Cold Morning

Snow fell over the weekend and the lingering cold means the tree branches are outlined in white. The temperatures rise to the low twenties in the afternoon. Winter is a few days early. Yesterday I watched a bird holiday outside the window. Four pairs of cardinals flitted with robins. Blue jays, two white breasted nuthatches, three red breasted nuthatches, two chickadees and a flock of sparrows visited the birch. The juncos prefer the backyard feeders. The birds are good companions. Today they have flown for a quieter space. We are having new windows installed. We've been on the list since early August. Supplies are tricky due to Covid. The house is noisy and I am dressed in layers of wool. Forgive me if my post is a bit disjointed. 

In knitting news, I finished the fingerless mitts for my daughter. I have enough yarn leftover to make a pair for myself. The yarn is so lovely I want to use it all. Three generations will have the same yarn in mitts. I continue to knit on the poncho. Stitch by stitch I am getting near the finish line. Today would be a good day for a poncho - indoors. Soon. If I am counting correctly, I need about five more cable repeats. My phone is currently working on an update so I don't have a photo. 

I created a Ravelry page for swatch information. I often knit a swatch and then write down the gauge in one of several notebooks floating around the house or in knitting bags. Unless I immediately cast on a project with said yarn, the swatch gets buried in the stash. I hope having information on Ravelry page will make it easy to locate, especially when in a yarn shop. (2021 I have big plans for you.) Anyway I thought I'd give this a try with any new information. 

The yarn for Micah's hat and mittens arrived yesterday so that is my next project. And in the words of Brenda Dayne, I will "knit, knit like the wind." Connecticut is expecting a big snowstorm this week and those grands need their new winter gear. Although I am sure they are not without, I like to think about my hand-knit mittens warming their fingers until I can hold their hands. See plans for 2021.

I am currently reading Chronicles of a Radical Hag by Lorna Landvik and enjoying every page. This is a sweet story told through the newspaper columns of a older woman who has had a stroke. Although a character looking back on life is a much used trope, the newspaper columns give it a slight twist. The rest of the story, set in a small Minnesota town, revolves around the characters in the newspaper and community. The characters thoughtfully and sometimes irreverently comment about the large and small events of the day. It's poignant and funny without being syrupy sweet. If you are looking for a light read this may be the story. 

As I link with Kat and the Unravelers. I hope this week finds you warm and snug at home. 

Ravelery Links

Mitts for the Mama

Swatch Information

 

Small Shifts

Early December and this day is beautiful. The sky is blue and the temperatures continue to be warm. Today's high is forecast for 64 degrees. One of these evenings we plan to walk at sundown to look at the outdoor holiday lights. Since this is such an odd year, I am making some small shifts in our traditions. Small is the key word as we are two oldsters who like our routine (and may be a little set in our ways, ok a lot set in our ways.) Since we won't be at our usual gatherings, I took time to sort through all the Christmas decor and donated some things to a thrift store. We haven't had the big artificial tree out for several years so we got it out. The middle section of lights didn't come on so we improvised. This tree sheds more than a real one. It's a Charlie Brown tree but this feels like a Charlie Brown kind of year. My husband voted to decorate it one more year so we did. I put out a few favorite pieces and left some things in the storage bins. We are going to have a meal of appetizers on Christmas Eve instead of the usual soup. Who knows what other unexpected shifts might happen. Gasp!

Knitting is not going to change though. I finished the third mitten and hat set and am waiting for yarn for the last one. I talked with Micah on FaceTime and he requested a particular shade of blue. I knit his things from the KnitPicks Swish yarn because his very sensitive skin tolerates that yarn. What's a Grammy to do but order two more skeins of yarn in the "right blue?" While waiting for it to arrive, I cast on a pair of fingerless mitts for their Mama. The leaf thumb gusset would show up better in a solid yarn but this is the same yarn I used for Norah's set. I think it will be fun for their mittens to match. Kate can definitely use fingerless mitts in her busy life.  

I finished the first sock of a pair and cast on the second. The stripes aren't going to match exactly (my error) but that doesn't bother me. They'll be another reminder of this off kilter autumn and winter. They make good Zoom knitting. I knit on the poncho now and again. I continue to enjoy it but have reached the "black hole of knitting" stage. In the meantime, I'm looking at sweater patterns and yarn. Santa is set to bring me yarn for Christmas if I can decide on a sweater. Maybe it will be a Happy New Year gift. 

Last night I finished listening to All The Devils Are Here by Louise Penny. Oh my, what a great story. Even though a mystery has predictable elements, Penny's plots have interesting details with several twists and turns. They are well researched. I enjoyed hearing the French pronunciation of names and places and learned more about Paris. As always, Penny's description of food is mouth-watering and the character development continues. I missed the daily life of the Three Pines crew, in particular Merna and Ruth, but number sixteen was worth the Overdrive wait. 

As I link with Kat and the Unravelers, I wish you well and safe. 

Ravelry Links

Emmett's Hat and Mittens 

Striped Socks

Mitts for the Mama

A Tender Holiday

Thanksgiving was quiet but delicious. I talked to my children. On Sunday, we zoomed with my siblings and spouses. It was nice to see everyone's face together on the screen. Thursday afternoon was warm enough for a brisk walk with my husband. As we say, we did the best we could to celebrate the day and remember our blessings.

Each month Honore' invites us to write about the word we chose for 2020. My word is "tender." On this first day of December, I turn toward Advent and Christmas. For me, the turmoil and losses of this long year do not suggest a season spent in search of constant merriment. Instead I am looking for a tender kind of holiday season. Call me the Grinch if you like. 

Candles in various numbers and configurations symbolize the Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and Christmas. Light, love, and hope are the heart of all of these celebrations. This year I am setting an intention to honor traditions of the spirit:  kindness, peace, grace, comfort, and memory. I hope to extend and create tenderness.  I plan to light a candle. I hope to enjoy a cup of tea, a warm kitchen, writing notes, reading a Christmas story over FaceTime, and eventually, sitting down with a piece of chocolate to wind a skein of yarn.

Onward into December. A NewYear and a new season is around the corner. 

 

Candles and the light that comes from them are common to the winter holidays, Advent, Christmas, the Winter Solstice, Kwanza, and Hannukkah. 

So as I settle into Advent to prepare for Christmas while others celebrate the Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa, and/or Hanukkah. 

Holiday traditions create joy. I am thinking this year the traditions will be those of the spirit.

Thanksgiving Eve

On this chilly Thanksgiving Eve the sky is gray and a breeze blows through empty trees. The finches and chickadees huddle around the feeder. The blue jays squawk from the tops of the neighbor's locust trees. The little downy in his crisp black and white with a dash of red fluffs his breast feathers at the suet feeder. This is indeed a November day. We are thankful for roof over our head, heat coming though the vents, food on the table, and stores in the pantry. My husband has tools in the garage and shed and the bins of yarn are full. One of my nieces is recovering from a nasty bout with Covid but she is out of the woods if not quarantine. Other than that my dear ones are safe and healthy. We will be home tomorrow, enjoying a good meal and Face Time. This afternoon I plan to make my mother's recipe of cranberry relish. I wasn't going to make rolls but somehow this day calls for bread rising in a warm kitchen. Tomorrow I will make an apple galette and put it in the oven when the dinner comes out. Since we are on our own, the pace will be leisurely and dessert might as well be warm from the oven. 

My knitting pace is also leisurely. Last weekend I reached the halfway mark on the cabled poncho. Between the hand of the yarn and the two repeats in the cable, this is one of my favorite knitting projects. The little textured bit in the center of the design repeats every twelve rows and the two cables on the outer edges repeat every sixteen rows. I keep track of rows with stitch markers so I am not ticking off the rows on paper. By the time I finish one repeat, I'm not far from the other and that makes me happy to keep knitting. 

I finished Jonah's hat and mittens and cast on a mitten for Emmett. Two sets finished, two to go. I also crocheted a little purple flower and sewed it on Norah's hat. I reconfigured the thumb gusset on Jonah's mitten (notes on Ravelry.) When I knit the toddler and child sizes in this pattern, the thumb always lands too far up on the hand. Then I rip out the top of the hand and knit it longer. If insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, this is a good example. 

Poetry keeps me company these days. Earlier in the month, I pulled my copy of Poems of Gratitude from the shelf. I also read The Darkness Around Us is Deep by William Stafford, a favorite poet. The title of the book is the last line of  A Ritual To Read To Each Other. Although this poem was first published in 1960, it has a universal quality that speaks to our time. I recently read in a commentary about Stafford "that he wrote amazing things without raising his voice, as though he was murmuring." When asked about that he replied that "a raised voice was usually a mistake. A murmur's enough." 

As I link with Kat and the other Unravelers, I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.  

Ravelry links

Poncho with a Cable

Jonah's Hat and Mittens 

Emmett's Hat and Mittens

Just a Moment

 November 20, 2020 - 11:20 a.m. 

Just a moment - 

This November day the sky is cloudy with patches of blue. 

A light breeze stirs the empty branches of the birch.

At the feeder, a small chickadee with blush tinge on breast, calls to a mate.

Across the street, a boy sits on a step, arm flung over his dog, joy on his face.

Our forty-third wedding anniversary:

marked with yesterday's walk through Pioneers Park,  

celebrated this evening with dinner at home and hearts full of memories.

Were we ever so young?

Windy Wednesday

The wind is breezy on this warm November day. Even so it will be a good day to be outdoors. As long as the wind doesn't do significant damage, I like the way it clears out the cobwebs and scatters seeds for next year. This time of year, the wind speaks of change. The sunshine and breeze make for pleasant walking and I can use a little cobweb clearing. I vary my walking route in order to stay engaged with my surroundings. Even walking the same route in the reverse direction helps me see things differently. 

I link with Kat and the Unravelers today and thank Kat for providing the link-up. Only one project needed a wee bit of unraveling this week. The textured pattern in Norah's first hat made my forearm sore. I ripped it out and knit the pattern I usually use for the kids' hat. If I can find the right color in my stash, I plan to crochet a little flower to sew on the hat. I cast on a hat for Jonah in his favorite color and am knitting along. I am making the hats with extra height/length. All four have good sized noggins and can always roll up the brim. 

This week I knit the heel flap and turned the heel on this sock. I am glad I stumbled on this free pattern by Kate Atherley. My knitting gauge and narrow foot mean a sock with a 60 stitch circumference and a heel flap/gusset fits me best. I have modified patterns. Still it can be challenging to center a textured pattern meant for 56/ 64 stitch socks over the instep in order to knit a 30 stitch heel flap. In this pattern, Athlerley includes directions for a 60 stitch sock and a heel flap and turn with an uneven number of stitches. This variation allows the ribbed pattern to remain centered over the instep. Does this matter in the scheme of things? No, it does not but why in the world have I never thought about doing this? I even own a book called Sock Architecture which might contain that information. I get so set in my way I miss other ideas. 

After letting the Cormo singles on my spindles rest a few weeks, I plied them on a slightly bigger spindle and made a very sweet skein of yarn. I have a good amount of this fiber to spin. The yarn is more consistent but still a little thick and thin. I am embracing this quality as well as learning about spinning intuitively. Whether it was a new spindle, this particular fiber, muscle memory, or the day, the plying went more smoothly. Sarah gave me a source for very pretty fiber so that is in the back of my mind. However since spindle spinning is a slow process, I am determined not to stash fiber.  

My reading life is rather blah right now. I will confess to a guilty pleasure of listening to the Gaslight Mystery series by Victoria Thompson. These are light mysteries with predictable plots, characters, and even titles. They are set in NYC at the turn of the century. The heroine is a midwife who attends women in the tenements. The series is a break from the noise of the news. 

Take good care and may the wind blow the cobwebs from your doorway. 

Ravelry Links

Jonah's Hat

Norah's Hat and Mittens

Ribbed Socks

Cormo Skein

Armistice Day

Today is Armistice Day in the United States. On this day in 1918, my grandfather was serving on the western front in France. Although he was too young to be drafted, he volunteered so one of his older brothers could stay home and work the farm with their widowed mother. He began the war as an "engineer" building bridges and moving equipment. By the end of the war, he fought alongside other US service men. In one of his letters he wrote about receiving a knitted helmet, a balaclava worn under the helmet. Late in the spring of 1919 he and his brother arrived home safely although his brother had lung damage from a gas attack. My Granddad was a gentle man in every sense of the word and a wonderful grandfather. I am thinking of him today and the army of knitters and Red Cross volunteers who supported the war but that is another story. 

Slow but steady seems to be my knitting pace this past week. The poncho is my comfort knitting. I pull it out in between other projects. I didn't take another photo but I've added more inches.  

The hat and mittens I knit for little Norah last winter are too small. The hat and mittens I knit for her in the Spring are too big. I asked my daughter to measure that little hand and head. This yarn, called Sparkle, seems meant just for her. She brings a lot of sparkle to my days. I love a strong willed little girl. 

I've made some progress on the latest pair of striped socks. Every time I knit striped socks, I think of my Gram who tossed quite a few sayings into her conversation. I don't know that she ever wore colorful socks but she would exclaim, "Oh my stars and striped stockings." 

On this Unraveled Wednesday, I link with Kat and other bloggers.  My hope is that on the anniversary of Armistice Day, we begin an era of healing.

Ravelry Links

Norah's Mittens and Hat 

Striped Socks