January's End

Hello Gentle Readers. January light streams in the windows this morning. Because of the bitter cold, a dusting of snow remains on roofs and the ground. Now and again a little bit of blue sky is visible. Sunlight behind the wispy gray clouds reflects off the snow and cold air to create a beautiful winter day. The sparrows and juncos scramble around the feeders trying to stay warm. They use seeds, feathers, and air pockets instead of hot tea, wool, and central heating. 

Today I will link this post with Kat and the Unravlers. In the last two weeks, I picked up and knit buttonbands as well as the neck band on this cardigan. Although I wondered about the narrowness of the buttonbands, I have to credit Isabel Kraemer (designer) with the very nice edge treatments. Her instructions are clear and easy to follow. I'm knitting down the first sleeve. This sleeve decreases the same way as the sleeves in her Forager sweater, a sweater I have knit several times so I shouldn't encounter any sleeve drama. 

While the sweater dried and I recovered from the sinus infection that followed the virus, I worked on the Sophie hood. Right now I'm blindly following the directions for the hood shaping and trusting this designer. Lots of Sophie scarves, shawls, and hoods have been knit so likely it will make up well. I love the fabric. 

In order to have a mindless project on the needles, I cast on a hat to donate. The discontinued yarn is from deep stash, leftover from a sweater I knit in 2009. I think the yarn might have been manufactured by Classic Elite so there is a blast from the past. Although the sweater met a sad end, I loved it. The soft gray color is soothing and peaceful and it will be a nice hat for someone.  

This week I read The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk Wallace Johnson. This book of true crime is the current selection for my local book group otherwise I'd never have read it.  A talented young American becomes interested in the rare feathers used for tying flies for fishing. Right now the story is all too familiar. An interest becomes an obsession, an intelligent young man avails himself of information via the internet to become the wonder of a fly-tying community. Along the way greed and obsession obscure right and wrong. This young man steals priceless birds from an English museum to obtain and sell skins and feathers. In the process, he destroys years of scientific information with little remorse. He and his parents hire a competent lawyer. Then some of the internet community who traffic in rare, extinct, or exotic feathers to tie flies circle the wagons to protect themselves. While fly-fishing in New Mexico, the author learns of the crime. This book is the story of his search for information and how the culprit escaped punishment. The book was readable if not up-lifting. I think it would have benefited from a little more judicious editing. 

This afternoon the temperature is forecast to soar into the twenties so I plan to bundle up and get out for a walk. No feathers, priceless or otherwise, will be involved. Stay warm and safe friends. 

Ravelry Links

Blue Cardigan

Sophie Hood

Be Kind Hat

Recent Stitching

Hello Gentle Readers. This is a week when knitting with wool pays dividends in warmth. Like many areas in the country, the local temperatures are bitter cold. Unlike the northeast, we have no snow. Still, this is weather for a favorite alpaca shawl, hot tea, and soup. Right now a Cooper's Hawk braves a cold breeze in the back yard. Between the cold and the hawk, not a creature is stirring in the monochromatic landscape. 

As always, I link this post with Kat and the Unravelers and thank Kat for that opportunity. 

 I have completed three December stitch pieces and they are safely sewed into my stitch journal. In many traditions, a  wreath symbolizes the cycle of the seasons and life. They also serve as a welcome when hung on an outer door. I so enjoyed stitching this little wreath of embellished feather stitches I documented the process with photos. I began by creating a feather-stitched circle.

Then I embellished the "feathers" with tiny straight stitches and eventually red french knots.

The remnant of red wool that became the bow was used in other pieces in the journal and I rather like that continuity. The stitches at top of the piece are variations of a crossed stitches, sometimes a t stitched on top of an x - if that makes any kind of sense. I don't know if there is a name for the stitch. I've seen them elsewhere. 

I stitched a waxing crescent moon to mark the Winter Solstice (that was the moon phase that night).  On the underneath paper page, I copied a Longfellow quote I've always liked, "One by one the stars came out, the forget-me-nots of the angels." The stars in the sky are in a few colors inspired by an IG post of a Christmas photo of Boston with lights reflected in the harbor. 

The third little page is a copy of Norah's rendition of a Christmas tree, complete with a garland and purple star. Over Thanksgiving weekend, I was sitting beside her and we were drawing. She picked up a marker and very quickly drew a tree in this shape. And then she looked at me and said, "I don't know if I like that shape but oh well." I assured her I loved the shape of the tree because it was unique and asked her if she wanted to decorate her tree. She added a garland made of little circles and a purple star. Later I asked her if I could take a photo of her drawing because I might want to create a fabric likeness. I changed the garland to cross-stitches because I didn't want to satin stitch a bunch of little circles. I noted the date Norah drew her tree and wrote the words "O Taunenbaum" because my Grandmother Catherine, whose parents immigrated from Prussia, used to sing the carol in German. 

I have five pages left in the journal I created last January. I made the first piece on January 23, 2025. Right now I plan to create a few more pieces to complete the journal. Who says, the stitch journal year needs to end on December 31?  

This last week I read Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir by Natasha Trethewey. Trethewey is a former U.S. Poet Laureate. I have read and marveled at Trethewey's poetry and in fact once heard her read in person several years prior to the publication of this book. I knew of this memoir but never read it. I happened on it in a library display and brought it home. Generally poets write beautiful prose and this memoir is no exception. This story is the journey of Mother and Daughter navigating both joy and grief, dealing with the racism as well as the strong family relationships that supported both of them. Trethewey's mother was beautiful, intelligent, hard working, and courageous. She did her best to escape from an abusive relationship with Trethewey's step-father and in the end it cost her her life. At the time Trethewey was nineteen years of age. I suspect this memoir was terribly difficult to write but all the more reason it should be read. 

Last fall, I brought a Dragonwing begonia indoors. It sits in front of a southern facing walkout glass door in the basement. Ever since, it has been blooming it's little heart out but become quite leggy. Sunday I gave it a haircut and brought these blooms upstairs. They won't last long in water but they bring a bit of cheer to these January days. 

I am happy to report we are on the mend from a nasty respiratory virus. The older we get, the longer it takes to recover. Thank you for your well wishes. I hope you are staying well and warm. What are you up to these January days?

Gray January Day

Hello Gentle Readers. As I write this Tuesday morning, the sky is gray but the temperature, fifty degrees, still warm for January. For once, the wind is still. Three female cardinals perch in the ornamental pear tree on the parkway. Perhaps they enjoy the peace and quiet. A squirrel builds a drey in the upper limbs of the birch. I wish I had a way to tell her the tree is scheduled for trimming in March. 

A winter respiratory virus has come to our home. My husband has been miserable. For over two weeks I've dodged the germ but this a.m. I woke with a scratchy throat and stuffed up nose. My luck has run out. The good news is we don't have any pressing appointments or plans and he is finally on the mend. One of us can get out for groceries and other necessities.

Instead of winter germs, let's get onto the Wednesday post with Kat and the Unravelers. I am working on a major unraveling project. In 2024, I knit a colorwork yoke sweater. Every time I put it on, I took it off because it didn't fit well. The underarms were saggy baggy with extra fabric and the bottom flared. At first, I thought I'd wear it around the house but the yarn is too nice and too expensive, to be relegated to sweatshirt status. I love the soft gray color with flecks of darker blue. I don't know how it will look after re-skeining and washing, but I'm going to try. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. 

I finished the scrappy socks and they are tucked away for next Christmas season. Thank you for your kind comments. They kept me knitting to the finish line. Once I had the blue cardigan blocking, I knit exclusively on the socks. When I knit scrappy socks, I use a "weave in the ends as I go" method that I learned from a tutorial by Denise Santis, Earthtone Girls. So when they are finished, I just turn them inside out and clip off the ends. I've never had any trouble with yarns coming loose. 

In the meantime, I cast on a Sophie Hood using handspun held double with a strand of mohair to make a worsted to Aran weight. The fabric is lovely and the darker mohair matches the darkest shade in the handspun. The mohair also tones down the variegated handspun. I hope the combination of hood with shawl ends will be warm for walking and does less of a number on my hair. Anyway, I thought I'd give it a try. I don't think I can look any more comical when I walk so I'm going to try this hood. 

I'm listening to the novel, Theo of Golden by Allen Levi and sorry to be nearly at the end. The narrator is wonderful and the story superb. I'm a little late to this party but the premise of the novel is the power of kindness to change lives and/or make people feel better about themselves. The main character, Leo, is a mysterious elderly gentleman of eighty six years of age. The story contains beautiful descriptions of food, unlikely friendships, art, music, and the natural setting of a small southern town. Some might find the story a little too sweet but if ever there was a time and place for a book about creative kindnesses, that time is now. This is a book to lift the spirits and begin to restore one's faith in the human race. If you haven't read it, give it a try.  

I wish you all a good week. Stay healthy and safe. 

Ravelry Links

Scrappy Christmas Socks

Handspun Sophie Hood

Two Steps Forward, One Back

Hello Gentle Readers. I write on a morning of sunshine and blue skies. January is unseasonably warm and dry in southeast Nebraska though there is rain forecast for later this week. I continue to enjoy a flock of robins that travel around the neighborhood feeding on fruit from ornamental trees. Sunday the temperature was near fifty degrees, the wind blew a gale and the robins were twittering away in the trees. Honestly, it felt like March. 

Today is the day to link with Kat and the Unravelers. Sunday evening I finished the ribbing and bound off the body of the cardigan. The pattern calls for knitting the buttonband and neck finishing before knitting the sleeves. I've not encountered this previously but Isabel Kraemer is an experienced designer so she must have a reason. I will block the sweater before picking up stitches for the buttonband. I also need to decide on buttons so I know what size to make the buttonholes. For now, I'm following the pattern as written.

As for the sock, I ripped out a good three inches plus the heel. As I knit the foot, I kept tugging on the heel thinking it looked cattywampus. Don't ask me what happened except that I knit a shadow wrap short row heel that I've only knit one or twice. Somehow it skewed to one side. Thinking I could live with the mistake, I tried it on but it wasn't comfortable. In future, I will stick with the heel flap, turn, and gusset that I could knit in my sleep and fits. I'm sure you are as tired of these socks as I am. 

This week I read Fifteen Wild Decembers by Karen Powell. This historical fiction is the reimagining of the lives of the Brontë siblings. In this account, the first person narrator is Emily. The physical description of the landscape is well done. I also enjoyed the interactions between Charlotte, Emily, and Anne. Occasionally there is a reference to a storyline from one of their novels. Some felt contrived but were fun to come upon while reading. There is nothing new in this novel but I enjoyed thinking once again of the way in which these young writers challenged rigid expectations for women in their time and place. 

As we ease into January 2026, I wish you time to unwrap a winter sunset.