I'm carrying on with the same old Hitchhiker, and it's growing slowly but surely. Every evening I hold it up and ask John if he notices the gradient starting, and of course he always says no. I can see in the cake that the yarn has not yet begun to change, but I don't want to deprive John of the excitement of seeing it for himself.
In reading, the perfect books arrived at the perfect time. Gladys Taber wrote a whole series of Stillmeadow books, memoirs from her life and home at Stillmeadow farm in Connecticut. The books were inspired by the Ladies Home Journal column, "Diary of Domesticity" that she began writing in 1937. They are not easy books to find, but it was my lucky day when I came upon two of them on ebay. They arrived on Monday, and I've been escaping into Stillmeadow Seasons every day since then. Just what I need, made especially poignant after reading words that Mrs. Taber wrote in 1949:
We have lived here more than fifteen years, but a lifetime is too shot to experience full the beauty of the meadow, for every day has its new loveliness, new wonder to discover.
And yet it has not changed much, although I can mark how the young thicket has grown. We have left it to its natural existence and that is why, perhaps, it symbolizes to me the security we seek in a world highly unstable and changing.
There is security in nature, and it restores the heart to realize it all over again.
What are you making and reading? I hope they are things that bring you solace, peace, and hope.
Well, John does love his blue yarn!
ReplyDeleteI can't tell you how much it improves my day whenever you post pictures of that incredibly beautiful blue yarn. Sigh. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I can't tell you how much this blue yarn helps my outlook when I'm knitting with it!
Delete"Security in nature." Yes. I love that. As I'm trying to make sense of things this week, I find myself going outside to sit in the garden. Sometimes I do something productive out there, sometimes I just sit. It does my heart good, either way.
ReplyDelete(And that blue yarn is fabulous!) XO
I love Gladys Taber's books - I have several (and happy to loan them to you if you like...I need to see what titles I have). I also have one of her cookbooks! I remember when I made my shawl with gradient yarn it seemed to take forever (and it WAS forever) for the color to change. I like the outcome, but I was kind of bored while knitting it.
ReplyDeleteI love Gladys Taber and find her books such a comfort to read...and yes, they are hard to find. I am lucky enough to have four of her books that belonged to my grandmother, including Stillmeadow Seasons & Stillmeadow Sampler.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention, I am reading "E B White On Dogs", a collection of his essays and letters on the dogs in his life, I'm enjoying it so much!
ReplyDeleteSince being on a long trip this last week, a whole afternoon in the midst of nature, finally at home, I am secure in it's simplicity. And knitting there too, just wrist warmers and a new small shawl that is challenging my ability to count.
ReplyDeleteReading - done with "Sourdough" and I loved it. Makes me want to bake bread.
We can make the world unraveled by our knitting and reading, don't you hope?
I'm glad you have knitting, reading, and nature in your life. I've often thought the world would be a much better place if it was populated with many more readers and knitters!
DeleteGladys Taber's words remind me of Wendell Berry, whose books I am always reading. I find so much comfort and peace in nature. I see a change happening to your shawl in the near future!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely interlude in my morning - I, too, am looking forward to the gradient appearing and love the peaceful scene those words painted in my mind. Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteThank-you for those words this morning. And they do ring so true...the ability to go and walk in the woods every day is a true gift. Good for body and mind. xo
ReplyDeleteThat Hitchhiker is continuing to be bigger and more beautiful each time I see it. I am looking forward to the picture where the gradient begins to show. I am not familiar with Gladys Taber, I will have to look her up. I started knitting a garter stitch coat, but the first sleeve was too big, so it is unraveled, and I will begin again. I needed some truly meditative knitting, and certainly garter stitch is totally undemanding, or boring, depending on one's state of mind. These days, it feels undemanding. I am not focused on the outcome, although I think I will like it very much. This knit is *all about the process*. And I am working my to-do list around the house. I find that if I try to get my little corner of the world in order, I feel better about the greater chaos. It's a delusion, but a useful one. I will making apple pies for the freezer this week as I found my favorite pie apples this week. Lots to do for distraction as I think of all that so many have lost lately. I know it is the nature of life, but it is very sad. Oh, and still reading Forest Dark. Happy knitting and reading, Bonny!
ReplyDeleteYour garter stitch coat sounds wonderful! I almost clapped with joy when you mentioned it. My mother knit one for me when I was in 7th grade, and it somehow got misplaced. I think it may have mistakenly gotten donated when we were cleaning out the house after she died. I miss it, but really I miss the idea of having something she made for me, and it makes me happy to hear that the garter stitch coat process is being carried on. And apple pies! I wholeheartedly agree with the usefulness of controlling what we can (even if it may be a delusion), and wish you happy knitting and reading also!
DeleteHow lovely. My "security in nature" is mostly manifesting itself in grandkids these days -- the same ideas hold true, and they certainly "restore the heart."
ReplyDeleteIt's going to be so incredibly exciting when that blue begins to change!! Oh, the dramatic lives of knitters. ;)
That blue yarn! Such a gorgeous color.
ReplyDeletelovely wool but I do not see the gradient on my computer, I do hope it shows up soon!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it interesting how something written many years ago, remains timeless? That is one of the things I love about reading. I had never heard of these books so thanks for sharing them. I love the hitchhiker. It is also timeless. I hope the gradient shows up soon.
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