Hello Gentle Readers. November evenings come early. Still there are days of bright blue skies and burnished oak leaves. One sunny warm day last week, I was driving west at midafternoon. Sunlight filtering through oak trees created a beautiful butterscotch effect. Prior to the weekend, the temps swung up to seventy plus degrees but have dropped after a Monday evening rain. There is a richness to all of the November days.
Since I last posted about knitting, I've made progress with existing projects and cast on something new. I wet blocked the current sweater in progress to check the fit. I'm glad I added a few rows to the yoke because right now, this part of the sweater fits. In photos, the color of the yarn fades out, even with filter adjustments.
In the meantime, Norah requested some mittens that "flip open at the top." Some of her friends are wearing them at school. I found a child-sized pattern called "Pop-Tops" on Ravelry and promptly started the project. Remember the pre-Ravelry days of searching for patterns in yarn shops and books. It would have taken me a long time to find a pattern and I might not have found one. Ravelry may not be perfect but it sure is useful.
I finished the hand of the first Green Thumb mitt and cast on the second one. When I knit mittens, I knit both hands and then go back and knit the thumbs one after another. This increases the odds they will be the same length.
This week I read Port Anna a debut novel by Libby Buck. The plot about a young woman down on her luck returning to her family's old cottage in Maine is heartwarming, if a little predictable. It contains a touch of magical realism and lovely descriptions of the rugged Maine coast. What I enjoyed most was the physical presentation of the library hardcover copy. The front cover evokes the feel of an Andrew Wyeth print, the back is photograph of the Maine coast, and the spine of the cover is a soft gray-blue with a cameo of a lighthouse. The opening page of each section of text contains a gray silhouette of forest pines. Although I know nothing about fonts, the look of the chapter numbers was also striking.
Kat, who usually hosts the Wednesday link-ups for these posts, and her family have experienced a great sadness and loss. My thoughts are with her as I write.
And, I have another photo of a November leaf. This one came from some late turning trees on a parkway along my walk. Likely I will not post next week. Mindful that holidays can be difficult, I do wish you a good November and if you celebrate, a rich grateful day of Thanksgiving.
That will be a very wearable sweater. I saw that one knitter has added embroidery to her sweater. Lovely. The mitts are a fun project too.
ReplyDeleteI always appreciate the opening paragraph of your posts. I have been thinking of our oak leaves as brown and rusty, but burnished sounds much nicer. I'm glad the sweater fits so far and I love how you got right to knitting Norah's mittens that flip open at the top. Your many iterations of the green thumb mitts are all favorites of mine. I am cleaning/organizing my stash this afternoon and I will be looking for DK possibilities since I finally bought the pattern.
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking about pre-Ravelry pattern search days last week, Jane! Although I don't use Ravelry much anymore, I do love the search capabilities, as well as seeing finished projects on REAL people. I am grateful to have such a tool at my fingertips! I can't wait to see Norah's pop-top mittens! (Her's will be nicer than all the other kids' mittens because hers will be knit with love from her grandma!) Happy Thanksgiving, Jane. XO
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