Small Victories

Hello Gentle Readers. Here we are at the beginning of July. How is that possible? I'm hoping for a new beginning to summer. Thunderstorms over the last week brought needed rain. Lilies bloom around the neighborhood, although this morning I saw some variety of black-eyed susans or small sunflowers. I could have used the Flora Incognita App to identify them but instead I just enjoyed the brilliant yellow. I am getting closer to walking my usual longer morning route and celebrating that as a small victory. 

This Wednesday I link with Kat and the Unravelers to post about making and reading. Friday I finished a washcloth. I like KnitPicks Cotlin for a slightly lighter weight but easier on the hands yarn for washcloths. The pattern is Gramma's Dishcloth: Grandmother's Second Favorite. I like this pattern for the little tweaks that make it more symmetrical. A garter stitch wash cloth is not exciting. However, I knit this in three different medical settings. After one last appointment on Friday, I came home and finished up the last few rows. Using the last full skein of Cotlin in stash and finishing that cloth and my current medical appointments are small victories. Our making contains many a story. 

I chose more leftover sock yarn to knit another shortie sock. I used the cuff pattern from the Candy Floss socks. I knit the bottom of the arch in one by one ribbing as it snugs up the sock for walking. Although some would find it annoying, I don't mind the ribbing. The second sock will not match and may include some other scrap of solid blue.  

I frogged this shawl. The size/shape seemed awkward to me - too wide for a scarf and not large enough for a shawl. Every time I worked on it, I thought I don't like this project. The variegated yarn is a generous sized skein. I sort of wonder what it would like as a hitchhiker? Anyway, I wound up both yarns and they are back in stash. 

I am reading World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. This collection of essays is beautifully illustrated by Fumi Mini Nkamura. The author, a published poet, writes lyrical prose connecting flora and fauna with personal experience. It's a lovely book to dip in and out of on a hot summer day. I appreciate Nezhukumatathil's thoughtful writing and her perspective as a woman with heritage from India.   

My sister gave me a copy of Ten Poems About Birds edited by Katharine Towers. She bought it in a bookstore in Edinburgh and carried it home for me so it feels like a treasure. Included in the book, is Emily Dickinson's poem that begins "Hope is a thing with feathers." Mary recently wrote about hope as a muscle to be exercised. Finding and thinking about hope these days seems like more than a small victory. 

I leave you to celebrate small victories, one day at a time, like perhaps a rainbow at dawn (Monday, June 30 at 5:55 a.m. Lincoln, Nebraska, the western sky.)  I had never seen a rainbow at dawn.