Greetings from Minnesota

Keith and I love it Up North. Usually that means we are headed for northern Wisconsin. But this week, we are driving REALLY far to Grand Marais, Minnesota, on the shore of Lake Superior.

We broke up the drive with a few stops, like this one at Gooseberry Falls...

And at the Temperance River. I do love a Rocky Coast.

At long last, we made it to Spirit Haven, a charming cabin, right on the lake.

I love hearing the waves crash against the rocks. It's the best kind of lullaby.

All About Sweaters

Life has been busy here. With my travels coming up soon, I've been working, seeing our parents, trying to finish a project for a show.  And, most importantly, trying to set up travel knitting projects! Even summer vacation is busy.

I have finished the cardigan for my daughter, Rachel, with just over a week until I fly to Florida. I'll give her the sweater then -- and hope that it fits!

It's the Windchill Cardigan by Melissa LaBarre. The pattern is easy and well-written. I used Valley Superwash DK, which was lovely to work with and is a good value for the price. I really like the waffle-weave edging.

With that done, I have tracked down my Vodka Lemonade sweater, which I'm knitting in Cascade Sport-Weight. 

I was able to slip it on today, and I think it's going to fit. I have broad shoulders, so I added some length to the raglan shaping. It's a very sweet little pattern, but I'm not sure it was smart to make it in wool. It's more of a summer sweater. 

Maybe I'll make a second? I don't know. That seed-stitch collar took forever!

Designing Woman

Thanks to all who shared their favorite listens. I needed some new ideas. Also a note on the knitting: I am knitting Free Your Fade, which is much smaller than Find Your Fade. Find is more of a blanket than a shawl!

While I can follow knitting patterns just fine, I find sewing patterns confusing. I wanted a small tote bag, so I looked at some patterns and then made up my own mash-up pattern. Amazingly, it worked:

Sewing doesn't usually go this smoothly for me. And isn't the fabric fabulous? The lining is my own ice-dyed faux-indigo fabric.

I'm also trying to perfect a Fair Isle hat pattern. The colors aren't quite right here. The light color is yellow, not white, so it looks more Earthy than the photo shows.

And I'm working on a new abstract embroidery pattern. Sometimes it's fun to just play with color and shape.

A few of you have asked about my health. So sweet of you! My recovery from the surgery is just about complete, and it went smoothly. The pathology report wasn't so good, though, so there is more treatment in my future. Hopefully just minor stuff.

Listening While Crafting

Few things have enhanced my knitting mojo as much as podcasts and audiobooks. I can't be the only one! Only a few of my friends knit, so I appreciate the digital company. I'm going to share some of my favorites, and please share yours in your comments.

My Free Your Fade is coming along. Those bright cranberry stripes will be balanced eventually by bright blue stripes.

Over the weekend, I listened to the entire 10 episodes of Slow Burn, a Slate podcast. The first season focuses on the Watergate scandal, and it gave me hope. The GOP was reluctant to give up on Nixon, but eventually it did. If you can't get enough of politics, I also recommend Trumpcast and Trump Inc.

The Knit Circus yarn is so much fun to work with.

Another one-season podcast that is very good is the New York Times' Caliphate, which follows a Canadian man who joined ISIS. I will warn you that this one has some serious violence. And I love everything that has been done on Embedded, an NPR spinoff that has looked into Trump's businesses and explored the situation in America's coal country.

I have to also mention S-Town from This American Life. This one starts out a bit slow, but it develops into quite a story. Missing Richard Simmons is entertaining, too.

This is a scrappy hat. It was supposed to be a stash-buster, but it didn't use up much yarn. I think I need to find a scrappy sweater!

I listen to a few podcasts on a regular basis:

• On Point, from WBUR
• On the Media, with Brooke Gladstone
• This American Life
• The Daily, from the New York Times

Nagi likes a good nap on a hot afternoon.

Some excellent audiobooks I've listened to in the past few months:

• An American Marriage, by Tayari Jones. This is a stunning debut about a young, affluent African-American couple and what happens when the husband is imprisoned for a crime he did not commit.
• Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann. This book details the mysterious murders of wealthy Osage tribe members in the 1920s, as well as the roots of the FBI.
• Prairie Fires, by Caroline Fraser. I know I mentioned this before, but I have to sing its praises one more time. This is a biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder that also tells the story of the settling of the Great Plains. It is as riveting as any novel.

You can find any of the podcasts by googling them or in the Apple Store. 

Do share your favorite listens!

And Yet Life Goes On

I am still reeling from the mass shooting at my former workplace, the Capital Gazette in Annapolis. Last night, I dreamed about a shooting happening at my school.

How did I manage to choose two professions that are low paid and attract mass murderers? Don't take career advice from me!

But life does indeed go on, and that is a good thing. It is 96 degrees here, with a heat index of 117! We actually ran our stand-alone air conditioner for a while. It works, but it is incredibly noisy!

I can walk in the mornings, but it's good weather for sitting under a fan and knitting. I pulled out these mother-daughter mittens that I started in 2007!

And I finished them! 

The pattern is from the book Kristin Knits by Kristin Nicholas. The yarn is her Julia yarn, which hasn't been made for years. That is a shame because it is a beautiful yarn and a pleasure to work with.

The lesson I have learned from this project is to never embroider mittens. It is really, really hard to start and end threads in a narrow tube shape!

Now they go into the gift box until an appopriate mother-daughter pair needs a gift.

Another Tragedy: Not Caused by an Immigrant

In 1986 and '87, I lived in Annapolis with my first husband. He was the medical reporter for the Annapolis Capital, and I was the news editor for the Maryland Gazette. These were good years with great people. All of our friends left the papers years ago, but tonight my heart is heavy nonetheless.

Is President Trump paying attention? 

The Annapolis shooter is white -- as were the shooters at Columbine, Sandy Hook, Las Vegas. etcetera. 

Can we please pay attention to the real problem: dissatisfied white men and guns?

Please?

Loving Summer

Even though I went into school yesterday and worked for a full day, I am just loving summer. Just being able to get up and savor coffee and craft in the morning is a luxury that I treasure. I hate having to be at work before 8 a.m.  I'd love a job that didn't start until 9, but that doesn't seem to be in the cards.

We've had some spectacular sunny days. Last Saturday, I took advantage of one by going sketching twice. In the morning I sketched with some friends at a park near my house, where I worked on a tree. I need some lessons in foliage!

In the afternoon, another sketcher and I drove out to a county park to paint the ruins of an old farmhouse. You can judge for yourself how well I did.

And here is my rendering:

It was both fun and hard to capture the stones and the angles. My friend gave me some advise on doing foliage, and I think it helped.

Also, I realized that I put up an old photo of my Fullerton Cardigan. Here is a more recent one.

Almost done!