Wednesday, October 7, 2020

Early October

Early October and the light begins to shift. Sunset comes earlier. What we lose in daylight, we gain in the color of October skies. Some days, the bright blue stretches from rim to rim while on others the periwinkle gray backlit by the sun turns late afternoon into a painting. The maples in the neighborhood display with deep rich red while the locust and birch trees sport a brilliant yellow-gold. Walking in this season is glorious. I try to look up and outward so as not to miss the beauty. October is my favorite month of Autumn. 

After cool fall days, the temperatures are swinging up to 80 degrees this week. Maybe the last few tomatoes will ripen. By the end of the week, I will have clipped enough seed heads from the zinnias for next years crop. The herbs and pot of basil still need water. I will not miss the hot humid days of summer but I will miss the tomatoes and the basil. 

In knitting news, I finished the Downpour Socks. I enjoyed knitting them but never did memorize the texture pattern. I understood what the designer was doing but didn't find it intuitive. With the socks off the needles, the Frosted Lily Hat is my small project. The yarn is soft. I don't know that I've ever knit with Malabrigo Rios. Late to the yarn party again. The soft superwash would be a good yarn for a child's garment.

I continue to work on my daughter's winter shawl. Right now I am knitting the border. The long rows scrunched up on the needle look like a big blue blob of wool. It doesn't photograph well. I cast on a cabled version of the Easy Folded Poncho. The yarn is lovely and the knitting is peaceful. It is nice to be knitting on a project where the rows remain the same length. It's also a good project for this season. My plan is to stay calm and knit on. 

I am in a bit of a reading slump but it will pass. I have picked up and put down several books. My library loan of Riviera Gold by Laurie King expired before I finished reading it. That probably says something about my enthusiasm for the book. It was ok but not the best of this series. Maybe I'll request it again and maybe I won't. Page-long dialogues where speakers alternated but were not identified except at the beginning of conversation annoyed me. I've been rereading several volumes of William Stafford's poetry and following along with the Craft-Lit podcast book, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte. 

Ravelry Links 

Downpour Socks

Frosted Lily Hat

Poncho with a Cable

I am linking with Kat and the Unravelers on this autumn Wednesday and wishing you a beautiful October sky. 




10 comments:

  1. Your words paint a lovely and vivid picture and inspire me to look up and out myself to notice and appreciate everything that October provides!

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  2. I too found myself in a reading slump... but a bit of a poetry palate cleansers has helped tremendously!

    I love those downpour socks! I need to make a pair with that pattern!

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  3. I love the colors of October -- the trees, the garden, the clouds, and especially the sunsets! Such a treat! XO

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  4. Those are great projects for the changing season ... especially love that cabled poncho!

    We have been enjoying the most amazing October weather - cool nights and sunny days with bright blue skies. I have needed a shawl in the mornings and the afghan I crocheted for myself this summer has been getting a lot of use. Holly and I are enjoying cuddling up together!

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  5. The socks turned out great. I definitely will be giving that pattern a try.

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  6. Oh gosh. We’re all in that reading slump. Just went to the library today and picked up riviera gold. And poison wood bible to reread I didn’t have much faith that I was going to like riviera....now even less. Bummer. Really love your projects though. At least the knitting mojo hasn’t deserted you!

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  7. I am so glad October is here,I am not in a reading slump at all but I cannot explain why. I'm enjoying what I'm reading I guess. Your socks and shawl are beautiful, lovely knits to have in one's hands as we watch the seasons change.

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  8. Your first photo makes me think I need to find the fall decorations and get my wreaths on the door. And after years of saying, “I do not knit socks” I think I am almost ready to give them another try.

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  9. That is such a pretty sock pattern, but I'm just not drawn to socks at the moment.
    Malabrigo Rios is one of my favorites! I have knit a lot with it, and it is always lovely.

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  10. oh lovely socks. Malabrigo really outdid themselves with their blends. And colors ! I am involved income podcasts that are very interesting. Ilistensothat ICan knit at theism time

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