Deep Winter

March may be ten days away but winter has a firm grip on this February day. Other than a cold but dry snap early in January, we've had all our winter in this week and the previous one. Last Wednesday six inches of snow fell and the temperature dropped dramatically. Monday another six inches fell with more sifting down on Tuesday. Yesterday morning the wind chill made the feels like temperature -22 degrees.  That's the weather report here. I enjoy being tucked in at home but also feel the need to move. Although I don't like it, I may resort to walking at a mall this afternoon. It's way too easy to stay curled up in the corner of the loveseat with my tea and projects.

I am happy to link with Kat and the Unravelers to post about making and reading. Last week I finished and blocked the shawl in the photo. It was a long standing WIP cast on last spring so I'm happy to have it off the needles. There might be a few missing rows that are now a design element. I blame election stress as well as Covid. In one space I omitted a garter ridge and in another I added one but I'm not telling where. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

Our son is working remotely while visiting this week, so while we chat I work on the handspun scarf. I'm about half way through and working from another handspun skein in a coordinating color palette.  It's a peaceful easy knit. It is wonderful to have him here.

I am almost finished reading Three Girls from Bronzeville: A Uniquely American Memoir of Race, Fate, and Sisterhood by Dawn Turner. I discovered this book in a Black History Month display at my local library. Turner writes the story of herself, her sister, and a good friend who grow up in the 1970's in Chicago. They are the third generation of families who came north during the Great Migration. While there are parts of the book that could have been better written, I admire Turner's courage in telling and writing her story. Her Grandmother, Aunt, and Mother are a force. The way they support each other and the younger generation is an example for all of us. At times the story is heartbreaking but it also a tribute to friendship and the resilience of black women. I'm enjoying it and thankful that the local library system created the display. Let's hear it for the public librarians.

I'm leaving you with a photo of a rose I received on Valentine's Day. Our son went to breakfast with us on a cold cold morning. When Aaron was at home and in Lincoln, he and Lance breakfasted at this local diner every Friday morning.  Anyway, last Friday the diner gave each woman a rose as a thank you for being a customer.  With a drop of lemon grass essential oil in the water, the rose is still pretty in this morning's sunlight. 

Have a good week. Stay safe and warm in winter's last blast. 

 

Ravelry Links

Prairie Touchstone Shawl

Handspun Scarf

Rose Tinted Knitting

Hello Gentle Readers. Here in southeast Nebraska, we are experiencing bitter cold temperatures. As I write on Tuesday, the sky is overcast but bright and there are a very few snowflakes in the air. The downy woodpeckers, a red bellied woodpecker, some finches, and sparrows fly to and from the feeders. Earlier, as I made a cup of tea, three blue jays flew into a tree visible from my kitchen window. I haven't seen the cardinals but no doubt they are around. The birds are a good predictor of the approaching winter storm. We could use some snow.

Wednesday is the day to link with Kat and the Unravelers. I haven't done any unraveling - yet. A few years ago, I vowed I wasn't going to knit projects just to use up yarn but rather to knit what I enjoyed. Last night the color combination in the scrappy Habitation Throw looked garish to me. I need to see it in the light of day before deciding whether or not to continue. 

I find joy in knitting with handspun so I cast on this scarf. Just for fun, I pulled out an old pair of straight needles. I have a few from my Grandmother and also some that were mine. I wouldn't knit with them all the time but I'm enjoying the scarf on these rose colored needles. Rose- tinted knitting needles - someone has to do it. Right? I also cast on a pair of mitts. I wanted to try this indie naturally dyed yarn.  

Late last week, I plied a second skein of some BFL fiber ordered last February. This skein contains 257 yards of sport weight yarn. The first skein contains 215 yards. I still have another 4 oz of this fiber to spin. Eventually I'll have a nice bit of yarn.

As for reading, I am rereading A Year of Marvellous Ways by Sarah Winman. I needed a comfort read. I also enjoy reading novels that feature older remarkable women. Marvellous Ways is one strong, kind, generous woman. The story is about kindness and love. I also finished The Asking: New and Selected Poems by Jane Hirshfield. If you enjoy poetry, this is a wonderful anthology of Hirshfield's work. Reading the work of a poet, from early to much later dates of publication interests me. It's a fascinating glance at the way the poet and her writing change over time. 

I'm off to make another cup of ginger-tumeric tea to help tame some Covid related inflammation in my mouth. It's interesting how stress affects the vulnerable systems of the body. I'm also going to pick up my rose tinted knitting needles and find some bits of joy in this winter day. 

TGIF 2.7.25

On this first Friday in February, I am happy we are half way to the Spring Equinox. Usually I settle in and enjoy winter as a season of soup, warm woolens, quiet, and a good book. This brown warmish winter hasn't had the same quality. More likely, I am not the same person and the world is not the same.

This Friday, I am thinking about everyday activities as a meditation. That is I am savoring chopping carrots and onions for soup, holding a book of poetry in my hands, unloading clean dishes from the dishwasher, steeping a cup of ginger tea, dusting a wooden blind, and choosing cloth scraps for stitching. Last night, instead of thinking of this shawl as a never-ending project, I thought of each stitch as a prayer. 

I am grateful for a warm house, the little downy woodpeckers in the neighborhood, blue sky, a walk, the smile of a neighbor, grocery store shelves that week after week sell red bell peppers, onions, broccoli, mandarin oranges, apples, decaf coffee, oatmeal, and more.  

I am inspired by all the school employees, including my daughter, who are developing protocols, arming themselves with information about legal procedures in order to face the federal Immigration authorities when they come calling for school children. Whoever thought educators and school therapists would be called on to do this?  

This week I made my own fun. Yesterday, I made Valentines for my grandchildren. They are getting their cards ready for classmates and their enthusiasm was catching. The three younger ones decided to include themselves in their preparations. As Jonah says, then he has an extra if anyone gets left out. Maybe we should all make a Valentine for ourselves and one for those who are left out. This week, I bought a few extra groceries in order to stock a Little Free Pantry. It is something I can do. 

I hope you have a peaceful weekend. 

Hello February

Hello Gentle Readers. February's cold gray days come with the promise of increasing hours of daylight. Yesterday I tested negative for Covid so that is a positive. How is that for paradox? We both feel better although the cough lingers. Thank you for all your well wishes. When I walked on Monday, I saw a Cooper's Hawk perched on a fence. I stayed still and watched as he held his own in the blustery winds. I was reminded that remaining upright and steadfast in the wind is an accomplishment. 

Wednesday is the day to link with Kat and the Unravelers. Today I'm writing about my Stitch Journal. If you remember, I began by hand quilting a piece of fabric for the cover. Loosely following videos from k3N Cloth Tales, I made the journal, leaving space between paper signatures to accommodate stitch pieces. Last year while when I discovered this channel, I stitched on a blush colored piece of fabric. Right now, it lays inside the back cover as an endpaper of sorts. It isn't permanently attached. In 2024, Kathryn posted a series of weekly prompts for stitched pieces. I am stitching pieces at my own pace, not weekly. I plan to follow some of her prompts but also create my own. 

I won't drive you nuts posting all of the pages but I'm celebrating getting started and completing three pieces. These little pages have been good company this winter. For me, hand stitching is peaceful. Underneath each piece, I write something. The first page is a piece of cloth weaving with a poem I jotted down over a week or so. *

The second page is the night sky accompanied by the poem "Mrs. Moon"  that I have always liked.

I have no idea where I first saw it but it reminds me of the classic picture book, "Goodnight Moon." 

The third page is my version of Kathryn's prompt on Light and Dark. Her emphasis was on the balance of light and dark. Lately I've been thinking about what we gain by being in darkness. Regardless of clouds, smoke, precipitation in the night sky, the light of the moon empties and fills. The stars shine even when they are not visible to the human eye. 

I finished reading Becoming Willa Cather: Creation and Career by Daryl W. Palmer. I have written of this nonfiction previously because I picked it up and put it down several times. In this book, Palmer looked thoughtfully at the changes in Cather's work, from early stories, her one volume of poetry, and through the three novels (O Pioneers!, My Antonia, The Song of the Lark) that made her reputation. Interesting to me was the influence of territory making and how maps were continually redrawn, the railroad, and how growing up in that time and place both constricted and allowed her to explore gender in her writing. Palmer doesn't ignore the fact that Cather didn't attend to the genocide of Native Americans. Nor does he dwell on Cather's sexual orientation. The writing is a little dry in places and probably isn't for everyone but it expand my thinking about Cather's work. 

Thank you for sticking with this long post. Here's to a new month, February and a breath of fresh air. 

* The poem and all creative work is copyrighted by Jane A. Wolfe

January's End - Unraveled

Hello Gentle Readers. As I compose, the sun shines brightly and the days are unseasonably warm and dry. Moisture in any form is needed but I am enjoying the sun's rays. Covid came to call at our house last week so we are home with mild symptoms, soup, and hot tea. Mostly, the vaccines are doing their job and for that I am grateful. Soups in the freezer have come in handy. I feel ok if I stay quiet, so knitting and an audiobook are the order of the week. 

I'm joining Kat and makers for Unraveled Wednesday. Last week I finished the Comfort and Joy socks. The KnitPicks Stroll made a nice sturdy sock and the colors do not bleed. The socks are tucked into the drawer for the next holiday season or sooner if I decide to wear them for a bit of green in my landscape. 

I also finished the gray "Green Thumb" mitts. They aren't exciting but they will be warm and I hope a hug for a friend's hands. In a few weeks I'll wash them so they are germ free. 

Saturday, I needed some comfort knitting. I got out a bag of sock yarn leftovers and mini-skeins and cast on a Habitation Throw. I could manage garter stitch and a big easy at-home project to work on now and then appealed to me. The bright colors cheer me. Maybe one of my grandchildren will like the wild crazy combination. If not I will find another home for it.

Currently I am listening to The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng. The story begins in Malaya in 1949. All of the main characters have been touched by the brutality of World War II and it's long aftermath. The narration is excellent. The writing is lyrical and the characters are scarred yet resilient and strong. Stories about building a garden, healing, redemption, and forgiveness weave through the narrative. Gardens connect life and death and the one in this novel is no exception. The book validates my thoughts about the absolute waste of war and violence and the value of small kindness and all kinds of love. I'm enjoying it and plan to read another by this author. 

It's been a week. Be careful out there. I hope you are all well and finding some peace at the end of January. 

I Shall Wear Purple - Handspun

Hello Gentle Readers. I hope those of you in the northern hemisphere are staying warm. Mother Nature has treated us to an arctic blast. Saturday through Tuesday were bitterly cold. The birds gobble seeds from the feeder. They must need a lot of calories to stay warm. Maybe that is my excuse for cookies with hot tea. Monday the winter sun shone in the sky in and out of clouds. When the cold is extreme and persistent, the air takes on a different light. Tuesday's low was -12 degrees. Today the temperatures begin to moderate. Although it was too cold to walk, I try to keep moving indoors with yoga videos and upper body weights. "Move it or lose it" as the cliche goes. 

Today I'm joining Kat and friends for Unraveled Wednesday. I finished this sweater, knit mostly from handspun yarn. Monday night I wove in many ends. I spun the darker colored yarn on spindles that produced small skeins of yarn. 

The other yarn was spun on a wheel so the skeins were larger. The two-ply construction of the gray Patagonia Organic Merino by Juniper Moon combines nicely with my two-ply handspun. In order to achieve a reasonable gauge with the darker colored yarn, I held it with a strand of mohair silk lace. I wondered if the silk in the lighter colored yarn and the fuzzy mohair with the darker yarn would clash but given the variegation of the yarns, it wasn't a problem. 

This is what I learned while knitting this sweater. When knitting with a yarn I have used before (the Patagonia), I'm treating the yoke as a swatch. Even though it might involve some frogging, more knitting gives me a better idea of the fabric and gauge. In this case, I knit one yoke down to the sleeve split that I frogged. And that's after I knit a gauge swatch that was spot on. On a whim, I measured my chest which I haven't done for quite some time. Holy cow, my bra size and my chest measurement are not the same. What a difference this made. 😊 Thick and thin handspun yarn is forgiving. Wet block often. I blocked this sweater twice while in progress and once at the end. Knitting sleeves in tandem with the body is a little fiddly but doable.  When I finished the body, I had less than three inches to knit on both sleeves. That was fun. So now because I am old woman and whether or not horizontal stripes flatter, I shall wear purple - handspun.  

To celebrate, I cast on a pair of mitts for a friend who is having a bit of a hard time. I'm looking forward to a more color in my knitting but I thought this soft gray suited her. This pattern, with a leaf as the thumb gusset, is fun to knit. This is my fifth or sixth pair. 

Over the weekend, I finished reading Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People by Tiya Myles. I thought the biography was excellent and provided a rich understanding of Harriet Tubman. Myles' research methods are intelligent and thoughtful. She respects her sources while pointing out possible shortcomings. She clearly identifies speculation and her reasoning based on research. The structure of the book including title and epigraphs for each section, the art and photography, as well as the author's notes make this a book worth reading. 

I suppose the grocery list won't make itself.  Onward we go through January. Take good care.

A Gathering of Poetry

Hello Gentle Readers. For months, I've meant to join Bonny and friends as they share a poem in "A Gathering of Poetry."  This month I'm late to the party but determined to add my voice. I continue to read poetry by Jane Hirshfield and admire her way of looking at and writing about the world. Hope and love seem very timely. 

(I cannot figure out how to better space a poem with Blogger so please excuse the odd spacing. The line length is Hirshfield's but the space between each line is not. I also know the bird above is not a blue heron but I do love this photo taken in October 2023 in Connecticut.)

Hope and Love

All winter

the blue heron

slept among the horses.

I do not know 

the custom of herons,

do not know

if the solitary habit

is their way,

or if he listened for 

some missing one ---

not knowing even

that was what he did --

in the blowing

sounds in the dark.

I know that 

hope is the hardest

love we carry.

He slept 

with his long neck

folded, like a letter

put away. 

Hirshfield, Jane. The Lives of the Heart. New York: Harper Collins, 1997. p. 39