Marigolds for October

Almost skidding to the end of this month, but not quite:

Lots of flowers in the pieces this month, plus a butterfly.

Which echoes the image itself.

I am thinking about what I should do next year.  I almost bought a paint-by-numbers calendar, but the images were less rich than I wanted, very flat.  I thought of buying some kits and painting one per month, but that doesn't seem quite right.  I need to start planning, it's almost November.

That thing we do.

T-shirt from Woot.

I have not lived here long, so I have not voted in many elections.  The first was the Presidential one two years ago (and the primaries, same year) and there were no lines at the polling places.  Today, the line was almost out to the "no electioneering beyond this point" signs when I arrived, and past them when I left.  I was recorded as Voter #11,100 - two years ago, I was maybe in the 3,000s.  Obviously people are Wanting To Voice Their Opinions, and using the democratic way to do so.

The line was friendly, the day sunny and warm, and I knit four rounds on a hat while I waited.

A taste of autumn.

 Some days at the conference, I walked a lot:

I was part of a group doing morning walks, and then all the walking to sessions and the vendor hall, and from and to my hotel, and sometimes in the evening at or between events......  It adds up quickly!

I was happy to see the glowing reds and greens of autumn, and didn't take many photos as I was driving and didn't want to keep pulling over.  I do have a few shots, and lots of memories.

Near Birdhouse Coffee, where I met a friend to catch up and
have a light late lunch/early supper.

A friend told me about a showing of "The Librarians" and I went; I'd seen a preliminary partial cut, and enjoyed the full documentary, very appropriate during Banned Books Week 2026.

I also saw a play, which I recommend to anybody.  As we lose the survivors, we must keep their stories alive.  #NeverForget.

 

I was able to see some friends, and both of my rabbis, and enjoyed being in-person for worship and Torah Study.  I stayed at a farmhouse, got to see some of the sheep, and was able to relax and sleep between work and visiting people.

Not like the movie.

This trip has involved planes (two, because of a connection through BWI), trains (two, again because of a connection, plus one for the return trip), and automobiles (technically, two were buses) because I came into Boston early so I had time to visit friends before a conference began.  Not at all like the movie, and had we thought ahead supper might have involved a sunset cruise, but instead a friend and I enjoyed some photograph-worthy ice cream.

September's alternative flower.

It seemed appropriate to put this one together on a "September Morn".

I pulled out the special pieces and they are nearest to
the puzzle box.  Turns out, I missed one!

When I put together the puzzle, I found this little bird.

In case you are wondering, while aster is usually identified as the flower for September, morning glories are a recognized alternative.

All those bits of history.

When I was a child, in 1976 there were Bicentennial Minutes, with snippets of history.  This year we have 250 to 250, another series of history, some of which may overlap the earlier set but many show the broader interest and knowledge that people have today.

OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) created a list of non-fiction books about the USA from every year since 1776 that is the most widely held in libraries today.

Major League Baseball has its own set of 250, with 25 Top Ten lists.  I haven't seen any by the National Football League or others, but I haven't looked at most other sports.

Remembering.

Twenty-five years ago it was.  So many people remember where they were "when the world stopped turning", as one song recounted, just as earlier generations remember Pearl Harbor or when John F. Kennedy was shot.

I was about to leave for work when my mother called and told me to turn on the television.  "Which channel?" I asked.  "Any of them," she said.  And I knew it had to be bad.

I watched the second tower fall, and went to work, and it was a subdued day.  They told us to leave early as it was clear work was not getting done.

So much has happened in the 25 years since that day.  I have been hearing and reading the commemorations all week, and it's still a lot to absorb, and a lot to remember.  All the towns and countries that stepped up to house and feed and help people whose flights were detoured.  All the people who went to the sites and started cleanup, and made repairs, and memorials.  The people who helped others get out, the ones who "rolled" on the flight in Pennsylvania.

In the last couple of days, I've noticed contrails in the sky during my morning walks.  In the days after 9/11 (and that's all you need to say in the USA, people know which year) when planes were down, we didn't see contrails.  There were studies about the effect on weather and climate.

And when we did see contrails again, it seemed a sign that things were going to heal.  They still have not, and in some ways things are worse, but it was a sign of hope.

When planning this post, I kept thinking about more to say, but somehow the words seem inadequate.  American pulled together in 2001, and the world pulled with us, and I wish we could get back to that mutual support instead of the divisions we have now.

C2C x2

I like doing C2C (corner-to-corner) crochet pieces, because they move fast and look pretty in striping yarns.  Many years ago I purchased a number of cakes of a now-discontinued yarn with the idea to make a blanket, and decided this year to get it done to donate at DFW Fiber Fest.*

For portability, I made the blanket in strips and sewed it together, as shown in a previous post.  This is the finished blanket:

Blanket laid across the king-sized bed in my hotel toom.

I also made a little C2C baby blanket for a friend who became a first-time grandmother this summer.  She is artistic and loved sparkle and COLOR and I decided to make a blanket with a heart in it.  Have I ever made a patterned C2C blanket?  No.  Did that stop me?  Obviously, also "no".

I wanted to send something to the parents for the baby to use when not at the grandmother's house, and since the mother is also artistic (a gifted singer and songwriter like her mother) and was doing the baby room in green and tan, I knew I had the perfect blanket in stock:

According to my friend, the mother raved about how pretty and soft it is.  Glad they appreciate it.  They also liked receiving the yarn label with washing instructions, something I think is very important.

* Usually Warm Up, America! is there but after a difficulty they did not participate this year.  Instead I gave the items I made for them to T.H.R.I.V.E., which welcomed the blanket for a stand-down in Alaska.  I've made scarves for them the last two years of "Americana" yarn, which is appreciated, and it turns out they help veterans' families also so don't need the limited colour options most veterans collections prefer.

Other items I donated:

  

  

All items received praise from the person collecting, who turned out to be the CEO of the organization!  Very happy they will be going to people who can use them.  The soap sacks are given to homeless and semi-housed veterans, and I was told that they receive donated soap but I like to be sure there's a bar to include.

Let's Raise A Glass.........

DFW Fiber Fest is twenty-one years old.  People kept joking about how the event is now old enough to drink alcohol.  Often people ask if I thought it would last this long, and I tell them that I knew if it survived the first two years, we would probably make it.  I did NOT expect it to be as large as it is - classes on two floors of the Irving Convention Center, with vendors filling the ground floor, and over 800 unique students.

The four founders, or "emeriti", at dinner last year.
I am holding one of the original shirts we all wore.

This is us around Year 2.  Fourth founder took the photograph.

The four of us had many struggles and tests of faith in those first couple of years, but we persevered and have been grateful to all who came after to serve on the Board and otherwise volunteer.  It's nice to come back as a student - and yes, I do still volunteer, usually on Sunday.

This year I took a number of classes, including one where we used the same plant (madder) and mostly the same dyepot, to achieve a dozen differed shades by using different mordants (or none) and maybe a treatment after dyeing:

I also did a bit of shopping; Day 1 (except the variegated skein, which I brought to try to find a coordinating colour), Day 2 (mostly from my favourite handspinner), and Day 3:

The grey handspun combines many fibers and is very soft.
Bags are from Erin Lane and the bottom show are show fabric.

Top right is called "Project Hail Mary", one of a series the dyer
based upon current scifi writing, and bottom right is a skein
of bright colours that I really like, and there was just the one.

Book was free, from a box that the Dallas Public Library
brought of de-accessioned materials.
Hanks at left are show colourway I plan to use together.

On the way home I added a Vikkel Braid, using the technique I'd learned in one of my classes, to the Convergence Hat I worked on between classes.  The pattern was designed by Alissa Barton many years ago for DFW Fiber Fest and combines crocheting and knitting.  A bit fiddly but a fun result.

The teacher saw my post, responded and
shared it - I'm chuffed!

Music and a monsoon.

I've spent a week in New Mexico, mostly for the Santa Fe Opera but also visiting family in Albuquerque.  Somebody asked whether we were making a left turn, and I shared this photo from the place we ate breakfast:

I was too busy enjoying events, family, friends, and driving to take photos, but I made sure to snap one of the set for Madama Butterfly, because it really took advantage of the scenery:

And I took a yoga class, which was at the top of our hotel in the Bell Tower Lounge:

Some knitting happened, but no yarn acquisition, in part because of timing (I worked days and then spent the evening at the opera), in part because I haven't used all the yarn I purchased last year, and in part because DFW Fiber Fest occurs the coming weekend and I know I'll buy yarn there!

As for the monsoon: the first opera we were seeing had just begun when lightning flashed in the distance.  We watched the ominous clouds with trepidation.  On the one hand, New Mexico has been extremely dry and they desperately need water.  On the other hand, the Crosby Theater is open to the elements, as the photo of Madama Butterfly's set shows.

The performance continued, and the sky darkened with more than just dusk.  Then the lightning came closer, and thunder rolled, and we had a sprinkle - followed quickly by a deluge.  People pulled on jackets, then scrambled to more sheltered areas because the rain was blowing horizontally through the theater.  My mother and I stayed put, because she doesn't walk well and cannot do stairs, so we would have to cross an open and now-dangerous plaza.  I noticed a couple people across the aisle had umbrellas open, but kept low.  I looked around and we were the only people in our part of the section, except for one couple behind us and over a few seats, who were under an umbrella.  I pulled out one of ours, and my mother and I - now bundled in the sweatshirts we'd brought for the late-night chill, plus a wool shawl I happened to bring - huddled under it.  To their credit and our amazement, the orchestra and performers continued.  We saw some black-clad stage crew crawl onstage between scenes with towels to mop.

By the end of the act, the rains had slackened enough that staff came out with push brooms to move water off the walkways, and towels to dry seats.  Eventually other patrons returned.  The opera wound to its conclusion, with standing ovations and cheers to the performers and orchestra for persevering.*  We went to the hotel with the car seat heaters engaged, spread wet clothing everywhere in the room, had hot showers and cocoa (tea for me) and got into our dry pajamas and warm beds.

Luckily the other nights were drier (just some sprinkles, one of them, and another had rains beginning as we left) so we enjoyed the performances without peering around the edge of an umbrella.

*We later learned that they had almost cancelled the performance due to air quality because of the smoke from wildfires, but the storm cleaned the air quite well and it wasn't an issue the rest of the week.

I have a heart! (But lost at yarn chicken)

A friend announced that she would become a grandmother (or "Gigi", as she chooses to be called) this year, and I decided to make a blanket for her to have at home for when the wee one visits.  I thought he was due in September, but it was July, so I am behind getting the gift to her.*

I began work, decided not to take it traveling as the pattern is a bit complicated, and when I worked on it upon return, learned that I have miscalculated on the yarn needed:

Another ball of the purple is on order.
Sparkle yarn and these colours suit the grandmother.

Because I have never done a C2C (corner-to-corner, usually crocheted) anything with a design worked into it, and because I used the free version which does not contain a diagram, I worked this on faith.  I added the two-square border to use less of the purple (and also thought about doing a purple heart on red, but decided I prefer it the other way) so for most of this I was working with five ends of yarn.

For the other C2C project I am working on, I've sewn the strips together.  I added to the two short ones and all six matched, but somehow, when I sewed the strips together:

Bottom left corner - I thought a corner would
be easier to infill and less obtrusive.

Yep, one strip is shorter than the others.  And that is the starting edge, so I couldn't just unravel it and add more.  Instead, I worked a small panel into that corner, so texture-wise it matches, even if the colour pattern (more accurate in the photo above) goes a bit wonky:

Now a row of double crochet around the edge, which you can see starting along the righthand side, and done.  

* In my religion, you don't give gifts before the baby is born.  I have attended a couple of pre-birth baby showers for people of other faiths, but one of the babies attended as he was born a couple of months early.  So I believe in superstition.

"Poppies... Poppies......"

For once, I didn't skid to the last day of the month before finishing the monthly puzzle:

Yes, the table is getting crowded.
This month the pieces include a dragonfly,
a butterfly, a bee. and several flowers.

When I saw what the flower of the month is, I kept hearing Margaret Hamilton's voice.  Did you?

Moon rising.

I took these photos when we attended the White Sox game a couple Mondays ago:

The White Sox lost but otherwise it was a good game, just fun to be in the ballpark and eat ballpark food.  There had been terrible rainstorms earlier in the day, with thunder and about four inches total rainfall, but the grounds crew are amazing and there was just a bit of rain delay before the first pitch.  We did not make it through in time to get the commemorative snow globe for "Christmas in July", but enjoyed the trivia.

In other news, I have almost finished the strips for a blanket I plan to donate to Warm Up, America! at DFW Fiber Fest at the end of the month.  It's been something planned for a long time, and I finally got around to making the strips.  I calculated that six strips would make a good-sized blanket and allow for a border (nothing fancy, just to make the edges even), and after finishing the sixth strip this morning I laid them out to check lengths and prepare to sew:

I want to make chevrons - obviously the two
strips on the right need to be swapped.

As you can see, even though I measured the strips against each other as I crocheted, two of them need to have a bit of additional length:

Back to it!  I think I can match the colours for those bits, and if I cut off anything from the cakes, I'll use those bits in the border.  The strips measure about 40"x60", which is between the Child and Adult blanket sizes on the Warm Up, America! site.  I'll let them decide who is the recipient.  Or I might have enough yarn to make a seventh strip - should I?

Another cake for history.

For the final presentation of the History SIG (Special Interest Group), I decided to make a pecan cake based upon this recipe:

The substitution is simple:  10oz of slightly toasted pecan pieces in place of the black walnuts.  I think that pecans must be lighter than black walnuts, because that is a LOT of nuts in the batter.  It resulted in two pretty cakes, plenty for whoever is at our closing session.

And once again, I didn't stop for photographs, although I took one of the circular cake after it cooled:

My mother and I went to Chicago for a week, spending time seeing relatives and old friends (including all three of my remaining godparents), and I was too busy enjoying people to photograph the food.  Except this, my dessert one night:

The "Amarena Cherry Panna Cotta" - 
vanilla panna cotta, amarena cherry gelee,
compressed cherry (a bit alcoholic), pistachio

Of course we ate plenty of Chicago specialties, such as deep dish pizza, Chicago-style hot dog (my mother and I split a footlong at a White Sox game, which they sadly and badly lost to the d@mn Yankees, but ended up splitting the series with them - then the Cubs began a series with a close loss and a solid win, before another close loss), Irish soda bread from the Hearts & Flour Bakery tent at the Daley Center Farmers Market, true bagels and lox at a family brunch, and lots of excellent meals at friends' favourite restaurants around the city.  We brought local chocolates to the neighbors and are still nibbling our way through the cookies a friend gave to my mother.

Waterlilies for July.

This month's puzzle is finished with some days of the month to go!

I decided to finish the frame first this month.