Mid August

Hello Gentle Readers. I write to you from a rainy overcast morning. I woke to the low rumble of thunder and rain falling on the roof. Since I wasn't going out to walk soon, I rested a little longer. What a luxury. The two small vegetable patches have the end of summer look. The cucumber vines are in the compost. The tomato plants aren't far behind although I have one plant with green fruit. The weeds are out of control but for now they are ground cover. I'll weed later when the weather is cooler.

Today I link with Kat and the Unravelers. My making is a little ho-hum but isn't that the way it goes? I also get a little restless when just before the season transitions. I plied the first skein of my latest spin. This skein is 338 yards of fingering to sport weight yarn. I spin more consistent yarn when I ply smaller skeins with the bobbin/flyer combination used to spin singles. As much as I read about and adjust the larger bobbin/flyer on the wheel, that plying doesn't go as smoothly. 

The Avenue Vest is finished and once again drying on the blocking mats. With the rain and humidity, drying is going to take some time. The ribbing around the armholes had the slightest flare so I blocked it again. I'll post some photos and write more about it next week.  

I finished the first Beach Glass sock and cast on the second. I cast on a shawl with some older handspun but am not sure whether the yarn is a good match for the pattern. I looked through some stash but nothing really inspired me at the moment. 

I am late to this party but I read The Women by Kristen Hannah as it is the current selection by my local book group. This novel is the story of three women who served as nurses during the Vietnam War. In my opinion the writing was a little above average while the plot carries the story. These women survived and slowly overcame the horrific conditions and experiences of their service and traumatic return to this country largely because of their friendship. I understand why the author plotted the events as she did but at one point I thought there was a little too much drama. It was as if she included all of her research about the Vietnam Nurses and Vets into one character.  However, the novel will give us some good discussion points and tells an important story.

I graduated from high school in 1969 so I remember the news coverage of the war and subsequent protests. Several young men from our small town were killed in the conflict. Later I understood how the government lied to the country and the world about the war.  However, I didn't know the returning nurses were not eligible to be treated by the Veteran's Administration because they didn't officially serve in combat. Being bombed and shot at in a hospital unit, evidently didn't quality as combat. I have the utmost respect for everyone who serves in the military but stand by my belief that war is hell and a waste of human potential, resources, and the environment. 

On a cheerier note, I leave you with a photo of a sunny August flower. It turns out if you deadhead coreopsis beside a driveway, they bloom a second time. One of these flowers had double petals which I thought was beautiful.  Have a good week.

 

 

August Stitches

Hello Gentle Readers. August heat continues to ripen tomatoes while the vines wither. The coneflower petals fade but the vibrant zinnias attract monarchs and a black swallowtail butterfly. Butterflies are remarkable for their resilience and beauty. When I've been out evenings to stroll around the block, the cicada chorus accompanies slightly earlier sunsets. Back in the day, when their rasping became deafening, my Grandad used to remark, "six weeks to the first frost." Growing up on a farm in the early 1900's, he learned to read the natural world. 

Today is the first day of school for public school kindergarteners, sixth graders, and ninth graders. The first year students in the buildings have a day to adjust before all students are in attendance. Maybe because I was a teacher and a mom, the start of a school year feels like a big milestone. Last evening while walking, I spoke to a kindergarten teacher returning from Open House. She was full of enthusiasm and empathy for her little students. She is one of many excellent teachers who have been hard at work, preparing for the school year. I wish the teachers and the youngsters well. 

Today I link with Kat and the Unravelers for posts about making and reading. I enjoy stitching on this little notions-sized pouch. The four squares in the bottom right square were from a long strip of cloth. Otherwise I've worked with the scraps as they present and with two strands of embroidery floss. I don't pre-mark patterns and sometimes I go back to a square and add stitching. I've noticed that I like some open space. 

Sunday I finished the body of the Avenue Vest. When it dries from wet blocking, I'll pick up and knit the neckline and the armhole ribbing. I'm pleased with the way it came out. Meanwhile, I made some progress on the foot of the first Sea Glass sock. 

I reread an older book of poetry, Lost in Seward County by Marjorie Saiser, published in 2001. The cover art is by a local artist, Hilda Raz. Seward County is adjacent to Lancaster County where I live. While reading the title poem I pictured the roads Saiser describes as she drives to visit "Ted." I assume she refers to Ted Kooser who lives in rural Seward County. Some of the poems in this book are quite long but I enjoyed their short story like quality. They also give the book a different kind of rhythm. One of my favorites from this volume is "My Old Aunts Play Canasta in a Snowstorm." The last line, "deal, sister, deal" is the perfect conclusion to the poem. 

So I best freeze some tomato puree and find a cool indoor space to walk. I'd rather be outside but even the mornings are too humid and hot for me. I wish you a good week.

True Colors

Hello Gentle Readers. As I write, the sky is overcast and the temperature is a balmy seventy seven degrees. Thunderstorms are in the forecast but as usual we can use the moisture. The more temperate summer weather is a welcome relief from the heat. I'm up to my elbows in fresh tomatoes but am not complaining. Garden ripened tomatoes are so good. The black-eyed susans self-seeded to create a bank of flowers against the shed. They grow where nothing else will. The zinnias that survived the rabbits bloom brightly. Monday a monarch flitted among them. A male goldfinch bobbed on and off the coneflowers. The vivid summer colors lift my heart.

Today I link with Kat and the Unravelers to post about knitting and reading. I made good progress on the Avenue Vest with three more inches of knitting to finish the body. I photographed it outdoors in order to capture the subtle tonal quality of the yarn. I'll write more about the pattern, yarn, and fit when the vest is finished.

Please excuse the gardening hands.

In between, I picked up a sock that began in the airport on the day of our attempted June trip. The little detail on the side of the leg is supposed to look like a bow-tie. It's fun and easy to knit. The pattern calls for the motif to be knit on both sides of a shortie sock. I chose to make a full sized sock and knit the motif down only the outside of the leg. The pattern is free, well written, and comes with several photo tutorials. The way Lisa of Fibernymph Dye Works matched the colors of the Sea Glass stripes to real sea glass is remarkable. 

I reread Love Forms by Claire Adam because it is the August selection for my local book group. The novel is a meandering story of a middle-aged woman trying to come to terms with her traumatic teen-age pregnancy. At the same time she is looking for the daughter she gave away at birth. The ramifications of that pregnancy and birth echo through all of her life. I predict we will have an interesting discussion because the pacing is slow and some readers may find the detailed description superfluous. Although, if the narrator is telling this story to her lost daughter, all the detail might be relevant. I can think of other reasons the details might be included. Even though I like a slow quiet story, I enjoyed the novel less the second time through. Still I think the novel warrants reading and discussion. A traumatic teenage pregnancy and birth have long-lasting effects that aren't always considered in public policy discussions. 

And so, I hope you too are experiencing vibrant colors of the season. Happy August. 

Ravelry Links

Avenue Vest

Bowtie Beach Glass

July's End

Hello Gentle Readers. As July winds down, the fresh vegetables and fruits are abundant. Sunday I made seven 8 ounce jars of ginger peach jam. Colorado peaches arrived in the grocery stores and they are delicious. Running the canner on a very hot day wasn't the smartest idea but one must strike when the peaches are ripe. I use a stand-alone (water bath) electric canner that is more efficient than the blue enamel variety on the stovetop. Fresh stone fruit and melons as well as garden vegetables are one of the best parts of summer. Monday evening, after being indoors all day, I ventured out in the 90 degree heat. At 7:30 p.m. not a creature or a breath of air stirred. It was as quiet as a winter evening. I walked down one side of our short street, back up the other, and came in for a glass of ginger iced tea. A dilly of a thunderstorm blew through about 2:00 a.m. slightly lowering the temperature but raising the humidity.

Today I'll link with Kat and the Unravelers where we share our making and reading. I'm happy to report the Gemma shawl is finished and blocked. I love the soft shade of blue and the generous size. The yarn, a blend of wool, alpaca, and linen/flax is interesting. In one skein, the linen/flax fiber poked out of the yarn enough that I sometimes pulled out two to three inch strands of fiber. The other skein didn't have nearly as much as that happening. I used two full skeins and broke into a third skein to knit the last six rows of garter stitch. Mostly I didn't want to rip back sixteen rows of the body and twenty four rows of patterned border to get to the place where I could knit both borders with the second skein. In other words, I lost a soft game of yarn chicken. No chickens or skeins were harmed though. 

Once the shawl was blocking, I picked up the Avenue Vest. The stockinette edges curl so I'll block it before picking up and knitting armhole and neckline ribbing. After joining the front and back, I tried it on and am happy with the fit. Blocking may add a little more ease but that will be fine. 

This week I listened to Wild Girls by Tiya Miles, the Michael Garvey Professor of History at Harvard University. I have read other books by Miles and admired her research methods, insights, and writing. She is the author of five prize winning works of nonfiction. This book, published in 2024, is a lyrical, concise, and thoughtful inclusive history about how the outdoors and physical activity shaped the views and ideas of girls of all races. By examining the historical record about Louisa M. Alcott, Harriet Tubman, and Sacajewea as well as lesser known (at least to me) activists including Gertrude Bonnin and Grace Lee Boggs, Miles connects the influence of landscape and/or physical activity to the independence, action, and resilience of the women. I learned things never taught in my history classes.  Of particular mention, is the text devoted to girls' basketball team at a Montana boarding school for Indigenous children. In the conclusion and epilogue, Miles links ideas in the book to the current inequities in green spaces and tree canopies and what that means for families and youngsters today. I'm not sure how I happened onto this book but I found it fascinating.

I began July posts with homemade bread so I'll end with dessert, a peach cobbler.  Excuse the ratty potholders in the background. They have been well used and loved. 

Stay cool and safe in the summer weather. 

Ravelry Links

Soft Gemma Shawl

Avenue Vest

 

Almost

Hello Gentle Readers. Tuesday morning a north wind blew in a few days respite from extreme heat. Mercy but the days have been hot and the nights stay warm. As my Granddad used to say, "this is tomato growing weather." A squirrel got the first full size tomato but unless there is a natural disaster there will be plenty. We are almost to fresh tomato sandwiches. Last night I made a pasta salad with cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, chopped parsley and basil from the garden. I added some chopped bell pepper, a can of chickpeas, and feta. Then I dressed it with a honey mustard vinaigrette and we ate it with watermelon.  

Today I link with Kat and the Unravelers. I'm now knitting on the shawl border. Six rows of pattern and six rows of garter stitch remain before I can bind it off and give it a bath. The rows are long. Thank goodness I can bundle it off my lap and onto the love seat while knitting. I am also almost finished with the second bobbin of my current spinning project.

I missed slow stitching and remembered Kat's stitching project with a grid of squares. Katherine of K3nCloth Tales did a similar project incorporating small scraps of cloth. This will not be a daily stitching practice but perhaps become a pouch for hand sewing notions. I marked separate grids on a piece of muslin. Then I basted flannel to the back of muslin, and couched fingering weight yarn to mark one of three grids. In my previous quilting life, I threw out tiny scraps. Last year I saved small bits while working on the Stitch Journal. The challenge in this project is to choose small pieces at random and then stitch around them. The blue piece reminded me of the Dresden Plate quilt block so I stitched it into the corner and added the embroidery on either side. I pinned the other two pieces on to audition them. So much for completely random. I am what I am. This is a "for fun" project so any rules are just guidelines.

Earlier this morning I did something I rarely do. I sat down with a cup of tea and savored the last few pages of Whistler by Ann Patchett. Publicity and information about this novel is everywhere, as it should be. It's a tender sweet story about human connection, impermanence, and kindness in the face of imperfection. The writing is lovely. Every word is well chosen and well placed. I enjoyed all of it; setting, character development, plot, themes, subtle connection to the writing and publishing world, and Patchett's ability to wander around in time with clarity. It's a welcome respite from our troubled world and a novel worth rereading. 

My July garden beds are wild and leggy.  Earlier in the summer, I found what I thought was a weed growing in my pollinator garden. I left it after a plant app identified it as wild bergamot, also known as bee balm. Now it blooms and feeds the bees and butterflies. It is also part of the mint family so will need to be kept in check. I'm off to make a grocery list and hope the prices haven't gone up - again.  I wish you at least one pleasant surprise this week.

 

Summer Days

Hello Gentle Readers. Greetings on this summery summer day. While the hot July sun shines on the flower beds and vegetable patch, the flax and the larkspur go to seed. The cucumber vines ramble out of their space to climb a tomato cage and twine around zinnias. Maybe the raspy cucumber leaves will keep the bunnies out of the zinnias. I've harvested a few cherry tomatoes and Juliets, a small Roma tomato that is generally prolific. The two other tomato plants are full of green fruit. Yesterday I canned eight half-pint jars of bread and butter pickles and made one quart jar of refrigerator dill pickle spears. "Basil bombs" are next on my list. Last night I watered and so it goes. 

Eventually today I will link with Kat and the Unravelers to post about making and reading. We are updating a bathroom and the washing machine repairman is due here sometime today. In between, I continue to work on two knitting projects. I am ready to finish the shawl in the photo. I have a third skein of yarn but am hoping not to need it. Time and stitches will tell.

I made some progress on the Avenue Vest. It's been a while since I knit on size 7 needles but I'm enjoying the shaping. I really do want to finish the shawl so will focus on it for a week or so and see what happens. Sometime if I knit on something, I can finish it. Funny how that happens. 

As for book notes, I reread two books on my shelf.  The Woman in the Moon, poetry by Marjorie Saiser, was lovely. As Saiser notices and records the world, she reminds me, "In the dark times there will be singing"  (Saiser, M. The Woman in the Moon, Backwaters Press, 2018, p. 54) I loved the metaphor in the title poem. [She - the moon]  has dimples and doesn't care. She "has paled and doesn't mind that she has put her gold away." (Ibid. p. 42- 43) I enjoyed every poem in the book.

I read The Magnificent Spinster, published in 1985, by writer and poet, May Sarton. I first read this novel in the 1990's when I was a fan of her nonfiction journals. The main character, a beloved teacher, is loosely based on Anne Longfellow Thorp, the granddaughter of Longfellow, that Sarton knew. In the novel, she skims the surface of all kinds of relationships between strong women. Perhaps in another time she would have written more honestly about homosexuality and identity, creating a stronger story. In addition, the book could have been edited in order to avoid repetition and a trite New England-y kind of story. The times are different so my judgement may not be fair. 

Sarton published and sold a lot of novels, nonfiction journals, and some poetry but was never pleased with the critical reception of her work, especially poetry. A biography of Sarton noted she was mercurial and didn't work well with editors. Maybe her work would have been better if she had been able to work cooperatively with her editors. Who knows, maybe she just couldn't find the right editor. After reading the biography, I felt I had been duped by the image she presented in her published "journal" series and so I gave them away. Now this novel and the biography no longer need to be on my bookshelf. I don't plan to read them again. I enjoyed her work when I read it but I'm a different reader these days and my bookshelves hold plenty of other books to reread.

What are you reading or rereading these summer days?

Late afternoon and the repairman has come and gone. After seven years of use, replacing our washer is more economical than repairing it. No wonder the planet is in peril. More poetry and perhaps a song is in order this evening. 

Early July

Hello Gentle Readers. Summer days have arrived. Green tomatoes are setting on the vines and a few cherry tomatoes turn from orange to red. They are smaller than I like, especially for the first ones, but they taste like home grown tomatoes. On the 4th, I harvested the first three cucumbers. I replanted cucumber seeds several times and now the vines are going wild. If we can keep everything watered as the temperatures soar to 100 degrees, we should have plenty of tomatoes and cucumbers. 

Today I link with Kat and the Unravelers to post about making and reading. Our son, Aaron, is visiting this week. He has remote work obligations but having him here from Texas is delightful. He loves cooking so it is fun to be in the kitchen together. He brought his small flour mill as well as wheat and rye berries. Saturday he ground fresh flour and made bread dough. He left me in charge of the rising. We thought one pan would be enough but it was not. When the dough overflowed the bread pan, I divided it and set it to rise a third time. Leaving your mother in charge of an unknown recipe is a risk but disaster was averted and the bread was delicious. That evening we used tomatoes from his garden and fresh bread in BLT sandwiches. I cut up watermelon from a local produce stand and we had snickerdoodles for dessert. It was a perfect meal for the 4th of July. 

At some point I wrote about this small piece of patchwork. A month ago, I finished the piecing and quilted three circles and diagonal lines with two strands of embroidery floss. Then I made it into a pillow. 

As for other making, I'm knitting away on the shawl. I'm close to the border and the rows are long. This odd piece of knitting is a second try with the Avenue Vest. Interesting construction and size seven needles make the knitting go quickly. The fabric I'm getting with this yarn and needle size is soft and made me wonder if the deep V-neck would flop open and not lay flat. I decided to knit the round neck. Let's hope the vest fits. It's all an experiment but it's only yarn. 

This week I read Hot Chocolate on a Thursday by Michiko Aoyama. This gentle book is almost a collection of short stories. Having a minor character from each previous story become the main character for the next provides the structure. Setting, either Japan or Sydney, Australia and sometime both also provides continuity. At first, the stories felt a little too sweet but as I read I appreciated the theme of how easily misunderstanding leads to misconception and hurt feelings. Conversely the author used small moments to convey the power of kindness offered to others. What seemed like a simple story left me wondering what could happen if more of us, myself included, were willing to let go of slights and hurts and see the viewpoint of each other. This fiction isn't great literature but a sweet story of possibility in everyday lives. I also enjoyed the references to cherry blossoms of Japan and jacaranda flowers in Australia.  

Just as an aside, thinking about the differences in structure and management of characters in Aoyama's book as compared to that of Good People by Patmeena Sabit (the Read With Us Selection in June) was an interesting exercise. The authors handled those two devices differently and of course the storylines are quite different but it gave me food for thought. 

I can't show you cherry blossoms but my neighbor has a beautiful stand of cone flowers in an area adjacent to the street. I hope you are finding beauty in this summer season. (Or in the Southern Hemisphere - the winter season.)

Ravelry Link

Avenue Vest

  

Where Was I?

 

Hello Gentle Readers. The end of June brings hot summer weather. Although the gusty wind, dries out the garden beds, it is a godsend when walking in this heat. If I am not out of the door by 9:00 a.m., I don't walk very far. Were you able to watch the full moon rise on Monday evening? The strawberry moon of June is my favorite. That night the faint hint of pink in the moon and reflected light was surrounded by wisps of clouds against the dark sky. The sight was breathtaking. 

Today I link with Kat and the Unravelers. In between trips to the deck to check the moonrise, I finished the thumbs on these mitts. The yarn and pattern go well together. The suggested needle size with this yarn made a nice pair of mitts for my small adult sized hands. Stretchy ribbing always feels like my hands are getting a massage. If I knit these mitts for someone with larger hands I might go up a needle size. The pattern has great attention to detail including mirrored cables that begin and end nicely, ribbed thumbs that flow from the pattern, and a graceful hand increase on the palm.

. 

I am spinning these three four-ounce bumps of a BFL silk in variegated (what else but?) blue. Finding the right speed to treadle and adjusting my drafting took some trial and error. I've completed the first 2 ounce single so I have a good start. It's fun to watch the silver gray and hint of mauve combine with the blues as the single winds onto the bobbin.

I abandoned two books and am beginning two more titles so I'll save book notes until next week.  

Where was I last week? That is a tale of air traveling woe. Last Monday we were scheduled to fly to the East Coast to visit our daughter and family. We arrived at the Omaha airport promptly at 9:30 a.m. for the 11:30 a.m. nonstop flight to La Guardia in NYC. Our flight was delayed all day long. Finally when Delta announced yet another departure time for 8:15 p.m., we wondered if the flight would get out and opted to rebook for the next day so we weren't arriving in the wee hours of the morning (we lose an hour going East) or trying to rebook with everyone else at the gate. We retrieved our bags, rode the shuttle to the parking lot, and drove 50 miles home. The next day we spent the afternoon in the airport only to have our flight cancelled and repeat the whole process. Weather, one less runway at LGA, the high cost of fuel, the College World Series in Omaha, and World Cup Travelers all worked against us. It wasn't feasible to extend our visit so we cancelled the trip and hope to reschedule in August or September.  

Just to make things more interesting, the Omaha airport is being renovated so there was less gate space in an already small airport. In addition to the usual airport hubbub, there was also construction noise, including a jackhammer.  However the entire Delta staff in the Omaha airport was an exemplary team. For two days and probably more, they handled a harried frustrating situation with kindness, knowledge, patience, and grace.  Air travel these days isn't for the faint of heart. 

So for now we are home, looking forward to a visit with our son. The larkspur and the coneflowers continue to bloom. I hope you have blooms in your neighborhood, something to look forward to, and are staying cool. 

Ravelry Link

Cityscape Mitts

June Days

Hello Gentle Readers. The clear June days have arrived and they are glorious. Being outdoors, even pulling weeds, is enjoyable. The garden grows, the bees hum, the coneflowers bloom, and the bunnies mow down the zinnias. Ah- summer. Sunday while walking, I heard a little house wren singing out her heart. Three tiny young chickadees flit around the birch tree in the front yard and then I see them (at least I think they are the same birds) at the back feeders. We all must coexist in this world or so I remind myself as the squirrels dig in the pots and the bunnies chew up the zinnias. 

Today is Wednesday. If Kat posts, I will link to my fellow Unravelers. I am working away on my knitting projects. I finished the hand of the first Cityscape Mitt and cast on the second. The ribbing gives these a snug fit and also makes them look like a long skinny tube when not on a hand. When finished I'll try to get a photo of them on my hands. I love the increases that help shape the gusset. I joined the second skein of yarn to the shawl and that feels like progress on what continues to be a peaceful project.

I finished this hat, knit with two strands of fingering weight yarn, to donate to a charity. The colors worked out well as I was able to carry one strand of a Merino Cashmere Nylon throughout the entire hat. The other three leftover yarns were variegated in blues and greens. Although I didn't think about it ahead of time, I used the darkest of the three balls in the middle of the hat. I also like the way the ribbing in the brim and body of the hat worked out. I followed mods made by another Raveler linked on my project page. Once I heard a knitter and podcaster talk about a donated blanket someone brought to her mother in hospice care. She said it was ugly and did not bring any comfort. In order to be kind she didn't take it from the room. The anecdote still reminds me that anything I donate should be something I would gift to a good friend.  

This week I read The Things We Never Say, Elizabeth Strout's latest novel. The author's trademark reflections by late middle-aged characters, very human and flawed, are the heart of the story. Artie Dam, a kind beloved teacher in a public school in Massachusetts Bay learns a secret that changes his life. Casting the main character as a history teacher in 2025 allows Strout to tap into the current time and place in the United States. She accurately captures the dread and unease in this country felt by many.

Strout used literary devices thoughtfully. Small bits of physical space throughout the book encouraged me to pause briefly and consider the story. I found the shift between Artie as narrator and the author speaking directly to the reader interesting. While I applaud Strout's nod to teachers and the changes they make in lives of young people, I missed the rural setting in Maine and characters of her other novels. Certainly the novel is worth reading if a little melancholy.

I hope you are enjoying your projects. What fills your June days?

Ravelry Links

Gemma Shawl

Cityscape Mitts

Hat

Early Summer

Hello Gentle Readers. Weather here in southeast Nebraska is very summer-like, hot and humid. Last night when I went to bed the outdoor temperature was eighty five degrees. At any rate, the tomatoes like the rain and warm nights. Over the weekend, the vines grew about six inches. The basil thrives in pots while the lavender blooms. Around the neighborhood, the lilies of all colors bloom. 

Today I link with Kat and the Unravelers for making and reading posts. As I enjoy the warm evenings outdoors, I do less knitting. I continue to work on the Gemma Shawl but didn't take another photo. I finished the latest pair of shortie socks knit from leftovers. The astute among you might notice I reknit the toe of the first sock. I have another skein of sock yarn that will coordinate well with the solid rose color so I took out the first toe and reknit it. Goofy I know but it made me happy and didn't take much time. I made some progress on the hat but have to take care that my hands don't get sore so I cast on a pair of mitts. 

Currently I am reading Street Haunting, a little book of essays by Virginia Woolf. The opening essay, "How Should One Read a Book?" pulled me back into Woolf's world and writing. I look forward to the last essay, "Street Haunting" in which Woolf uses the pretext of needing to purchase a lead pencil to walk the streets of London on a late winter afternoon. One has to love a woman with an affinity for pencil and paper as well as walking. Woolf's writing is witty and excellent. For anyone hesitant to read her work, these essays would be a good entry. I happened onto this book on an outing to Postscript Press, a shop in Ashland, Ne., a small town between Omaha and Lincoln. The shop specializes in stationery and a selection of curated books. The books were tucked in and around the stationery supplies. We visited on a rainy afternoon, adding to the charm of the shop on a small town main street. 

This afternoon I need to return and pick up library books. I'm also in desperate need of a hair cut and groceries. Have a good week.

Ravelry Links

Summer Shorties

Cityscape Mitts

 

Hello June

Hello Gentle Readers and Hello June. The weather here dabbles in summer. For the past week, we've experienced scattered thunderstorms nearly every twenty four hours. The rain is very welcome but comes with warmer temperatures and higher humidity. Monday was downright steamy. Flowers bloom, bees buzz, and a swallowtail floated by the other day. Volunteer larkspur bloom against the new fence. One cluster of sweet peas blooms early and the yellow lilies are full of buds. The weeds thrive but the soil will need to dry before I can weed. 

Today I link with Kat and the Unravelers. The top photo shows my knitting for the week. If you think I like the color blue in any shade you would be correct. That is any blue that doesn't come with the term, black and blue. The toenail doesn't hurt anymore and I can easily wear my gardening and walking shoes. Hooray for small wins.

I continue to work on and enjoy the Gemma Shawl. I've reached halfway in the stitch count although probably not the halfway point in the project. Math never was my strongest subject. I cast on a hat with sock yarn scraps in a variation on the LOSY (Leftover Sock Yarn) Hat on Ravelry. I'll link my project with information at the end of the post. In theory, knitting with sock yarn held double is a great idea but I find it hard on my right hand. Sarah's "Same As It Ever Was Hat" would be a better way to knit a warm hat with fingering weight yarns and I am sure I could use coordinated scraps.

After knitting two different gauges in the same swatch, I searched the Modern Daily Knitting "How To" articles for information. I vaguely remembered skimming several from the website. Skimming would be the apt description because gauge is not that much fun. Patty Lyon writes understandable explanations on technical knitting questions. This one is no exception. Being a Type A, I have always knit tidy garter edges on the bottom and sides of my swatch. It turns out that can distort the gauge. Ahh, I've been knitting since I was ten or eleven years old but still have things to learn. I'll knit another swatch without a border and compare the gauge. Good thing I bought an extra skein.

This week I'm rereading Rock Tree Bird by Twyla M. Hansen, a former State Poet of Nebraska. Hansen lives in Lincoln and grew up on a farm in Nebraska. Her poems are of the Great Plains. In this little volume, she wrote about rural Nebraska as well as her parents including caring for her elderly mother, a dying friend, and other living creatures. Although published in 2017, revisiting them now is seeing them with new eyes.  

I'll leave you with some photos I took of my pollinator garden. I just sowed zinnia seeds in that bare patch. The butterfly bush didn't make it though last summer and this year the bunnies mowed off  bachelor buttons. Generally they leave zinnias alone. Perhaps not visible in the close-up photo of the flowers, a bee visits the pink salvia. What is growing in your neck of the woods? 

Ravelry Links

Gemma Shawl

Hat

May's End

Hello Gentle Readers. May treats us to beautiful warm days. A few honeybees frequent the salvia in the pollinator garden. The garden begins to grow. Last night I snipped a few fresh lettuce leaves to add to egg salad sandwiches. A ripe garden tomato would have been tasty but those are six weeks away. Even in May, one can't have everything.  

Today I link with Kat and the Unravelers. This week I made progress on the Gemma Shawl. I usually knit one repeat of the mock cable/lace pattern each evening. It is a peaceful way to end the day. The shawl pairs well with The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower. I'm currently listening to Volume 6 and enjoying all of Emma's adventures. I get a kick out of the names Brower has chosen, for example Mr. Penury as the banker and Mr. Enamel as one of the St. Crispian committee members. Even the name of Emma's home, Lapis Lazuli, is fun. Each one of these novellas is more fun than the next. 

I frogged the first five inches of the back of the Avenue Vest. Experience has taught me to check gauge and other measurements before knitting too far. The piece seemed small and I was right. After wet blocking, my gauge per four inches was four stitches smaller than in either of my swatches. This is strange because I knit both the swatch and the beginning of the vest flat and generally my knitting tension is loose. I also knit a small in-the-round swatch for the rest of the vest but whatever. I bought another skein from my LYS because I don't want to run short of yarn as I knit another larger swatch. Maybe now isn't the best time for garment knitting. Working in the garden is so nice and we are beginning on a partial bathroom remodeling job. Plan B might be to work on the shawl and socks for now. 

After returning a few books to the library unfinished, I've begun reading Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton. My reading list for summer includes older books by authors I've previously enjoyed. I feel badly for authors who work for months and more to write, revise, and publish a book that has such a short shelf life. How long can/do booksellers keep books on shelves before the next advertising blitz comes along? I imagine it's a short period of time. I'll not go on with my rant. 

After avoiding the grocery store over the long weekend, I need to make a list and buy some produce. I hope you enjoy some warm late Spring days.   

Ordinary May Days

Hello Gentle Readers. I write this morning with my worn gray alpaca shawl around my shoulders. A shawl is shelter. After ninety degree weather last week, glorious amounts of rain fell. Two hot steamy days gave way to cooler temperatures. Prior to the rain, our yard and garden beds were the end-of-July dry. More rain is forecast for the end of the week and I am not complaining. I love shawl weather. I plan to make a pot of soup for dinner.  

Last Saturday we put in the last of the garden. After all the rain, cucumber seeds may need to be replanted. Often one hill or the other doesn't germinate or the birds or squirrels get the seeds so replanting isn't unusual. I'm trying lemon verbena in one corner and also identified some volunteer bergamont coming up in the pollinator garden. Between gardening, medical maintenance appointments, and gathering with two different groups of friends, I knit only a few rows. 

Still, it is good to be among makers and readers, so today I link with Kat and the other Unravelers. I'm knitting on the shawl and last night added some rows to the vest. Thank you for your ideas about the vest. Soon I'm going to recheck the gauge. Although I've never knit a v-neck, I'm going to give it a try. The instructions in this pattern are quite clear and it is good for my brain to try something different.

I needed carry along knitting so I pulled out more odds and ends to knit another pair of shortie socks. I enjoy wearing them to walk and around the house on these cool days. I may have to add in some other color. Luckily leftover sock yarn seems to multiply in project bags. The mock cables in the cuff are fun to knit and a bit of ribbing on the sole is enough variety to make the foot go by quickly. 

I read The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary by Terry Tempest Williams. Currently Williams is a writer-in-residence at the Harvard Divinity School. While Williams' nonfiction works are among my favorites, this book of essays may not be for everyone. She writes with a clear-eyed, brutally honest view of the natural world. As she mourns extinction of species and changing climate, she celebrates moments of great beauty and joy. She writes eloquently about connections between and among plants, trees, animals, humans, rocks, water, and air. Her writing is at it's best when she describes the red rock desert of her native Utah. What is a Glorian you might ask? The title of this book is only the beginning of the answer. The question is best answered by reading the essays. Nothing I write will do justice to her ideas.

The The King Arthur Cookie Companion in the first photo is a Mother's Day gift from my daughter. It is going to be fun. Good cookies are my favorite dessert. Right now it's on the coffee table for browsing. My son sent me a sturdy padded collapsible gardening bench I can use for kneeling or sitting. I've used it several times and it works better than the old carpet square I have dragged around for years. Both of my children are very dear and they know me well. 

May rain water and grow peaceful ordinary days for you. Have a good week. 

May Projects

Hello Gentle Readers. These spring days are warmer. My garden blooms are mostly periwinkle. Lavender iris, flax, a few phlox, and campanula. Once years ago, I bought a pot of campanula with small blooms to use as a centerpiece. After the gathering, I stuck it in the corner of my herb garden. I had no idea if it would grow but it continues blooms. Did I just jinx myself by writing about it? I hope not. Last weekend I planted tomatoes, flower seeds, and herbs. Whether the bachelor buttons and calendula grow remains to be seen. Gardening hope springs eternal. 

Last  Thursday, while ferrying plants and a watering can in and out of the patio door, I was thinking about the rest of the day and promptly walked into the screen. My sandaled left (bare) foot struck the screen head on and water splashed inside and out. The watering can, the plants, and the screen were fine but my big toe was not. It didn't fracture but bruised royally and loosened the nail. So dumb! I can walk comfortably with sandals and a bandage for padding but it's going to be a while before I can put on walking shoes. All I can say is beware of a wandering mind and screen doors. It also doesn't hurt to have Epsom Salts at the ready. 

Today I link to Kat and the Unravlers to enjoy the comradery with other makers. Monday I finished the baby blanket as a gift for an extended family member. Simple garter stitch knit with love isn't fancy but it is soft and sweet. The white yarn is lightly speckled with yellow and lime green. It's hard to photograph. After I wash it, I'll tuck it away until the baby arrives or perhaps I am invited to a summer baby shower.

While I worked on the blanket and propped up my foot, I conjured up knitting projects with stash. I settled on a vest and last year's birthday yarn. After looking at vest patterns and knitting two swatches, I chose "Avenue Vest" by Tori Yu. I've barely begun the upper back and am undecided about which neckline to knit. Any thoughts? I continue to work on the shawl but no new photos.  

I read Afterlife by Julia Alvarez. This novel, published in 2020, was the author's return to adult fiction after fifteen years away. In the afterword, she writes this is her first book as an "elder." The novel is a compact volume with a big story. Themes of family, literature, immigration, hope, and personal responsibility are skillfully woven together. While the main character deals with the unexpected death of her beloved husband and her younger sister's mental health crisis, a stranger, a young undocumented pregnant teenager, shows up on her doorstep. This plot could easily have become a dramatic soap opera but it did not. Literary references scattered throughout the novel were used to develop the main character and also show how she moved from well intentioned thought into reluctant but effective action. The cover is also beautiful and worth the price of admission. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Heads up as you come and go from the great outdoors. Have a good week.

Ravelry Links (Not including links did not allow me to reply to comments. If I have an email address for you, I'm using it to reply. Eventually I will sort this out.)

Baby Blanket

Avenue Vest

Hello May

Hello Gentle Readers. May arrived here with a few warm balmy days. The rest of this week will be cooler but I love fifty and sixty degree days. The lavender irises bloom as does the flax. I love the old-fashioned scent of these irises. To me, it's a mix of bubble gum and grape soda at my Gram's home. 

Yesterday I planted seed for cosmos, bachelor buttons, and calendula. If they don't feed the bunnies, I might grow some bright annuals among the perennials. The flower bed survived the construction of the new fence. How or if the fence changes that microclimate will be the garden experiment of the summer. 

This Wednesday I will link with Kat and the Unravelers. I continue to knit on the Gemma Shawl and the Baby Blanket, gaining yardage on both projects. Larger projects take time and aren't the most exciting blog topic but this is the way I knit. I try to work on the blanket each day. It will be forever tied to The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lyon. I am currently listening to Volume 5. Emma is a delightful heroine and I'm speculating on how the story will end. I have been able to check them out sooner than the hold times would indicate. While they are a quick listen, I wonder if patrons put a number of them on hold at one time and then have to pass them on to the next reader. My local library system adopted a new hold policy which may also be a factor. Anyway the little blanket is a peaceful knit.  

I'm also enjoying the shawl. I have the pattern memorized and the wool/alpaca/linen blend has a slightly crisp but not unpleasant hand. The yarn color has some subtle shading as the three fibers absorbed the dye differently. I'm easily entertained by my knitting.

This week I read The Last Quarter of the Moon, written by Zijian Chi and translated by Bruce Humes. The narrator of the story is an old woman of the Evenki Tribe looking back on her nomadic life in remote forests of northeastern China. The tribe, although the men hunt and fish, depended on reindeer for clothing, shelter, and sustenance. She tells the story of what happened in five generations of her clan as Japanese, Soviets, logging, and climate change came to the forest during the twentieth century. Their life was beautiful, idyllic, cruel, and brutal. Although the story arc was tragic and contained a lot of sudden sometimes violent death, Chi wrote a quiet dignity into this novel. Learning a little about a people who often chose the common good over individual need was thought provoking.

I am not including any links in this post to see if that makes a difference in my ability to respond via email to your comments. Something in the gobbledygook in the email of blogger's response mentioned links. Google recently changed privacy settings policy so that may be part of my difficulty. When my dear son has a little free time, I'm going to ask him to help. I'm at that stage of life. I used to understand  computer terminology but it's much more complex. Remember Claris Works on the first Apple computers? It's been awhile. 

Carry on friends, what else can we do? I wish you an easy heart on this Spring day.

Flax at the edge of our pollinator garden.

 

  

April's End

Hello Gentle Readers. Greetings on this cool day at the end of April. This morning I turned on the heat and put on a sweater. Over the weekend rain fell and, in our yard, the first lavender iris bloomed. The sky is overcast as the neighbors have their fence replaced. Last summer a fierce storm blew down the wooden fence. 

I tend a strip of perennial flowers along that fence. The fence has always buffered the west wind and provided shade late in the afternoon. The new fence will maintain that habitat. I hope the flower bed isn't damaged in the re-fencing. The lavender iris, sweet peas, and medium tall phlox in that bed came from a friend who died years ago. I also wonder how summer sun reflecting off white vinyl will affect the flowers. I prefer wood but it's not our fence and vinyl may last longer. Gardens do grow and change. 

This last week, I finished the Rambouillet spinning project in the photo. In hindsight, it might have been better to ply some of these shades together and tone down the bright pinks. However the yarn is soft with that handspun kind of bounce. I may combine some of these skeins with another handspun yarn into one project. 

I finished the scrappy shortie socks. When I returned to them, the second foot was almost finished so now they are in the drawer. I knit a bit of 1 x 1 ribbing on the bottom of the sock. I went down a needle size for the ribbing and like the modification. It keeps them from slouching down into my walking shoe.

The other two knitting projects are coming along. The very light colors do not photograph well on a cloudy day. It's nice to be on the decrease side of the baby blanket. The shawl is peaceful knitting and I look forward to knitting a little bit each evening.

I read Storm Pegs: A Life Made in Shetland by Jen Hadfield. The book is a series of atmospheric essays without a recognizable structure. To me they felt very much "in the moment." Some of the writing is lyrical. She does not romanticize the rugged beauty or ignore the harsh realities of life on an island at "the seam of the Atlantic and the North Sea." Descriptions of the birds, ocean, the island, its inhabitants, and local customs are well done. Hadfield placed an essay about the history of "Shaetland" language in the middle of the work. The essay described variations among dialects, how the language is fading from use, and efforts to preserve it. She reflected on what the loss of language means for the inhabitants of the island. Given that she used Shetland words throughout the book, I would have preferred this essay closer to the beginning. 

She included a glossary of some vocabulary used in the book. Some Shetland words are italicized, other are not and not all of either variety are in the glossary. Sometimes word meaning was included or could be inferred from the context and sometimes not. If she had a pattern in mind for vocabulary usage, I failed to understand it. I don't have knowledge of the language or Scottish idiom so that was part of my confusion. All of this made for a choppy reading experience as I often flipped back to check the glossary. I did enjoy learning more about Shetland.

Happy end of April to you. I hope you have a good week.

Ravelry Links

Scrappy Helical Socks

Baby Blanket

Gemma Shawl