Summer Saturday

Last week we spent some days in north central Minnesota. My sister and brother-in-law have a lake home and are gracious enough to invite us to come each summer. My sister, brother, his daughter, and I did a little kayaking one beautiful afternoon. We saw a great blue heron lift off from the shallows, an osprey on a nest, and of course loons who kept their distance from us. One morning we picked blueberries at a large U-Pick blueberry patch. The bushes were loaded with large ripe berries and they are delicious. We overlapped one night with both of my brothers and some family. James and John each had a daughter in tow so we had two of eight cousins. John and his wife also brought two grandchildren. My siblings and I (the four J's: Jane, Julie, John, James - it was the 50's :-) live a distance apart from each other and all have children. John and I have grands. My favorite moment comes when we gather around the table for the evening meal, join hands, and sing the Johnny Appleseed grace. Voices of three generations, raised with joy and gusto, make my heart sing. Time together is a treasure. 

My travel knitting consisted of an adult hat and a baby sweater. My husband drives most of the miles and my sister and I knit on the screened porch while looking out at the lake. I made good progress on the baby sweater. I am now working on the sleeves.

We arrived home midweek. A couple of rains kept the trees and plants green. Today summer is at its best. I walked in warm dappled sunlight and shade. The sky was clear, the humidity was lower and the temperature was near seventy degrees as the breeze ruffled my hair. The zinnias are blooming, and my garden is beginning to produce its extravaganza of basil, tomatoes, and cucumbers.

The cherry tomatoes are ripening and other tomato plants are heavy with green fruit. My favorite summer dish of garden tomatoes, olive oil, basil, garlic, parm over pasta will be on the menu soon. Food for the gods. I hope summer is treating you to some of its bountiful goodness.

High Summer

Hello. Recently we drove to north central Minnesota to spend a few summer days with my sister and brother-in-law at their lake home. We also were able to catch up with my Montana brother and his daughter. Our lake visit of warm days and cool nights was lovely. The company is very dear to us. I love being shoulder to shoulder with my sister in the rocking chair, the kayak, along the roadside for a walk and in the kitchen. North central Minnesota had a late cool spring so the wildflowers continued to bloom with wild abandon. One afternoon, Lance and I walked with our niece. We heard all about middle school, piano competitions, and her upcoming trip to Japan as she snipped wildflowers for a bouquet.

Close to the lake, my husband saw a fox slink across the road. Small frogs hopped in and around the grasses at the lake bank. A great blue heron fished intently from a small floating dock anchored near the shore and a pair of loons bobbed on the lake. During the day, birdsong floated into the screen porch where my sister and I sat in rocking chairs with our knitting. My husband and brother-in-law completed a small woodworking project in the garage. Two evenings we played board games around the table. I didn't take many photos but instead tried to make the most of time with wildflowers and family.

Both coming and going, we stop at a rest area outside of Worthington, Minnesota. It is a good lunch spot with shaded tables and a path around and through a big meadow of wildflowers. The flowers are bright and beautiful this year. I discovered a variety of coneflower with fluttery lavender petals and patches of bright orange milkweed. Both varieties were new to me. On the way, I knit the second foot and toe of a pair of socks, kitchenering up the toe just before we hit the last 45 miles of winding road around the lakes.

While at the lake, I knit on a hitchhiker. I made good progress in the rocking chair and on the return trip to Nebraska.

Since arriving home,  I'm catching up with my own garden. The black-eyed susans are beginning to bloom. This morning I spied an orange tomato in the vegetable bed. High summer season has arrived. I hope summer is treating you well.

Summer's Eve

Something about summer's eve speaks of abundant possibility. The outdoors is lush and green without that wilted look of too much heat and sun. My herb garden is growing well. I have enough oregano to supply an Italian restaurant. When I clip herbs for cooking, I pick extra sprigs to dry on a paper towel. I have little jars labeled with parsley, basil, oregano, and thyme. After the herbs dry, I crumble them into the jars for winter cooking. The only drawback to this low tech method is the pile of paper towels that accumulates on the counter. Usually I harvest enough for my use as well as for my son and daughter. They make great stocking stuffers for cooks. The lavender is full of blossoms. The tomatoes and sugar snap peas are flowering. I could grow sugar snap peas just for their delicate flowers. A thunderstorm on Monday a.m. dropped three inches of needed rain, more bounty for the season.

As for knitting, I have new projects on the needles. I finished the Pebbles socks and cast on this pair. I was a wee bit disappointed to run out of gradient yarn at the toe but the yellow made a good sturdy toe. If I had knit a shorter cuff I might have had enough but ripping out the sock didn't make sense. Watching the colors change in this Beach Glass colorway made for quick knitting. I also knit one of a pair of Spring River Mitts.

Since I keep looking (in vain) through my shawls for a more neutral, light colored one to wear with summer clothes, I cast on the Gemma Shawl. The designer remarks that that pattern is just right for summer knitting and she is right. There is a nice easy rhythm in the stitch patterns. I also appreciate her attention to detail at the beginning of the shawl. This yarn came in an enormous skein. I finally split it into two balls because the first became too big to hold in my hand. There will be enough left for another project. I could have knit some kind of short sleeved, short bodied sweater but I bought the yarn for this shawl pattern so away I knit.

Honestly I would like to cast on more projects. Something about relaxed summer days makes me think of three or four other skeins of yarn that I might like to use for mitts or a cowl. Summer's bounty from the natural world spills into my knitting. This side of summer has a richness that will last only a few weeks. Enjoy these June days.

Necessary Shawls

In this crazy world, I find wrapping a soft knitted shawl around my neck and shoulders is necessary. Old lady-ish or not, I have a few stalwart shawls that I wear around the house for warmth on cool evenings or mornings. I let the shawl rest on my shoulders and tie the ends into a loose knot. If the weather is very cold, I wrap up in a larger shawl and toss the ends over my shoulders. Comfort, not fashion, is my goal.  

Recently I finished knitting two warm weather shawls. Although they have a shade of plum in common, the patterns were quite different. Zephyr Cove by Rosemary Hill begins with a small leaf knit at one end of the shawl and ends with a simple lace pattern in a second color. Garter stitch short rows shape the shawl into a long boomerang. While the construction was interesting, it was the name of the pattern and the leaf drew me to the design. Hill named the pattern after a cove in Lake Tahoe and knit the original in teal blue and forest green. I'm not sure I'll knit a shawl with such an elongated shape again but the ends will wrap twice around my shoulders. I knit this shawl in fingering weight yarn, Tosh Merino Light.

The Red Robin Shawl by Helen Stewart is knit from Blue Sky Alpaca Silk. Stewart's pattern made a simple but elegant shawl. Her meticulous design includes an ingenious beginning which eliminates the pesky little point that sometimes happens at the beginning of triangular shawls. She also added a stitch to the edges that eliminates the awkward increases next to purl stitches. I had a few wobbly looking rows in the stockinette section of the shawl but blocking smoothed them out. I will probably knit this pattern again.

Shawl knitting offers a wide variety of designs. Some shawls come with intricate lace patterns while other create simple lines with stockinette or garter stitch. Shawls can be shaped in a crescent, rectangle (stole), large circle, triangle, or some variation of a shape. I happen to prefer a triangular shaped shawl for the straight forward construction and ease in wearing.  Summer is a great time for knitting a lightweight shawl, as the garment requires less attention to fit and finishing. Matching the pattern to yarn is a delightful process.  My advice for the summer is to choose a design, choose a yarn, knit, and enjoy. Then wrap up in your shawl and a book from your reading list.