October's Gold

Last Thursday we flew home from Connecticut with full hearts. Full hearts is an apt description for the days after a wonderful fun-filled week as well as the bittersweet feeling when it ends. I hugged my daughter and those kids all week long. We did all the things and then some. Kate and I spent one day in NYC where we took in several exhibits, including one of Japanese Kimonos and other textile art, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. We managed to visit a small indy bookstore close to The Met. The fall color was glorious. Norah, Jonah, and I looked at leaves while walking. Pops and I tagged along to baseball, soccer, and Kempo Karate. One morning, Kate, Norah, and I had our fingernails painted at a salon and then stopped for coffee and 'sants (croissants.) We packed in as much fun as possible. Both flights went smoothly which is a bonus. We are grateful that we are able to take that trip.  

At home, the fall color is beautiful but more subtle. The maples are red and red/orange. The ornamental pear has yellow/gold leaves. Some trees in the neighborhood are dull dead green or brown due to the drought. The weekend was exceptionally warm. Saturday we cleaned out the vegetable garden. My husband wrestled the tomato cages and drip hoses into the shed while I scrubbed out all the pots. Sunday the high temp was 84 degrees with strong wind. Two grass fires ignited in the county. Three homes were lost and two firefighters significantly injured. Between dust and smoke, the afternoon was eerie. Thankfully light rain fell early Monday. We are back to crisp October days. 

Since I'm linking to Kat and the Unravelers, I best get to my knitting and stitching. Yesterday I cast on a pair of mitts (see photo above) that I plan to give as a gift. Although I don't wear gold, I am enjoying knitting with this October color. If only October lasted a bit longer.  

I cast on a pair of socks before our trip and finished them Monday evening. Happy Trails is the October "Knit Lincoln" colorway from Lazy Bee yarn, a local dyer who sells her yarn only at Knit Paper Scissors. This colorway pays tribute to the walking and biking trails around Lincoln. It will also remind me of this Connecticut trip. I contributed four socks for my team during the friendly sock scrimmage at Knit Paper Scissors. Saturday is the S'mores party with some new colorways of this yarn available to the sock scrimmage participants. Really, I DON'T NEED one more skein of any kind of yarn. I plan to wear my new socks and enjoy the outdoor fall celebration. 

Sunday while the wind blew, I worked a little on this small quilted piece. I am quilting the layers together with leaf motifs. One fall I gathered leaves and traced their shapes thinking they would make good quilting motifs. In hindsight, I should have reduced the size of a couple of leaves so they would be more proportional to the embroidery. I didn't think about it and now they are traced onto the fabric. I decided the piece will be fine. The background of outside triangles reminds me of ginger cookies.   

I reread The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams on our trip. The first time I listened to the audio and I wanted to read the hard copy. I also chose something lighter as I knew I'd be tired by the time I got in bed at night. This historical fiction is narrated by a young girl whose father is one of the lexicographers working on the first edition of Oxford English Dictionary. Women were involved in composing the dictionary so Williams tells the story from their point of view. Esme, the narrator keeps paper slips of words used by women and sometimes not included in the official first edition. The question, "Do words mean different things to women than they do to men?" runs through the narrative.  I think it would make an interesting book group discussion. 

Enjoy this last golden week of October. 

Ravelry Links

Gold Thumb Mitts

Happy Trails Socks

    

This October Sky

Something about the light and the leaves turning autumn colors creates a gorgeous October sky. I do my best to enjoy each season but I do look forward to October skies. Many of the leaves keep their green and I wonder if some will just wither and drop because of the dry warm weather. Today is blustery. Leaves and dust swirl in the air. We need rain. If I sound like a broken record, that's because I am. The air is dusty, the grass is crispy, and the garden beds have big cracks. 

I am participating in a Sock Scrimmage at my LYS. The two teams, red and white, UNL colors, are neck and neck with ten finished socks for the white team and eleven for the red. I just sent a photo of my completed socks which might tie the two groups. October sock knitters are kind of crazy. My goal was to get this Christmas-gift-pair finished. I'll cast on another pair as a travel project. They may or may not get finished.  Finishing this pair is a win for me. 

Last weekend, we had one slight frost that nipped the tomatoes and some flowers. In some ways, it's hard to let the growing season go but the ground, the trees, and the plants must rest. And so I look to the October skies for beauty. Wherever you are, I hope the October is treating you well.  

Ravelry Link

Candy Floss Socks

Separate Projects

Good October morning to you. By the time I publish this post it will probably be afternoon. And so it goes. The house and my routine are topsy turvy this week. Yesterday afternoon, my husband finished painting the master bath and bedroom, including the closet that runs along an entire wall. Tomorrow we hope to hear from the handyman and his plumber who will replace the bathroom sink and counter-top. After new bathroom flooring is installed, a plumber will replace the toilet. It's a process. We learned a long time ago to hire a plumber and to work on separate projects. I help as I can, feed the painter, and otherwise steer clear. This afternoon I am going to thoroughly clean the bedroom and then we will move the furniture back into place. Some swearing occurs but no blood or paint has been spilled. At the end of the day we are mostly still smiling at each other. I feel fortunate that I don't live in the path of Hurricane Ian so am not complaining. Some discombobulation is the price of progress.  

Most Wednesdays, I look forward to posting with Kat and the Unravelers about making and knitting. I was glad to have a touchstone this week. Kat has a beautiful finished sweater on her post today. 

The last two weeks I knit some on the shawl in the photo. A few years ago I used part of a mini-skein set to knit a shawl for my sister. Her shawl was two shades of blue with a beige/sand color. I bought another full skein of the light blue to add to the mauve skeins and the leftover dark blue. Peaceful garter stitch was a good knit this week. It was nice and orderly. Next up is the lace section. 

I finished the first of the Candy Floss socks and started the second. If you think that is a long foot you would be right. My daughter has a long narrow foot and they are for her. I joined a sock knit along/class at Knit Paper Scissors, my LYS. "Sock Scrimmage" includes four Tuesday evening Zoom sessions with encouragement and teaching of new skills. Friendly competition is involved as we are divided into teams, hence the scrimmage. At the end there is a S'more party at the yarn shop. I love the pun of S'more socks, S'more yarn, and S'more treats. I thought it would motivate me to finish the socks and be fun to support the shop. 

In the last two weeks, I made the fall embroidery piece into a small square coffee table quilt and have begun quilting. I'll write more about it when it is finished. 

I listened to The Secret Keeper of Jaipur by Alka Joshi. This is the second in a trilogy and follows The Henna Artist. Once again, I enjoyed the vocabulary of Indian culture, the descriptions of food, fabric, customs, and remedies. Part of the story is set in the Himalayas and some in Jaipur. The audio narrators had wonderful voices. This is a lighter novel and spoiler alert: it has a happy ending. I am reading The Locked Room by Elly Griffiths. It's hard to believe this is the fourteenth book in the Ruth Galloway mystery series. Ruth, Nelson, and the familiar cast of characters are entering the pandemic. Ruth, as always, is very human. I like her slightly overweight but intelligent witty middle-aged character.

Now I've got to wipe down floorboards and vacuum corners that haven't seen the light of day for awhile. Candy Corn to the rescue. Also, this week I learned that lavender blooms when it is watered. Go figure. Have a good week.