April Poetry

I read poetry all year long. My custom is to publish one of my poems in honor of Poetry Month. This year I am posting a story about sea glass.  

When my daughter and family moved to Connecticut, I became intrigued with sea glass and brought a few pieces home with me. Then I read about sea glass as well as the history of the manufacture and uses of glass. I began to wonder why more women weren't included in the history and stories about sea glass. Last year, on the morning of my birthday, my daughter ran on the beach and came upon a few pieces of sea glass. She sent some of them to me. 

Many strands come together in a poem: ideas, sounds and rhythm in words, metaphor, and story. I love poetry for the economy of carefully selected words that tell a story. Somewhere in a book or article about writing poetry, I read that asking a question in a poem wasn't the best practice. So, not to be deterred by one opinion, I set out to do so. The poem below is part of a small collection I call, "Voice."

Season of Sea Glass * 

White egret fishes in the marsh,

stands among spirits rocked by the sea.

Sea glass pounded by waves, 

washes up on the shore.

Who held this piece molded

from sand, soda, and lime? 

This shard tossed in the tide  

for days and years, years and days.

Who dispensed medicine, dipped feather

in dark ink, placed rose in the slender neck?

Shard of her story, tumbled 

by waves, reduced to one triangle.

A voice worn to the softest

color of an opaque soul.

* Copyright, Jane A. Wolfe, 2021 

Simply a Moment: 4/22/22

Simply a Moment: 4:22 p.m. on 4/22/22

The herb garden is waking up. The chives thrive and the oregano peeps through last year's detritus of stems and leaves.   

The lilacs have buds but the wind makes them hard to photograph. The gale and the warm temperatures feel like storm-brewing weather. Maybe rain will fall later. I hope so.

To celebrate Earth Day, I cast on Sarah's Dish Cloth from leftover yarn. 

Happy Earth Day.

Gray Spring Morning

Hello on this gray morning. A light rain begins to fall and the air smells like damp Spring. The wind has died down and the morning feels very quiet. The ornamental pear trees in our neighborhood begin to leaf out. A starling builds a nest in the scraggly bushes in front of our home. Her work poses a dilemma. The bushes need to be replaced. We left the job until spring because little birds shelter there during the winter. Is it better to remove the nest before she lays her eggs or will that leave her without a place to raise her young? And who I am to destroy this creature's home? I know the starlings aren't in any danger of dying out but still. Perhaps it would be better remove the bushes and replant in the early Fall. I don't think the world needs anymore bullies. Ironically, several years ago on another chilly Spring day, I began writing a poem about a starling needing a nest.

Today I link with Kat and the Unravelers for Wednesday posts about making and reading. I have made some progress on a few projects. I crocheted one more potholder since I had the yarn leftover from the first one. I haven't used it yet to know whether it protects hands without being too bulky. Honestly I don't think I'll make any more potholders. I like to knit a wash/dish cloth to use or give as a gift but I'll buy potholders. Crocheting with worsted weight cotton quickly became a chore.

This first sock has a heel. The magic of turning a heel and creating a gusset is my favorite part of sock knitting.  

This week I devoted my evening knitting to the Prairie Shawl. When last I wrote about this shawl, it looked a little different. When I knit shawls with multiple colors, I use a trial and error approach for adding in colors. Knitting with this handspun is a fun adventure. The slight stickiness of this Polworth yarn makes ripping out rows and slipping stitches back on the needle very easy. I may add in a little commercial yarn if I run short of this batch of handspun. 

In honor of Poetry Month, I'm reading Everything Comes Next, a collection of poems by Naomi Shihab Nye, who served as the Young People's Poet Laureate. She is one of my favorite poets. This book contains both previously published and new poems. One of my favorite prose poems, "Gate 4-A" is included in the collection. I also love the epigraph by Gregory Maguire: "May we regard the reading life of the young as the most vital homeland protection strategy going - for our home is this planet and our family the wide-flung tribes who shelter therein."

I finished rereading The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich. Erdrich's beautiful writing contrasts with the sometimes difficult subject matter. The ideas of love, forgiveness, and miracles are woven into stories about Ojibwe and a Catholic Priest driven to serve the residents of a North Dakota reservation. I look forward to the Erdrich-along discussion about the novel. 

On this gray Spring day, I wish you warm days to come. 

 

Sweater Saga

Good Wednesday to you. Yesterday was a wild weather day on the Great Plains. My brother in Montana reported a prairie blizzard with more than six inches of snow. Here in southeast Nebraska, the wind blew a gale as the temperature hit almost 90 degrees. We adjourned to the basement early in the evening when the tornado warning sirens sounded. I grabbed my knitting bag, computer, and phone. A severe thunderstorm brought hail and rain. Luckily the storm didn't last long and the hail didn't do any damage here. I do need to pick up a few extra flashlight batteries just in case. 

Anyway on to the knitting. I am linking with Kat and the Unravelers to post about knitting and reading. By the time I finished the Anker's Sweater it began to feel like a saga. When I finished reached the end of the stockinette on the second sleeve, it was about an inch shorter than the first one. Although I marked all of the decreases with stitch markers, I miscounted somewhere. Most of the time I fix mistakes but the decreases make a faux underarm seam that are not visible. I couldn't face reknitting the sleeve so I added extra rows and added the ribbing. 

When I blocked the sweater the sleeves and body grew in length. I ripped back and reknit the ribbing on both sleeves although as I look at this photo the sleeves still look a little long. I plan to wear the sweater and see if I really want less length in the body. That would be a relatively easy fix. I sewed on one set of buttons that I didn't like so I took them off and replaced them with another. I didn't put buttonholes all the way down the front. I wish I had but not enough to reknit the sweater body. I do like the color and fabric of the yarn and will enjoy wearing the sweater. Such is knitting. 

My children sent me a yarn advent set as last year's birthday gift. I enjoyed opening all the yarn packages in December. Ever since I have been pondering a project for the yarn. Vera, with her beautiful project brought the Guernsey Wrap to my attention. The textured stitch patterns are well suited to this wooly wool. I modified it to scarf width because I am not likely to wear a rectangular wrap. I modified the ribbed section to a broken rib. This first section of colors reminds me of the colors of sea glass. The shades will get progressively deeper and I will have yarn leftover for a hat or mittens.   

I finished the hat with a little yarn leftover so that is in the gift bag. As we like to say, "yarn chicken is great when I win."

*We will celebrate Easter this weekend with hope. Others will celebrate Passover. If you celebrate, I wish you a happy hope-filled time with family and friends. If not, I wish you a Happy Spring, in whatever way it comes to your corner of the world. 

Ravelry Links

Anker's Cardigan

Hat

Guernsey Scarf

* Don't ask me what happened to change the background color of the text in this paragraph. I have tried everything I can think of to fix it and am not able to do so. The mysteries of Blogger

Welcome April

April light and colors are welcome. While today is gray and blustery, the daffodils bravely bloom in my yard and neighborhood. Some trees have leaves showing green tips. Hungry for color, I potted pansies for my front porch. I could use a new pot or two but hate to spend the money so I made do with what's in the shed. A darling little boy with dark brown eyes and his Mom were looking at the large display of pansies outside the nursery. I asked him which color he liked and he replied "azul" and pointed to these dark blue pansies so I picked them up to go with the orange.

I am linking with Kat and the Unravelers to post about making and reading. My cardigan is finished but the resident photographer is at the dentist this morning so that will wait for another post. I retrieved the Prairie Shawl from the project bag, frogged a couple of rows of commercial yarn, and joined this ball of handspun. These colors were in the same braid of Polworth Fiber. This shawl is turning into mostly a handspun shawl. I may still add some commercial yarn but am making it up as I knit. It's an easy forgiving knit. 

I cast on another pink fluffy hat. The combination of handspun uneven Polworth and the KidSilk Haze are so nice to work with, I decided to knit another from the remaining yarn. It's been ages since I knit with size 8 needles so maybe that is part of the allure. I have one more small skein of homespun to wind so I think there is enough for a hat but if not I'll just bind off and have a short cozy cowl. I finished the mitts for my niece and haven't touched the socks on the needles. 

As for reading, I gave up on Violeta by Isabel Allende. The first part of the novel was interesting but midway I tired of it. The story of a woman enticed into an abusive relationship by circumstances and the ensuing consequences for her children isn't for me right now. If I had an electronic or hard copy instead of audio, I'd skim through the story and perhaps read the end. Maybe I'll do that another day and maybe not. 

On the other hand, I am enjoying Still Life by Sarah Winman. This book makes me want to travel to Tuscany in the Spring and learn more about Italian art. Although I wondered where the plot was going in the beginning, I am hooked now. I admire the quirky characters and how they make come together as a family. The writing and the story are a tribute to all kinds of love and beauty.

On this windy Wednesday, Spring is around the corner. A sliver of blue sky is visible through my window. I may need rocks in my pocket to walk but plan to get out this afternoon. Have a good week. 

Ravelry Links

Prairie Shawl

Another Hat

Alfresco Mitts

 

More Lion Than Lamb

March ends with chilly gray blustery days. I'll need a winter coat on today's walk. Yesterday I took advantage of the warmest day of the week and pulled weeds and grass from the small daffodil/iris bed in front of the storage shed. I left the dried iris leaves because overnight temps will remain below freezing for the next week or so. I was warm enough in a heavy sweatshirt and jeans. The ground is dry but it was lovely to get my hands in the dirt. After trying to clean a bird feeder that hangs on a shepherd's crook, we decided to replace it. It was inexpensive and already sported a mended crack in the top. 

Wednesday is the day to link with Kat and the Unravelers. Sunday I finished knitting the Anker's Cardigan. The second sleeve was an adventure that I'll post about next week or whenever the sweater dries and is ready for photographs. I plan to block it this afternoon and I need buttons. Perhaps you heard my song of celebration from afar. I loved knitting with the yarn but was ready to be finished. I have a shawl languishing in a bag but feel like working on some smaller projects. 

I knit on this sock and cast on the fingerless mitts that will be a birthday gift for a niece. This is my fourth time knitting the Alfresco Mitts pattern. The all-over ribbing accommodates to different sized hands. I have used heavy fingering yarn, as in this mitt, as well as older Quince and Co Chickadee, a heavy sportweight. Late last summer I ordered some Chickadee and it wasn't as heavy but I digress. Anyway, I appreciate the details in this pattern. The cable is created by shifting stitches from the ribbing in a set-up row and the thumb gusset has nice detail with one rib running up the center of the gusset and thumb. 

I am currently listening to Violeta by Isabel Allende. In a letter to a young woman, Violeta looks back over her life that has spanned the twentieth century. Although the author does't specifically name Chile, at least in the beginning, I assume that is the setting for most of the story. Reading about world events from the point of view of a Chilean woman is interesting especially after reading Allende's nonfiction book, The Soul of a Woman. She is an accomplished storyteller and writer. 

My word this year is Kindness. And so I loved this message from Jonah and his kindergarten class. The painting on the letters are handprints of children at his school. The message in the dot of the i reads, "Be the I in kind." As I bend my hands and heart to kindness this year, I find some challenges. When representatives of political candidates canvas the neighborhood prior to the May primary election, my goal is to be respectful and kind. It takes courage to go door to door and whether I agree or not, I hope to respect that courage. It's not easy.  

 

Ravelry Links

Valentine Socks

Alfresco Mitts

March Field Trip

After a beautiful Spring weekend, this March day is blustery and raw. A bit of snow fell early on Tuesday morning. The moisture is welcome however it comes. Monday we took a day trip to central Nebraska. Our first stop was a shop in Hastings where I spent an hour or so with a very patient spinning teacher. More on that later. Then we drove further west to look at the sandhill cranes. Many poets write poems about birds. Some are about the cranes. I once wrote a poem about the cranes but words don't capture the magnificence of this migration. These ancient birds carry the story of time in their DNA. Even when the cornfields are dust and stubble and the sky gray, their presence and grace is apparent. Their call is music for the soul. I found myself wondering why as human beings, we can't just love and care for the world. 

We considered staying until sunset to stand on the pedestrian bridge while the cranes fly up and down the Platte River looking for their overnight roosting site. However, we were tired because we left home early to make my spinning appointment. The temperature was dropping and rain began to fall during the afternoon. We brought warm outerwear, rain ponchos, and extra shoes but driving 130 miles home on a rainy night in damp clothing didn't appeal to us. We may go back on a drier day to stand on the bridge at sunset. 

Today I link with Kat and the Unravelers to write about making. Sunday evening I finished the first sleeve of the ever-present cardigan. I'm saving photos for the finished sweater. Monday in the car I finished a washcloth for my gift stash and worked on the sock with a cable. As I mentioned, I took a short spinning class - one on one - at The Plum Nelly in Hastings. I tried two spinning wheels and was absolutely all thumbs. I have developed a unique spinning technique with a spindle that works for me. Plying singles spun on a spindle is a challenge. I have been making a plying ball by unwinding singles from the spindles and rolling them into a ball. Of everything involved in spindle spinning, this feels terribly tedious and takes a good deal of time. Two woodworkers I know of make Lazy Kates for spindles so that is a possibility.

I tried spinning on a Turkish Spindle because the singles are wound into a tight little ball that is easily removed from the spindle. Theoretically one can spin from both ends of the little turtle or one can spin from two turtles but they have to be kept separate. Maggie Casey, a spinning teacher and author of a book on spinning, suggested using flower pots and so I did. It is one solution but I had to keep the singles from tangling. I find spinning singles on a Turkish spindle not as much fun because I had to keep slipping the half-hitch from the shaft to wind the single and then form the half-hitch again and put it back on the spindle. However one spins with a spindle, one is limited by the length of your arm. All of this is to say, that I wanted to do something I said I'd never do which is to try spinning on a wheel. 

It is very humbling to be a complete beginner. As much as I knew the process was going to be awkward and come with a steep learning curve, I found it frustrating. The teacher was patient and kind. We did discover that even though I am right handed, I may be spinning left-handed with the spindle. I have never been physically coordinated but challenging this old brain is good for me. So it's something to ponder. 

Anyway, I continue to spin with my spindles. These are the first few skeins I made with the Amethyst colored mixed BFL fiber. It sure looks pretty with the little gray skein off the Turkish Spindle. I have more of each fiber to spin. Together the fibers will make a nice project someday. I am tying off the skeins with leftover white cormo so when I wash it for the first time I can see whether or not the dye bleeds into the white yarn. So far, so good. 

Wishing you a peaceful week and a little Spring.