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

Regularly Scheduled Knitting

Hello Gentle Readers. Green explodes in the landscape and isn't it welcome? The linden and locust trees sport fresh bright leaves and the redbuds bloom. Earlier the ornamental pear trees lost petals to the wind and dry conditions. However when the wind finally calms, the Spring days are gentle and beautiful. Weeding or walking, it's lovely to be outdoors. Creeping Charlie and a close cousin grow prolifically. I pulled buckets of the stuff. Each year one weed predominates in our yard and garden beds. This year's award goes to Creeping Charlie. 

Even though Kat is on hiatus, I look forward to a midweek post about making and reading. Thank you for the kind wishes for my sore hand and wrist. It feels better but I am taking care by knitting less and stopping when it gets uncomfortable. I finished this small shawl. I enjoyed working on it but I have many this size so I may tuck it away as a gift. 

Most days I knit a few rows on the baby blanket. Sunday I reached the half-way point of my yarn and began the decreases. Some evenings, the blanket is warm on my lap so I hope to finish before the really hot days arrive. The sock project bothers my hand so I cast on another shawl. What the heck, they always fit and I can knit fingering weight yarn at a looser gauge without pain. I have knit this design previously and it blocked out well. Quill is a new-to-me yarn in a wool/alpaca/linen blend I bought last year on sale. Earlier I tried a different pattern but it wasn't for me. This design is fairly intuitive and I like the edge treatments.  

The past few week I read Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times by Tracy K. Smith. Although this book contains a few poems, it is a book about how poetry works. Smith does a masterful job of asking and answering questions about one or two poems per chapter. She is very thoughtful about what can be learned from a poem and how poetry might help us toward better conversations with each other. The last chapter is an analysis of various elements of a poem. Each chapter could be read separately although I enjoyed the book as a whole. Smith's voice is thoughtful and a good reminder that wisdom still speaks. If you want to understand more about how poems work, this book would be a good place to begin. I'm still thinking about a question she poses to readers of any poem, "What do you notice?" 

I also read a light-hearted sweet novel, Eddie Winston is Looking for Love by Marianne Cronin because it is my local book group's May selection. The quirky characters are the strength of this novel. Eddie Winston is a ninety year old gentleman looking for a woman he loved many years ago. Bella is a young woman grieving the death of her lover, Jake. When Bella brings Jake's belongings to the charity shop where Eddie works, the two gradually become friends. The story may be too sweet for some but it is easy reading with some funny moments. The ending seemed a little contrived to me but I understand the author's intent. 

I wish you lovely April days. I am having technical difficulties when responding to your comments. I hope to figure out what is going on soon. Please know I continue to read and appreciate your comments. You are also welcome to read and pass on commenting. 

Ravelry Links

Spring Nimilintu

Gemma Shawl

Redbud flowers growing out of limbs are fascinating.

  

A Poem

Hello Gentle Readers. Although April is National Poetry Month in the U.S., any month is a good month for a poetry. Back in 2002, I learned poets, especially women poets, wrote at all ages about anything and everything. Since then, I have discovered poems about feisty old women, lilacs, the ravages of war, dust, planting peas in a garden, tending to a loved one in a nursing home, iris flowers, a begging bowl, assisting a cow birth a calf, a sock, and more. It is not an exaggeration to say a whole new world opened to me.   

The way a poem works is fascinating. Language, punctuation, words, sounds, rhythm, meaning, metaphor, title, and arrangement on a page all come together in a short amount of space. One can read a poem and consider all, some, or none of these elements. Sometimes one element is more prominent than another and I wonder why. 

Lately, I've been thinking about the negative space surrounding a poem. How did the poet decide on line breaks, space between stanzas, or the placement on a page? Or did this space occur as a result of the words and phrases in the poem? I suspect either or both can be true in a poem. Negative space can make a powerful statement or it can be very subtle. 

Negative space is at work in all kinds of making as well as the natural world. In knitting, the beauty of lace depends in part on negative space. Colorwork is affected by space around patterns. Embroidery, patchwork and applique´ as well as the quilted design stitched through three layers of a quilt all make use of negative space. 

I began this poem thinking about negative spaces. Although it marks the month of March, I share it in April. Happy Poetry Month.

In March*

In this month between seasons,

trees marry shadow and shade.

Birdsong swells, 

green hesitates before rain.

Grape vine trails from frame,

sketches without a plan.

Thread the needle with words.

Stitch the space between lines.

Touch the letters.

Ponder the stars.

Beyond the edge of a poem, 

Open your heart. 

*Copyright, Jane A. Wolfe, 2026. 

Making Progress

Hello Gentle Readers. After a beautiful weather weekend of sunshine and temps in the high sixties, cool rainy weather is in the forecast.  After the rain and if my hand cooperates (see below), I plan to begin weeding the garden beds and stirring the compost. This Tuesday morning is gray and chilly. I watched a blue jay at the neighbor's feeder practically hang upside down to extract a seed or two. The grackles are out in full force, cackling around the entire neighborhood. A robin builds a nest between an overhang and the downspout on the southwest corner of the house. I'm thankful she chose a spot that isn't going to cause any difficulty for us. I haven't seen her there since Saturday so she may also be building elsewhere. Sometimes robins build multiple nests. 

On Wednesday, I'll link with Kat and the Unravelers to post about making and reading. Thankfully I haven't done any unraveling this week but I have also not done as much knitting. My right hand aches, mostly from hand sewing and quilting through multiple layers. My age is showing. Also when my husband had cataract surgery on his second eye, I knit on the Nirmilintu Shawl for almost four hours. Although it didn't hurt that morning, it was too much handwork. Since then I've knit only a couple of rows on the baby blanket in the evening. When the blanket edge is the width of my table or when I am halfway through the second skein, I'll begin the decreases. Progress! If my hand hurts, I stop, stretch it, and pick up a book. Anyway, the photo above shows this week's progress on the shortie socks, the shawl, and the blanket. For the record, I knit on the socks before my hand hurt.  

I listened to The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 2 by Beth Brower. As one would surmise, this is a series written in the format of a young woman's journal. Volume One begins in 1883 in London. Ms. Lion, a young woman orphaned as a girl is full of spunk, wit, and determination as she navigates London society, family, and neighborhood characters that include her dishonest cousin Archibald and strong willed Aunt Eugenia. I'm late to this party but Volume 2 is as charming and full of hijinks as Volume 1 and great as a "light" listen.

I'm reading Starry and Restless: Three Women Who Changed Work, Writing, and The World by Julia Cooke. This nonfiction work is the account of Martha Gelhorn, Emily "Mickey" Hahn, and Rebecca West during the years 1930 to 1954. These three intrepid women traveled the world and then worked their way into international journalism during World War II. They were adventurous and rejected society's stereotypes for women and women journalists. They wrote magazine articles, plays, novels, short stories, and nonfiction while living unconventional lives. They were both praised and criticized for their work as well as the way they lived and loved. The narrative is fascinating and full of detail, maybe a few too many details, but I am very much enjoying this book. The chapters alternate between the women. For me, reading a hard copy, with the option to refer back to previous events, is preferable to the audio version. 

As the little finches come to the feeder and the lilac buds appear, I wish you a Happy Spring.  

Hello April

Hello Gentle Readers. I am composing on Tuesday. Once again, the wind is blowing and stirring up dust and pollen. April showers forecast for Wednesday and Thursday this week will be very welcome. The view out my window is quite green this morning. Trees begin to leaf out and bright yellow dandelions bloom in the neighborhood. This morning I noticed a lilac bush with buds. The juncos have departed for the season. Next week I will begin to clean up the flower beds. Signs of early Spring are everywhere. 

On Wednesday, I'll link this post to Kat and the Unravelers. Knitting on the baby blanket continues but doesn't look much different than last week. For fun, I'm adding a mini skein or three to frame the lace sections of the Nurmilintu Shawl. Nurmilintu, a Finnish word meaning "little bird," is a sweet footnote to this shawl. Google also told me there is a Finnish lullaby incorporating the word.  

I completed the first sock of a pair of scrappy helical shortie socks. For me, a section of 1x1 ribbing on the soles makes shortie socks fit better. Helical knitting made the sock foot knit up quickly. I kept knitting to see how long the small balls of yarn would last as I knit the foot. The knitting games we play! 

This past week, I read The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox from the backlist of Maggie O'Farrell. Iris, a woman living in Scotland, receives a call about her Great Aunt Esme. The caller tells Iris, that her aunt, a woman she never knew existed, is being released from a mental hospital after sixty one years. The story toggles between past and present as it reveals deep secrets of the family. The narrators shift with no cues or ties to the timeline which can be a bit disorienting. However, this literary device suits the writing, the plot, and the characters. I soon got used to the shifts and was able to follow the story. This novel was published in 2007 but stands the test of time. I thought it was excellent. O'Farrell created the personal story of a young woman confined in a mental institution because she differed from traditional expectations for girls and young women.  

I hope you have a good first week of April filled sunshine and/or showers, as your heart desires.  

Late March

Hello Gentle Readers. Whoosh! There goes March in a whirl of wind. Literally. Many days in the month were blustery. Today the sky is hazy blue and the air quality is poor. That could mean dust and pollen and/or smoke drifting in from wildfires. Last Saturday the temperatures hit a record high of 95 degrees. That day, we attended the anniversary celebration of good friends which meant searching the closet for summer clothing. The next day the wind came up and the morning temperature was 35 degrees. The temperature is again on the upswing toward 84 degrees this afternoon.

Today I link with Kat and the Unravelers. By knitting a few rows most days, I'm making progress on the baby blanket in the top photo. I'm not wild about knitting with acrylic yarn. Next time I'm knitting baby or child knits, I'll look for an alternative. Often I use Swish DK, a superwash merino from KnitPicks, but I'd have needed multiple skeins for a blanket. I thought joining and weaving in ends of a solid color would mar the garter stitch done on the bias. 

Because garter stitch is always a good idea for me, I cast on a lightweight spring shawl.  Last night as I drifted off to sleep, I thought of another way to incorporate the contrasting mini skeins. Next time I pick up this project I plan to rip out the three stripes. Previously, I have knit at least three versions of this little shawl and wear them often. 

I cast on some scrappy socks for a carry-around project. I'm following a sock recipe for helical knitting created by Denise DeSantis, the Earthtones Girl. She offers a video tutorial on her Youtube channel and in her book, No Fear Sock Knitting. On recent warm days, I wore shortie socks while walking and could use another pair. 

I finished Norah's mittens and they were well received. Immediately on opening the mailing envelope, she put the new mittens into her backpack. In my note, I told her I taped the envelope very securely so the mittens weren't tempted into another adventure. 

Between the wind, changing weather, and state of the world, I have had trouble falling asleep. One of those nights, I picked up Still Life by Louise Penny. I listened to this series so I thought I'd read one in print. I also knew the good guys were going to solve the crime. It was fun to revisit Penny's introduction of the characters and the village of Three Pines. As I read, I noticed wisps of future storylines. I think she began this series with the intent to write four novels, each one representing a season of the year. Her success story is heartening. 

Thank you all for your kind words and good wishes for my husband's cataract surgery. All went well and his eye is healing nicely. The second surgery is coming up in another week or so. Thank goodness for modern medicine. 

Monday was perhaps the coolest day of the next two weeks so I made raspberry jelly. Last summer, I cooked raspberries down, extracted enough juice for one batch, and tucked it in the freezer for a winter day project. This year it became a nice March afternoon project.

Have a good week friends. 

Ravelry Links

Baby Blanket

Spring Nirmilintu

Scrappy Helical Socks

Stitching the Days

Hello Gentle Readers. I am composing this on a very cold Monday. Yesterday snow with strong winds made for a quiet day indoors. A large flock of house finches and juncos swarmed the bird feeders all afternoon. Next Friday, the forecast is for a high temperature of 85 crazy degrees. Several days last week, strong winds encouraged wild fires in rural areas of Southeast Nebraska. March blusters on in all of its iterations.  

Last week, I completed my Stitch Journal. This project began in January 2025 when I was intrigued by the 2024 stitch journal project created by Kathryn on her YouTube channel. Some pieces were inspired by her prompts and other times I went my own way. The small size was perfect for playing with fabric and embroidery thread on hand. I knew I could discard anything I didn't like but I never did that. Uneven stitches, patches, and wonky proportions added to the charm. I created for fun.  

Sometimes I began with an idea I wanted to convey with cloth and thread while other times the words came to me during and after the stitching. I don't know that I'll make another stitch journal but working on this one was a delight. Journey, journal, and diary all come from the same Latin root word, diana. The pieces record seasonal changes, joyful family visits, as well as a longer-than-I-expected recovery from pelvic floor repair surgery in May. As I look back through the pages, I see the journey of this past year. At any rate here are the last three pages. This February I stitched the "heart of the matter."  

The remaining two pages were completed in March. The first "nourished a (handspun) thread of hope and the second the promise of Spring.

Thinking of Spring, I copied the flower from my Mom's mug and added the sun and green landscape. I learned the Basque stitch to create the sun's rays. That stitch was "fiddly." I doubt I'll use it much but it's good to try something new now and then. 

Coincidentally this week, I finished reading With Her Own Hands: Women Weaving Their Stories by Nicole Nehrig. In this nonfiction work, Nehrig set out to learn more about the importance of textile work in the lives of women. I have read nonfiction regarding the history of quilting, knitting, and spinning but the inclusion of weaving and embroidery was new territory for me. Did you know that some mathematical principles may have originated in weaving designs? I appreciated the way Nehrig included needlework from around the world and art created by women from marginalized and indigenous cultures. I'm still thinking about a project created by a woman to painstakingly unpick the threads of a Confederate Flag, comparing it to the difficult work of overcoming racism in this country. Nehrig's work is well researched and her discussion nuanced. If this sort of history interests you, I recommend this book. 

At some point on Wednesday, I'll link this post to Kat and the Unravelers. My husband is having the first cataract surgery on the 17th and then we have a follow-up appointment early on Wednesday. This is a routine surgery expected to go well but I may be scarce around blog-land this week as I am the designated driver and errand-runner. 

Mitten Adventures

Hello Gentle Readers. Monday, the high temperature was in the mid-seventies. Early this morning a light wet snow fell. Right now the sun is out and the temperature is just warm enough to melt snow from the tree branches. Still, signs of spring are everywhere. Under light snow cover, the yards begin to turn green. Red maples show the fringe-y looking growth that comes before the leaves open. Crocus bloom in the neighborhood and the daffodil spears grow taller.  

Today I link with Kat and the Unravelers with a tale about a lost and found mitten. Early last week, Norah lost one of her "Pop Top" mittens. She emptied her back pack and looked for it in her at-home cubby of mittens, hats, sandals, swim goggles, and other necessary items. She looked in the yard and on the school playground. Jonah suggested she check the school "lost and found." She didn't know about "lost and found" so my daughter notified his teacher he'd be picked up at a different door so he could search the lost and found table in the gym. The mitten was no where to be found and she was sad. 

Saturday over Face Time, she asked if I could knit another mitten - "not for her writing (right) hand." According to Norah, it didn't even have to be the same color but maybe a little longer as her hand has grown since last November (3/4 inch to be exact). Well of course I could knit another mitten but thought a pair would be even better. Sunday I knit the first mitten. This pair has cream colored cuffs because I don't have enough leftover pink to make two full mittens.

Monday night they called again, all smiles, as Jonah found the lost mitten on top of a snowbank on their walking route to school. Misshapen and dirty but without any tears, it survived three days in the snow and a weekend of rain. Norah and Jonah are certain that, a la the picture book The Mitten, a little mouse or bird sheltered in the mitten during the rain. The pair has since been washed and according to my daughter came out looking reasonably well. In the meantime I'm finishing up the slightly longer pair and will send them off tomorrow. I wish all of life's problems had such an easy solution. 

This week I read Blue Light Hours by Bruna Dantas Lobato. I loved this quiet story of a loving mother daughter relationship that unfolds mostly over Skype. The mother in Brazil expresses concern for her daughter, an international student in Vermont while the daughter worries for her mother because she lives alone. The novel chronicles a gentle but heartbreaking and humorous view of the immigrant experience. The writing is lyrical but sparse in a way where every word counts. I know mother/daughter relationships can be difficult but I enjoyed reading about these two women growing into a rich adult friendship. 

And so rather than a photo of snow, I leave you with one of Spring. I am off to make either a batch of cookies or scones to warm up the kitchen. I hope March is treating you well. 

 

Welcome March

Hello Gentle Readers. Around here, March came in like a lion cub. Sunday was a cold gray day but the temperatures are seasonable which I prefer. Sometime early Tuesday morning a sprinkle of rain fell. More rain is in the forecast later this week.

The best Spring news is that the sandhill cranes are flying. When I was out on the deck on Saturday morning their ancient music alerted me to the silvery gray ribbons in the sky. Back on the ground, a tiny yellow crocus blooms in a yard and the daffodils are up in the backyard. Spring is around the corner. In spite of terrible things happening around the world, the rhythms of the natural world comfort me.

Today I link with Kat and the rest of the Unravelers. On Sunday I put the last stitches in the Sophie Hood turned into a Shawl/Scarf. The photo is a Monday morning special in what has become my favorite at-home sweater this winter and sans makeup which I wear less and less. The fabric is lovely, soft, and warm. I took one last photo with the Valentine Quilt as a background because they went so well together. 

I cast on a simple corner-to-corner garter stitch baby blanket. My great niece and her husband are having a baby in August. This baby will make me a Great Great Aunt which is hard to imagine but here I am at seventy four. I decided to make something simple and washable from locally available yarn. The yarn has some soft gender neutral yellow and green speckles. This will be a nice project to pick up and put down in the next few months. 

I also wound up several skeins of yarn only to put them back in the stash. My knitting mojo as restless as the weather. This bunch of yarn might have the most promise. I'm looking for something with spring colors. 

This week I read Girls on the Line by Aimie K. Runyan. This historical novel was an average but easy read. The main character is a young woman born into the upper middle class in Philadelphia. Much to her parents' consternation, she becomes the commanding officer of a group of women telephone operators for the American Expeditionary Forces on the western front of France (WWI). I could have done with less romance and more detail about the work of these young women. The novel ends at the end of the war and the passage of women's suffrage. The ending was happy and predictable and that wasn't all bad this week. In the acknowledgements, Runyan detailed how these women were finally recognized as veterans in 1978. 

Did March enter your neighborhood as a lion or a lamb? 

Ravelry Links

Handspun Sophie

Baby Blanket

A brave flower and even some blades of green grass

February's End

Hello Gentle Readers. Last Thursday seven, yes seven, inches of snow fell on our neighborhood. This was the second measurable amount of snow this season, the last occurring over the Thanksgiving weekend. Since then the days have been cold but this week the temps promise to warm to sixty degrees. As the minutes of daylight increase, the light in February changes. This morning the sky is a silvery bright gray. Yesterday it leaned toward blue. 

Today I link with Kat and the Unravelers. My knitting is not exciting this week. I continue to work on the Sophie Shawl. I passed the apex of the scarf and am knitting down the width. Last night the repeats didn't take as long so that feels like progress. The shaping makes it the reverse of the return of daylight in the northern hemisphere. 

I finished these socks by knitting on them every time I sat down to knit. To me, this colorway named Kestrel, looked better in the skein than in the socks. I do enjoy knitting and wearing the Tenderfoot base by Polka Dot Sheep. No matter the colorway, warm feet are warm feet. Maybe I am weary of winter attire of sweat pants and wool socks.  

This week I worked on this little piece of patchwork. Off and on I enjoy piecing by hand. Last summer I put together some blue scraps and sewed some small squares together, Once the piece is square with eight darker patches marching diagonally down the center, it will be finished. It could be a pillow top or it might go back into a box with other bits of patchwork. 

This week I read The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros as it is the March selection for my local book group. What a tender beautiful story from the viewpoint of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago. Although the book was first published in 1984, I received a copy of a second edition published in 2009. Cisneros' introduction to the second edition is as touching as the vignettes in the story. The structure of short vignettes about people, places, and events in the life of Esperanza suit the viewpoint of a young girl, living on Mango Street. Cisneros' writing is lyrical and some vignettes remind me of prose poetry. Her word choice is exquisite. She chose the right word at the right moment to convey the most meaning. Now I wonder how I missed this book, although my son was born in 1984, twenty months after his sister. I doubt I read much in those first few years of two little ones.  

I also read an older book of poetry, Radiance: Poems by Barbara Crooker published in 2005. I don't know when Crooker began publishing poetry but this little volume is packed with wonder, beautiful metaphor, and reflections on visual artists and their work. Crooker's poems come with hope and astute observations.  

Now the sun is breaking through the clouds and I can hear melting snow running off the roof. I leave you with a February sunset. Here's to changing light. Have a good week. 

 

Mid February

Hello Gentle Readers. This morning hazy sunshine greets me. The sun valiantly shines through light cloud cover. A string of sixty degree days makes walking and running errands pleasant. Some mornings the birds sing up a storm. Yesterday from our deck, the Merlin App picked up the song of house finch, chickadee, cardinal, sparrow, and a flicker. After the screech of a red-tailed hawk, the birds went silent. I wish the birds could sing up a storm that would bring moisture. Monday when the wind came up, the weather service issued wildfire warnings for rural areas.

Today I link with Kat and the Unravelers. Over the weekend, I sewed buttons on the blue cardigan. I am delighted with this sweater. It fits well and the buttonband (if I do say so myself) came out nicely. The yarn has a lovely hand and makes a warm, soft but not heavy fabric  Not that many of you would know, but when I looked at this photo I thought, "you look just like your mother." It's sort of uncanny how these things happen. 

This week I'm writing about the latest pieces for my stitch journal. Once I had a wonky quilt block given to me a long time ago by a dear friend. She was older and moving out of town but couldn't bear to throw away a box of quilting scraps given to her by a widower whose wife/quilter had died. This block was part of that box and one of the few pieces I haven't used over the years. 

Every time I tried to use the block in one of my projects, I took it out because it was so wonky but I never threw it away. Two years ago, I cut two triangles from it and made them into tree ornaments. Then, who knows why, I saved the leftovers. In January, I carefully snipped stitches holding the little pieces together and used them, along with other pieces to make the "January Blues."  

The second piece is inspired by stitching I saw on Instagram. This curved feather-stitch motif was used in different orientations. Honestly other than the pink and red suggest Valentine's Day colors, I had no theme in mind. I enjoy embroidering feather stitches (the pink) and thought this was interesting. I added a piece from a small bit of fabric that was eco-printed with leaves and some straight stitching. 

I read The Eights by Joanna Miller. This historical fiction is the story of friendship forged between four young women in their first year at Oxford University, 1920. They were among the first class of women admitted to the University with the goal of obtaining a degree. All of the regulations and expectations of  women, as well as events of the recent world war and women's suffrage movement in England are part of the story. The premise of this novel held promise but so much of it was very episodic. The story went from one event to another, over and over. Some episodes bordered on soap opera. The novel would have been richer with more complexity in and between the characters. If you want to read about the first young women at Oxford and a similar setting, I suggest The Bookbinder by Pip Williams.

Thank you for reading. Here's to enjoying the longer hours of daylight and return of warmer weather. I hope your projects are going well.   

Knitting Adventure

Hello Gentle Readers. Today the sky is a nearly cloudless blue while the breeze works itself into a gusty cool day. The juncos still frequent the feeders telling me that Spring has not yet arrived. Sunday when I walked I greeted neighbors washing cars in their driveways. Monday our high temperature was seventy degrees which is too warm for February but glorious for walking. The rest of this week will be more seasonable but still on the warm side. I know those in the north and northeast of the country are winter weary but here we could use a wet snowfall. 

Today I link with Kat and the Unravelers and feel grateful to be part of this group. Sunday I wet blocked my hopefully, finished sweater. Knitting can be an adventure. While waiting for the sweater to dry I went to work on the Sophie Hood. The pattern is a clever bit of knitting origami. Saturday night when I was almost finished shaping the hood, it looked like this. 

I pinned it together and tried it on. Thank goodness I did because the hood was not long enough from the top of my head down to the neck. Rats. This pattern has been knit successfully by many knitters. The error in row gauge is mine. As I worked on it, I couldn't quite wrap my head around the hood shaping. Once I finished, it made sense. In my defense, the pattern emphasized knitting the scarf end to a specific width before beginning the hood shaping and at that point I was spot on with the stitch count and width. More measurements in the schematic would have helped me adjust the pattern. An additional schematic of the hood laying flat would also have been helpful. 

Monday evening I ripped out the hood. It was work because I'm holding a strand of mohair/silk with the handspun. I like the fabric but the yarn won't stand up to a second time (or more) of ripping and re-knitting to get the correct size of hood. Maybe I just have a big head who knows? I'm now knitting a Sophie Shawl which is really a good sized scarf. The rate of increases and decreases will be slightly different than the Sophie Shawl pattern but I wasn't going to rip out the whole thing. As I like to say, I am getting my money's worth out of the yarn by knitting it more than once. 

In between, I pulled out another work in progress, a pair of socks. They were travel knitting during our Thanksgiving trip to Connecticut. I started the second sock on the flight home and since then they have languished in the project bag. I am on a mission to finish these projects before going on to something new. 

This week I listened to Murder at Gull's Nest by Jess Kid. This is the first book in a series of charming cozy mysteries and was a delightful escape from the world. The protagonist, Nora Breen, is a fifty year old former nun. I was attracted to the book by the idea of a woman reimagining her life at age fifty. About two-thirds of the way into the book, I figured out the culprit but that didn't curb my enjoyment. I enjoyed the setting, a small seaside village in Kent in 1954, as well as the quirky cast of characters. The narrator was excellent. I look forward to the next book in the series.

I also read a beautiful book of poetry, The Moons of August by Danusha Laméris. This book was a gift from my sister who knows how to choose poetry. This poet has known great sorrow and death but writes eloquently of life. Her poems are gorgeous and accessible. The physical presentation of the book is elegant. The cover is lovely while the beginning, end, and each section are marked by a line drawing of a crescent moon. 

I hope you are finding some peace and beauty in your week. If you need some inspiration, you might read about the group of Buddhist monks who walked from Texas to Washington D.C. to promote peace. I am not of their faith but find a great deal to admire in their message. Their gentle interactions with local law enforcement officers during their walk is inspiring. Yesterday they reached D.C. and celebrated their hope for peace with an interfaith service in the National Cathedral. Peace, Love, and Light my friends. 

Ravelry Links

Handspun Sophie

Connecticut Latte Socks

I love pink clouds at sunset.