Mid September

Hello Gentle Readers. Early autumn is in the air. Last Friday we drove to Nebraska City to buy some apples from Kimmel Orchards. The corn stalks are that beautiful straw color that comes as they dry just before harvest. All concerns about big business agriculture aside, the sight of the fields against a September blue sky is part of the autumn landscape. The apples are delicious and the outing made for a nice afternoon. The drive is about an hour, each way, so I knitted washcloths. I like to keep a few tucked away for small gifts. They go so nicely with a bar a soap. 

I am joining Kat and the Unravelers to post about making and reading this week. I spent some time mending a hand-pieced and hand-quilted quilt. In fact I pulled a needle through layers so many times that my hand became sore. Oy. I am getting to be a delicate flower. I don't remember any soreness when I did all the hand quilting but I was younger. I did cast on a large size scarf with an all over leaf lace pattern. I enjoy knitting leaf shapes so this pattern (Rav Link) caught my eye. Every row is slightly different which slows my knitting but that has been good for my right hand. I wondered if the design would be too complicated to be fun but the pattern and charts are well written. So far, so good.

I'm reading Becoming Madam Secretary by Stephanie Dray. My daughter recommended and gave me  this work of historical fiction about the life of Frances Perkins. Perkins was FDR's Secretary of Labor and the first woman to serve as a Cabinet officer. Trained as an economist, her professional life was dedicated to better working conditions for men, women, and children. Perkins was also a wife and mother and quite keenly feels the pull between professional and personal life. Her story is fascinating and has some interesting parallels in our current time. I am sorry to say, I never heard of Perkins until my daughter mentioned this book. 

A family who lives just down the street from us has a little patch of parkway on their yard. Both parents have a generous spirit, and the three children are often outdoors. The Mom and the children plant sunflowers in the parkway. Catmint also grows there. One day I walked down to get the mail and saw morning glories blooming in the catmint. I just love the wildness of this little spot. Even among the concrete and a few weeds, flowers grow. This week, I wish you the joy of unexpected flowers.  

Finished and Frogged

Hello Gentle Readers. The weather feels like September, days with warm dusty afternoons, stiff breezes, and shorter daylight hours. After dinner, I walk around the block in the most gorgeous evening light. While I'm still wearing shorts, tees, and sandals, fall is in the air. My garden and flower beds have that ragged, end of the season look. I divided several clumps of iris. Everything is so dry it is hard to weed. At least that is my excuse and I'm sticking to it. 

On this Wednesday, I link with Kat and the Unravelers to post about making and reading. I have both finished and frogged projects. I finished the shawl knit from a skein of handspun and some odds and ends of a commercial yarn. It's a good thing I like to weave in ends because there were plenty. The simple pattern lets the handspun shine. The yarn from a BFL/silk blend has such a nice soft hand and drape. While learning to spin, I stayed away from fiber with silk content because the silk can be tricky. Now that I've successfully spun with this blend, I'd like to try more. 

I frogged the summer top knitted with fingering weight cotton yarn. The fabric was lovely but after about three rounds, my hands hurt and it was so monotonous. Frogging it was freeing.  I cast on the Purl Soho Arched Gusset mittens in Noro Silk Garden. Alas, I love the elegant line of the arched gusset but the pattern is written for a lighter weight yarn. Knitting the pattern in Aran weight yarn was making a sloppy rather weirdly shaped mitten. Winter's cold is serious business and I like mittens to be snug and warm.  Last night I frogged the start of the mitten and am auditioning the Antler pattern. I've knit this pattern several times and have been pleased with the mittens. 

As for reading, I finished Clear by Carys Davies. I loved this short novel about kindness and human connection. Two people who know little about each other and speak different languages encounter each other on a remote Shetland Island. The sparse storyline reminded me of Claire Keegan's book, Foster. I learned more about Scottish history and a lost language. As a bonus, the man on the island collected wool tufts from sheep and spun them into yarn. He was also a knitter. Davies understands  and writes well about both processes. I can't help but wonder if she is a knitter.  I also wonder if she has any connection to the designer Kate Davies. Maybe Davies is a common name in that part of the world. 

Finally, this date, 9/11, is so poignant. I remember the television monitors set up in the district school office playing the news videos over and over. It is well to remember and be grateful for all first responders. Now there is another generation for whom the events of that day are history and not lived experience. 

Take good care. 

Hello September

Hello Gentle Readers and Hello September. Labor Day weekend and my birthday have come and gone. The long weekend brought three gorgeous early Autumn days. Cool mornings and warm afternoons felt like summer's end. Yesterday morning I saw a large perfectly spun spider web suspended between a tree and a bush. Sunday evening, a single long thread was backlit by the setting sun. I'm waiting for the bright yellow goldfinches to find the dried cone flowers. 

Family and friends greeted me warmly on birthday, which this year fell on Labor Day.  I made a few cupcakes and we enjoyed fresh BLT's and watermelon for dinner. Tuesday I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with impetigo. Here's to medical care and antibiotics. My immune system isn't what it was when I worked with little children. 

Today is a day to link with Kat and the Unravelers to post about making and reading. Late last week, I finished the last skein of a spinning project in the first photo. The Corriedale fiber was part of last year's birthday gift from my son and his family. Once I was able to get a little more twist into the fiber, (thank you Kat and Sarah) I spun a lovely sport weight-ish yarn. When I began, I hoped to have enough yardage to knit a shawl but at 1100 yards I've enough for a sweater. 

In the meantime, I'm knitting and enjoying this shawl. According to the pattern I'm almost to the point where I've used 80% of the yarn so I'm on the home stretch. The BLF/Silk handspun has such a nice hand. 

As for reading, I couldn't find an audio book available on Libby but on Hoopla, I came upon The Dangerous Old Woman by Clarissa Pinkola Estés. As far as I can tell, this work is available only in audio format. Estés is Jungian analyst who extracts meaning from the archetypes of women in old folk and fairy tales. Some of the stories she tells are better than others but I am enjoying her thoughts about old women as elders and "weavers" of culture and tradition. I can say that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will never be the same. The synchronicity seemed appropriate for the weekend I completed 73 trips around the sun. Estés who serves as narrator is also a wonderful oral storyteller.  

The Connecticut kids went back to school last Friday. They had a terrific summer and everyone had a good first day of school. Norah started kindergarten, Jonah is in the third grade (with the best teacher ever - got to love a positive attitude) Micah is a fifth grader at the top of the heap, and Emmet is in the eighth grade. The beginning of a school year is a new season filled with promise. Micah and Jonah are happy to serve as "little sister security."  Emmett is about to be taller than his Mom. How does this happen so quickly?   Have a good week. 

August's End

Hello Gentle Readers. Summer with hundred degree temperatures over the weekend and Monday has another story to tell. Day by day, this week will be slightly cooler. The zinnias, cosmos, cone flowers, and butterfly bush continue to bloom. Monday morning I walked at 8:00 a.m. to beat the heat. I heard a ten minute chorus of blue jays from all over the neighborhood. I know jays sound a predator alarm for other birds but this was a friendly call and response. 

My handsome Texas grandson moved onto Tarelton State University campus this past week. His text messages, with the y'all, make me smile. All the university students mean hope for the future. I wish all of them the best year and college experience. 

Wednesday is the day to link with Kat and the Unravelers. I finally have a finish. After a consultation with Bonny about binding off in the middle of a repeat, I finished the hitchhiker. As I came to the end of the yarn, I didn't have enough to complete the full repeat and asked for her expert advice. I decided to use as much of the yarn as possible and bound off on Row 6 instead of a Row 8. I pinned out that last point and it's fine. Someone who has knit a hitchhiker could see a slight difference but knitters are too kind to point out the discrepancy. This one-skein hitchhiker finished with 35 teeth. 

I also finished the embroidered watering can block to go with Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks. I need one more block of some description. I'm considering designs that came from the Depression Era of quilts. Since finishing these two projects, I went back to another shawl in progress and a Christmas gift project. 

Right now the library hold list is in the feast stage. I have four books on my desk but am reading Enlightenment by Sarah Perry. At two-thirds of the way through, I have mixed feelings about this novel. Mostly the writing is excellent, although there is repetition in the rustling, hissing etc. of silk. The story set in modern England has a Victorian/Gothic bent that feels disjointed. At times I marvel at the way the author weaves themes in and out of the story and at other times I wonder why I'm reading it. She has combined some interesting ideas - unrequited love, fundamentalist Christian beliefs, homosexuality, and a mystery/ghost story all loosely tied together with astronomy. I will finish it though. 

I'm off to water. Have a good week. 

 

Mid-August

Hello Gentle Readers. Sunday we picked up coffee on the way home from church. About noon, a light but steady rain began to fall. I read a bit and also listened to the end of a Vera Stanhope mystery while knitting. I can't remember the last time we had a rainy day. Swallowtails and a small Monarch come to the zinnias and butterfly bush. The bees are buzzing in the cone flowers and zinnias. They think they own the oregano so I've let it go to flowers and seed. Next Spring I will significantly prune that plant as it is very overgrown. I saw the sweetest little bird house in a neighbor's new tree. I'm sure their preschool daughter made it and her Dad helped her to hang it. It's probably not practical but I love the idea that parents and maybe a child care provider are encouraging preschoolers to think about the birds. There is hope. 

Today is Wednesday, the day to link with Kat and the Unravelers with posts about making and/or reading. I am knitting away on the hitchhiker. It's a fun knit, especially at the end of the day. My plan is to knit until I run out of yarn. I considered finding some stash bits to make it slightly longer but decided the yarn looks best on its own. I'm embroidering a watering can from Stitches from the Garden by Kathy Schmitz, the book in the photo. It has flowers in it and will go with the Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks I wrote about previously. 

I'm reading the nonfiction work, The Pocket: A Hidden History of Women's Lives, 1660 - 1900, written by Barbara Barman and Ariane Fennetaux. The authors explore the history of the tie-on pockets worn by all classes of English women. Pockets in women's clothing have an interesting and controversial history. Although this book is somewhat scholarly, I think their textile research is fascinating. In an era when women could not hold property, they could own clothing and some textiles. Court records and newspaper advertisements for lost pockets list items women carried and tell stories about the lives of women from all classes. 

I'm also rereading So Far So Good: Final Poems 2014-2018 by Ursula K. LeGuin. Although LeGuin is most known for her science fiction, she began as a poet. As you might expect, these poems reflect her thoughts on mortality at the end of her life. A note at the beginning of the small volume says LeGuin sent off her revised manuscript of these poems on January 15, 2018. She died on January 22. What a remarkable woman. 

The tomato harvest is beginning to wind down although I have several dinner plates full of fruit to blanch and freeze. I'm seeing the first few yellow leaves in the Linden and looking forward to the change of season. I hope you are having a good week. Take care. 

Ravelry Link

Hitchhiker

Summer's Bounty

Hello Gentle Readers. A thunderstorm blew through in the wee hours of the morning. When I walked, rain drops hung from the petals of lavender hostas and soft yellow roses. I heard but didn't see a northern flicker. The neighbors' maple tree shows the barest hint of autumn color although I don't know if that is a sign of stress or the changing season. Last weekend, the temperatures were cool with just a hint of fall in the air. 

Wednesday is the day to link with Kat and the Unravelers to post about knitting and reading. Although the tomato harvest takes most of my time these days, I've done a little knitting here and there. I managed to knit to the sleeve split on the summer top. I plan to knit a couple of inches and check the fit again. In between and to give my hands a rest, I knit on the hitchhiker. It's a joy to knit the garter stitch in an easy pattern with variegated yarn. Sometimes it pays to hang on to deep stash. Bonny commented that the yarn made her think of sunlight on a creek. I often think of that image while I'm knitting on it.

I read Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy this week and throughly enjoyed it. The charming story is about recovering from grief and healing that comes from small kindnesses. There was a surprise (at least to me) turn in the middle of short novel. If you are looking for a sweet easy read, this one might be for you. 

Have a good week. I'm heading back to my regularly scheduled saucing, roasting, and freezing. 

To Make a Garden

Hello Gentle Readers and Hello August. The month is new and has been all about the weather. Lincoln and Omaha are recovering from last Wednesday's storm. Wind up to 90 mph in Omaha and 80 mph in Lincoln damaged and destroyed many large trees and wreaked havoc with electricity. Fortunately we did not lose power or have any outdoor damage. Still, as of Monday about 20,000 customers were still without power in Omaha. Some volunteer cosmos in my garden were snapped off, the zinnias were blown around, pots of herbs blew over so the basil was jostled, and a few tomato vines needed more stakes. They were heavy with fruit so it's surprising they didn't break. The high heat of Friday through Monday broke sometime in the early morning of Tuesday. A drop from 100 degrees Monday afternoon to 66 on Tuesday morning was enough to make my head spin. 

As I link with Kat and the Unravelers to post our making and reading, I'm including my garden harvest. The photo above was taken Monday evening so excuse the poor lighting and the basement floor with gardening paraphernalia. Abundant sunshine, hot days, warm nights, drip hoses, have created a good tomato crop. Fresh tomatoes with basil, garlic, and olive oil (garlic removed for eating) served over warm pasta and sprinkled with grated parmesan is my favorite summer dish. I also freeze an easy tomato sauce and blanched, peeled, chopped tomatoes in 2 c. amounts. There are more tomatoes on the kitchen counter and in the garden. If you need me this afternoon,  I'll be in the kitchen. 

I'm enjoying knitting on my summer top and hitchhiker a little at a time. Photos and an update next week. This summer I've been working on these quilt blocks. A long time ago, I bought seven Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks in an antique/second hand shop. The fabrics are in surprisingly good condition. The small pieces were sewed with tiny even stitches and a 1/8th seam allowance. From time to time, I looked at them and put them back in the box. I didn't want to recreate the pattern and I knew that seam allowance would be enough to make me pull out my hair. Since I am not making a quilt for a bed or a baby, I decided to appliqué them, raw-edged, to muslin squares. I used a new-to-me invisible basting technique to make sure they stayed flat and then stitched around the edges with the blanket stitch. I throughly enjoyed the process and not fussing about turning under the edges. I need two more blocks for a square top. I'm looking at a few books about feedsack and Depression era quilts for inspiration. 

I'm rereading The Narrowboat Summer by Anne Youngson, a charming story many of you have read. I'm enjoying the leisurely ride in the canal boat and the three women characters. I had forgotten one of the minor characters is a knitter, a bonus. I'm listening to The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear. Again, as most of you know, this is the last in the Maisie Dobbs series. Winspear is wrapping up the story nicely. 

What are you making this week?