Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Knitting Notes


October winds do bluster - one day warm and and the next quite chilly. Yesterday's outwear for walking included a barn jacket, hat, cowl, and real mittens, not the fingerless variety. Most trees are dropping leaves. One crimson maple has shed almost all. One warm day last week dry green leaves blew across yard and street. So it goes. I savor these days, storing up the colors against winter's monochromatic shades. While I like winter, I miss colors in the landscape. When we returned from Texas, I expected the summer pots on the front porch to have been nipped by frost. Instead, tucked up in the corner near the house, they survived. This yellow rose begonia is blooming away. I don't have the heart to dump it while it is so pretty but the days are numbered. I tried to slip a couple leaves with no luck.



I bound off the bottom of this sweater as per directions. I don't know if I like the bind-off ( a plain row at the end of the ribbing and then binding off in all knitted stitches) or not. I plan to lightly block the sweater as is and knit the neck ribbing before picking up for the sleeves. Barb of the 2 Knit Lit Chicks podcast completes the neck of sweaters before knitting the sleeves. She reports neck finishing sometimes affects the length of the sleeves. I want to try her suggestion with this sweater.


On the Texas trip, I began hat and mitten sets for the Connecticut kids. I finished two hats and the red mittens - minus the thumbs. This week I've been knitting here and there on the sets. When the blue and red sets are finished, I have two left to knit. Norah's hat is also on the needles.


I listened to Evvie Drake Starts Over. Although I became a little impatient with the main character, some descriptions and figures of speech made me smile and nod my head. They story was not great literature but enjoyable enough. Currently I am reading The Downstairs Girl, historical fiction set in Atlanta in the early 1900's. The main character, a young Chinese woman, works by day as a lady's maid for a rude difficult daughter of a prominent family. By night, she composes a newspaper advice column under a pseudonym. As the story progresses she attempts to write about the injustice she sees around her. Here is yet another piece of history that never made it into the history textbooks of my education.

The sun is out. I am off to take a walk among the autumn colors - no hat and mittens needed.  Have a good week.

7 comments:

  1. I think Barb has excellent advice about neck finishing affecting sleeve length/fit ... and knitting that tiny circle in the round is going to be a lot easier before the sweater has sleeves! Thank you for the shoutout about Downstairs Girl. We have a large Asian immigrant population in Atlanta now; sounds like a good story and a part of our history I also did not know!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I too are spending my days soaking in all the changes happening around me! It seems that almost overnight the colors have exploded and it is just a feast for the eyes as I walk through my neighborhood! I am off to see if my library has a copy of The Downstairs Girl - and thank you for your recommendation!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your begonia is lovely, maybe especially so now that its days are numbered. I do love seeing your raspberry sweater grow every week, and admire your knitting of hats and mittens early before they are needed. I'm going to go place a hold on The Downstairs Girl; it sounds interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  4. The yellow rose begonia is beautiful.

    Love the mitten sets too. They sure are cute.

    ReplyDelete
  5. My rose begonias are "hanging in there" far into fall this year, too. Such a lovely surprise to find summer flowers still blooming! I, too, have found that finishing the neckline really does make a difference in all-around sweater fit. I think you're making a wise choice to do the neck binding before the sleeves! I love the hats and mittens you're making for your grandchildren. Enjoy these lovely fall days!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love those simple stripes in the hat and mitts, so pretty! I'm working on holiday gifts and am feeling the pressure, I need them done by Thanksgiving!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Id winter over that pretty begonia in a dark basement!!! Love your sweater. They are a lot of pieces and a lot of work .Smart to block it first. But a pain too

    ReplyDelete