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?

Small Victories

Hello Gentle Readers. Here we are at the beginning of July. How is that possible? I'm hoping for a new beginning to summer. Thunderstorms over the last week brought needed rain. Lilies bloom around the neighborhood, although this morning I saw some variety of black-eyed susans or small sunflowers. I could have used the Flora Incognita App to identify them but instead I just enjoyed the brilliant yellow. I am getting closer to walking my usual longer morning route and celebrating that as a small victory. 

This Wednesday I link with Kat and the Unravelers to post about making and reading. Friday I finished a washcloth. I like KnitPicks Cotlin for a slightly lighter weight but easier on the hands yarn for washcloths. The pattern is Gramma's Dishcloth: Grandmother's Second Favorite. I like this pattern for the little tweaks that make it more symmetrical. A garter stitch wash cloth is not exciting. However, I knit this in three different medical settings. After one last appointment on Friday, I came home and finished up the last few rows. Using the last full skein of Cotlin in stash and finishing that cloth and my current medical appointments are small victories. Our making contains many a story. 

I chose more leftover sock yarn to knit another shortie sock. I used the cuff pattern from the Candy Floss socks. I knit the bottom of the arch in one by one ribbing as it snugs up the sock for walking. Although some would find it annoying, I don't mind the ribbing. The second sock will not match and may include some other scrap of solid blue.  

I frogged this shawl. The size/shape seemed awkward to me - too wide for a scarf and not large enough for a shawl. Every time I worked on it, I thought I don't like this project. The variegated yarn is a generous sized skein. I sort of wonder what it would like as a hitchhiker? Anyway, I wound up both yarns and they are back in stash. 

I am reading World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. This collection of essays is beautifully illustrated by Fumi Mini Nkamura. The author, a published poet, writes lyrical prose connecting flora and fauna with personal experience. It's a lovely book to dip in and out of on a hot summer day. I appreciate Nezhukumatathil's thoughtful writing and her perspective as a woman with heritage from India.   

My sister gave me a copy of Ten Poems About Birds edited by Katharine Towers. She bought it in a bookstore in Edinburgh and carried it home for me so it feels like a treasure. Included in the book, is Emily Dickinson's poem that begins "Hope is a thing with feathers." Mary recently wrote about hope as a muscle to be exercised. Finding and thinking about hope these days seems like more than a small victory. 

I leave you to celebrate small victories, one day at a time, like perhaps a rainbow at dawn (Monday, June 30 at 5:55 a.m. Lincoln, Nebraska, the western sky.)  I had never seen a rainbow at dawn. 

This and That

Hello Gentle Readers. I'm composing Tuesday afternoon, listening to gentle rain on the roof. After four or five days of high heat and high wind, Monday brought rain and slightly cooler temperatures. Rain is in the forecast until at least Friday. Thank goodness. By last Sunday evening, everything looked whipped and parched from the heat and wind. 

Tomorrow, Wednesday, we will have a new clothes dryer delivered and installed. Our trusty Maytag, purchased in 1990, made a grinding noise when turned on to dry. It also hasn't been drying efficiently. After we recovered from sticker shock and reading reviews, we purchased a new Maytag from a local appliance store. Over the years, we have had good service, repair work, and information from this store. We also bought an extended five year warranty available through the store. If we don't use it in five years, we can apply the price to another appliance.  

I plan to link with Kat and the Unravlers. My making feels a little scattered but I finished the shortie socks and have worn them. I need several baby gifts in the next few months so I knit one of my favorite baby hats. In hindsight, I wish I'd cast on 80 stitches instead of 72 because this one is a little small, definitely a newborn size. One of these babes is due in January so if it's a girl, she can wear it. 

I knit a little further on the royal blue shawl. The photos on this gray day make the yarn look darker than it is. The shawl is a peaceful knit but requires paying attention to a chart. I'm excited to get to the large side increasing panel with eyelets.  I cast this shawl on in March and barely got started before focusing on the red sweater. 

I read The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. I thoroughly enjoyed this epistolary novel. Several of you, including Bonny, recommended this book and you were so right. It's a quiet sort of novel written from the viewpoint of an older woman. She communicates with family, friends, foes, and even authors through her thoughtful letters. I loved her correspondence with Joan Didion. As I wrote to Kym, this week, The Correspondent reminds me of The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng. Although the two novels are set in different places and times, the main characters are older women looking back on their lives. Both had careers in the legal profession, sadness and tragedy in their lives, and find new friends as they age. In addition both women are facing the loss of their vision as they age. In other ways the novels are quite different. Although we know this, it comforts me to read of women from different cultures and areas of the world in different times portrayed with similar emotion and feelings.  

Today was my six-week post-op appointment with the surgeon. She told me I was healing well and regarding the repair, everything is as it should be. I still have a way to go to regain my strength and will be taking it easy but I am grateful for a good report. I am also grateful for your continued thoughts and well wishes. 

What are you knitting or making this summer?

A Red Sweater

Hello Gentle Readers.  Even though Summer Solstice is not for a few days, summer weather has arrived. Tuesday brought thunderstorms and the next few days promise to be hot. I walk a few blocks each morning. After dinner, we take a short walk. I do love the evening light of these June days. We are close to home these days but luckily my husband likes to run errands. I would like to feel stronger but all in good time. I was told to expect a six week recovery (about a week and a half to go) and as my wise daughter reminds me, that is not a date set in stone. The body heals in its own time. 

Today I will link with Kat and the Unravelers. The Red Forager Sweater is officially finished. My Type A personality prevailed and so I unraveled a wee bit on the larger sleeve and decreased down to 44 stitches. I did have to increase one stitch on the 43 stitch sleeve to get an even number for the ribbing. Those adjustments took very little time since the yarn was still attached to each sleeve. I'm pleased with this sweater and the way it fits. The mock cables running down the front, back, top of the sleeve, and two down the side are a nice detail and kept the knitting interesting. As I knit, I marked the row with the passed over stitch with a stitch marker so keeping track of the repeat wasn't a chore - at all. 

I pulled out an older shawl in progress and worked on it but don't have any recent photos. I find I'm wearing shortie socks around the house and could use another pair. I also wanted to try Earthtones Girl's method of helical sock knitting so I cast on a vanilla pair of socks with leftover pink variegated and a mini skein of lime green. My color choices don't really show the helical stripes as the pink is quite variegated but it has been fun to try this technique. I knew the lime green wouldn't stretch the length of the sock so I finished up with the variegated. I'm calling these the Crazy Half-Helical Shortie Socks. I linked the excellent tutorial by Denise DeSantis. 

My reading is a little slow these days. I'm almost finished with All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bingley. I am enjoying the art he chooses to describe as well as the way he brings visibility to the guards, a diverse group of people sometimes overlooked by museum visitors. Looking for an audiobook, I came upon Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom by the late John O'Donohue. This edition is read by O'Donohue's brother who has a beautiful Irish brogue. It has a slight Christian bent but is steeped in Celtic spirituality.  It wouldn't be for everyone and I don't know that I agree with everything in the book. However the poetry from many sources and O'Donohue's unique way of looking at the ancient and modern world are soothing to me these days.   

I hope you are finding something to soothe and enrich your spirits these days.  

 

Finding Beauty

Hello Gentle Readers. June is such a sweet month. A friend, now gone, once said to me, "never pass up the opportunity to see beauty." I think of her during the summer, the season she loved.

Lately I take two or three short walks a day.  These days, I am able to walk with more ease but proceed at a leisurely pace. Today I noticed the shadow of a fluttering butterfly on the sidewalk and looked up to find a yellow and black swallowtail disappear among tree leaves. I don't know that I would have noticed that flitting shadow had I been walking at my usual fitness speed.  

Wednesday is the day to link with Kat and the Unravelers. It's always fun to see what others are making and creating. I have an almost finished sweater. After knitting each sleeve, I tucked the ball of yarn into the sleeve so it was out of the way. Flipping those back and forth was comical. Later today I will bind off the neck ribbing. Both sleeves are on waste yarn. After blocking the sweater, I will check the sleeve length, make adjustments, and then knit the cuffs. I faithfully counted and marked rows between decreases on each sleeve. When I got to the bottom of the second sleeve, it had 46 stitches. Just for fun I counted the remaining stitches on the other sleeves and found it had 43 stitches. I was shooting for 44 stitches. Egad. I'm chalking the discrepancy up to recovery knitting on pain medication. If every knitted item tells a story, this one could be a book. 

I knit to the halfway mark on this shawl.  After knitting as far as possible with the rose colored skein, I attached the second one. Now every other row decreases. Although I increased during two more repeats than the pattern suggested, the shawl looks a little skimpy to me. Since the yarns are superwash wools, I hope the piece blocks out a bit larger. Time will tell. The colorway name of the variegated skein is Prairie Flower and it is pretty. 

I'm reading  All The Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley.  What I know about art and art history wouldn't fill a thimble so I am enjoying this peek into the art world. Growing up I was always more interested in music. This memoir is an account of the author's time at The Met as a guard. In that position, he had access to the behind the scenes spaces as well as the magnificent artwork and artifacts. The back of the print version has a list of artworks mentioned and ways to access most images online. There are also some illustrations included in the text. I've visited the museum once and would love to return one day. 

Have a good week. May you encounter June's beauty during the days. 

Slowly but Surely

Hello Gentle Readers. As I write on Tuesday, steady rain falls. The ground is drinking up the moisture in preparation for the hot summer. The past weekend was warm and sunny encouraging flowers and weeds to grow. Prior to surgery I weeded thoroughly but it's going to be a while before I can do that again. The yard is naturalizing this year. I thank you all for your good wishes for recovery. Slowly but surely I'm gaining strength, alternating plenty of rest with gentle walking, stitching or knitting, reading, and light household activities. 

I'll post this on Wednesday and link with Kat and the Unravelers. I finished a pair of scrappy socks that loosely follow a pattern called Cold Brew Socks. I like the slip-stich pattern that gives interest but doesn't tie me to a chart. Sunday I looked at the Forager sweater and decided I needed to rework the sleeve decreases as my sleeve length needs to be shorter than the pattern measurement. I calculated a different spacing for the decreases, ripped out three or so inches and am back to where I started. This time I listened to the voice in my head that says, "this doesn't look right." I also knit on this shawl. 

I continue to add pages to a Stitch Journal. During April, I used the feather stitch to create a poem in honor of National Poetry Month. I liked the connection between a quill pen with a feather and the feather stitch. I'm also intrigued by the shapes of poems and the spaces between words and lines. Possibilities exist in the spaces. The camera overemphasized the weave of the linen fabric.

For Mother's Day, I stitched a fabric collage that includes a piece of my Gram's apron (the pink with the bias tape), a scrap from a quilt my Mom made, another leftover bit from the bridesmaids dresses in my daughter's wedding, and a small heart of fabric I used to make an apron for my granddaughter. I also included a piece from my quilting days. I did my best with the lighting on this rainy day. 

I read The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin. This month's selection of my local group is the story of an unlikely friendship between a seventeen year old Lenni and eighty three year old Margot. Because seventeen and eighty three add up to one hundred, the two women tell each other the stories of their lives while creating art to represent the events. Although both characters are hospitalized with a terminal illness, the story is a celebration of friendship, happiness, loss, and life. It's about living life with grace and humor in spite of circumstances. I enjoyed the novel. 

I wish you a good week with sunny June days ahead.