Reading about nature

I have to admit that I am an armchair naturalist. Reading about nature; watching nature shows - that's where I'm most comfortable. I enjoy being outside, but have to push myself to get there. So I admire people who are "at home in the outside". Edith Holden was one of those people. She was an artist who regularly spent a good deal of time on walks or bike riding in the great outdoors. "The Edwardian Lady" by Ina Taylor is a biography of her life that gave a great deal of insight into life in the late 1800's and early 1900's, as well as a description of Edith's life. It was also wonderfully illustrated with photos and the artwork of Edith and her sisters . Four interesting points from this book:

1. Edith was 39 years old when she got married, but there was no indication that she was pining away all those unmarried years. She got on with her life and it was a very interesting one, indeed.

2. Most people of the day went to church, but amazingly many were also into occult activities. One wonders how they managed to reconcile that fact.

3. Edith Holden Smith died tragically about 9 years after her marriage. She was attempting to collect specimens for drawing, and fell into a creek and drowned.

4. Edith authored a well-loved book "The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady" (link is to several copies to be had for $0.10!) When I found this book in a used book store years ago my heart began to beat wildly and my palms broke out in sweat.

What else would I have finished knitting right now but another hat. Again in Paton's Classic Wool Merino and the Classic WWII watchcap pattern. It does have a zig zag pattern on the ribbing, but being black you can't see it very well. I loved working with this yarn and would like to make another to keep.

Ravelry is an online knitting group that has taken the (knitting) world by storm. Being a member opens the door to thousands of other crafters, vendors, patterns - just about anything having to do with yarn or fiber or the people involved with it. I could literally spend hours on there, browsing.

Anyhow...reading a post on the Prayer Shawl group right now reminded me of another book that I read this summer. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith.

From the Amazon.ca site: If Miss Marple were fat and jolly and lived in

Botswana--and decided to go against any conventional notion of what an unmarried woman should do, spending the money she got from selling her late father's cattle to set up a Ladies' Detective Agency--then you have an idea of how Precious sets herself up as her country's first female detective. Once the clients start showing up on her doorstep, Precious enjoys a pleasingly successful series of cases.

This was a delightful and insightful book. My only question is - how does a male author know so much about women?

My Procrastination Hat came about from trying to avoid doing all the Children's Ministry and homeschooling organizing that I KNEW I needed to do. A hat for the kids to wear come winter. Marks and Kattens Eco multi ull yarn done in the standard Classic WWII watchcap.

Moving backwards

I've done a lot of reading this summer. So many books, in fact, that I'm having a hard time remembering them all. So I'll begin with the most recent - that my brain can handle.

A new author to me is Maeve Binchy. She's written many books and fortunately, the library has most of them. So it may be a Binchy binge for the next while. "Quentins" was a delightful read - a look into the lives of a number of interesting people, the morals of some being questionable. But for the most part, the consequences of poor decisions come through loud and clear. It's written in the tone of the Jan Karon/Father Tim novels (which I love, by the way). Set in Ireland, this story made me want to visit that country even more.

Another "Hats for the Homeless" project down - 6 to go. (I may have to revise that New Year's goal - too many other "must knits" seem to come along). Again, I used Paton's Classic Merino Wool. I can get it for a really good price at Michaels with a 40 or 50% off coupon. Wool is lovely to work with and warm for winter. The basics of the Classic WWII watchcap pattern have been memorized, so the stitch pattern is the only thing that has to be concentrated on.

Smooth, creamy goodness

My latest nutrition find is kefir. My husband calls it rotten milk. The kids won't go near it. But I can't get enough of it. The store-bought kefir is OK. What I make myself is so much better. And it's one of the easiest traditional foods you can make. Truth be told, getting back to eating traditionally is a lot of work. Making everything from scratch takes time. But to make kefir you merely stir some culture into the milk, sit it on the counter for 12-24 hours (or longer) and you get a smooth, sour drink that doesn't taste anything like sour milk. I promise. I mix mine with a little yogurt or juice concentrate or, my favorite, a smidge of real maple syrup. Yummy!

I've spent the last number of hot weeks knitting on a project that normally I wouldn't choose for the summer - a moderne baby blanket.

However, it is a gift for a young lad in our church who was recently diagnosed with brain cancer. So sad. I hope that this blanket will remind him of how much he is being prayed for. I made it out of Vanna's Choice yarn from Michaels so that it

will be fully washable. My youngest son gave it the cuddle test and it passed with flying colours.

On the weekend I made a classic WWII watchcap. Apparently a million of these were made during the war and sent over to the troops. I like a little history with my knitting. The pattern comes with a few variations, so I may be making these for a while. They will go to our "Hats for the Homeless" program at church. Made out of Paton's Classic Wool on size 4.5 mm needles.

Is God stupid?

I don't think so... listen below to what the underground wellness guy has to say.

This guy is great. I follow his podcast and recently came across some youtube videos. I'm deep into nutrition research right now and feel like something finally makes sense. In past posts I've talked about the traditional diet as espoused by Weston Price and Sally Fallon. My knowledge base continues to grow - it's fascinating stuff to someone who has always been interested in nutrition.

Am I knitting? You bet! Miles and miles of garter stitch. On the needles is a blanket for a family that is going through a tough time with cancer in the 11 yo son and the father. So all other projects have been put on hold till that is done. And a power outage fried my hard drive the other day, so pictures will have to be another day.

On holidays...

I've been away for 11 days and leave again tomorrow for another week. Imagine if you can...sandy beach, warm water gently lapping the shore, horizon that stretches forever, mountainous skyline. Yes, I am incredibly blessed to be able to spend time in this little corner of God's amazing creation. Add to that beautiful yarn and enough projects to keep me knitting for hours a day. It doesn't get much better than that.

My first vacation stint came up with a pair of slipper socks, three pairs of unfinished socks completed, and 4 dishcloths. Pictures to follow when I get back.

I won't list the projects I'm bringing this time. You'd think I was crazy.

Books I HAVEN'T read...

Sometimes you start reading a book and for whatever reason, you quit. In my case, it's often the bad language. Certain words really grate on me, especially in an audio book, where you can't slip past them. A book has to grip me to keep me going - there's too many books out there to endure something that's boring or offending. So here's the most recent list of books that I began but gave a pass to. This was all in the same day, mind you.

The Associate

The Second Silence

The Art Thief

Dandelion Wine

Eye of the Beholder

State of Fear

A yarn that I have come to love is Cascade 220 superwash. Unfortunately, I can't get it locally. But wool-thyme.com has reasonable shipping, so I ordered a swack of the stuff to make slipper socks. The pair I just finished are going to a former pastor who just lost his wife. I hope that they will keep his feet warm in the winter now that she is no longer able to. The pattern is from tropicalyarns.com. The cool thing is that if you're on Ravelry and find projects for this pattern, the featured pair is mine! These are really easy to make with 100 grams of worsted weight yarn, which is knit doubled, so they work up quickly.

Do you know why they call it "220"? It's because there are 220 yards in the 100 gram skein. It took me a while to figure that out.