Mid September

Hello Gentle Readers. Early autumn is in the air. Last Friday we drove to Nebraska City to buy some apples from Kimmel Orchards. The corn stalks are that beautiful straw color that comes as they dry just before harvest. All concerns about big business agriculture aside, the sight of the fields against a September blue sky is part of the autumn landscape. The apples are delicious and the outing made for a nice afternoon. The drive is about an hour, each way, so I knitted washcloths. I like to keep a few tucked away for small gifts. They go so nicely with a bar a soap. 

I am joining Kat and the Unravelers to post about making and reading this week. I spent some time mending a hand-pieced and hand-quilted quilt. In fact I pulled a needle through layers so many times that my hand became sore. Oy. I am getting to be a delicate flower. I don't remember any soreness when I did all the hand quilting but I was younger. I did cast on a large size scarf with an all over leaf lace pattern. I enjoy knitting leaf shapes so this pattern (Rav Link) caught my eye. Every row is slightly different which slows my knitting but that has been good for my right hand. I wondered if the design would be too complicated to be fun but the pattern and charts are well written. So far, so good.

I'm reading Becoming Madam Secretary by Stephanie Dray. My daughter recommended and gave me  this work of historical fiction about the life of Frances Perkins. Perkins was FDR's Secretary of Labor and the first woman to serve as a Cabinet officer. Trained as an economist, her professional life was dedicated to better working conditions for men, women, and children. Perkins was also a wife and mother and quite keenly feels the pull between professional and personal life. Her story is fascinating and has some interesting parallels in our current time. I am sorry to say, I never heard of Perkins until my daughter mentioned this book. 

A family who lives just down the street from us has a little patch of parkway on their yard. Both parents have a generous spirit, and the three children are often outdoors. The Mom and the children plant sunflowers in the parkway. Catmint also grows there. One day I walked down to get the mail and saw morning glories blooming in the catmint. I just love the wildness of this little spot. Even among the concrete and a few weeds, flowers grow. This week, I wish you the joy of unexpected flowers.  

Finished and Frogged

Hello Gentle Readers. The weather feels like September, days with warm dusty afternoons, stiff breezes, and shorter daylight hours. After dinner, I walk around the block in the most gorgeous evening light. While I'm still wearing shorts, tees, and sandals, fall is in the air. My garden and flower beds have that ragged, end of the season look. I divided several clumps of iris. Everything is so dry it is hard to weed. At least that is my excuse and I'm sticking to it. 

On this Wednesday, I link with Kat and the Unravelers to post about making and reading. I have both finished and frogged projects. I finished the shawl knit from a skein of handspun and some odds and ends of a commercial yarn. It's a good thing I like to weave in ends because there were plenty. The simple pattern lets the handspun shine. The yarn from a BFL/silk blend has such a nice soft hand and drape. While learning to spin, I stayed away from fiber with silk content because the silk can be tricky. Now that I've successfully spun with this blend, I'd like to try more. 

I frogged the summer top knitted with fingering weight cotton yarn. The fabric was lovely but after about three rounds, my hands hurt and it was so monotonous. Frogging it was freeing.  I cast on the Purl Soho Arched Gusset mittens in Noro Silk Garden. Alas, I love the elegant line of the arched gusset but the pattern is written for a lighter weight yarn. Knitting the pattern in Aran weight yarn was making a sloppy rather weirdly shaped mitten. Winter's cold is serious business and I like mittens to be snug and warm.  Last night I frogged the start of the mitten and am auditioning the Antler pattern. I've knit this pattern several times and have been pleased with the mittens. 

As for reading, I finished Clear by Carys Davies. I loved this short novel about kindness and human connection. Two people who know little about each other and speak different languages encounter each other on a remote Shetland Island. The sparse storyline reminded me of Claire Keegan's book, Foster. I learned more about Scottish history and a lost language. As a bonus, the man on the island collected wool tufts from sheep and spun them into yarn. He was also a knitter. Davies understands  and writes well about both processes. I can't help but wonder if she is a knitter.  I also wonder if she has any connection to the designer Kate Davies. Maybe Davies is a common name in that part of the world. 

Finally, this date, 9/11, is so poignant. I remember the television monitors set up in the district school office playing the news videos over and over. It is well to remember and be grateful for all first responders. Now there is another generation for whom the events of that day are history and not lived experience. 

Take good care. 

Hello September

Hello Gentle Readers and Hello September. Labor Day weekend and my birthday have come and gone. The long weekend brought three gorgeous early Autumn days. Cool mornings and warm afternoons felt like summer's end. Yesterday morning I saw a large perfectly spun spider web suspended between a tree and a bush. Sunday evening, a single long thread was backlit by the setting sun. I'm waiting for the bright yellow goldfinches to find the dried cone flowers. 

Family and friends greeted me warmly on birthday, which this year fell on Labor Day.  I made a few cupcakes and we enjoyed fresh BLT's and watermelon for dinner. Tuesday I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with impetigo. Here's to medical care and antibiotics. My immune system isn't what it was when I worked with little children. 

Today is a day to link with Kat and the Unravelers to post about making and reading. Late last week, I finished the last skein of a spinning project in the first photo. The Corriedale fiber was part of last year's birthday gift from my son and his family. Once I was able to get a little more twist into the fiber, (thank you Kat and Sarah) I spun a lovely sport weight-ish yarn. When I began, I hoped to have enough yardage to knit a shawl but at 1100 yards I've enough for a sweater. 

In the meantime, I'm knitting and enjoying this shawl. According to the pattern I'm almost to the point where I've used 80% of the yarn so I'm on the home stretch. The BLF/Silk handspun has such a nice hand. 

As for reading, I couldn't find an audio book available on Libby but on Hoopla, I came upon The Dangerous Old Woman by Clarissa Pinkola Estés. As far as I can tell, this work is available only in audio format. Estés is Jungian analyst who extracts meaning from the archetypes of women in old folk and fairy tales. Some of the stories she tells are better than others but I am enjoying her thoughts about old women as elders and "weavers" of culture and tradition. I can say that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will never be the same. The synchronicity seemed appropriate for the weekend I completed 73 trips around the sun. Estés who serves as narrator is also a wonderful oral storyteller.  

The Connecticut kids went back to school last Friday. They had a terrific summer and everyone had a good first day of school. Norah started kindergarten, Jonah is in the third grade (with the best teacher ever - got to love a positive attitude) Micah is a fifth grader at the top of the heap, and Emmet is in the eighth grade. The beginning of a school year is a new season filled with promise. Micah and Jonah are happy to serve as "little sister security."  Emmett is about to be taller than his Mom. How does this happen so quickly?   Have a good week. 

August's End

Hello Gentle Readers. Summer with hundred degree temperatures over the weekend and Monday has another story to tell. Day by day, this week will be slightly cooler. The zinnias, cosmos, cone flowers, and butterfly bush continue to bloom. Monday morning I walked at 8:00 a.m. to beat the heat. I heard a ten minute chorus of blue jays from all over the neighborhood. I know jays sound a predator alarm for other birds but this was a friendly call and response. 

My handsome Texas grandson moved onto Tarelton State University campus this past week. His text messages, with the y'all, make me smile. All the university students mean hope for the future. I wish all of them the best year and college experience. 

Wednesday is the day to link with Kat and the Unravelers. I finally have a finish. After a consultation with Bonny about binding off in the middle of a repeat, I finished the hitchhiker. As I came to the end of the yarn, I didn't have enough to complete the full repeat and asked for her expert advice. I decided to use as much of the yarn as possible and bound off on Row 6 instead of a Row 8. I pinned out that last point and it's fine. Someone who has knit a hitchhiker could see a slight difference but knitters are too kind to point out the discrepancy. This one-skein hitchhiker finished with 35 teeth. 

I also finished the embroidered watering can block to go with Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks. I need one more block of some description. I'm considering designs that came from the Depression Era of quilts. Since finishing these two projects, I went back to another shawl in progress and a Christmas gift project. 

Right now the library hold list is in the feast stage. I have four books on my desk but am reading Enlightenment by Sarah Perry. At two-thirds of the way through, I have mixed feelings about this novel. Mostly the writing is excellent, although there is repetition in the rustling, hissing etc. of silk. The story set in modern England has a Victorian/Gothic bent that feels disjointed. At times I marvel at the way the author weaves themes in and out of the story and at other times I wonder why I'm reading it. She has combined some interesting ideas - unrequited love, fundamentalist Christian beliefs, homosexuality, and a mystery/ghost story all loosely tied together with astronomy. I will finish it though. 

I'm off to water. Have a good week. 

 

Mid-August

Hello Gentle Readers. Sunday we picked up coffee on the way home from church. About noon, a light but steady rain began to fall. I read a bit and also listened to the end of a Vera Stanhope mystery while knitting. I can't remember the last time we had a rainy day. Swallowtails and a small Monarch come to the zinnias and butterfly bush. The bees are buzzing in the cone flowers and zinnias. They think they own the oregano so I've let it go to flowers and seed. Next Spring I will significantly prune that plant as it is very overgrown. I saw the sweetest little bird house in a neighbor's new tree. I'm sure their preschool daughter made it and her Dad helped her to hang it. It's probably not practical but I love the idea that parents and maybe a child care provider are encouraging preschoolers to think about the birds. There is hope. 

Today is Wednesday, the day to link with Kat and the Unravelers with posts about making and/or reading. I am knitting away on the hitchhiker. It's a fun knit, especially at the end of the day. My plan is to knit until I run out of yarn. I considered finding some stash bits to make it slightly longer but decided the yarn looks best on its own. I'm embroidering a watering can from Stitches from the Garden by Kathy Schmitz, the book in the photo. It has flowers in it and will go with the Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks I wrote about previously. 

I'm reading the nonfiction work, The Pocket: A Hidden History of Women's Lives, 1660 - 1900, written by Barbara Barman and Ariane Fennetaux. The authors explore the history of the tie-on pockets worn by all classes of English women. Pockets in women's clothing have an interesting and controversial history. Although this book is somewhat scholarly, I think their textile research is fascinating. In an era when women could not hold property, they could own clothing and some textiles. Court records and newspaper advertisements for lost pockets list items women carried and tell stories about the lives of women from all classes. 

I'm also rereading So Far So Good: Final Poems 2014-2018 by Ursula K. LeGuin. Although LeGuin is most known for her science fiction, she began as a poet. As you might expect, these poems reflect her thoughts on mortality at the end of her life. A note at the beginning of the small volume says LeGuin sent off her revised manuscript of these poems on January 15, 2018. She died on January 22. What a remarkable woman. 

The tomato harvest is beginning to wind down although I have several dinner plates full of fruit to blanch and freeze. I'm seeing the first few yellow leaves in the Linden and looking forward to the change of season. I hope you are having a good week. Take care. 

Ravelry Link

Hitchhiker

Summer's Bounty

Hello Gentle Readers. A thunderstorm blew through in the wee hours of the morning. When I walked, rain drops hung from the petals of lavender hostas and soft yellow roses. I heard but didn't see a northern flicker. The neighbors' maple tree shows the barest hint of autumn color although I don't know if that is a sign of stress or the changing season. Last weekend, the temperatures were cool with just a hint of fall in the air. 

Wednesday is the day to link with Kat and the Unravelers to post about knitting and reading. Although the tomato harvest takes most of my time these days, I've done a little knitting here and there. I managed to knit to the sleeve split on the summer top. I plan to knit a couple of inches and check the fit again. In between and to give my hands a rest, I knit on the hitchhiker. It's a joy to knit the garter stitch in an easy pattern with variegated yarn. Sometimes it pays to hang on to deep stash. Bonny commented that the yarn made her think of sunlight on a creek. I often think of that image while I'm knitting on it.

I read Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy this week and throughly enjoyed it. The charming story is about recovering from grief and healing that comes from small kindnesses. There was a surprise (at least to me) turn in the middle of short novel. If you are looking for a sweet easy read, this one might be for you. 

Have a good week. I'm heading back to my regularly scheduled saucing, roasting, and freezing. 

To Make a Garden

Hello Gentle Readers and Hello August. The month is new and has been all about the weather. Lincoln and Omaha are recovering from last Wednesday's storm. Wind up to 90 mph in Omaha and 80 mph in Lincoln damaged and destroyed many large trees and wreaked havoc with electricity. Fortunately we did not lose power or have any outdoor damage. Still, as of Monday about 20,000 customers were still without power in Omaha. Some volunteer cosmos in my garden were snapped off, the zinnias were blown around, pots of herbs blew over so the basil was jostled, and a few tomato vines needed more stakes. They were heavy with fruit so it's surprising they didn't break. The high heat of Friday through Monday broke sometime in the early morning of Tuesday. A drop from 100 degrees Monday afternoon to 66 on Tuesday morning was enough to make my head spin. 

As I link with Kat and the Unravelers to post our making and reading, I'm including my garden harvest. The photo above was taken Monday evening so excuse the poor lighting and the basement floor with gardening paraphernalia. Abundant sunshine, hot days, warm nights, drip hoses, have created a good tomato crop. Fresh tomatoes with basil, garlic, and olive oil (garlic removed for eating) served over warm pasta and sprinkled with grated parmesan is my favorite summer dish. I also freeze an easy tomato sauce and blanched, peeled, chopped tomatoes in 2 c. amounts. There are more tomatoes on the kitchen counter and in the garden. If you need me this afternoon,  I'll be in the kitchen. 

I'm enjoying knitting on my summer top and hitchhiker a little at a time. Photos and an update next week. This summer I've been working on these quilt blocks. A long time ago, I bought seven Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks in an antique/second hand shop. The fabrics are in surprisingly good condition. The small pieces were sewed with tiny even stitches and a 1/8th seam allowance. From time to time, I looked at them and put them back in the box. I didn't want to recreate the pattern and I knew that seam allowance would be enough to make me pull out my hair. Since I am not making a quilt for a bed or a baby, I decided to appliqué them, raw-edged, to muslin squares. I used a new-to-me invisible basting technique to make sure they stayed flat and then stitched around the edges with the blanket stitch. I throughly enjoyed the process and not fussing about turning under the edges. I need two more blocks for a square top. I'm looking at a few books about feedsack and Depression era quilts for inspiration. 

I'm rereading The Narrowboat Summer by Anne Youngson, a charming story many of you have read. I'm enjoying the leisurely ride in the canal boat and the three women characters. I had forgotten one of the minor characters is a knitter, a bonus. I'm listening to The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear. Again, as most of you know, this is the last in the Maisie Dobbs series. Winspear is wrapping up the story nicely. 

What are you making this week?   

  

TGIF 8.2.24

Hello Gentle Readers. The second week in July, when the euphoria of our in-person visit with family had faded and the news of world felt oppressive, I set an intention to find one "delight" each day. By delight, I mean some simple pleasure, a moment that stopped all the background noise in favor of being. Today I am framing the TGIF prompt around this intention. I keep a list in my journal. By design I don't have many photos but I do have two. 

Thinking how this simple intention has brightened my days. Of course it doesn't hurt that Kamala Harris is most likely the 2024 Democratic nominee for President of the United States. Even before that occurred, I noticed a shift in my outlook and ordinary days. As I walked this morning, I wondered what delight I might encounter today.

    July 13 - A sparrow caught in morning light changes ordinary beiges and browns into beauty. A white patch contrasts with brilliant rust wing.  

Grateful, more than grateful, for the safety of my air conditioned home. The intense heat was broken by a storm with 80 mph winds on Wednesday evening. Many lost power but we did not. We also did not have any extensive tree damage. 

    July 16 - On this hot evening, the setting sun is framed by streaks of pink light in the western sky. 

Inspired by the neighbors helping each other with the clean-up. Next door half of a large ash landed on a parked car. Many helped to chop off enough foliage and branches so several men could lift the limb off the car. 

    July 22 - Finding one perfect daisy in the otherwise spent flower bed of a neighbor. She has a large glorious bed that begins blooming in early Spring. Now, stalks are all that remain of iris, columbine, and lilies except for one small fresh daisy.

Fun.  The more I notice, then more I notice. Many of my entries recall a sensory experience and a good number of them are visual. The continuing part of this intention is to use all five senses more frequently.

    July 19 - The smell of chopped fresh parsley. It smells of the soil and the earth. When I unwrap it next winter and slice off a portion to season soup I'll smell the green of summer. 

Wishing you a peaceful weekend in a comfortable summer place. 

Summer Knitting

Hello Gentle Readers. This week brings extreme heat to our area. The vegetable garden and raised bed look like a jungle and the cone flowers thrive. The center of the cucumber vines begin to wilt but I have plenty of pickles canned for the coming year. Late yesterday afternoon a black swallowtail butterfly enjoyed blooms on the butterfly bush. I hope the nectar was sweet and cooling. I need to fill a shallow tray with water for them. We certainly could use some rain.

I link this Wednesday post with Kat and the Unravelers. I made some knitting progress this week. A toe will finish this second sock. I also need to try on the summer top to check for fit and decide the best way to add length to the yoke. The cotton yarn is making a lovely fabric but knitting with it is hard on my hands. At this rate, it's going to be a top for next summer. 

In the meantime, I cast on a Hitchhiker with a skein of very deep stash. Remember when Madelinetosh yarn was all the rage? Around here, it was hard to find and I thought I'd found treasure when I bought this skein on sale. Then it never looked quite right in any project. Last January when I went through my yarn, I vowed I'd either knit with this in 2024 or find it a new home in 2025. The other day I saw it in the "up next" bin and thought about something Bonny, the knitter of many beautiful Hitchhikers, once wrote on her blog. (Paraphrasing) "I often wonder what a skein of yarn would look like as a Hitchhiker." Of course, since the project is new it's fun to knit. 

As for reading, I'm listening to The Darkest Evening, a Vera Stanhope mystery by Ann Cleaves. It's a little formulaic but Vera is good company while making pickles. I'm reading Send for Me  by Lauren Fox, this month's selection by my local book club. This historical fiction follows three generations of Jewish women from just before World War Two in Germany into Wisconsin. The perspective of a young couple leaving Germany and parents behind and how the author frames that story should make for a good discussion. While there are some well written passages, other parts of the book feel a little choppy. However, I'm only half-way so my opinion might change.   

What is keeping you company on this last day in July?

part of the jungle

July Making

Hello Gentle Readers. The week or so of pleasant warm summer weather is giving way to another bout of high heat. So goes the summer in southeast Nebraska. The tomato plants in the raised bed are loaded with fruit and look lush and green. The plants in the other vegetable patch are a bit shaggy. There is some kind of blight going on in that soil. Mind, the plant with cherry tomatoes is producing a bumper crop and I've now canned fifteen pints of bread and butter pickles so that area has produced some vegetables. The butterfly bush is finally blooming and the bumblebees have found the zinnias. 

Wednesday is the day to post about making and/or reading. Kat lost her dog recently and so won't be hosting her link-up.  Pickling and gardening took up time this week so my knitting doesn't look much different than it did last week. I'm still knitting on the pink projects, socks and a summer top. I did get back to my spinning and plied two bobbins of Corriedale fiber into a 208 yard skein. To date, I have spun 783 yards of a light sport weight yarn. I have one more bump of this fiber to spin and then I'll have enough yardage for a project. Awhile back, Kat made a suggestion for a wheel adjustment and it made a big difference. Thank you Kat.  I was having trouble with the singles breaking/pulling apart wile plying but this last skein was a joy to ply. I've enjoyed spinning smaller skeins. The plying feels more manageable to me. 

Because library holds come in at the same time, I continue to listen to and enjoy Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle by Clare Hunter. Last night I listened to Hunter's narrative about the AIDS Memorial Quilt. She can tell a story. I am also listening to The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali. The story follows the friendship of two girls in Tehran who meet as young girls in the 1950's and subsequently grow up during tumultuous years in Iran. For a while, their paths diverge as one lives in the upper middle class and the other in more impoverished circumstances. They reconnect in high school and university. I'm reading this novel for the story and enjoying the exposure to the rich culture of Iran. This is a cautionary tale about the rights of women and I recommend it. The narrators in both of these audiobooks are excellent.  

I hope July is treating you well. This afternoon I'm off to harvest more basil and see about mending a bedspread. The new ones are expensive and I couldn't find one I liked so I'm going to try mending. Wish me luck. 

And so it Grows

Hello Gentle Readers. Well, it's been a week. I am thankful for air conditioning, making, and reading. As I compose, I'm watching a blue jay perched on the deck railing watching a gold finch eat from the tube feeder. Is it a stretch to think the blue jay with cocked head is trying to understand how the finch can balance on that perch and ingest chipped sunflower seeds from the tiny hole? Maybe I'm not the only one who feels like life is precarious and hard to understand.  

The garden is growing. I harvested and froze some chopped basil and made one batch of bread and butter pickles. We've also enjoyed a handful of cherry tomatoes and three garden tomatoes. As my grandfather used to remark, the hot humid days and nights are "tomato growing weather." He would have known as he grew beautiful vegetables.

Today is Wednesday, the day to post and link with Kat and the Unravelers. During the stretch of four extremely hot days, I ventured out to turn on the drip hoses in the gardens but have mostly been indoors. I finished up the neck shaping and joined the stitches of the summer top. I continue with raglan increases in the round. I do like the fabric I'm getting with this yarn and these needles. When my hands need a break, I knit on the bright pink socks. The second sock of this pair has a heel flap. I'm ready to turn the heel, my favorite part of sock knitting. I don't know why I'm amazed that steady knitting on a project or two generally means progress. 

I read Pax by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Jon Klassen as the second book in my buddy read with Micah. This is a story about a young boy and a fox that asks some hard questions about peace and war and life. The structure of alternating chapters between boy and fox as narrators is well paced. The relationship between the woman veteran of war and the boy is heartwarming. 

Currently, I'm reading Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks, the only novel written by this poet. Mary suggested it to me and I am glad she did. Maud Martha narrates her experiences as a black girl and woman in Chicago in the 1940's. From the first sentence of the opening chapter, a description of Maud Martha, I knew I was in the hands of a lyrical writer. In a few short pages, Brooks tells us much about Maud. I'm two-thirds of the way through this short novel and it is lovely. Poets have a way with prose. 

I'm continuing to listen to Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle by Clare Hunter. Hunter's research is meticulous. I was a little frustrated with the chapter about Mary Queen of Scots, wondering why there was no mention of the people who produced and processed the sumptuous fiber and threads used by the queen. Hunter goes on though, to look at the needlework of women incarcerated against their will in mental asylums and prisons as well as native peoples in various parts of the world. She includes makers from many walks of life.  

Stay safe and cool friends. 

Ravelry Links

Summer Top

Red Bud and Cherry Blossom Socks 

 

Stitching into July

After the barrage of fireworks, the days have been blessedly quiet. Saturday, a hard rain and a cold front cooled and cleared the air. Beautiful summer days of sunshine and light breezes followed. Walking these mornings is lovely. In my garden, I watched a gorgeous rust and dark brown moth/butterfly with striking markings. I have no idea of his proper name but decided seeing him was enough. The bees are buzzing around the cucumber blossoms and I picked the first handful of cherry tomatoes and had a little snack right in the garden. 

Today I'm joining Kat and the Unravelers to post about making and reading. My knitting mojo needed a boost so I cast on this summer top, twice. After completing the short rows on the first attempt, I decided eyelet sleeves were not for me. I ripped out the rows and started over. In all my years of knitting, I've never knit a summer top so I thought I'd give it a go and see what happens. 

I finished the traveling socks. I enjoyed the yarn in the socks. There is a bit of an ankle stripe because at 30,000 feet I decided to knit the heel with the main color instead of messing around and possibly dropping a small ball of yarn. I noticed the pooling but kept on knitting. By the time the plane landed, I decided to live with the stripe. Next time I use this dyer's yarn (and I will because I like the base) I'll use the contrasting color in the heel to avoid pooling in the ankle. 

I knit a third little pumpkin hat from leftovers of two skeins. That little piece of yarn was all that remains. I won this round of yarn chicken. This hat is for a babe that will be a cousin to the twins. All three babies are due to arrive around the same time so all three can wear pumpkin hats this fall. 

I stitched two more cloth pouches, one for my daughter (not pictured) and another for a niece. I've enjoyed picking out pieces from all of my quilting leftovers. While making these two, I figured out a way to line and stitch the edges so all raw edges face the wrong side and are enclosed by stitching. I also reinforced the top of the body with a piece of binding.  

back

While working on the pouches, I decided I wanted to know more about embroidery. As a girl, I learned a few basic stitches and then later did counted cross stitch. I bought a nice used copy of Elegant Stitches, a dictionary of embroidery stitches with some other bits of information. I can find instructions on-line but I wanted a little reference book of stitches in one place. 

In the same vein, I'm listening, via Hoopla,  to Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle  by Clair Hunter. I listened to the first chapter last night. It promises to be an interesting view of history. I finished the first buddy read with my grandson. He chose the Newberry Award winning YA novel, Hoot by Carl Hiaasen. A young boy takes on a bully and ends up in quite an adventure and making a difference in his community. Micah loved this book so I'm anxious to talk with him. I'm also reading a new-to-me poetry anthology by Jane Hirshfield, The Asking: New and Selected Poems. These days, as Kym wrote in a post, poetry is a balm for the soul. Hirshfield makes me think and I admire her metaphors that often refer to everyday objects and events. 

Wishing you a quiet peaceful week. Breathe. 

Making Memories

Hello Gentle Readers. We are recently home from a wonderful visit with our daughter, son-in-law, and family. We tagged along to all the things, including baseball games, the swimming pool, a gymnastics class, doughnuts, and church. Jonah and Norah and I blew bubbles almost every morning. 

Instead of bringing gifts, we take them to the local independent bookstore to pick out a book. It's fun to see what they choose each time we visit. Micah and I are going to have a buddy read this summer. We made a list.  

All four kids have a journal that they write in and decorate with stickers and drawings. Just for fun I had Jonah and Norah draw in my journal. Next time I hope to snag the two older ones also. The blue hydrangeas growing all around the community were a treat, so Norah drew one for me. Jonah drew a baseball field, appropriate given we attended five games, several on the weekend of the heat dome. On the dining room table, Kate has a tray that holds odds and ends and sometimes a seasonal decoration. Right now it contains baseballs the kids have picked up at major and minor league games. 

Most of my making these past weeks has been about making and savoring memories. Since it is Wednesday, I have a little knitting to show. I finished the pumpkin hats the day before the baby shower. That afternoon, I bought an iced latte and sat down with a podcast and the last hat. It was down to the wire but the hats and board books were well received. 

My travel knitting was a new pair of socks. I opted for my vanilla sock pattern. I can knit the body of the sock in a broken rib of Knit 4, Purl 2 without a pattern. Honestly my knitting is a little "meh" these days. The shawl is too hot to have in my lap. The other pair of socks languish in a bag. 

As for books, I reread In Falling Snow by Mary-Rose MacColl, an Australian novelist and published in 2012. This historical fiction toggles between modern day Australia and a World War One hospital in France. Iris, the main character, is at the end of her life. She receives an invitation to a reunion of the women who organized and ran Royaumont, a Scottish Women's Hospital on the western front in France where she worked as a nurse. And so begins her reflection on her years during the war. World War One was an exercise in brutality so it is a sad story but Royaumont and the Scottish Women's Hospital was a real place and a remarkable bit of history. I like historical fiction and strong women characters so will keep this book on my shelf.  

While in Connecticut, I read The Memory of Lavender and Sage by Aimie K. Runyan. This novel is a light summer read. I confess to choosing the book based on the cover. Bonny and I had a short exchange about book covers recently. Here is a link she sent me about book covers if you want to read more. Most of the novel is set in rural Provence. The descriptions of the village, as well as the herbs grown and used by the main character are lovely. Although the writing isn't the smoothest, I appreciated the development of two characters who changed for the better. An elderly gentleman who was rather unkind to the main character, actually apologized and mended his ways. Imagine such a thing. 

Finally, today is Kate's birthday. She is a remarkable woman, a physical therapist, an amazing athlete, a wonderful wife, mother, sister, and every thing we could ask for in a daughter. While I abhor the barrage of personal fireworks that has become the custom, I do have a wonderful memory of watching fireworks outside my hospital room window with her tucked into the crook of my arm. Happy Birthday Kate!

I hope all is well and you are enjoying a respite from the heat of late June. 

Warm Weather Projects

Hello Gentle Readers. Summer days have arrived. We are in for a week of hot sunny, ninety degree days. Watering the garden plots with the trusty drip hoses is on my list of chores. Many juvenile robins try their wings while the red house finches feed their young. I'm waiting for the fireflies, aka "firebums" as my grandson Emmett, now a seventh grader, dubbed them when he was a toddler. Like most children, he was enchanted by flying insects with lighted "bums." Ever since they have been "firebums" to me. 

Today is Unraveled Wednesday with Kat and friends. My projects this week reflect the warmer weather.  I wanted to try a new-to-me cotton yarn so I bought two skeins (color way Sunshine) of Rowan Cotton from my local yarn shop for wash cloths. It is pricey but has a nice hand. I've worked on the first pink ribbed sock and plan to knit the toe in bright green. They are only socks so as far as bright colors, it's in for a dime, in for a dollar. 

I cast on a pumpkin hat for a baby gift. This little family expects twins in August so I'll be knitting two of these hats. I dither with baby sizes. On one hand, babies seem so small but they do grow and sometimes their head circumference is deceiving. The smallest size looked small. I hope this size isn't too big. 

As for reading, I listened to The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl. Although the story was a little unrealistic, it was an entertaining romp through Paris. I enjoyed the literary references, the time spent in Shakespeare and Company, and the characters. As I expected from Reichl, French food and wine is described with great sensory detail. I'm rereading a like-new copy of  A Sand County Almanac And Sketches Here and There by Aldo Leopold. I found it on the library sale shelf for a dollar and couldn't resist the bargain. First published in 1949, Leopold was a conservationist and wrote with ethical regard for the environment. His was an early voice questioning the loss of wetlands and other natural habitat. The lyrical writing continues to have value. 

Although the official beginning of summer is a week or so away, I send you this first little bouquet of summer.  Happy Summertime.