Hello May

Hello Gentle Readers. May begins with bright warm Spring days. The birds sing and flowers bloom. Iris in my yard and the neighborhood are beginning to bloom. The lily of the valley by the front steps are also blooming. Saturday five bright Goldfinches flitted around the tube feeder attached to the deck. Two perched on the feeder while the other three traded places in line. Some kind of pecking order was being established. 

Today is Unraveled Wednesday with Kat and company. Thank you to Kat for hosting the link-up post. I continue to make good progress on the Red Forager sweater. I plan to knit another inch on the body and then start the ribbing. The four row repeat of the mock cables in the center back and front as well as two at each side break up the stockinette knitting. The yarn, needles, and pattern are a good match. The knitting is peaceful and the sweater has been good company these days.

I am also knitting a pair of scrappy socks. Once upon a time, I tried to knit the leftovers of the periwinkle into some project. The little odd sized balls, along with other scraps of the same shade, were in a bag together in my stash. The white yarn also comes from various skeins. Last Fall I knit this pattern, another design with slipped stitches every so many rows. It's a good pattern for scraps or a self-striping yarn. 

I am currently reading A Passionate Mind in Relentless Pursuit: The Vision of Mary McLeod Bethune by Noliwe Rooks. The authors' grandmother trained to become teacher at Bethune Cookman University, a school began by Mrs. Bethune. Rooks is a professor and chair of the Department of Africana Studies at Brown University. 

Mrs. Bethune was a remarkable woman and the only Black American whose statue, representing Florida, stands in Statuary Hall in the U. S. Capitol. How that came to be is one of many fascinating stories in this biography. She considered education and the welfare of young Black Americans to be essential. To this end she founded a school for black girls that became Bethune Cookman University as well as a hospital. She enlisted the aid of Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt as well as Harry Truman in many of her civil rights endeavors including being instrumental in establishing the Tuskegee Airman's Institute.  

The biography begins with Bethune's "Last Will and Testament" published in Ebony Magazine and written by her to bequeath wisdom to the next generation. You may have read the first sentences of sections sometimes published separately. She began, "I LEAVE YOU LOVE. . . .  I LEAVE YOU HOPE."  Among other statements, she included,  "I LEAVE YOU A THIRST FOR EDUCATION. . . . I LEAVE YOU RESPECT FOR THE USES OF POWER."  (Caps were used in this biography.) Bethune's life is an inspiration and a lesson for today.  She was a remarkable woman. I recommend this well written biography.  

I wish you good making and reading this week. 

Ravelry Links

Red Forager

Scrappy Cold Brew Socks