Summer's End

Hello Gentle Readers. September flies by in warm days and dusty afternoons. As has been the case most of the year, our area needs rain. I know parts of the East Coast have had substantial amounts of rain and hurricane season isn't over yet. Flood or drought seems to be the order of the day. 

Over the past two weeks, I weeded all the backyard beds. Everything looks better but the beds do have that worn out, end of summer look. I plan to make one more pass before the first frost. Thorough fall weeding makes Spring cleanup easier. Different years produce different kinds and amounts of weeds so who knows what will pop up next year. 

Plants in the pollinator garden grew well. Because the cosmos were so abundant, they took over. In late August I cut them down to give other plants sunshine and room to breathe. I also planted cosmos in adjacent beds. The bees and butterflies preferred the cosmos, zinnias and butterfly bush. The oregano in the herb garden is leggy and going to seed. I was going to give it a trim but the plant is often full of honeybees so I will deal with it next Spring. And so the gardening goes.

Today is Unraveled Wednesday with Kat and friends. I spun one more skein from the set of Shetland fiber, dyed by Fibernymph Dyeworks. This dusky purple is my favorite among the colors. I have one more nest of gray fiber to spin. Generally each of these little skeins spun up to 88 - 90 yards of a fingering/sport weight. The yarn is a little wooly but I love the colors and look forward to finding a project for them. 

After much consternation and four tries, I completed the left-side button band on Norah's cardigan. I'm waiting for some free afternoon hours to knit the buttonhole side. There are many methods and opinions about knitted buttonbands and buttonholes. I looked at several. I might be making this harder than it needs to be. I finished this hat from a Noro yarn called Okunoshima.  The fiber content of wool, silk, angora, and mohair makes a soft Aran weight yarn. I don't often knit with heavier weights but I enjoyed this knit. 

I'm knitting along on the yarn shop project. The current section is a sweet little lace pattern that I'm enjoying. I think it would make a nice pattern in a lightweight scarf. 

I read Foster by Claire Keegan. Foster is a beautiful short story in Keegan's sparse but eloquent style. Generally I prefer novels to short stories but for me Keegan's work is the exception. I may explore some of her earlier work. Last winter, I read Small Things Like These and found it excellent. I read the first chapter of our local book group selection, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry and couldn't get much further. I don't know if it is well written or not because I don't have enough knowledge of physical sciences, nor do I want to research terms in order to understand the nonfiction. Before I go, I'm going to read the last chapter. Usually I make more of an attempt at our discussion books but this one isn't for me. 

Although autumn is my favorite season, I am savoring these last days of summer. Here's to the last days of sandals, tee shirts, watermelon, and ripe garden tomatoes, even if they are only the small grape variety. What are you enjoying this week?

Ravelry Links

Noro Swirl Hat   

2023 HusKAL Wrap

September Color

Hello Gentle Readers. This week the days are cooler, the sun sets earlier, and neighborhood flowers send out the last blooms of summer. In our yard, I tend zinnias, mostly pink this year, cosmos, black-eyed susans, and sweet pea blossoms. Most days I walk by a big patch of sunflowers and a few bright magenta morning glory blooms trailing over a fence. I am soaking up all the bright colors of September. Come next February, I'll crave all of this summer color. I don't know about you but just before summer gives way to autumn or winter to spring, I feel restless. Is it the end of a season, the uncertainty of what's to come, a desire for change, the sense of time passing or some other combination that creates this feeling? It's hard to know but by now the feeling is familiar.  

No matter, this is Wednesday and the day to post about knitting and reading. Norah's sweater, with all the ends woven in, is drying on the blocking mats. It's a good thing I don't mind weaving in ends. When it is dry, I'll pick up stitches and knit the buttonbands. I'm keeping up with the HusKAL hosted by a local yarn shop, Knit Paper Scissors. This week's section was only twelve rows but added in the third and fourth colors. It is fun to see them together. So far, so good. Because the next pattern section won't drop until Friday and I'm a little tired of my current sock, I cast on a hat from stash yarn. I can't remember when I last knit with Aran weight yarn. I like the colors and texture of the yarn but I can't knit on it very long before my right arm and shoulder tell me to stop. So a few rows at a time. Last night I looked around for another project, including a shawl WIP, but haven't landed on anything.

I listened to The Other Einstein, a work of historical fiction by Marie Benedict. The story of Albert Einstein's first wife, is an an old infuriating story of a woman not recognized for her intellect and contributions. The story was interesting and the writing average. Otherwise, I've had a hard time settling into a book. I gave up on Pieces of the Plains and realize why I didn't finish it the first time. The essays are disjointed and several have to do with geology, not my favorite reading topic. I'm going to donate that book and several others. A library hold, a new biography of Phillis Wheatley, came in yesterday and a copy of Foster is in transit. Once the second book arrives at my branch library, I'll pick them up.  

Monday I began weeding and cleaning up my garden beds. It's a process. I leave a lot of foliage as winter cover and food for birds but the weeds need to be pulled. This summer's heat took a toll on some perennials while the weeds and ground cover thrived. This is a job to be done over several weeks and it is nice to be outdoors in warm but not searing temperatures. 

I wish you well and happy September moments. 

Ravelry links

HusKAL Wrap

Noro Swirl Hat

Hello September

Hello Gentle Readers and Hello September. Last evening a strong prairie wind blew in cool temperatures as well as an unhealthy level of wildfire smoke. I deferred this morning's walk until air quality improves. Last week our son visited us. He combined two vacation days with three days of remote work. While here, he participated in a fantasy football draft with a group of friends and helped me celebrate my seventy second birthday. Aaron and I cooked my birthday dinner, meaning he grilled some delicious salmon and I made a salad, sweet corn, and a rustic peach tart. He is a great cook and his grilled salmon is one of my favorites. The peach tart was pretty good too. My husband brought me a bouquet of flowers and I talked to the Connecticut crew. It was a delightful day and week.

Today is Unraveled Wednesday with Kat and friends. I am participating in the HusKAL with Knit Paper Scissors, a local yarn shop. Although this is my first time joining, the KAL is eight years old. In late August the store puts together kits for the fall knit-along. Sections of the pattern arrive on Fridays so participants can knit along with the UNL football schedule. This year, the project is a wrap of different textures in four different colors. Some kits include traditional red, cream, gray of UNL colors but there are other options, including a build your own. Being the rebel I am, I built my own kit of light pink, two shades of gray, and a cream. This year happens to be the 100th year anniversary of UNL's Memorial Stadium so the kit contains some UNL related stitch markers. Back in the day my parents held season tickets to the football games and my sibs are UNL grads. I've been in the stadium a fair number of times. The wrap and the yarn appealed to me and it is a good way to support the shop. So off I go on this project. 

In between visits with our family, I blocked this shawl. This yarn, with cashmere content is the star in this simple pattern. The blue color was leftover from another shawl and I can't remember why I bought the lavender skein. At any rate, the yarn was worth knitting into a project. I added extra eyelet rows in the lavender section for fun. It's a nice piece that may go in the gift bag. 

I'm chugging along on the second sleeve of Norah's sweater. Most of the yarn is DK weight. The green and yellow stripes are knit with with two strands of fingering stash. With a tee shirt in her size as a guide, I decided the ribbing could be a few rows shorter. Sleeves this small knit up quickly. I'll block the piece before I pick up and knit the button band.  

As for reading, I finished The Age of Phillisby Honorée Fanonne-Jeffers. Information about Wheatley is fragmented and fraught with the racism of her time. Poetry was the perfect way to convey the story of Wheatley's life. An essay and notes about nearly every poem aided my understanding. By the way, the cover of the hardback is beautiful. I listened to The Queen of Dirt Island by Donal Ryan. Whether the Irish Brogue of the narrator was authentic or not, I thoroughly enjoyed the audio. I loved this novel of four generations of strong, fiesty women finding their way together. Currently I'm reading Pieces of the Plains: Memories and Predictions from the Heart of America. The author, John Janovy, Jr. is an Emeritus Professor of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska. This book was published locally in 2009 but a kindle version is still available. For some reason I never read the entire book. Since it is on my bookshelf, I picked it up while waiting for some library holds. I've read other books by Janovy and enjoyed them. I'm anxious to see how predictions made in 2009 hold up today. 

Here's to September and cooler days ahead.

Ravelry Links

Shawl of Leftovers

HusKAL Wrap

Norah's Sweater

August's End

Hello Gentle Readers. This past weekend brought rain and respite from the heat. When I went out to the garden Saturday, I found a little over three inches of rain in the gauge. The rain was very welcome. The local schools are back in session. The blue blooms of roadside chicory look weary. The sunflowers turn toward the sun while the cicada chorus throbs into the evening with a call and response. When my Granddad heard the cicadas he would remark, "Six more weeks until the first frost." Climate change may have changed the truth of his farm wisdom but I still think of him as I garden and especially when the August chorus begins. Well into old age, he tended a large beautiful vegetable garden. 

This is a Wednesday post with Kat and the Unravelers. I continue to knit on the same projects but that is how I like to work. Last night I thought I'd finished the body of Norah's Rainbow Sweater but there was something I didn't like.  After looking at it in a photo, I know I'll shorten the ribbing and perhaps change up the the color. Last night I began weaving in the ends along the front edge. I knit stripes in a random order to maximize the colors as a few are knit with two strands of fingering mini-skeins. I have less yardage in those colors.  

In between stripes, I've worked a little on this sock. Over the weekend I added a contrasting heel. 

As far as reading, I enjoyed listening to The Librarian of Burned Books. This historical fiction, set during World War Two is the story of three women who work with books. The novel is set in Berlin and Paris during the rise of the Nazis and later in New York City during the war. It is a chilling reminder about power, control, and what happens when freedoms are suppressed. It may not be great literature but it is a good story. Some of the ideas echo debates going on in the world today. 

I finished Mrs. Dalloway. I marveled at the way Woolf transitioned between characters. The image of a clock or a tree signals the reader that the prose is moving to another character. Character development and relationships between characters propel the narrative. 

I'm also reading The Age of Phillis by the author of The Love Songs of W.E.B. DeBois. The story of Phillis Wheatley is told in poetry. The essay at the end of the book, "Looking for Miss Phillis," is a fascinating account of the author's fifteen year search for information about Wheatley and the time in which she lived. The hard copy also includes notes about the ideas and inspiration for many of the poems. Jeffers is an excellent scholar and writer. That Phillis, survived the middle passage as a young girl and then went on to writing poetry is a testament to her intellect and grit. Jeffers honors not only those qualities as she brings her to life as an individual living during the 1700's.  

I hope August's End finds you well. 

Making Memories

As it is Wednesday, I am writing a blog post to link with Kat and the Unravelers. In the past days, I knit very little. Instead I made memories. Pops and Grammy Camp 2023 was a big success. When the entire family was here, the kids slept in the downstairs family room in sleeping bags. During the week Kate and her husband flew to California, camped in Yosemite, and hiked the Half Dome. And yes, they made it all the way to the top. I looked at the site after they hiked.  

Back in Nebraska, we had a ball with the kids. The weather cooperated with beautiful summer days. Playing every evening on a nearby school playground meant a good night's sleep for all. All four enjoyed miniature golf, although some games were more traditional than others. The two older boys and I spent three hours at Morrill Hall, the University of Nebraska State Museum, a museum with many hands-on activities. The four of us watched Major League Baseball. They both play and love the game so I learned a lot about baseball. Micah and I had a draft with his baseball cards. Not knowing many players by name, I chose an All Star team. He thought that was hilarious. Emmett and I solved the NYT's Wordle and Connections Games together. 

As I wrote previously, the other grandparents live in Omaha. On Wednesday we met midway to tour the Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum and had a picnic at nearby Mahoney State Park. Back in Lincoln, we took the younger two to a big city park. They like to bake so we made M and M cookies. After a round of miniature golf, we made buttered popcorn because "Grammy, popcorn has to be buttered." Jonah wants Pops to teach him how to play real golf. Norah and I shopped for nail polish and sparkling water. It was a week of high adventure with both sets of grandparents. 

Tucking the kids into bed at night and getting up with them in the morning was so sweet. They are probably the only kids in Connecticut who were excited about a Nebraska vacation. Together we made memories. It will be interesting to see what they remember in a few years. 

As for reading, I've read the same five pages of Mrs. Dalloway four nights in a row. Once I got in bed, I didn't have the energy to find and start a lighter read. I had a little time for knitting. Norah urged me to finish the rainbow sweater. I knit the yoke before she arrived in order to try it on her. It's coming along nicely. 

My son-in-law and a good friend are road tripping back home with the boys. Kate and Norah stayed two extra nights with us. After dropping them at the airport to fly home, I knit on this sock, noticing it matches the summer landscape. Summer is blasting us this week with 100 degree temperatures. It is miserable. Yesterday I blanched, cut up, and froze seven bags of tomatoes. The tomato patch looks like the end of the summer and I wonder if it will survive this week. Take good care, keep cool. Thanks for reading my family oriented post. 

Rainbow Sweater: Plan B

Hello gentle readers. Temperate summer days make August more enjoyable. In my yard, yellow and black swallowtails flit between parsley and the butterfly bush and orange cosmos. Monday evening, I pulled out the cucumber vines. The leaves were withering and the plants weren't producing cucumbers. Meanwhile the prolific tomatoes ripen. Next year I may stagger my planting so I don't have so many all at one time. This afternoon I will simmer more sauce and freeze chopped tomatoes for winter cooking. 

Wednesday is the day to link with Kat and the Unravelers about making and reading. I finished the shawl/scarf of leftovers and will take a photo after blocking. Norah and I made a Plan B for her Rainbow Sweater. I was going to ask her to draw a picture but instead made two sketches of a sweater I knew I could knit. In her sweet little mind, a pink rainbow sweater is a multi-colored (including pink) striped cardigan. Of course, I can do that. The stripes will repeat a bit randomly because I have more of some colors than others. (Originally I thought I'd knit a rainbow yoke and cuffs with a pink body and sleeves.😁) So far so good. 

I decided the texture of Hermione's Everyday Sock was too busy for this yarn so I unraveled two inches of cuff and switched to a stockinette sock with a faux cable down the leg. This pattern plays better with the pretty colors in the yarn. The colors don't stripe but I think they will spiral nicely around the sock. 

I finished plying the first skein of the Shetland fiber. The 2-ply sport weight yarn has a little too much twist in places but I love the color. One single drifted apart in a couple of places and I overcompensated by increasing the twist while plying. I have singles of a light violet of this same Shetland resting on bobbins but I won't be plying them right away. 

Our daughter and son-in-law and family are driving from Connecticut to Nebraska for a visit. Yes, driving. Yikes. It's going to be exciting. They arrive Friday evening this week. Then on Monday, my daughter and son-in-law are off on a little adventure by themselves. The other grandparents live down the road in Omaha so we are sharing the kids during the week. We will have the older two for a few days while the younger two are in Omaha. Then mid-week we are going to exchange children. All of us are looking forward to this visit. We have a few "camp" activities planned. It's going to be high adventure complete with s'mores and sleeping bags. I will not be posting next week but enjoying my family. 

I listened to The Girls in Navy Blue, a novel with stories in two different times. The story of the three young women who enlisted in the Navy during World War One was more interesting to me than the contemporary story set in the 1960's. It was enjoyable if predictable. Right now in this crazy world, predictable isn't all bad. I'm reading Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf as a companion to After Sappho. I bought a used but annotated copy of Woolf's book that I find helpful. 

Have a good few weeks. I'll catch up with you after our guests leave for home. 

Ravelry Links

Rainbow Sweater

Impossible Girl Socks

Ratios and Weights

Hello gentle readers. Saturday the week of extreme heat gave way to rain and cooler temperatures. Friday evening brought a short thunderstorm.  Early Saturday, the morning turned dark as night. About .5 inch of rain fell, complete with a little hail for entertainment. Luckily the hail was pea-sized and shorted lived. The tomatoes were unscathed and the few zinnias that grow bounced back from being blown about in the storm. The tomato harvest is underway. I hope to make sauce today or tomorrow. I may resort to pulling up the cucumber vines. I've pickled quite a few, given away some, and composted the ones that grew too large. We are eating them in various forms but can't keep up. The bounty of summer is a good problem. 

Today I link with Kat and the Unravelers  to post about making and reading. While I did some unraveling, I learned more about yarns and stitch patterns so it was a good making week. As you may have guessed, I ripped out the yoke on Norah's sweater. Thank you for all your kind comments and commiseration. The ribbing in the yoke of the Anker's Jacket is a nice design but knitted in dk yarn made for a heavy yoke. Ribbing did not lend itself to knitting a rainbow. The pattern is aptly named as a jacket but that is not the kind of sweater I want to knit for Norah.  While I knit on other things, I'm planning that little rainbow sweater. 

I also abandoned another project. I cast on a sock during our Minnesota trip, knit the leg and turned the heel so I could knit on it on the way home. Last week I pulled out the sock and it looked small. The stitch count was accurate but when I tried it on, the sock was too snug. I planned to give them as a Christmas gift but knew they would barely fit the recipient. Besides, the yarn felt a little crispy in my hands. I looked at it and decided not to reknit the sock with more stitches. Some projects and some yarns aren't meant to be. 

I have knit socks from yarns with a 75/25 merino/nylon ratio and thought they were fine if a little lighter in weight. Maybe something in the dying process made the yarn feel crispy or maybe I just got a rogue skein. Curious, I looked through my sock yarn stash and found one more skein (different dyer) with a 75/25 ratio. I have other yarns in stash with either an 80/20 or a 90/10 ratio. I have always been aware of differences in yardage and known some yarn to be labeled "light fingering" but I'll pay more attention in the future. In the meantime I am knitting on this shawl, easing the cares of the world with garter stitch and a soft yarn in soft colors. I also cast on a sock with different yarn. 

As for reading, I'm almost finished with After Sappho. The writing combined with the unique structure of short vignettes is an effective way to tell the stories of gay women, their art, their lives, and their struggles and successes. Schwartz is astute and witty. It's been awhile since I read a book with a dictionary by my side but I've enjoyed the reading. I also have a new book, American Wildflowers: A Literary Field Guide that is a illustrated collection of poetry and prose about American Wildflowers. The introduction included an interesting discussion about wildflowers and native plants. The field guide is edited by Susan Barba and beautifully illustrated by Leanne Shapton. This is what I call a Sunday Morning Book, one to dip into and savor. I bought a copy of this book for my daughter on our trip to RJ Julia's Bookshop and then decided I needed one for myself. I do love a book with illustrations. 

Here comes August. I hope this finds you staying cool with a good book and an icy beverage at your side.