Hello Gentle Readers, Wasn't Labor Day weekend just a few days ago? And now, this past Monday marked the Fall Equinox in the northern hemisphere. A few butterflies drink nectar from the zinnias and coreopsis. The bees buzz in the oregano and lavender. Friday I weeded and thinned the small pollinator garden.
The perennials along the west side of the backyard are overgrown and full of weeds. An August storm with high winds brought the neighbor's old fence down in places, including the section bordering the perennial bed. Until last Saturday, that section was barely supported by our shed and sweet pea trellis so weeding there was unsafe. The neighbor has removed the fencing so I no longer have that excuse.
Eventually, I will link this post with Kat and the Unravelers. Yesterday I hosted a group of friends for our monthly gathering and today I am putting together and delivering a meal for a friend recovering from surgery. In between I write this post. I finished the skinny shawl/scarf knit in the mini-skein set. Likely this will be a gift for someone. Knitting the sock yarn on size three needles was very pleasant. Of course, one could do the same color-blocking and simple eyelets at the color change of miscellaneous fingering weight yarns in the hitchhiker pattern. I'm pretty sure Bonny has done that with at least one of her beautiful hitchhikers.
I cast on a pair of autumn colored socks. Although the heel turn is my favorite part of sock knitting, the beginning of a cuff isn't far behind in my affection. I thought it would be fun to join Denise DeSantis, known as Earthtones Girl, in her Falling Leaves Sock KAL. I have benefited from her free tutorials and thought this an easy way to support her.
I've previously mentioned The Lost Spells by Robert Macfarlane and illustrated beautifully by Jackie Morris. This is a lovely collection of lyrical poems and illustrations about the natural world. When the news in the world is so hard, a dose of magical poetry and visual art is a good thing. Revisiting it seems appropriate for this time of the year.
This week I'm reading The Bookbinder by Pip Williams, another novel by the same author I mentioned last week. For me, this book is an average historical novel. While it's not a sequel to the first, some of the same characters make a cameo appearance. The story does raise interesting questions about women's suffrage and the right of women to an education and knowledge, specifically who is able to own, borrow, and read books.
At any rate, it's now time for me to cook our dinner. I hope you are enjoying these first few days of fall.
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I like the fall colors in your shawl and the beautiful fall sock. I think those colors match the owl on the cover of Lost Spells. Even though we're past Labor Day and the autumnal equinox, we've had some very warm (and humid) temperatures this week. I think 85 is too warm for the end of September, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that some predicted and much-needed rain materializes. I would very happily welcome fall if it ever shows up here!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful projects. I think I'll have to give those socks a try.
ReplyDeleteWe have had several days of rain here, much needed rain! I have "baby knitting" on the brain... but it has been fun to knit a "hap" style hood! I am close to the shoulder joins and begin the hood portion of the knitting. I have that Macfarlane book in my library... your highlighting it is spurring me to pull it out as well for some whimsy on a Thursday morning!
ReplyDeleteThe shawl is lovely and whoever receives it is very lucky! I also really enjoy knitting sock yarn on larger needles. Somewhere in my stash I have a set of mini skeins that would make a great shawl like that, so perhaps I will copy you. As Kat noted, we've had several days of rain (it's coming down as I type!), so I'm sure there will be some weeding to do once it stops. In the meantime, it's the perfect weather for curling up with a good book, my knitting, and a warm puppy.
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