Yarns - Thanksgiving Cooking and Knitting and Reading Breaks

  

     How to cook for Thanksgiving. Chop, prepare, Bake, mix and knit for a while and read, resume and redo all over again.  So many times in my life my knitting and reading are my refuge.  And a definite stopping point.

 Details on today's knitting - Yarns - A Shawl Amidst Gift Knitting

Autumn Ridge Shawlette in Malabrigo Mechita in Cielo Y Tierra

and

Sockhead Slouch Hat in Patons Croy Sock yarn in Celestial

      So I'm taking a break sometime today to snap a picture and then press on.  Which I might literally be doing.  Pressing my dough today.  My husband after several weeks of anti-biotics last winter became gluten intolerant. So this Thanksgiving I need to make a gluten-free pie crust with almond and rice flour.  The sad part is my Pate Brisee was so perfect, before with A.P. four (I added 1 Tbl. cider vinegar).  I have a feeling the gluten free will not roll out.  But I'm pressing on.  Husband loves my apple pie.

     I cleaned out all my Kindle downloaded books and samples one night (clearing half of them out) and came across this cute book, a romance with a knitting theme - "How to Knit a Heart Back Home: A Cypress Hollow Yarn Book 2".  It's the second in a series, but I already had it so it was a good choice late at night.  It's a fun tale about Lucy who runs the bookshop and seems unassuming but also is an on-call paramedic.  She and a whole slew of characters knit in this town that is famous for Eliza Carpenter, a made up legendary knitter like Elizabeth Zimmerman.  The beginning of every chapter has a quirky pithy quote from Eliza.  The story starts with a bang (you'll see) and the bad boy from High School is on the scene and, of course, love ensues.  Cute and funny and fun to read a story with knitting stories knit in.

     The first book looks good too - "How to Knit a Love Song: A Cypress Hollow Yarn Book 1".  Both books are inexpensive, $2.99 on Kindle.

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Yarns - A Shawl Amidst Gift Knitting

      I think knitting on my shawl is a gift to me as I squeeze it in among knitting gifts. 

      It's not very big so far, but it gives me joy.  The new pattern Autumn Ridge Shawlette out in August 2018 hasn't been discovered and it should be!  It's a little gem of a pattern hiding in plain sight, just waiting to be discovered!  It's got a great texture, variety to hold your interest, and as it grows the simple rows of knitting are relaxing.  I'm in love with it and I hope other's give it a try.  Ravelry Project Notes: Autumn Ridge Shawl.

     One gift I'm working on and should just have enough time to finish before Christmas is a Sockhead Slouch Hat.  I made one for my son this summer, intending it to be a Christmas gift but because he was Salmon fishing in Alaska I sent it to him early to keep warm (yes, and now I'm busy on another gift for him).  I hear he wears it all the time.  It looked great on him when we Skype with him the other day, and I hear that his girlfriend steals it at times!  Little does she know I've been busy making her one.

     They're great made out of Patons Kroy Sock Yarn.  They go up in a month for me if that's all I'm doing (I'm a slow knitter).  But the knit is automatic enough that I can knit and read at the same time.  If the book's not on a tablet I use a large hair clip or this Leather Book Weight my mom got for me decades ago from The Vermont Store (thankfully they tend to carry the same old-fashioned items over time and it's still there).

     I'm still reading "The Girl You Left Behind" by Jojo Moyes and enjoying this book about a painting in WW I and then a hundred years later.  When I finish I'll be moving onto a book I missed last year in the Book of the Month club and I regretted not getting.  Then it showed up on sale on BookBub and I quickly downloaded it.  "The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce is a quirky romance that takes place in a music shop in a dilapidated part of town, but the owner has an uncanny sense of what a person needs to hear.  Goodreads - "The Music Shop"

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Yarns: A Fall Shawl

   

     I've missed working on a shawl, specifically on size #6 needles and with Malabrigo yarn.  These are my favorite go-to knitting ingredients and I'm a shawl fanatic with one wrapped around my neck at all times.  I have a personal goal of actually having all the different colors of shawls I need to complete an outfit; which might just be jeans or stretch pants but the shawl gives it a classy edge and keeps my neck warm.

Previous Shawls:

Ripples of Peace Shawl in Teal Feather Silky Merino yarn

 Just Knit It in Stripes in mixed Hawthorne yarns

Garter Stitch Shawl in Stroll Tonal Sock Yarn

Spring Ardent in Malabrigo Sock yarn Indiecita

The Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief in 

Teal Feather Malabrigo Silky Merino

      I picked out a Fall toned Malabrigo yarn last year, but I couldn't swing it then.  I'd stare at the color photo of yarn and promised myself, one day.  So I finally got my yarn Malabrigo Mechita Yarn - Cielo y Tierra in September and then I needed the perfect pattern.  I had considered Citadel by Janina Kallio which I love:

Citadel by Janina Kallio 

© Janina Kallio

 But when I saw the new pattern Autumn Ridge Shawlette by Lilybet Designs it was love at first sight.  

© Lilybet Designs

  Autumn Ridge Shawlette

© Lilybet Designs

     Also, my chosen patterns need to not only look right, but they need that quality of easy, simple, rhythmic knitting.  I think my most successful knitting has been where I can rest in the process and read a book at the same time.  It's therapeutic, a meditative quality to just knitting, almost mindlessly.  I think this pattern will fit the bill and add enough different patterns to add interest also.

     I've returned to reading "The Girl You Left Behind" by Jojo Moyes, my fourth book by her.  She's a great writer and I love her choice of words and descriptions.  Now we're in Northern France at the beginning of WWI, the Germans invaded 18 months before, they barely eat.  Sophie is dreaming...

"I was still dreaming of food. Fresh baquettes, the flesh of the bread a virginal white, still steaming from the oven, and ripe cheese, its borders creeping towards the edge of the plate. Grapes and plums stacked high in bowls, dusky and fragrant, their scent filling the air. I was about to reach out and take one, when my sister stopped me. "Get off" I murmered. "I'm hungry". "Sophie. Wake up." I could taste that cheese. I was about to have a mouthful of Reblochon, smear it on a hunk of that warm bread, then pop a grape into my mouth. I could already taste the intense sweetness, smell the rich aroma. But there it was, my sister's hand on my wrist, stopping me. The plates disappearing, the scents fading. I reached out to them but they began to pop like soap bubbles." p. 3  

     I haven't got far.  I know the book revolves around a painting of Sophie by her husband (who is at The Front) and the second half of the book moves forward in time, almost a century to someone who receives the painting as a wedding gift.  Loving the book.

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Yarns - A Cup Cozy

     It's a snowy day here in Colorado, not unusual for October.  But the sun is shining and the yellow leaves looked like they survived in some spots.  I'm knitting and drinking tea, as usual, and fighting with my tablet and laptop to get my storage down to post pictures.  Sigh, I give up.  They were really nice pictures.

 Button Up your Cup

© Julie Tarsha 2009

     I started knitting a nice cup cozy in a beautiful orange, a nice rusty tone of Heartland yarn in Yosemite.  The pattern has cables entwined in it and as the name implies, it buttons up - Button Up your Cup.  Just looking at the color is an autumn treat.  It also is the starting color on a wrap I'd like to start making when I have cleared off some of my WIPs.  Coffee Shop Wrap is a free pattern of a knitted huge shawl, but this one uses Lion's cotton yarn and I want to use the Lion's Heartland yarn used in the crocheted version - Tea House Wrap, but maybe colors close to the Coffee Shop Wrap.  I love the colors of Heartland; after my own heart, all named after National Parks.  Yosemite is a start when I feel free enough to do it.  For now, Christmas presents rule the day, my cup cozy just snuck in.  I guess dreaming is harmless.

Coffee Shop Wrap

© Two of Wands

Tea House Wrap

     I'm reading an oh-so-good book on Kindle.  Oh my, excellent.  It's on sale and I got a heads up through BookBub.  "The Mountain Between Us" is a riveting read of two people stranded in a snowy wilderness after a small plane crash.  A doctor wants to get home after his flight is cancelled because of a snow storm.  Instead of waiting it out at a hotel he walks next door to a private airport and hires an old man to pilot him to Denver for a connecting flight.  He invites a stranger he just met to join him in the flight, a young woman who is rushing to get home for her wedding.  During this whole experience the doctor is talking to his wife on a recorder, recounting their past together.  So continually the story of the doctor's romance with his wife comes out as the two in the present try to survive.  Enough said, I hate the plot being given away and I find even the jacket cover description too in depth.  Just take my word for it, it's great.  If you like to know more - "The Mountain Between Us" GoodReads

 

     Today I'm also finishing the last details for a fundraiser I've run since last year's devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico.  Last year we had just joined a group that meets in a local Coffeehouse on Sunday mornings to discuss almost anything and everything.  Led by a Philosophy professor from a local college, most of us are Christians, but many of us are much more Liberal than many Christians found in Colorado Springs, the mecca of Fundamentalist Christianity.  I appreciate the time to openly discuss and bat around concepts.  We were invited to come by a longtime missionary friend.  By the time we joined this group, they were already contributing to another missionary that was going into Puerto Rico to help after the hurricane of September 2017.  He takes groups of volunteers for week trips into Puerto Rico and the local government hosts them (The volunteers only pay for airfare to get there).  Each time they go they target homes that need repair.  I came up with the idea of running a Night of Music for Puerto Rico.  The cafe was also a hot spot for musicians with a stage.  So began our efforts.  Our first Night of Music helped a newly widowed old woman get the second story of her house fixed after the roof blew off so it could now be the roof.  Also, it paid for the paint for her bathroom.  She was very happy!

"The Storys"

     Next Monday night at Jives Coffee Lounge in Old Colorado City we'll run the third music night from 7 - 10 PM.  We have a great lineup of musicians, including a well known Folk Group "The Storys".  Also, the mayor of Cayey, P.R. Rolando Ortiz will speak and philosophy students from the local college on Puerto Rico.  If you're not able to join us please consider donating.  To the right, in the margin is a picture of the PR flag on a house, push it and it'll get you to a GoFund Me page that directly gives to the mission's PayPal account (not me).  We often get feedback on how the money is used and I'm impressed with how great it is to have a direct way to give money to help and Puerto Ricans still need lots of help.  "On Hurricane Maria Anniversary, Puerto Rico Is Still in Ruins"

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Yarns - Knitting in Plaid

     Shopping at Target I found a beautiful poncho, a perfect in-between coat for Fall.  Then going onto Michaels I had this on and of course, there's this beautiful skein of yarn that perfectly matches my poncho.  Yarn - Loops & Threads® Impeccable™ Yarn, Ombre

     At first, I thought of fingerless gloves, but I realized the yarn wasn't right for that and I thought a matching thin scarf would be perfect for around my neck to keep that Fall wind out.  I hadn't thought of it at the time, but it was a variegated yarn that if knit or crochet just right it will come out in plaid.  I found a knit scarf that did that: Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks Scarf, but this was more complicated than I wanted.  Not that the pattern is that hard, I just wanted mindless knitting for downtime.  I wanted to do something simple.  This crochet scarf also goes up well- Christmas Gifts.  It was made based on this crochet technique described here - Crochet Planned Pooling but I find knitting more peaceful.  So I decided to try and unlock whatever mix of stitch count would give me plaid. (A technique described in detail in my blog post - Pooling Plaid Scarf and a video tutorial - Knit Argyle Color Pooling, but to do a thin scarf I do half the colors and half the cast on.) 

Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks Scarf

© SierraK

Christmas Gifts

RHWL Renaissance & LTI Stillness © LizSvoboda

     I followed my last pattern where I was successful - Pooling Plaid Scarf.  Well, this time I was stumped.  It's probably possible, but it alluded me.  After 2 days and MANY rip outs, I gave up and settled for at least a pleasing design emerging.  In a way, this pattern (or lack of) might work better in complimenting the square pattern of my poncho.  Bottom line, it's pretty and I like the squishy feel of a K2, P2 design.  I basically followed my instructions for casting on in  Pooling Plaid Scarf and then pulled off till 34 stitches.  It's not perfect because you start with a knit on one side and a purl on the other and I prefer a knit start both sides.  To get the perfect knit start on both sides you need to cast on a multiple of 4 stitches which gives that K2, P2 evenly across.  But doing that this time didn't produce a pattern.  I was stuck between the colors marching straight up, or being a dappled Monet.  Giving up I decided I could live with doing a purl first on one side, as long as I looked at the previous stitches to remember where I was.

 My Pooling Plaid Scarf

     I'm currently reading the third book in the Rose Island series by Kristen Noel Fischer Bianca's Joy.  I'm really enjoying this one.  The second book "Jillian's Promise" was good, but lagged halfway through - Goodreads' Review.  

      Bianca's Joy has a theme I can relate to.  She's struggling with her weight and how to have a good attitude and not feel unlovable.  It's a thoughtful piece and I love that the guy who loves her, sees only her and he thinks she's beautiful.  Makes you realize that our self-image as American women might be very formed by the media and a "skinny jeans" culture and guys might not see as we do.  I was floored when my husband decades ago told me he liked a woman with meat on her bones and that I was too skinny when he met me (we have our 40th anniversary since our first date Oct. 28th).  It's an endearing story. Goodreads' Review of "Bianca's Joy"

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Yarns - Tying up Loose Threads

     I finished two projects I had hanging around, my Fingerless Mitts and my Beach Hairband.  I'm just sewing in the loose hanging yarns while I read and drink tea.  It feels good to get some things done.  And my hands will appreciate the mitts.  It went from the 80's here a few weeks ago and now it's in the 30's - 40's in the day.  No in between seasons in Colorado.  Just sharp temperature changes.  A little snow in the past few days, but the leaves are just turning a bit.  But for my walks I need my fingerless mitts, just right for a Fall walk.

Pattern - Cestari Fingerless Mittens in Capra DK Yarn

Pattern and project notes - Beach Hairband

 How to add a thumb - Yarns: A Fingerless Mitt Among Changing Aspens.

     The Beach Hairband still needs blocking then hopefully Friday I'll send it to my daughter who is better than I am in knitting.  I think the lacework will still impress her.

     I just finished reading a free book on Kindle by Kristen Noel Fisher that I really liked - "Anna's Courage" Rose Island Book 1.  It was a thoughtful romance dealing with deep issues of overcoming death and fear and moving on and having faith in God in spite of tragedy.  Goodreads Review - Anna's Courage

(Please skip this part if you're not into religion or faith. To me, it's a fascinating debate that opened my eyes, but not meant to offend.)

     I think grasping that bad things can happen as a Christian and what to do with that is hard.  I've been there.  There are some hidden ideological questions in this book "Anna's Courage" that personally, I'm not sure I agree on, but they're a debatable aspect of Christianity that most others probably wouldn't notice.  The author has a "God's in control" sort of theme which seems innocent and in some ways might be totally true (I'm always willing to admit I could be wrong).  But if we were to blindly say God is in total control that makes him out as a puppeteer.  It's also a Calvinistic belief that just kind of gets past down through the generations.  It's comforting in a way.  I'm not sure if it's right or wrong.  Somehow I think it does God and man a disservice because the question of happenstance is a biblical truth too.*  So life can just happen.  Also, I believe God has given us a large amount of free will to decide what to do.  I take a little unknown stance called "Arminianism" a position between "Openness" (God is blind to whatever will happen to Man on purpose and just lets things play out naturally) and "Calvinism" where God is in total control, knows what will happen and orchestrates everything.  I found Arminianism just in the middle.  God knows what will happen but lets us be.  I think He intervenes when we pray, but not always.  Maybe knowing the outcome of our prayers are not always good for us.  It's hard to grasp but I believe God allows sorrow and difficulties in our lives for a reason.  So prayer is important in my view, but we also are free to make our own choices.  But I'm sure God has intervened in places where there's no prayer.  And God's free not to answer our prayers, we don't manipulate him with them, but of course, that leaves us with why didn't He answer our prayers?  We can't always make sense of things and I've found that having the faith that He knows, even if I don't is enough for me.  Also, tragedy is not God's fault.  Did He allow it and why?  Also very good questions in times of hurt.  I don't know.  I also believe in the reality of evil, but I'm not one to want to talk about that.  But it has a play in circumstances at times.  But I'm also good with not knowing or figuring it all out.  OK, I'm betting this is more than what you wanted to know, but it does affect how you view tragedy.  If you blame God for doing everything because he's supposedly in perfect control, you're going to be jaded and angry at God.  But if you factor in the randomness of life, and man's free will, then things look different.  I do believe in God's ability to answer prayer, I know His hands are on my life.  But Life is Life, death, sickness, it comes.  I think how we react to it and God is the important part.  Acceptance for me that life isn't perfect, but I can perfectly deal with life prayerfully, with a good attitude and that makes all the difference.

*NKJV 

I returned and saw under the sun that— The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all.

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Yarns - A Basket Filled with Fall Fibery Goodness

      These days with Christmas gifts I want to be done and a few projects I just had to do, my basket of handiwork is full.  I overdid it, indeed.  But I'm finding I'm getting things accomplished and seeing things grow, so there's hope in sight of finishing.  I feel the most peace when I work on those gifts.  Getting them done means a lot to me.

     One of my projects I laid aside last year and just picked up again is Boiled Fisherman's Mittens.  Last year I made a pair for my son living in Maine and he said they were the best he'd worn.  He works outside as a carpenter so good gloves matter and these were better than the new super ones he had bought.  So now that he's got a job as a Carpenter for a sustainable building company (his dream job) I want to perfect his mittens and get him another pair. 

     Made in a natural wool so they shrink (I use Simply Wool Bulky from KnitPicks) they start out huge and he used several methods to shrink them down.  My project, pattern and his methods of felting them are found in this blog post - Boiled Fisherman's Mittens.  The original pattern is found in New England Today and is a neat story of how the pattern was recreated from an old pair of mittens made from an old woman who made them for local fishermen but died - Boiled Wool Mittens Instructions.  This year I'm trying to make them a bit narrower by not adding the increase at the wrist.  My son wanted them snugger.  Also, he wanted the cuffs longer so there was no gap between his coat and mitt.  So far they look really long and definitely slimmer, so the proof is in the shrinking, to see how they fit.  We'll see how they work.  And I just created another blog post with the pattern on it because I'm concerned I'll lose it.  Some people have had a hard time linking to the New England Today magazine.  So here's just the pattern - Boiled Wool Fisherman's Mitten Pattern.

     For reading, I set aside some more serious reads and have been reading some Romance novels.  I just have had it with the news the past week and for a weekend I didn't read the news and started just a nice light book. Sometimes I need to just check out and give myself something just softer to read.   "A Promise Of Home" by Wendy Vella begins with Branna O'Donnell entering her old hometown after years away.  She lived there and went to High School for only 3 years but she shared a strong relationship with an older woman who leaves her her home after she dies.  Right at the start both she and her former classmate Jake spar and are at odds.  Both are reclusive and recovering from deep trauma.  The story is engaging, believable, funny and interesting so far.  And free!  If you ever want a free or reduced Kindle to read I get e-mails from these sources - BookBub, The Fussy Librarian, and Early Bird Books.  Often I do find great books and authors and it then leads me to new authors to read.  I have seen my favorite authors reduced like Diana Gabaldon and my favorite cookbook, so it's a good source, some good, some not.

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