Spinning and Stitching

Hello Gentle Readers.  The dog days of August have arrived. The tomato vines are withering and  the cherry tomatoes, although prolific, get smaller each time I harvest. Early Monday morning we had a shower. Since I was out fairly early, I walked a longer distance to pass by a yard that is mostly a rose garden. Rose bushes of all varieties surround the sidewalk around the corner lot. Hostas grow in the shady parkway and there are a few hibiscus plants here and there. There are some kitschy garden ornaments that don't appeal to me but the roses are the story. When I stopped to take a photo, the scent wafted from the blossoms. Raindrops on roses are a nice consolation on a warm morning. I said a silent thank you to those who foster gardens.   

This Wednesday I join Kat and the Unravelers for updates on making and reading. Earlier this month, I finished spinning the second of two braids of Targhee wool from Greenwood Fiberworks. I spun 900 yards into a two-ply sport weight yarn. Honestly, this summer I planned to find a spinning class to learn some new techniques but that was before summer had other plans for me. 

In July, I read The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer. We have a small Serviceberry in our backyard. The fruit on our tree is hard and I don't think it is the same variety Kimmerer describes but the birds do love it. The berries are always gone by the first of July. I traced a leaf from the tree to create this little piece. 

The second piece is the traditional beginning of Grandmother's Flower Garden sewed with the English Paper Piecing method. I am pleased with this little flower but I found it fiddly and didn't enjoy making it. Now I have tried it and can admire the work done by others but it's not for me. The little piece of selvedge on the print in the corner says "Garden Party." It has been in my sewing basket for quite some time and I think it belongs here. 

I am so glad Mary suggested A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr. The main character, an Englishman, is looking back at the summer of 1920 when he worked to uncover and restore a large medieval painting/mural on the wall of a small village church. The solitary work and the summer helped him heal from his experiences as a soldier in the trenches. The reader gets to know a small cast of characters who are quirky but mostly kind to each other. The book is short but full of lyrical the prose. I found the reading quiet and peaceful, reminiscent of the writing of Claire Keegan. 

I hope your stitching and reading is treating you well, perhaps bringing some peaceful moments to your days. 

Serviceberry Leaves and Fruit

    

Mid August

Hello Gentle Readers. Today is the first day of school in our local public schools. In spite of state and national funding cuts, Lincoln has a robust school system that welcomes all the children. I am proud to have taught in a system where the governing principle was/is "All means All." The first day is a day of hope and new beginnings. This morning I walked as parents and caregivers shepherded children to the nearby elementary school. Two little boys ran to each corner, shouting in excitement to their friends. I wish the administrators, teachers, parents, and students the best learning experiences this year. I plan to sharpen some new pencils in honor of the day. 

This morning was pleasant and sunny but the rest of the week will be hot hot. The aftermath of last weekend's storms, one with 90 mph winds, is being cleaned up and power has been restored. We did not lose power or have significant damage but others were not so fortunate. Saturday we spent several hours cleaning up a mess of large and small branches.  

Today I link with Kat and the Unravelers for a Wednesday update on projects and reading. I finished and blocked the Blue Shawl.  It is lovely, if I do say so myself. The yarn, a sport weight blend of alpaca, wool, nylon, and silk is perfect for a shawl. The fabric is light and soft.  I'm making progress on the second sock of this Garden Sprinkles pair. 

I cast on another scarf/shawl with a mini skein set from Fibernymph Dye Works. I love the colors in this set. Last year I tried to a make cowl with this set but the pattern didn't suit the yarn. I'm now using a pattern called the Mini Skeins Solution Scarf. I hope it is a good solution for this yarn. I have a couple of sock yarn leftovers that coordinate with the colors should I need them. 

I read The Salt Stones: Seasons of a Shepherd's Life by Helen Whybrow. Whybrow's writing reminded me of Terry Tempest Williams' work. Whybrow and her partner had the opportunity to farm a two hundred year old Vermont farm dedicated to a pastoral way of life. Part of their work involves fostering programs about living and farming respectfully on the land. Her thoughtful observations about the hardships and gritty realities of shepherding a small flock of sheep of Icelandic Sheep are only part of this lyrical nonfiction. The theme of mothers and daughters, human and sheep, weaves it's way through the narrative. The passages about navigating her mother's decline into dementia while ushering her daughter through early years and into her young adult life are very touching. I thought this book was a breath of fresh air amidst the current mono-crop agriculture that includes mass production of animals and fowl fed a diet of grain laced with antibiotics and other chemicals. The book may not be for everyone but I found it beautiful and peaceful. 

I'll close by wishing you a peaceful rest of the week. August is almost half-way over and while I don't like to wish my life away, I am looking forward to at least thinking of cooler days.    

Finished, Not Finished

Hello Gentle Readers. August began with several cool days and hazy skies. Smoke from the Canadian wild fires drifts south. This morning I woke in a dark room and could hear the wind rising.  A thunderstorm blew through bringing brief but heavy rain. When the rain stopped, I put on a jacket and went for a walk.  I know there is plenty of summer weather ahead but this morning there was a touch of fall in the air. I noticed an oak full of acorns and there is one large maple with the slightest streak of dark red. 

Today I'm linking with Kat and the Unravelers. I finished the little Flower Garden Quilt. I began playing around with the pieced flower garden blocks last August at this same time. I appliquéd the blocks last summer. Sometime in March, I pieced the top. In May I marked the top, basted the quilt sandwich together, and began hand quilting. Making this piece brought me a great deal of joy. You might ask why the pink flowers have a different orientation than the others. I can't recall if I planned to do that or not. I made this quilt to honor the work of an unknown (to me) maker and for fun. Mission accomplished. The leaf motif quilted in the sashing shows up better on some prints than others but again, I enjoyed the hand quilting. 

I have been knitting away on this shawl. I added two extra repeats (20 rows per repeat) to make a good size shawl and because I had plenty of yarn. I was so close to finishing the knitting yesterday but thought it best to give up at 10:00 p.m. This evening I hope to knit the border. I've enjoyed it but the last few repeats felt like a slog. 

The shawl will forever remind me of The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny. I mostly listened to the novel while I knitted my way to recovery. My husband was given a hard copy so a time or two I resorted to it when I wanted to find out what happened next or fell asleep during the audio. The new narrator took getting used to but he was ok. This wasn't my favorite Gamache book. I missed the Three Pines characters, Clara, Merna, Ruth, the owners of the Bistro. In this book, they had only cameo appearances. The technique using repetition of words (ringing, ringing, ringing) to build suspense was overused. Though, nineteen books in a series is quite a feat and they probably can't all be four star reads. 

I'm reading Where Hope Comes From by Nikita Gill. Many of the poems were written in response to the pandemic. I must not have read the blurbs that connected this volume to Covid 19. Still, many of these quiet wonderful poems have a universal application to other difficult times. Gill has beautifully illustrated the book with her drawings and art. What a talented woman. 

I'm late to post today. Yesterday morning my husband had carpal tunnel surgery that went well. We spent a quiet day as he rested and I filled ice bags, kept track of meds, and knitted on the blue shawl. This time I was the responsible upright adult for 24 hours. As surgeries go, this one was a breeze. Picking up the prescription for pain medication from the pharmacy took longer than the procedure. It's been a bit of a spring and summer for us so we are looking forward to a break in the medical action. Once again we thankful for good medical care. 

I hope you are easing into August and enjoying the last of the summer.  

Ravelry Link

Blue Shawl

Summer Gardens

Hello Gentle Readers. July winds down with high heat and humidity.  As my Grandad used to tell me, "this is tomato growing weather." This year we planted one cherry, one Juliet - a small Roma, and one plant that produces medium sized fruit. Between the tomatoes and watermelon from a corner stand, we are getting plenty of lycopene.

In the pollinator garden, the butterfly bush blooms around a volunteer coneflower. A few yellow coreopsis bob in the sun. The lavender fades. I have seen only a handful of butterflies this year although the bumble bees thrive. 

Today's post is linked with Kat and the Unravelers. I am hand quilting this little quilt. It may seem odd to have a quilt on my lap in the summer but as an educator, I often used the less busy time to plan and sew. My sewing machine and the table for projects are on the edge of a large finished room in the walk-out basement. It's a cool well lighted place to work on a hot summer day. Previously I posted about this quilt here and here. I am making good progress. I have two blocks as well as some pain-in-the-neck sashing to quilt and then I'll attach the binding. 

I bent the rules on this quilt. I don't know anything about the maker of the flower garden blocks. I picked them up somewhere, either at a garage sale or in a second hand shop. They are neatly pieced and lay flat but the seam allowance was almost 1/8 of an inch. I used a blanket stitch along the raw edges to applique´ the blocks to muslin squares. There is no outside border because I used fabrics I had on hand. I am hand quilting it without a hoop so it's going to have a slightly puffier surface. I don't know whether I like that or not.  

Under the category of "What was I thinking?" I am quilting a twining ivy motif in the sashing. I had the template and thought it a nice compliment to the flowers but it can't be stitched in one continuous line. There is quite a bit of beginning and ending of the quilting thread, unlike the motif just above the template. Once quilted, it doesn't show on some of the sashing prints. In the beginning it was pain in the neck to stitch but I've learned to enjoy the stitching. I do love hand quilting and it's never too late to learn something about one's work. This is a quilt meant to feature the flower garden blocks and won't be used on a bed so it is a nice summer project.  

I am reading Read Until You Understand: The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature by Farah Jasmine Griffin. In this book Griffin shares her understanding of the writing and music of her community. This nonfiction is organized around themes of mercy, justice, love, beauty, anger, and grace. In a rich thought provoking discussion, Griffin explores those themes from the viewpoint of the community as well as the literature. The memoir portions trace the legacy from her parents and family as well as the gift of her father's love of literature. He died when she was nine years old. Griffin is the inaugural chair of the African American and African Diaspora Studies Department and a professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. I hope she continues in these positions. She writes beautifully and makes elegant connections. If you seek to better understand the work of Toni Morrison, Phillis Wheatley, Fredrick Douglass or any other black artist, this would be a book to read. While some works she discusses are familiar to me, others are not. 

I'll leave you with a photo of a sweet little bouquet. I managed to find some flowers among the very weedy strip of perennial flowers. I hope you have a good week and see some flowers among the weeds. 

    

Mid Summer

Hello Gentle Readers. Mid summer arrives with very hot days and warm nights. This morning the sun is bright and a stiff breeze blows. My sister drove over yesterday. We visited, shared our knitting projects, and went out to lunch. She brought a scrapbook and photo album that my Mom made during her nurses training in 1944 - 1947. The young nursing students look so fresh and earnest in their striped uniforms and starched white caps. When they were not working on the floors or studying, they had fun. There were some cute photos of young women in dorm rooms as well as a few when they dressed up for a dance. We very much enjoyed our time together. 

Today I join Kat and the Unravelers. This week I made progress on two knitting projects, a shawl and a pair of socks. I'm not thrilled with the clover eyelets in the body of the shawl. The spaces are not equal in size. There is a tip in the pattern to correct this but it hasn't helped much. Since I have completed five of nine repeats in the body, I'm going to continue executing the stitch motif in the same way. At least the unevenness will be consistent. Blocking may (the operative word) help some. I enjoy working on the shawl but do have to refer to the chart. This is not late night knitting. When I get tired I switch to the socks. The first sock now has a leg, a heel flap and gusset.

I continue to be amazed at Kate Davies writing and story in Handywoman. Last night I read the essay about knitting and how, after her stroke at thirty-six years of age, knitting and the knitting community supported her. During her recovery, she began to imagine a career as a knitting designer. She also wrote about her early academic work. Rather than condemning domesticity or looking at domestic skills as separate from women's political views, she looked for connections between the pen and the needle. If I can find it, I'd like to read some of her academic work. 

I'm very late to this party but I'm listening to The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny because it was available on Libby. Reviews of this book are mixed. I'm approaching it with an open mind and enjoying it as an audio backdrop for indoor chores and making. If I recall correctly, it ends with a cliff hanger and that is not my favorite thing in a mystery series. Penny also introduces the new narrator. He does a good enough job but it is a change. 

I hope you are staying cool in the Northern Hemisphere and warm in the Southern Hemisphere. I don't love the heat and humidity but so we are eating cold salads and fresh fruit. Today I plan to make a main dish salad of Farro, garden tomatoes and a cucumber from my neighbor. The salad requires other ingredients so I'm off to see what I have and what I might substitute without going out to the store. 

This hybrid hydrangea grows along my walking route. Isn't it pretty?

Ravelry Links

Blue (Foggy Dew) Shawl 

Garden Sprinkles Socks

Summer Knitting

Hello Gentle Readers. Here we are in mid-July and summer knitting. I harvested a few cherry tomatoes and am impatiently waiting for the other two plants to produce sun ripened tomatoes. Weeds and crabgrass thrive. Although I am mostly recovered, I am not ready to risk pulling, yanking, and hoeing to remove the weeds. For now they are green ground cover. 

On my morning walk, I pass the prettiest Rose of Sharon with soft pink blossoms as well as a stand of Blackberry Lilies. According to the linked website the lilies can be invasive, but in that berm they appear to be contained and their orange freckled faces are charming. Last Fall, I noted the clusters of dark seed pods that give them their name so it is fun to see the flowering plants.

Today's post will be linked with Kat and the Unravelers. This week I worked on two knitting projects and also did some spinning. I don't have any photos of the spinning but it is nice to be back at the wheel. I finished the shortie socks last week. On this pair, I knit 20 rows of one by one ribbing on the bottom of the foot to snug up the arch. I knit socks on two circulars so I put the top arch stitches on one circular and knit the ribbing of the sole stitches on a size smaller needle. My tension tends to be slightly loose so this worked well for me. I have walked in these socks and like the snug fit. 

In my mind, summer and sock knitting go together so I cast on another pair using the Garden Sprinkles pattern. These will be a Christmas gift. 

I worked on this shawl and found a rhythm that went well with an audiobook mystery. Some nights the project is a little warm. Usually if I drape if off to one side of my lap, I enjoy the knitting. If I knit ten or more rows each day, I'll finish before too long. And of course, if one knits on the same thing, one finishes an item. Funny how that works. 

I am reading Handywoman: A Creative Life Post Stroke by knitting designer Kate Davies. The essays in this memoir are well written and fascinating. At age 36, Davies suffered a major stroke. This book is the story of the life experiences that shaped her recovery, a change in lifestyle and career as well as her view on disability. I had no idea that she began her career as an academic and then pivoted to knitting and yarn design. I loved the first essay about growing up in a creative working class family and those influences on her. The essay about the stroke, the misdiagnosis for 24 hours, and attitudes of care givers toward women with possible mental health issues is not a surprise but enlightening. Her response to all of this is more than admirable. Available copies of the book were more than I wanted to pay. Since my local library system did not own the book, I requested it via Interlibrary Loan. What would we do without the library systems?

I hope your summer knitting and/or making projects are treating you well and you are finding bits of joy in these summer days. 

Ravelry Links

Shortie Socks   

Garden Sprinkle Socks

Blue Shawl (The Foggy Dew Shawl) 

Blackberry Lily Flower

Summer Stitching

Hello Gentle Readers. Monday evening around 11:00 p.m., a thunderstorm rolled through. My first thought was, "darn this storm for keeping me awake." Then I regained my senses. July is a very dry month on the prairie so a gentle thunderstorm or three is a gift.  Resting and listening to the rumbling thunder and the rain in the dark was lovely. Rest is essential and often enough. 

Kat is not posting this week and I wish her well. This week I am writing about recent stitch journal pages. When I began I wondered if I could keep up with two pages per month but I continue to enjoy the process of adapting ideas from others and creating some of my mine.

 The end of May and into June, iris bloomed. The flowers remind me of my sister and my grandmother so I downloaded a pattern and stitched one using a new-to-me stitch called the "split back stitch." I enjoyed the stitch and the finished result. In Greek mythology, Iris was the goddess of the rainbow. According to some sources, an iris is symbolic of faith hope, wisdom, courage, divine guidance, and strength. These ideas are a lot for an iris to carry when one considers the fragile nature of the petals. 

Next up was the piece much like one from k3n Cloth Tales, inspired by kintsugi, the Japanese art of mending pottery with lacquer mixed with gold powder. I entered a verse from the Leonard Cohen poem, "Anthem". I rather like the "backstory" of the piece as well as the front. 

I continued the theme of mending by patching a piece of old tea towel with raw-edge applique and mending an old cloth napkin piece with a yellow darn. I stitched the worn out piece of cloth napkin down with blanket stitch because I like the rhythm of that stitch. The phrases that accompany this piece, are "healing through mending" and "It's never too late to mend." This journal has become an interesting way to record this year. 

This week I read Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks. I found Brooks' look at grief after husband's death honest, moving, and beautifully written. She thoughtfully examines her own feelings as well as the institutional trappings of sudden death in America. I'm waiting on some holds to come in from the library. We all know that is feast or famine. 

What are you reading this summer?