In Progress

Hello Gentle Readers. I hope that however you celebrated December holidays you found something to enjoy. We spent some time with extended family late this month and enjoyed both visits. Otherwise, I let the season unfold at a slower pace and took time with the things I enjoy. Yesterday I made a batch of peanut butter cookies because I wanted to do so. Here, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were very foggy. Late on Christmas afternoon we took a walk in the fog and enjoyed the lights in the neighbors' yards. This past Sunday, the temps dropped dramatically, the wind howled and light snow blew around for a few hours. Tuesday afternoon, the day warmed enough for a good walk. 

Kat is not hosting Unraveled Wednesday today but posting about knitting and reading mid-week is a good routine for me. Have you ever noticed how knits in progress look a little strange? Non-knitters looking at them probably wonder why we make such odd things. Anyway, I am working away on the cardigan and scrappy socks. Monday evening I knit the heel on the second sock. Recently Connie mentioned how knitting a traditional heel flap, turn, and gusset means that a good part of the foot is completed. That doesn't happen with a short row heel. I knit a shadow wrap short row heel on these socks so I have a good long foot to finish. 

In order to keep moving on the cardigan, I attached a progress keeper (barely visible on this overcast day) that I move on Sunday evening. The games we play with knitting, right? At this point, I need about another inch before knitting the ribbing on the body of the sweater. Slowly but surely. 

This month I read The Place of Tides by James Rebanks. While Rebanks writing is beautifully descriptive and it was fascinating to learn about life on a small Norwegian island in the Arctic, I had mixed feelings about this book. To me, there is something unsettling about a man looking for isolation for his own growth, accompanying Anna and Ingrid as they work in old ways to support nesting ducks and collect and clean eider down. Perhaps due to the times in which we live, Rebanks' narrative felt a little like a privileged male interjecting himself into the lives of working class women. While he is respectful of them and willing to help in any way, some of his early comments about the women seemed judgmental. As the book progresses his ideas change and so perhaps that is the point. Certainly he respects the environment. As he writes, "if we are going to save the world, we have to start somewhere," which is what Anna and other "duck women" are doing. 

Our light snow has melted but I do love to see the little tracks of juncos. I wish you the best as we head into the new year. 

Mid December

Hello Gentle Readers. After a weekend of frigid temperatures, this week will be warmer. I look forward to walking on the forty and fifty degree days. Life is better when I can get outside and walk. I don't mind layering up against the cold but when the "feels like temperature" drops into the low teens and the wind blows, long walks are not for me. This will also be a good week for walking at dusk to view the holiday lights in the neighborhood. I love the quiet slow perspective of walking rather than driving past lights. It also brings back memories of our kids' excitement over "the lights." 

As I link with Kat and the Unravelers this week, I am experiencing some loose stitches in the cardigan on the needles. Last night I attended to the tension in the faux seam areas (adjacent knits and purls) where this is happening and it looks better. Earlier, I bungled a few stitches when attaching the second skein of yarn so I ripped out an inch and reknit those rows. The join is in the underarm/faux side seam and probably wouldn't have been terribly noticeable but it kept catching my eye. I couldn't make it better by pulling and adjusting yarn so I unraveled and reknit the rows. It's all knitting and attaching a second skein of yarn feels like progress. 

I finished one scrappy Christmas sock, knitting a green toe because I could. When I began, I weighed and divided the patterned yarn into two balls. I have some leftover from the first sock so will not do quite as many white stripes in the second one. 

The November stitch journal pages were about the colors and leaves from a beautiful end to autumn. The designs for leaves quilted into the above page came from leaves in the neighborhood. One day while walking I picked up the smallest leaves I could find. Three are from maple trees, one from a cottonwood, and the other from the birch in our front yard. On the next page, I carried on with an oak leaf I picked up on November 20, the day of our 48th wedding anniversary. Excuse the wrinkle, when I opened the journal to take photos, the page had been folded at a wonky angle. I figure a wrinkle or two is appropriate after forty eight years of marriage. 

I read some of  The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai. The writing is lovely while the story, not surprisingly, is melancholy. The novel takes its time, offering rich description, sensory detail, and family backstory to the lives of two young adults, Sonia and Sunny. I had a library copy that could not be renewed because of holds. While I enjoy the many cultural references about India, I prefer to search for information in order to understand them. There is much to savor in this book so I leave it unfinished at this time. 

Lastly, I was looking for a cookie recipe for my Grandmother's Spritz and came across this. Does anyone know where I might find a 69 cent bag of cashews? By the way, this candy is more like cashew brittle than toffee. I haven't made it for years but I recall it being quite good. 

Ravelry Links

Blue Cardigan

Scrappy Christmas Socks

 

Well Hello

Hello Gentle Readers.  As I write on Tuesday morning, sunlight filters through a cloudy sky. Three gold finches in khaki coats are at the tube feeder while the blue jays squawk from the tops of bare trees. They might be posting a warning about a Cooper's Hawk that sometimes frequents the neighborhood or they might be enjoying a call and response with their small flock. Today will be the warmest day since we returned from visiting our daughter and family in Connecticut. 

We left the Monday of Thanksgiving week in autumn weather and returned eight days later to winter. Several inches of snow had fallen over a layer of ice. In the budget parking lot, our car was covered in ice and snow.  At the end of the traveling day, we were grateful the car started and for the ice scraper and brush in the trunk. We had a wonderful time celebrating Thanksgiving and sharing a week in the life of that busy family. We cooked, baked, feasted, played board games and rousing games of UNO. We watched a little football and took some brisk walks. Lance and I took the kids to the independent bookstore so each one could pick out a book. We packed a lot of fun into the week. Then we came home to rest. 

 

Today I am linking with Kat and the Unravelers  and happy to be here. Before we left, I finished the cutest little pair of "Pop-Top" mittens. The above photo shows the fingerless mitt with the top positioned behind it. The first mitten went smoothly. It took a few minutes to puzzle out the second mitten as they needed to be knit as a left and right mirror so the pop-top was on the back of each hand. No doubt, this was just my brain in a bit of a muddle trying to get us organized to travel. Anyway, Norah loved them and wore them to school the day after we arrived. 

This last week I finished the blue mitts. They might be a gift or I might keep them for driving. The Rowan Norwegian Wool is a wooly but soft wool so these mitts are warm. 

In order to use the rest of a skein of West Yorkshire Spinners patterned sock yarn, I cast on a pair of scrappy Christmas socks. When I need a break from the blue cardigan, I knit on these socks. 

I don't have any finished books to review but last Thursday evening we were fortunate to attend a live concert by Yo Yo Ma at the Lied Center for the Performing Arts. Mr. Ma played his cello (no accompaniment) for over ninety minutes. His performance and music were absolutely elegant. The classical program alternated between pieces by Bach and other contemporary composers. Besides the beauty of his music, Yo Yo Ma is a gracious, kind human being. He spoke a few sentences in between pieces, creating a sense of presence and community in the large auditorium. His encore, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was a little bit of magic. I have been listening to his short podcast series, Our Common Nature, and can recommend it. He also has an Instagram account. 

Later I thought about all the human minds and hands that came together to make his performance possible. Someone or several someones imagined and crafted a cello with strings and a bow. Another person who lived in Germany, dreamed and composed the music he played. Then a boy born in Paris came to the United States at the age of four and began to study music. Family, mentors, and community supported his endeavors as he became a virtuoso musician. Now he shares so much more than his music with the world. Across time and place, we are a community. 

I'm headed out for a nice long walk and then to run some errands. What are you thinking about today?

Ravelry Links

Pop Top Mittens

Blue Mitts

Scrappy Christmas Socks