Simple Pleasures

Hello on this bright December morning. I am watching a tiny tuft of a feather caught on the end of a birch twig outside my window. It has been there for at least a week, this little white feather with gray at the base, fraying a little more each day as the wind blows it to and fro. I took a photo but it's in the shade and doesn't show up against the birch bark. The birds have come and gone from the feeder. My husband is out for coffee with friends so the house is quiet. 

Or perhaps I am wrong about the birds. Now a flicker pokes his beak into the birchbark. Man, what a beak. He looks so large compared to the juncos, finches, nuthatches, and chickadees that are more common in this tree. The neighborhood fox just trotted though the cul-de-sac across the way. Maybe the neighborhood isn't so quiet this morning. 

But this is Unraveled Wednesday with Kat and company so on to the knitting and reading. I started Jonah's scarf three times. He requested a red scarf with gray. When we visited further, he mentioned "the same stripes as the mittens I like." He and his Mom hunted up the mittens and called back so I could see the hat/mitten set he had in mind. First I cast on way too many stitches and then I knit about twenty inches in a broken rib pattern that I use in the kids' hats. I hoped the broken rib would prevent the scarf from rolling but it did not. I did the thing a lot of us have done, I kept knitting even though the voice in my head said and eventually hollered "I don't think this is working." Perhaps blocking would have corrected the problem but the scarf was still too wide for a six year old.

So I asked Jonah if the stripe sequence could be on the diagonal. "Oh sure, no problem." He is an easy going kind of guy. I frogged the scarf and began again with garter stitch on the diagonal. I'm skating along 😉, knitting exclusively on this scarf, and relying on a progress keeper as motivation. When the scarf is finished, all four items can be mailed in time for winter weather.  

The picture book Red and Lulu is the story of a pair of cardinals who are separated when the tree where they nest becomes the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center. Amidst the beautiful illustrations, Red searches and finds Lulu. When the tree is taken down, Red and Lulu find a new home in Central Park. Several years ago, I gave a copy of this book to Jonah who loves Christmas. He chooses Christmas-themed costumes on Halloween and also requests Christmas-themed birthday parties. Now and then he tells me he has seen Red or Lulu.  

As I read The Sentence by Louise Erdrich, I wonder about significance of the cover design. I'm about a third of the way into the book so maybe it will become clear as I finish the novel. Although the subject matter is never easy, Erdrich is a master at layering themes throughout a story. 

Today I am making a list so I can grocery shop for fresh fruit and veggies to balance to the butter, brown sugar, and chocolate I need for baking. I do like to make and share cookies. Last week the sun caught this small apple. Sometimes the simplest things are the most beautiful. What simple pleasures are you finding this week?

November into December

Wednesday: Today, I have a lunch date with two good friends. It has been forever since we've been together so we are looking forward to catching up. We had a dusting of snow yesterday and today will be the coldest day of the week. FedEx just delivered an amaryllis bulb. This is an anonymous gift but how fun. I look forward to watching it grow this winter. Surely someone will confess to this kindness. Update: Yes she did. One of the friends I met for lunch, sent me the bulb so I could have flowers in winter. Evidently Breck's forgot to include her gift card. 

I am joining Kat and the Unravelers as we post about knitting and reading. Tuesday evening I finished Micah's mittens. He requested mittens with one inch stripes. Although the photo doesn't show the dark green stripe very well, the mittens came out just as he wanted them. I knit their hats, mittens, and scarves from superwash wool, mostly KnitPicks Swish. These are playing-outdoors mittens in cold but not snowy bitter weather. "Grammy Mittens" work for catching footballs and holding onto handlebars among other things. This family spends lots of time outdoors in all kinds of weather. My daughter's motto is there is no bad weather for being outdoors, just inappropriate clothing. Up next is Jonah's scarf with red, gray, and navy in "the same stripes that are in my mittens." We had a FaceTime chat so he could show me the stripe sequence he has in mind. 

Thursday:  My friends and I enjoyed a leisurely lunch with lots of good conversation. The rest of the day I ran errands and finished some housework. In other knitting news, I worked some on this shawl. I'm hopeful blocking performs its usual magic on the lace/texture portion. Honestly, I might just prefer garter stitch in that section but blocking does work miracles. One way or another I'm close to finishing this shawl. 

I am reading Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher.  It's a sweet old-fashioned story about five unlikely people, each with a past sorrow, who create a family during the winter holidays. I have also just begun The Sentence by Louise Erdrich. This novel is the current selection in the Erdrich-read-along with Mary and friends. As in other novels, Erdrich begins with a distressing event that I imagine will have repercussions for the characters. I am just into the book but am enjoying the word play and Erdrich's humor threaded through a more serious topic.  

So now I bring this two-part post to an end. A female cardinal searches for the last seeds in the feeder outside my window. Warmer temps today mean I will have a nice walk past this small plot of grass. If time allows I hope to finish decking the halls with a few more of our favorite things. Have a good week.

Ravelry Links

Micah's Striped Mittens

Cosmic Girl Shawl

  

An Orange Roll Adventure

'Twas the week before Thanksgiving and rolls were requested. . . "  I love an excuse to make rolls and decided to make my grandmother's recipe for orange rolls for the first time. I found two copies of the recipe, one in Mom's handwriting and the other in Gram's. Neither were long on instructions. Gram's recipe didn't even mention a second rising. Mom's card said, "cut as cinnamon rolls." Except Gram served them as individually shaped rolls in a bread basket. I called my sister and asked her how she remembered the rolls. 

Last night I stirred up a big bowl of dough (6 c. flour) by hand and put it "in the icebox overnight." No wonder our grandmother's gave good hugs. There is more than one way to build up arm muscles. Then, I made some orange glaze from the "sugar, juice, and rind of three oranges, cooking until thickened. Make the night before so it is ready to go in the a.m."  It took longer than I expected and my glaze was a little on the thin side. The sugar requirement was 2/3 c. as per Mom.

As I rolled out dough this morning, I remembered Gram rolled the dough like cinnamon rolls but baked them in muffin tins and then as they came out of the oven, dipped the tops in orange glaze. Her rolls had orange glaze inside and on the top. I didn't have enough muffin pans for four dozen rolls so I made crescents. However crescents rolled from the wide end drip glaze from exposed surfaces. It was a mess. I finished shaping the first twelve and baked them. They were gooey and tasted just like Gram's. With the rest of the dough, I made and baked crescent shapes without filling and brushed glaze on the warm rolls. They are slightly less sticky but delicious. I'm not sure how we will get them to my sister's without having them stick together but where there is parchment paper and a will, there is a way. Gram made rolls early in the morning of holidays and Sunday dinners, cleaned up and then prepared the meal. As my sister said, "we just waltzed in and there were all those beautiful rolls." Gram, my baker's hat is off to you. I am so grateful to have had these women in my life.  

Since I'm linking with Kat and the Unravelers, I'll write about the little knitting that was accomplished this week. I finished Emmett's mittens and cast on the cuff of the pair for Micah. Micah requested mittens with one-inch stripes. I love a grandson with a strong opinion about his mittens. I'm waiting for a color consultation for the stripes. I also knit a few rows on the shawl I showed last week but it doesn't look much different. Thank you to all blog readers and other friends who share their making and reading.

I have it on good authority that the Cranberry Orange Bread recipe at the end of Cranberry Thanksgiving is quite tasty. I don't think I've ever made it. Maybe I'll try it in a few weeks. Right now we have all the orange rolls we need.  

Next up, I'm going to whip up Mom's fresh Cranberry Relish. I've made that many times so it should be easy-peasy. Then, thank goodness, I'll load up the dishwasher and go for a walk. 

I wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving filled with delicious food, friends, and family. 

Ravelry Link

E's Gator Mittens

Deep Fall

On this cold morning, sun streams in the living room windows. The warmth is welcome. I moved from my desk to the love seat to enjoy the sunshine. Monday snow flurried but melted when it hit the ground. Right now that is a good thing. As of yesterday my husband is sporting an orthopedic boot to protect a partial tear in an achilles tendon. He has no idea how this happened but he won't be scooping snow anytime soon. If such an injury had to occur, the timing is good. The hoses and tomato cages are stored in the rafters of the shed. Early last week he mulched the leaves for compost. The bathroom project and bedroom painting is finished and we don't have any holiday travel plans. Phew. As we say, "it is always something" and "it could be worse." We may know more after he sees an orthopedist next Tuesday.

So this Wednesday, I link with Kat and the Unravelers. I am grateful for knitting, spinning, and stitching that keep me company on these cold days. Monday evening I finished this little piece for the coffee table in time for the Thanksgiving season. I used materials on hand, only purchasing one or two skeins of embroidery floss. Of course, once upon a time I bought the fabric and the batting and most of the floss. Still, it's nice to use what's on hand. I pieced some coordinating scraps together for the backing, something I often do. 

Tuesday I finished Norah's scarf with about 2.5 inches of yarn to spare. I wanted it to be as long as possible with one skein and succeeded. The yarn is superwash merino so I plan to wash it and stretch it a little to add some length. With that project finished, I cast on mittens for Emmett. The yarn in his school colors was leftover from the last mitten/hat set I made him. Micah requested mittens and Jonah, a scarf. I am waiting on some KnitPicks Swish to arrive for those projects. 

I also knit a few rows on this languishing shawl. Do you remember it? I barely do. Anyway, one night when I couldn't knit any more garter stitch, I ripped out previously added stripes, and knit on the lace section. The lace pattern is fun to knit. Also in the WIP list is the Guernsey Wrap Scarf I began last winter. The yarn was a gift of an Advent Set and would be fun to work on in December but first the mittens and another scarf.  

Currently I'm reading Four Souls by Louise Erdrich. This book was on my bookshelf but I hadn't read it. Erdrich's writing and storytelling is very rich. She revisits characters and develops their stories across multiple novels. Four Souls is mostly the story of Fleur or Four Souls, a Native American woman. It is set sometime after World War One, maybe the late 1920's. At the same time, I'm reading The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell. This story is set in the 1500's. Both of these novels feature women whose lives are limited by cultural and societal expectations. It's interesting to consider the ways in which these characters exercise agency in their lives. It's an odd pairing of novels but good reading. 

This afternoon I plan to grocery shop. Yesterday when I drove past the grocery store where I shop, the parking lot was full. It seems early for Thanksgiving shoppers but perhaps the early bird gets the worm - or the last can of pumpkin. Last time I shopped flour was in short supply. I found it at a store owned by different company. These are curious times. Stay warm and enjoy wearing all the wool.  

Ravelry Links

Rainbow Scarf

E's Gator Mittens

Cosmic Girl Shawl

Gentle November Days

Good morning or more like mid-day by the time I edit and publish this post. A downy woodpecker climbs the birch to the suet feeder and a cardinal perches on the lip of the safflower seed feeder. The sky is cloudy and the air is humid. Today will be a warm 74 degrees and then the temperature will drop dramatically - again. Perhaps it will rain. 

In honor of my Mom, I dedicate this week to being gentle and kind with myself and others. Monday, 11/7, was her birthday. I bought a latte in her honor. Mom was smart, hard-working, kind, and gentle. She volunteered for several organizations but especially for the American Heart Association. She taught CPR for years and organized and ran a blood mobile at the community college where she worked. She scheduled the blood mobile drives on Halloween and threatened to wear a Dracula cape over her navy nurse's uniform. She never did wear that cape but she was the best kind of mother and friend. She also liked a good cup of black coffee.

I join Kat and the Unravelers today as we wait on the final election outcomes. I did some negative knitting on Norah's scarf this week. Evidently I can't keep the bias garter stitch straight while knitting during coffee with friends and the Erdrich-along zoom discussion. Somewhere I added five stitches to the width. For heaven's sake. Since I only have one skein of yarn and it was the last one at the yarn shop, I ripped back and reknit. I don't want to run short. In the meantime, because scarves are a little boring to knit, I may cast on Emmett's mittens and alternate between projects. The mittens will be green with a white stripe because he likes green and green and white are his middle school colors. Bonus because his last hat was knit from another skein of this green yarn. This second skein was in the stash.  

I finished spinning this braid of Polworth. The smallest skein contains five knots as a single kept breaking. The twist in the yarn is balanced so I think the breaks came where I joined new lengths of fiber. I am spinning a more consistent yarn circumference on the wheel. Slow steady progress is my goal. Although I didn't plan to spin a gradient, it's almost what happened. Sarah encouraged me to spin a braid with some white areas and watch what happens to the colors. Fascinating. Fiber looks one way in a braid, another as a single, and different again when plied. It changes again when knitted into fabric. I am embracing the transformations. This is good for my Type A organized personality that likes predictability.  I plan to learn more about manipulating color within a braid just because it is so interesting.  Yarn-i-tec-ture by Jillian Moreno is a good resource. Courtesy of my son, I own a copy. 

In the last few days, I read Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. I was going to save it to read during the holidays but in the wee hours of Saturday morning, I needed a quiet book about a character choosing kindness. The writing is lyrical and I enjoyed it very much. Keegan recently published Foster, a short book that first appeared as a short story in The New Yorker Magazine. I look forward to reading it. In other book news, I was just notified that my library hold on The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell is available. I expected a longer wait so hooray. 

Take good care of yourselves, gentle readers. 

Early November

Here comes November. I wrote this post off-line on Wednesday as our internet service was down. As I edit this in Blogger, it is Thursday evening. Honestly not much has changed. The wind was blowing then and it is blowing now. This last week the days have been beautiful. Leaf litter glitters in the sun. Lots of leaves have fallen in the last two days. Every year as I watch them fall, they remind me about letting go with grace. 

Belatedly I link to Kat and the Unravelers. Tuesday evening I finished the mitts in the above photo. They are a birthday gift for a niece. Although Pebble Island Yarn by Rowan is not superwash, it feels cozy. It has a nice hand. The two-ply structure would pair nicely with two-ply handspun. Since I knit loosely, I cast on four fewer stitches. I knit a two fewer rows on the hand because they were the right length. These mods allowed me to knit both mitts from one skein. 

In Connecticut, Kate and I went through the handknit hats and mittens to see if any new items are needed for the cold weather. Many of the mittens look worn and loved but the kids enjoy wearing them on walks to school and on the playground. Honestly, they have plenty but this Grammy wants to knit for them so we decided each child could request one new item. Norah requested a "rainbow" scarf. We looked at yarn together online so I had an idea of what she wanted. She called shortly after we returned and asked if I had forgotten to leave the rainbow scarf for her. She has a lot of faith in the speed of my knitting. 😊 So first up is a scarf for her. The shawl I'm working on can wait a little longer. 

The S'mores party celebrating the end of the Sock Scrimmage was fun. I met some of the knitters as we sat outdoors and knit. For the record, the s'mores were made and eaten outdoors and no yarn was harmed in the process. Approximately thirty knitters knit 101 socks in four weeks. I knit two pairs but had the first sock started before the scrimmage began. A few women knit a pair of socks each week. That much knitting would make my hands hurt but more power to them.  

Last night I finished The Round House by Louise Erdrich. This book is the second novel in a trilogy exploring ideas of justice and revenge. The narrator is a grown man, looking back to the summer he was thirteen and his mother was raped. Erdrich weaves information about legal jurisdiction on a modern-day reservation into this coming of age story. The story contains enough humor to keep the story from becoming so sad it is unreadable and she is an eloquent writer. As always her characters are complex, human, and believable. The book was first published in 2012 but the ideas about justice and abuse of Native American women are very applicable to today's world. This book very deservedly won a National Book Award. I don't often rate books on my blog but this is a five star book for me. 

I hope you are looking forward to all the good things this November. 

Just for fun: For Halloween, the Connecticut kids mostly dressed as characters from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Micah wanted to be a Ninja and part of the group. There could be a Ninja Santa in Whoville right?

The Grinch, Bricklebaum, Cindy Lou Who, Ninja Santa

Ravelry Links

Gold Thumb Mitts

Rainbow Scarf

 

October's Gold

Last Thursday we flew home from Connecticut with full hearts. Full hearts is an apt description for the days after a wonderful fun-filled week as well as the bittersweet feeling when it ends. I hugged my daughter and those kids all week long. We did all the things and then some. Kate and I spent one day in NYC where we took in several exhibits, including one of Japanese Kimonos and other textile art, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. We managed to visit a small indy bookstore close to The Met. The fall color was glorious. Norah, Jonah, and I looked at leaves while walking. Pops and I tagged along to baseball, soccer, and Kempo Karate. One morning, Kate, Norah, and I had our fingernails painted at a salon and then stopped for coffee and 'sants (croissants.) We packed in as much fun as possible. Both flights went smoothly which is a bonus. We are grateful that we are able to take that trip.  

At home, the fall color is beautiful but more subtle. The maples are red and red/orange. The ornamental pear has yellow/gold leaves. Some trees in the neighborhood are dull dead green or brown due to the drought. The weekend was exceptionally warm. Saturday we cleaned out the vegetable garden. My husband wrestled the tomato cages and drip hoses into the shed while I scrubbed out all the pots. Sunday the high temp was 84 degrees with strong wind. Two grass fires ignited in the county. Three homes were lost and two firefighters significantly injured. Between dust and smoke, the afternoon was eerie. Thankfully light rain fell early Monday. We are back to crisp October days. 

Since I'm linking to Kat and the Unravelers, I best get to my knitting and stitching. Yesterday I cast on a pair of mitts (see photo above) that I plan to give as a gift. Although I don't wear gold, I am enjoying knitting with this October color. If only October lasted a bit longer.  

I cast on a pair of socks before our trip and finished them Monday evening. Happy Trails is the October "Knit Lincoln" colorway from Lazy Bee yarn, a local dyer who sells her yarn only at Knit Paper Scissors. This colorway pays tribute to the walking and biking trails around Lincoln. It will also remind me of this Connecticut trip. I contributed four socks for my team during the friendly sock scrimmage at Knit Paper Scissors. Saturday is the S'mores party with some new colorways of this yarn available to the sock scrimmage participants. Really, I DON'T NEED one more skein of any kind of yarn. I plan to wear my new socks and enjoy the outdoor fall celebration. 

Sunday while the wind blew, I worked a little on this small quilted piece. I am quilting the layers together with leaf motifs. One fall I gathered leaves and traced their shapes thinking they would make good quilting motifs. In hindsight, I should have reduced the size of a couple of leaves so they would be more proportional to the embroidery. I didn't think about it and now they are traced onto the fabric. I decided the piece will be fine. The background of outside triangles reminds me of ginger cookies.   

I reread The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams on our trip. The first time I listened to the audio and I wanted to read the hard copy. I also chose something lighter as I knew I'd be tired by the time I got in bed at night. This historical fiction is narrated by a young girl whose father is one of the lexicographers working on the first edition of Oxford English Dictionary. Women were involved in composing the dictionary so Williams tells the story from their point of view. Esme, the narrator keeps paper slips of words used by women and sometimes not included in the official first edition. The question, "Do words mean different things to women than they do to men?" runs through the narrative.  I think it would make an interesting book group discussion. 

Enjoy this last golden week of October. 

Ravelry Links

Gold Thumb Mitts

Happy Trails Socks