August Stitches

Hello Gentle Readers. August heat continues to ripen tomatoes while the vines wither. The coneflower petals fade but the vibrant zinnias attract monarchs and a black swallowtail butterfly. Butterflies are remarkable for their resilience and beauty. When I've been out evenings to stroll around the block, the cicada chorus accompanies slightly earlier sunsets. Back in the day, when their rasping became deafening, my Grandad used to remark, "six weeks to the first frost." Growing up on a farm in the early 1900's, he learned to read the natural world. 

Today is the first day of school for public school kindergarteners, sixth graders, and ninth graders. The first year students in the buildings have a day to adjust before all students are in attendance. Maybe because I was a teacher and a mom, the start of a school year feels like a big milestone. Last evening while walking, I spoke to a kindergarten teacher returning from Open House. She was full of enthusiasm and empathy for her little students. She is one of many excellent teachers who have been hard at work, preparing for the school year. I wish the teachers and the youngsters well. 

Today I link with Kat and the Unravelers for posts about making and reading. I enjoy stitching on this little notions-sized pouch. The four squares in the bottom right square were from a long strip of cloth. Otherwise I've worked with the scraps as they present and with two strands of embroidery floss. I don't pre-mark patterns and sometimes I go back to a square and add stitching. I've noticed that I like some open space. 

Sunday I finished the body of the Avenue Vest. When it dries from wet blocking, I'll pick up and knit the neckline and the armhole ribbing. I'm pleased with the way it came out. Meanwhile, I made some progress on the foot of the first Sea Glass sock. 

I reread an older book of poetry, Lost in Seward County by Marjorie Saiser, published in 2001. The cover art is by a local artist, Hilda Raz. Seward County is adjacent to Lancaster County where I live. While reading the title poem I pictured the roads Saiser describes as she drives to visit "Ted." I assume she refers to Ted Kooser who lives in rural Seward County. Some of the poems in this book are quite long but I enjoyed their short story like quality. They also give the book a different kind of rhythm. One of my favorites from this volume is "My Old Aunts Play Canasta in a Snowstorm." The last line, "deal, sister, deal" is the perfect conclusion to the poem. 

So I best freeze some tomato puree and find a cool indoor space to walk. I'd rather be outside but even the mornings are too humid and hot for me. I wish you a good week.

True Colors

Hello Gentle Readers. As I write, the sky is overcast and the temperature is a balmy seventy seven degrees. Thunderstorms are in the forecast but as usual we can use the moisture. The more temperate summer weather is a welcome relief from the heat. I'm up to my elbows in fresh tomatoes but am not complaining. Garden ripened tomatoes are so good. The black-eyed susans self-seeded to create a bank of flowers against the shed. They grow where nothing else will. The zinnias that survived the rabbits bloom brightly. Monday a monarch flitted among them. A male goldfinch bobbed on and off the coneflowers. The vivid summer colors lift my heart.

Today I link with Kat and the Unravelers to post about knitting and reading. I made good progress on the Avenue Vest with three more inches of knitting to finish the body. I photographed it outdoors in order to capture the subtle tonal quality of the yarn. I'll write more about the pattern, yarn, and fit when the vest is finished.

Please excuse the gardening hands.

In between, I picked up a sock that began in the airport on the day of our attempted June trip. The little detail on the side of the leg is supposed to look like a bow-tie. It's fun and easy to knit. The pattern calls for the motif to be knit on both sides of a shortie sock. I chose to make a full sized sock and knit the motif down only the outside of the leg. The pattern is free, well written, and comes with several photo tutorials. The way Lisa of Fibernymph Dye Works matched the colors of the Sea Glass stripes to real sea glass is remarkable. 

I reread Love Forms by Claire Adam because it is the August selection for my local book group. The novel is a meandering story of a middle-aged woman trying to come to terms with her traumatic teen-age pregnancy. At the same time she is looking for the daughter she gave away at birth. The ramifications of that pregnancy and birth echo through all of her life. I predict we will have an interesting discussion because the pacing is slow and some readers may find the detailed description superfluous. Although, if the narrator is telling this story to her lost daughter, all the detail might be relevant. I can think of other reasons the details might be included. Even though I like a slow quiet story, I enjoyed the novel less the second time through. Still I think the novel warrants reading and discussion. A traumatic teenage pregnancy and birth have long-lasting effects that aren't always considered in public policy discussions. 

And so, I hope you too are experiencing vibrant colors of the season. Happy August. 

Ravelry Links

Avenue Vest

Bowtie Beach Glass

July's End

Hello Gentle Readers. As July winds down, the fresh vegetables and fruits are abundant. Sunday I made seven 8 ounce jars of ginger peach jam. Colorado peaches arrived in the grocery stores and they are delicious. Running the canner on a very hot day wasn't the smartest idea but one must strike when the peaches are ripe. I use a stand-alone (water bath) electric canner that is more efficient than the blue enamel variety on the stovetop. Fresh stone fruit and melons as well as garden vegetables are one of the best parts of summer. Monday evening, after being indoors all day, I ventured out in the 90 degree heat. At 7:30 p.m. not a creature or a breath of air stirred. It was as quiet as a winter evening. I walked down one side of our short street, back up the other, and came in for a glass of ginger iced tea. A dilly of a thunderstorm blew through about 2:00 a.m. slightly lowering the temperature but raising the humidity.

Today I'll link with Kat and the Unravelers where we share our making and reading. I'm happy to report the Gemma shawl is finished and blocked. I love the soft shade of blue and the generous size. The yarn, a blend of wool, alpaca, and linen/flax is interesting. In one skein, the linen/flax fiber poked out of the yarn enough that I sometimes pulled out two to three inch strands of fiber. The other skein didn't have nearly as much as that happening. I used two full skeins and broke into a third skein to knit the last six rows of garter stitch. Mostly I didn't want to rip back sixteen rows of the body and twenty four rows of patterned border to get to the place where I could knit both borders with the second skein. In other words, I lost a soft game of yarn chicken. No chickens or skeins were harmed though. 

Once the shawl was blocking, I picked up the Avenue Vest. The stockinette edges curl so I'll block it before picking up and knitting armhole and neckline ribbing. After joining the front and back, I tried it on and am happy with the fit. Blocking may add a little more ease but that will be fine. 

This week I listened to Wild Girls by Tiya Miles, the Michael Garvey Professor of History at Harvard University. I have read other books by Miles and admired her research methods, insights, and writing. She is the author of five prize winning works of nonfiction. This book, published in 2024, is a lyrical, concise, and thoughtful inclusive history about how the outdoors and physical activity shaped the views and ideas of girls of all races. By examining the historical record about Louisa M. Alcott, Harriet Tubman, and Sacajewea as well as lesser known (at least to me) activists including Gertrude Bonnin and Grace Lee Boggs, Miles connects the influence of landscape and/or physical activity to the independence, action, and resilience of the women. I learned things never taught in my history classes.  Of particular mention, is the text devoted to girls' basketball team at a Montana boarding school for Indigenous children. In the conclusion and epilogue, Miles links ideas in the book to the current inequities in green spaces and tree canopies and what that means for families and youngsters today. I'm not sure how I happened onto this book but I found it fascinating.

I began July posts with homemade bread so I'll end with dessert, a peach cobbler.  Excuse the ratty potholders in the background. They have been well used and loved. 

Stay cool and safe in the summer weather. 

Ravelry Links

Soft Gemma Shawl

Avenue Vest

 

Almost

Hello Gentle Readers. Tuesday morning a north wind blew in a few days respite from extreme heat. Mercy but the days have been hot and the nights stay warm. As my Granddad used to say, "this is tomato growing weather." A squirrel got the first full size tomato but unless there is a natural disaster there will be plenty. We are almost to fresh tomato sandwiches. Last night I made a pasta salad with cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, chopped parsley and basil from the garden. I added some chopped bell pepper, a can of chickpeas, and feta. Then I dressed it with a honey mustard vinaigrette and we ate it with watermelon.  

Today I link with Kat and the Unravelers. I'm now knitting on the shawl border. Six rows of pattern and six rows of garter stitch remain before I can bind it off and give it a bath. The rows are long. Thank goodness I can bundle it off my lap and onto the love seat while knitting. I am also almost finished with the second bobbin of my current spinning project.

I missed slow stitching and remembered Kat's stitching project with a grid of squares. Katherine of K3nCloth Tales did a similar project incorporating small scraps of cloth. This will not be a daily stitching practice but perhaps become a pouch for hand sewing notions. I marked separate grids on a piece of muslin. Then I basted flannel to the back of muslin, and couched fingering weight yarn to mark one of three grids. In my previous quilting life, I threw out tiny scraps. Last year I saved small bits while working on the Stitch Journal. The challenge in this project is to choose small pieces at random and then stitch around them. The blue piece reminded me of the Dresden Plate quilt block so I stitched it into the corner and added the embroidery on either side. I pinned the other two pieces on to audition them. So much for completely random. I am what I am. This is a "for fun" project so any rules are just guidelines.

Earlier this morning I did something I rarely do. I sat down with a cup of tea and savored the last few pages of Whistler by Ann Patchett. Publicity and information about this novel is everywhere, as it should be. It's a tender sweet story about human connection, impermanence, and kindness in the face of imperfection. The writing is lovely. Every word is well chosen and well placed. I enjoyed all of it; setting, character development, plot, themes, subtle connection to the writing and publishing world, and Patchett's ability to wander around in time with clarity. It's a welcome respite from our troubled world and a novel worth rereading. 

My July garden beds are wild and leggy.  Earlier in the summer, I found what I thought was a weed growing in my pollinator garden. I left it after a plant app identified it as wild bergamot, also known as bee balm. Now it blooms and feeds the bees and butterflies. It is also part of the mint family so will need to be kept in check. I'm off to make a grocery list and hope the prices haven't gone up - again.  I wish you at least one pleasant surprise this week.

 

Summer Days

Hello Gentle Readers. Greetings on this summery summer day. While the hot July sun shines on the flower beds and vegetable patch, the flax and the larkspur go to seed. The cucumber vines ramble out of their space to climb a tomato cage and twine around zinnias. Maybe the raspy cucumber leaves will keep the bunnies out of the zinnias. I've harvested a few cherry tomatoes and Juliets, a small Roma tomato that is generally prolific. The two other tomato plants are full of green fruit. Yesterday I canned eight half-pint jars of bread and butter pickles and made one quart jar of refrigerator dill pickle spears. "Basil bombs" are next on my list. Last night I watered and so it goes. 

Eventually today I will link with Kat and the Unravelers to post about making and reading. We are updating a bathroom and the washing machine repairman is due here sometime today. In between, I continue to work on two knitting projects. I am ready to finish the shawl in the photo. I have a third skein of yarn but am hoping not to need it. Time and stitches will tell.

I made some progress on the Avenue Vest. It's been a while since I knit on size 7 needles but I'm enjoying the shaping. I really do want to finish the shawl so will focus on it for a week or so and see what happens. Sometime if I knit on something, I can finish it. Funny how that happens. 

As for book notes, I reread two books on my shelf.  The Woman in the Moon, poetry by Marjorie Saiser, was lovely. As Saiser notices and records the world, she reminds me, "In the dark times there will be singing"  (Saiser, M. The Woman in the Moon, Backwaters Press, 2018, p. 54) I loved the metaphor in the title poem. [She - the moon]  has dimples and doesn't care. She "has paled and doesn't mind that she has put her gold away." (Ibid. p. 42- 43) I enjoyed every poem in the book.

I read The Magnificent Spinster, published in 1985, by writer and poet, May Sarton. I first read this novel in the 1990's when I was a fan of her nonfiction journals. The main character, a beloved teacher, is loosely based on Anne Longfellow Thorp, the granddaughter of Longfellow, that Sarton knew. In the novel, she skims the surface of all kinds of relationships between strong women. Perhaps in another time she would have written more honestly about homosexuality and identity, creating a stronger story. In addition, the book could have been edited in order to avoid repetition and a trite New England-y kind of story. The times are different so my judgement may not be fair. 

Sarton published and sold a lot of novels, nonfiction journals, and some poetry but was never pleased with the critical reception of her work, especially poetry. A biography of Sarton noted she was mercurial and didn't work well with editors. Maybe her work would have been better if she had been able to work cooperatively with her editors. Who knows, maybe she just couldn't find the right editor. After reading the biography, I felt I had been duped by the image she presented in her published "journal" series and so I gave them away. Now this novel and the biography no longer need to be on my bookshelf. I don't plan to read them again. I enjoyed her work when I read it but I'm a different reader these days and my bookshelves hold plenty of other books to reread.

What are you reading or rereading these summer days?

Late afternoon and the repairman has come and gone. After seven years of use, replacing our washer is more economical than repairing it. No wonder the planet is in peril. More poetry and perhaps a song is in order this evening. 

Early July

Hello Gentle Readers. Summer days have arrived. Green tomatoes are setting on the vines and a few cherry tomatoes turn from orange to red. They are smaller than I like, especially for the first ones, but they taste like home grown tomatoes. On the 4th, I harvested the first three cucumbers. I replanted cucumber seeds several times and now the vines are going wild. If we can keep everything watered as the temperatures soar to 100 degrees, we should have plenty of tomatoes and cucumbers. 

Today I link with Kat and the Unravelers to post about making and reading. Our son, Aaron, is visiting this week. He has remote work obligations but having him here from Texas is delightful. He loves cooking so it is fun to be in the kitchen together. He brought his small flour mill as well as wheat and rye berries. Saturday he ground fresh flour and made bread dough. He left me in charge of the rising. We thought one pan would be enough but it was not. When the dough overflowed the bread pan, I divided it and set it to rise a third time. Leaving your mother in charge of an unknown recipe is a risk but disaster was averted and the bread was delicious. That evening we used tomatoes from his garden and fresh bread in BLT sandwiches. I cut up watermelon from a local produce stand and we had snickerdoodles for dessert. It was a perfect meal for the 4th of July. 

At some point I wrote about this small piece of patchwork. A month ago, I finished the piecing and quilted three circles and diagonal lines with two strands of embroidery floss. Then I made it into a pillow. 

As for other making, I'm knitting away on the shawl. I'm close to the border and the rows are long. This odd piece of knitting is a second try with the Avenue Vest. Interesting construction and size seven needles make the knitting go quickly. The fabric I'm getting with this yarn and needle size is soft and made me wonder if the deep V-neck would flop open and not lay flat. I decided to knit the round neck. Let's hope the vest fits. It's all an experiment but it's only yarn. 

This week I read Hot Chocolate on a Thursday by Michiko Aoyama. This gentle book is almost a collection of short stories. Having a minor character from each previous story become the main character for the next provides the structure. Setting, either Japan or Sydney, Australia and sometime both also provides continuity. At first, the stories felt a little too sweet but as I read I appreciated the theme of how easily misunderstanding leads to misconception and hurt feelings. Conversely the author used small moments to convey the power of kindness offered to others. What seemed like a simple story left me wondering what could happen if more of us, myself included, were willing to let go of slights and hurts and see the viewpoint of each other. This fiction isn't great literature but a sweet story of possibility in everyday lives. I also enjoyed the references to cherry blossoms of Japan and jacaranda flowers in Australia.  

Just as an aside, thinking about the differences in structure and management of characters in Aoyama's book as compared to that of Good People by Patmeena Sabit (the Read With Us Selection in June) was an interesting exercise. The authors handled those two devices differently and of course the storylines are quite different but it gave me food for thought. 

I can't show you cherry blossoms but my neighbor has a beautiful stand of cone flowers in an area adjacent to the street. I hope you are finding beauty in this summer season. (Or in the Southern Hemisphere - the winter season.)

Ravelry Link

Avenue Vest

  

Where Was I?

 

Hello Gentle Readers. The end of June brings hot summer weather. Although the gusty wind, dries out the garden beds, it is a godsend when walking in this heat. If I am not out of the door by 9:00 a.m., I don't walk very far. Were you able to watch the full moon rise on Monday evening? The strawberry moon of June is my favorite. That night the faint hint of pink in the moon and reflected light was surrounded by wisps of clouds against the dark sky. The sight was breathtaking. 

Today I link with Kat and the Unravelers. In between trips to the deck to check the moonrise, I finished the thumbs on these mitts. The yarn and pattern go well together. The suggested needle size with this yarn made a nice pair of mitts for my small adult sized hands. Stretchy ribbing always feels like my hands are getting a massage. If I knit these mitts for someone with larger hands I might go up a needle size. The pattern has great attention to detail including mirrored cables that begin and end nicely, ribbed thumbs that flow from the pattern, and a graceful hand increase on the palm.

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I am spinning these three four-ounce bumps of a BFL silk in variegated (what else but?) blue. Finding the right speed to treadle and adjusting my drafting took some trial and error. I've completed the first 2 ounce single so I have a good start. It's fun to watch the silver gray and hint of mauve combine with the blues as the single winds onto the bobbin.

I abandoned two books and am beginning two more titles so I'll save book notes until next week.  

Where was I last week? That is a tale of air traveling woe. Last Monday we were scheduled to fly to the East Coast to visit our daughter and family. We arrived at the Omaha airport promptly at 9:30 a.m. for the 11:30 a.m. nonstop flight to La Guardia in NYC. Our flight was delayed all day long. Finally when Delta announced yet another departure time for 8:15 p.m., we wondered if the flight would get out and opted to rebook for the next day so we weren't arriving in the wee hours of the morning (we lose an hour going East) or trying to rebook with everyone else at the gate. We retrieved our bags, rode the shuttle to the parking lot, and drove 50 miles home. The next day we spent the afternoon in the airport only to have our flight cancelled and repeat the whole process. Weather, one less runway at LGA, the high cost of fuel, the College World Series in Omaha, and World Cup Travelers all worked against us. It wasn't feasible to extend our visit so we cancelled the trip and hope to reschedule in August or September.  

Just to make things more interesting, the Omaha airport is being renovated so there was less gate space in an already small airport. In addition to the usual airport hubbub, there was also construction noise, including a jackhammer.  However the entire Delta staff in the Omaha airport was an exemplary team. For two days and probably more, they handled a harried frustrating situation with kindness, knowledge, patience, and grace.  Air travel these days isn't for the faint of heart. 

So for now we are home, looking forward to a visit with our son. The larkspur and the coneflowers continue to bloom. I hope you have blooms in your neighborhood, something to look forward to, and are staying cool. 

Ravelry Link

Cityscape Mitts