Hello Gentle Readers. I write on a morning of sunshine and blue skies. January is unseasonably warm and dry in southeast Nebraska though there is rain forecast for later this week. I continue to enjoy a flock of robins that travel around the neighborhood feeding on fruit from ornamental trees. Sunday the temperature was near fifty degrees, the wind blew a gale and the robins were twittering away in the trees. Honestly, it felt like March.
Today is the day to link with Kat and the Unravelers. Sunday evening I finished the ribbing and bound off the body of the cardigan. The pattern calls for knitting the buttonband and neck finishing before knitting the sleeves. I've not encountered this previously but Isabel Kraemer is an experienced designer so she must have a reason. I will block the sweater before picking up stitches for the buttonband. I also need to decide on buttons so I know what size to make the buttonholes. For now, I'm following the pattern as written.
As for the sock, I ripped out a good three inches plus the heel. As I knit the foot, I kept tugging on the heel thinking it looked cattywampus. Don't ask me what happened except that I knit a shadow wrap short row heel that I've only knit one or twice. Somehow it skewed to one side. Thinking I could live with the mistake, I tried it on but it wasn't comfortable. In future, I will stick with the heel flap, turn, and gusset that I could knit in my sleep and fits. I'm sure you are as tired of these socks as I am.
This week I read Fifteen Wild Decembers by Karen Powell. This historical fiction is the reimagining of the lives of the Brontë siblings. In this account, the first person narrator is Emily. The physical description of the landscape is well done. I also enjoyed the interactions between Charlotte, Emily, and Anne. Occasionally there is a reference to a storyline from one of their novels. Some felt contrived but were fun to come upon while reading. There is nothing new in this novel but I enjoyed thinking once again of the way in which these young writers challenged rigid expectations for women in their time and place.
As we ease into January 2026, I wish you time to unwrap a winter sunset.
