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