Early May

Hello Gentle Readers. Monday evening another thunderstorm brought rain and a tornado watch with no actual funnel clouds. The ground in our yard is still damp and almost muddy in places and it's been a long time since that has happened. I wonder if the drought cycle is shifting toward more moisture. 

The early purple iris bloom while the hybrid stalks have buds. Irises always remind me of my Gram. She grew some beautiful ones in her yard. This week promises lovely May weather, sunshine and temperatures in the seventies. I hope to get my tomatoes planted toward the end of the week. 

Kat is back from her vacation and hosting Unraveled Wednesday. Thank you Kat for hosting this link-up. It feels good to be back in a more regular routine, including a post for Unraveled Wednesday. The Sophie Shawl is finished and she is a beauty. The piece didn't need blocking. I just wove in the ends and took a photo. Years ago when I first started knitting, I thought garter stitch was a little clunky but all of the beautiful shawl patterns changed my mind. 

I also finished the shorty socks, knitting one toe while we huddled in the basement during the last severe storm. As Elizabeth Zimmerman says, "knit on through any crisis." That was also the day of my oral surgery and I was glad I was home before the storm came through. What a day. I tried a shadow-wrap short row heel on these socks. It was fun to knit and looks great although I don't think it fits my foot as well as the heel flap and gusset. I'll wear them and decide. 

I cast on a hat combining commercial yarn for the background and some handspun shetland. The color combination is subtle but I like it and of course, it has a nice blue background. I'm going to have enough handspun for another project or projects. 

I've been stitching on a table runner that I showed awhile back. I finished the appliqué and embroidery and am now quilting it by hand. Here are a few photos of some of the stitching. I used a hoop for embroidery but gave it up for the quilting. 

I am reading The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré. The story takes place in Nigeria and is written in a dialect of the main character. I'm not sure how I feel about the use of dialect but I understand why the author chose to use it. At times, it adds a bit of humor to bleak circumstances and makes the voice and age of the main character feel more real. In spite of incredible hardship and cruelty she experiences, this young woman will not be silenced. She is courageous. 

I am rereading The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray because it is this month's selection by my local group. The novel follows Belle da Costa Greene, the private librarian of J.P. Morgan. She is instrumental in accumulating the manuscripts, books, and art that become the Morgan Library in NYC. No doubt the portrayal of power balance between an older wealthy man and a beautiful bright young woman and how she manages this will be a point of our discussion. To me, the most remarkable thing about the novel is the way the two authors worked together. Don't miss the authors' notes at the end of the hard copy. 

I'm going to drink the rest of my coffee on the deck and do my best to enjoy this beautiful May day. Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers and daughters who nurture others.  

Ravelry Links

Sophie Shawl

 Shorty Socks

Juniper Hat

TGIF 5.3.24

Hello Gentle Readers. It's Friday and a day for gratitude. The sun shines, the bright yellow goldfinches flit in and out of the neighbor's apple tree. A week ago a fierce storm brought funnel clouds and thunderstorms to our area. Thank you to those who sent messages asking after us. We had no damage as the tornadoes touched down on the north and east side of the county but others were not so fortunate.  

Today I am thinking about my garden beds. Some plants in the pollinator garden didn't make it through the winter. I am tickled that this Flax is blooming and thriving. I love the flowers and have tried to grow them from seed with no success. Last year, this plant came from a local nursery and it looks great. I am also going to change the layout of my tomatoes, cucumbers, and zinnias. 

I am mighty grateful for medical care I have received the last few weeks. Many in this country don't have access to such good care. Last Friday I had an oral surgery procedure and am recovering this week. The procedure went well and the pain has been manageable. I'm taking it easy as my mouth heals. Anne Cleeves' Vera Stanhope has kept me in easy reading when I felt like reading. I am also grateful for the less damaging rain that fell all of last weekend and into this week. 

I am inspired by the slow stitching of Katherine, k3n cloth tales on youtube. She's been good company this quiet rainy week.  I appreciate her emphasis on using materials on hand and on the meditative process of stitching. Her approach is thoughtful not messy and she is generous with her time and talent. I'd like to follow one of her tutorials to make a fabric pouch, incorporating some old quilt blocks, made by the mother of a former colleague.

Fun this week came in the form of a little Mother's Day gift from my daughter. She sent me this bit of garden whimsy to provide drinking water for the bees. This wooden platform supports tiny porcelain cups that hold water. They are fired to a high high temperature so they are light safe and won't fade. They also do not leach chemicals into the soil and contain zero plastics. They are available from www.bee-cups.com There is an internet business for everyone it seems. 

Take care readers and have a nice weekend. 

Windy Days

 

Hello Gentle Readers. Here, the unfolding Spring is marked by many windy days. I have no scientific documentation but this April seems like one of the windiest ever. Now and then we have a quiet day but more often the wind blows a gale. Dead branches and twigs are being cleared from the trees. This must be part of nature's spring cleaning. It should be so easy. Could we turn on a fan and magically dust the house? Just kidding.  

Sunday was a rare day of bright sunshine, temps in the high sixties, and no wind. Lance and I drove to a trailhead east of town and spent a few hours walking. The air was full of bird song and wild plums bloomed. Every now and then, I caught a hint of their fragrance. On our return to the parking area, we surprised a coiled bull snake sunning himself in the middle of the trail. He raised his head and gave a loud hiss. We got out of his way. It's surprising how fast two 70+ year olds can move when motivated.  

This Wednesday with Kat and the Unravelers finds me working on the same projects. I'm knitting on the Sophie Shawl. This weekend I learned to pay attention to catching the thin strand of mohair, especially on the i-cord edge. I took out an inch or so - twice to correct that mistake. Otherwise it's a sweet project. I've worked on the shortie sock in odd moments and decided to try ribbing around the instep to keep the sock in place inside my sneakers. 

I've done a bit of stitching on the table runner. I have no grand plan but am just playing with some free hand embroidery in the spirit of "slow stitching." Next time I'll try to take a close-up of some of the embroidery. 

I'm almost finished reading North Woods by Daniel Mason. The structure of the novel, twelve chapters each representing a month of the year, interspersed with poems, other articles, and artwork is interesting. The nature writing is elegant and Mason is quite witty. The novel reads like loosely connected short stories with some having more appeal than others.  As usual, I sometimes wish for more about a particular character or story. The house and the woods are the constant and sometimes more important than the human beings who come and go. I've enjoyed the book but I know reviews are mixed. 

This week I hope to finish cleaning up the garden beds. I'm going to try sowing salad green seeds in a large pot, covering it with some kind of mesh to keep out the critters. It's an experiment. Because readers asked, so far forks in the pansies have kept the squirrels out of the pots. They aren't fool proof but a bit of a deterrent. Last year, they jumped the forks.

Take good care in these last days of April.    

An April Poem

Hello Gentle Readers. 

Here is a little story about one of my poems. Now and then I walk by a neighborhood park adjacent to a school ground. Most of the park is wide open space where one has a dazzling view of the sky. However, there are several old elms at one end. One of them has a unique structure with a large limb that arcs over the ground or maybe it is two trees grown together. When I see the trees, I wonder how the limbs were formed and how, with children climbing on them, they continue to maintain their integrity. Someday wind, water, and gravity will bring them down.

During the pandemic year and especially in the Spring of lockdown, the school grounds were eerily empty and the park was quiet. At that time many of us walked to get out of the house and also for the solace available in the natural world. One of those April days, I walked by the empty park and noticed a kite hanging in the upper branches of one of the trees. When I returned home, I jotted down my observations and over the next months, I jiggled words and sentences into a poem. Off and on, I worked on it. The poem wouldn't gel so I set it aside. 

This winter I looked at the poem again. When I couldn't find a metaphor, I tried simile. I still don't know if the poem works but regardless I'm sharing it here. As the thoughtful extraordinary poet, Mary Oliver, wrote in her book, Rules for the Dance: A Handbook for Writing and Reading Metrical Verse, "Poetry, imaginatively, takes place within the world. It does not take place on a sheet of paper." (p.67)

At the Edge of an Empty Park, April 25, 2020 *

At the edge of an empty park under

a sky broader than any bank of glass

the wind carries a message

to a broken kite in the elm.

It is like standing on a prairie ridge

listening to grasses rattle

watching an unknown insect chirp

then launch itself over your ankle

which is nothing but a broken limb,

a clump of dung, a bittersweet vine.

Sensation know by hinge of joints

dusted with the breath of a dandelion. 

* copyright Jane A. Wolfe

This poem is part of a collection of poems that reference the Prairie. The photos were taken this week so the kite is long gone but the school grounds were full of the sounds from children at play. 

Old Dog, New Tricks

Hello Gentle Readers. Over the weekend the birch leaves opened and the catkins on the tree turned yellow green. They make a mess but I have a broom and after all, the tree is just being a tree. This morning I watch the changeable April sky. Clouds, shadows, sunlight and bursts of fresh green are everywhere. Monday evening and into Tuesday several thunderstorms rolled through bringing much needed rain. In the backyard linden tree, there is what I've thought was a squirrel's drey. Now and then a blue jay perches on the edge. Yesterday I saw common grackle peering into the drey/nest. It is on the smaller side of a drey or maybe it has always been a nest. I wonder how this story will end. 

This Wednesday post links with Kat and the other Unravelers. I am happy to report my sweater is finished and it fits fairly well. I enjoyed knitting the color work yoke and once I fiddled with the fit, I also enjoyed working with the yarn. Warm wool sweater weather is over for this year but it's nice to know it will be waiting for me in the fall.  I keep knitting on the Sophie Shawl. Last night I reached the widest part of the shawl and began decreasing. 

I frogged the textured sock in the blue/gray yarn. The texture wasn't showing well and honestly after the handspun shawl and the sweater, I wanted to knit with some other color. I cast on a shortie sock with some new-to-me techniques. This pattern includes a back tab created with short rows. I modified the pattern to incorporate a shadow-wrap heel. I've never knit this heel so as I get further down the foot, I'm interested in trying it on for fit. 

In the spirit of having three knitting projects on the go and trying another new technique, I cast on the Same As it Ever Was Hat by Sarah. The pattern is well written and includes an easy-to-follow tutorial for the cast on. This new-to me yarn is working well with the pattern. And yes, that is a lilac, a good three weeks early, from the yard.

Reading has been a little slow. I'm enjoying walking and working in the yard. All the fresh air means I read myself to sleep much more quickly these days. I've read the beginning two stories in the novel North Woods by Daniel Mason. The novel has an interesting point of view with the constant being a cabin and some land in New England. I'm reserving judgement until I get further into the book. 

So here you have an old dog in a new sweater learning a few new knitting techniques. For now, the sky has cleared and the wind is gusting. What are you making this week? 

Forks to deter the squirrels. It's worth a try. 

Happy Spring

Hello Gentle Readers. As I write this post, a light breeze brushes small pink buds on the Ornamental Pear Tree in the front yard. In the backyard, the tiniest of purple lilac buds are visible. Yesterday I saw a few wild violets blooming in a yard. These flowers are two and maybe three weeks earlier than in previous years. As the old song goes, "the times, they are a changing."

Wednesday is the day to link with Kat and other Unravelers.  In making news, the infamous sweater is finished and drying on the blocking mats. I had a little trouble counting decrease intervals and so did some re-knitting on the second sleeve. Such is the life of a knitter listening to an audiobooks. 

I'm back to working on the Sophie Shawl. It's a peaceful garter stitch knit. When I get to midpoint of the mohair yarn, I begin the decreases.  I finished the appliqué on the table runner. Perhaps in honor of the eclipse, although I didn't plan it that way, I added a little outline stitch (dark rose color) around the full moon. It doesn't show very well in a photo. The pattern doesn't call for any embroidery so I'm creating as I stitch. 

As for reading, I'm listening to Emma by Jane Austen via the CraftLit podcast. Continuing with a light reading theme from the last post, I'm reading a book my sister loaned me, A Bakery in Paris by Aimie K. Runyan. This is a novel of historical fiction with two storylines taking place in 1870 and 1946. Recipes for French pastries are a nice bonus in this story of two women faced with hard choices. 

Last Friday, I spent a glorious hour and a half weeding garden beds. The sun on my back and the smell of dirt and green plants is refreshing after a long winter.  This time of the year weeding doesn't seem like a chore. I plan to enjoy the feeling for as long as it lasts because come July it won't be so much fun. This week promises beautiful cool spring days perfect for being outdoors.  

Happy Spring.

Ravelry Link

Sophie Shawl

Hello April

Hello Gentle Readers. Here, April begins with cloudy cool days and blustery winds. The tulips in the neighborhood bloom, though the flowers are tightly closed against the cool days. I often walk past a small draw with old trees. Saturday the sun came out and the birds were celebrating so I turned on Sound ID in the Merlin App. A few minutes later I heard a meadowlark. I know that five note melody by heart.  Meadowlarks prefer the open countryside and I've never heard one in town.  I couldn't see him but Merlin also identified the call so I wasn't imagining things. 

Today is Unraveled Wednesday with Kat and friends.  Around the middle of March, I pulled together fabrics for a table runner. In between the sweater sleeves, I've done some applique´.  When the applique´ is finished, I may embellish the top with embroidery or quilt a few stars into the background. Right now it looks rather stark to me.  

I am on the home stretch with my winter sweater. The first sleeve is finished and I am knitting the second one. I've enjoyed the project but will be happy to be done. This last sleeve feels like a bit of a slog so I hope to finish it this week. 

I am spinning a braid of BFL/Silk. The colors remind me of the irises and lilacs that will bloom soon. I split the braid and am spinning two halves end to end. I have no plan except to enjoy the colors and the fiber. The first two smaller bumps are now on the first bobbin and I have just begun the second. 

This week I'm reading two lighter novels. I'm listening to The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods. The novel with two storylines and many literary references is set Ireland. It contains magical realism and at times is a little unbelievable. As in, one heroine, trying to escape her dominating brother and a forced marriage, is befriended by James Joyce. I'm not too far into the story but enjoying it. I was in the library picking up a hold and saw The Lantern's Dance, #18 in the Mary Russell, Sherlock Holmes series, by Laurie R. King so I brought it home. It's hard to resist a new book about familiar characters. I like Russell with her bent toward scholarship, her determination, and her view of women's roles.  

Oh my goodness, the wind blew away the clouds and for the moment, the sun is shining. Today feels like March but the green in the landscape, including weeds, says April. It's time to get to work on the ever-present Creeping Charley. 

What does April look like in your area?