some rain and more fall-like temperatures. Your Hitchhiker looks wonderful, and I'm sure you could have managed just fine without my thoughts. It feels good to use as much yarn as possible, and I don't think there is a noticeable difference between binding off on Row 6 vs. Row 8. Wear it in good health and with happiness!
ReplyDeleteHurrah for your grandson... college is an exciting new adventure! I hope his year is full of both wonder and joy at all the new things! Your Hitchhiker is just lovely! (and I agree with Kym... I would never note the final tooth was a bit less toothy!)
ReplyDeleteLove your Hitchhiker ... and aren't we fortunate to have an expert in our midst to advise on all the knitterly aspects. Also hope some of those cooling temperatures make their way to us ... soon!?!
ReplyDeleteYour knitting projects are beautiful. I will probably skip that book you are reading, but I finished the audiobook of Sipsworth and really enjoyed it! Thanks for the recommendation. See you again soon!
ReplyDeleteLove the hitchhiker....can't wait to see what's next in your knitting adventure.
ReplyDeleteMay your grandson have a wonderful time learning and growing!! Love the hitchhiker, that pattern is very forgiving :)
ReplyDeleteYour grandmothers flower blocks a lovely Jane and love your hitchhiker.
ReplyDeleteI hope the weather does cool off in your part of the world. There has been too much heat this summer. I have not read any of the Sarah Perry books but find it interesting to hear all the different reactions. Happy September
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