After I mowed the lawn this morning I realized that there weren't any birds around so in the afternoon I filled the feeders. That did it. The peanut wreath was the most popular. A pair of squirrels took turns leaping up to grab the crook and lean across to get a nut. A pair of Bluejays flew in when the squirrels weren't there to grab their own peanuts and I managed to get pictures.
While I mowed I noticed that the gutter along the front is full of blown leaves, most of them shades of red. Not many of them were on the lawn and the few on the grass got mowed into mulch. The leaves are pretty but I'd prefer that they remain green and attached to the trees for a while longer. It was sunny and nearly 70 today, a perfect day to be outside and mow.
DS's van is in the shop and he asked me if I'd pick him up and take him to get it when it was ready on Monday. I agreed. But he didn't call or text on Monday because the part didn't come in. Tuesday then. So I went out to mow earlier than I would have and rushed through my shower so I'd be ready when he called. But he didn't text or call until after 4 o'clock because once again the part didn't arrive. We're hoping for tomorrow. I'll be sure to get dressed before noon, just in case.
06 October--Barbara Malcolm, Better Than Mom's.
Taffy was on time, so Fay was able to join the knitters as soon as her shift was ended. She picked up her tote of knitting and her purse from Brady’s office and went to join her new friends.
“There she is, Stinson’s newest knitter,” Iris said. “Come sit by me, Fay.” She scooted her chair over even though there was an empty chair next to her. “So how did the knitting go?”
Fay got settled and pulled out the long, wavering strip of garter stitch. “It went okay. I think I did something wrong because the edges go in and out.”
Dorothy flapped her hand. “Oh, that’s just newbie knitter tension. Sometimes your stitches are loose and sometimes they are tight. It’ll all even out once you’ve got a bit more experience under your belt.”
Iris took a look at Fay’s work and said, “Show me how you’ve been knitting.”
“Okay,” Fay said, and bent her head to her needles.
She had knitted across the row when Iris said, “Good. Now it’s time to learn to purl.”
Fay blushed. “I bought this book,” she reached into her tote and pulled it out, “and I tried purling. I don’t think I did it right because it felt so awkward.” She handed the book to Patti across the table. “It’s the Cool Girls Guide to Knitting and I want to be one of the cool girls.”
Patti was paging through the book. “Oh, this has nice diagrams and pictures of the stitches. I think you made a wise buy. What else did you buy?”
Fay confessed to buying variegated acrylic yarn and metal needles because they were on sale. She told them how much trouble she had getting the yarn to behave on those metal needles. They all nodded their heads as she spoke.
“Metal needles are slick and acrylic yarn isn’t as springy as wool is. That’s why we started you on bamboo and wool,” Dorothy said.
“But those needles and that yarn are so much more expensive than what I bought.”
Iris patted her hand. “Those bamboo needles are about the least expensive ones around. Some of the fanciest needles are between twenty and forty dollars and good yarn is at least that costly. The yarn we gave you is eight bucks a skein, cheap for decent yarn.”
For the next hour Fay struggled to make her yarn, needles, and fingers master the purl stitch. There was a lot of jaw clenching and just a little under-the-breath cursing as she tried to master the other basic knitting stitch. She had the Cool Girls Guide open on the table in front of her with a butter knife holding the pages flat and Patti sat beside her coaxing her through the motions of the purl stitch. By the time they packed up to leave she had a good inch of purl stitches added onto her knitted strip.
“Now keep working on the purl one row then knit back and see what happens,” Dorothy said. “We’ll see you next week and help you start that pattern you like so much.”
Fay held up her strip of green knitting and smiled at it. “I did it. I might be a knitter after all.” She tucked her book and knitting into her tote. “I’ll see you next week.”
The three older ladies paid their lunch tabs and left waving and calling their goodbyes.
Today's toss was a small bag of health and beauty aids from the vanity in the bathroom. Not used, of course, but things that I won't use and maybe someone else will.
I had trouble settling down to knit this evening. There wasn't anything I wanted to watch on TV. And what I wanted to watch on Amazon Prime I'd have had to pay for. Grr. Too often that's the case. Frustrates me. So I ended up counting out a bag of pretzel twists into 2-point bags while listening to my audiobook.
--Barbara
1 comment:
We are at the mercy of the auto parts gods when your car is in the shop. I got mine back quicker than I thought last time which was a nice surprise. Sometimes a picture of the gutter can be a thing of beauty. All those leaves look beautiful. And glad they aren't in your yard.
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