In Progress

Hello Gentle Readers. I hope that however you celebrated December holidays you found something to enjoy. We spent some time with extended family late this month and enjoyed both visits. Otherwise, I let the season unfold at a slower pace and took time with the things I enjoy. Yesterday I made a batch of peanut butter cookies because I wanted to do so. Here, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were very foggy. Late on Christmas afternoon we took a walk in the fog and enjoyed the lights in the neighbors' yards. This past Sunday, the temps dropped dramatically, the wind howled and light snow blew around for a few hours. Tuesday afternoon, the day warmed enough for a good walk. 

Kat is not hosting Unraveled Wednesday today but posting about knitting and reading mid-week is a good routine for me. Have you ever noticed how knits in progress look a little strange? Non-knitters looking at them probably wonder why we make such odd things. Anyway, I am working away on the cardigan and scrappy socks. Monday evening I knit the heel on the second sock. Recently Connie mentioned how knitting a traditional heel flap, turn, and gusset means that a good part of the foot is completed. That doesn't happen with a short row heel. I knit a shadow wrap short row heel on these socks so I have a good long foot to finish. 

In order to keep moving on the cardigan, I attached a progress keeper (barely visible on this overcast day) that I move on Sunday evening. The games we play with knitting, right? At this point, I need about another inch before knitting the ribbing on the body of the sweater. Slowly but surely. 

This month I read The Place of Tides by James Rebanks. While Rebanks writing is beautifully descriptive and it was fascinating to learn about life on a small Norwegian island in the Arctic, I had mixed feelings about this book. To me, there is something unsettling about a man looking for isolation for his own growth, accompanying Anna and Ingrid as they work in old ways to support nesting ducks and collect and clean eider down. Perhaps due to the times in which we live, Rebanks' narrative felt a little like a privileged male interjecting himself into the lives of working class women. While he is respectful of them and willing to help in any way, some of his early comments about the women seemed judgmental. As the book progresses his ideas change and so perhaps that is the point. Certainly he respects the environment. As he writes, "if we are going to save the world, we have to start somewhere," which is what Anna and other "duck women" are doing. 

Our light snow has melted but I do love to see the little tracks of juncos. I wish you the best as we head into the new year.