Wednesday, September 4, 2019

September Flowers

Now it is September. While sunflowers in the neighborhood droop, wild roadside varieties stand tall in late summer sun. I make the last summer bouquets of sweet peas, blanket flower, black-eyed-susans, and lavender from my yard. The bright colors remind me that everything doesn't have to match. Of course a birthday bouquet of orange and white blooms is a different kind of joy. Emmett chose the orange bouquet because he thought it was so beautiful. He is right. A gorgeous bouquet in an orange vase was delivered mid-afternoon on my birthday, Labor Day. Please excuse the messy table, I focused on the flowers and our company.

Our son was home for the long weekend and we enjoyed visiting with him. He was here to draft a Fantasy Football team with friends but I told him I knew he really came for my birthday. To humor me, he smiled. He brought a birthday gift of homemade peach jam and peach butter. The peach butter was delicious on a warm hard roll with a bowl of chili. The Connecticut kids sang to me via Face Time and my husband brought me red roses. I cast on two new projects over the long weekend. All in all, a lovely way to celebrate my sixty-eighth birthday. What will another year bring? Change I am sure - because life is full of changes.


I have a good friend who often buys yarn and casts on a project to celebrate her birthday. What a marvelous idea. Since it's never too late for a new knitting tradition, I cast on a sweater. I have had a winter raspberry sweater in mind for awhile. This yarn from one of my local yarn shops was the right shade and weight. Knitting a swatch to the correct gauge (rarely happens on my needles) is a good omen. I also bought an extra skein. This year I have had two sweater projects land in the frog pond so I hope this third time is a charm. Worsted weight yarn on size seven needles knits up quickly.

Yesterday my son drove home from Lincoln to Fort Worth. He is quite capable but I needed to knit him safely home. After tidying up and starting the laundry, I dug out some leftover yarn and worked on this mitt by Bonnie Sennot of Blue Peninsula. She designs with interesting textures. As always, this pattern is well written. The squishy fabric is soft and warm. Aaron arrived home safely about the time I finished the hand of the first mitt.



As a summer finale, I am reading Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez. History, culture, doomed explorers, biology, and geography are included in this work of nonfiction. Lopez begins by comparing the light and seasons in the Arctic to the same phenomena in the temperate and tropic zones. Did you know that astronomers in the Arctic distinguish among three degrees of twilight - civilian, nautical, and astronomical? The older publication date, 1986, and then the reissue in 2001 makes the work seem all the more haunting. I have only just begun. I am reading slowly in order to understand the rich details.

For more making and reading, click over to Kat and the Unravelers. What will September bring?










9 comments:

  1. Hope you had a great birthday! Love that raspberry yarn. I just finished McKinley and the Assassin and learned a lot of interesting history.

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  2. Happy Belated Birthday, my friend! What a lovely way to spend your day! (and I think casting on something for your birthday is an excellent thing to do!)

    Your flowers are all so beautiful - but not quite as lovely as your words! Enjoy your read!

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  3. I hope you had a very Happy Birthday and enjoy a wonderful year ahead, with positive change, health, and love. All of your bouquets are beautiful, as is your birthday cast on in that beautiful color. That mitt looks like the perfect "knit a son safely home" project. I do this now myself, ever since you first mentioned it. Knitting family members to safety is so much better than fussing!

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  4. Adding my birthday wishes to the chorus here! I love the tradition of casting on a new project/sweater to celebrate your birthday. I'll keep it in mind for my own, come March. :-) The raspberry yarn is just lovely. I'll look forward to seeing your birthday sweater come to life. XO

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  5. Happy Birthday a bit late! A fellow Virgo (my birthday is next week). I think I MUST begin the tradition of casting on something new on my birthday - such a great idea. Beautiful flower arrangements and your raspberry yarn looks lovely. Knitting people to safety is something I do as well. I think I read that Barry Lopez book a few years ago.

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  6. Happy Birthday!! I hope my much belated wishes help to extend your celebration on into the weekend! That idea of a new project for a new year is lovely. as is a big bouquet of orange flowers and family to celebrate with. Best Wishes!!

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  7. happy birthday!!! Love the sweater and the mitts, I'm looking at mitt pattern so I need to favorite this one. I've been watching the flowers get a little wilty and I'm thrilled that fall is around the bend.

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  8. Mmmmm Peach butter on any kind of bread YUM! Nice gifts with thought and charm. Love your knitting him safely home. I GET IT

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  9. Belated Happy Happy Birthday! I love your flowers and especially how you celebrated the event by starting a new knitting project! Truly a gift to oneself. Look forward to seeing you model the finished piece. Peach preserves/jam/jelly sound good with chili-making note - for we have jam and I imagine Norman will make chili soon!
    Cheers~

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