Belle Isle: handknits in the wild

 The Christian Children's Temperance Fountain at the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory

 

 

Yesterday the kids and I trekked over to Belle Isle, an island park in the middle of the Detroit River on the border with Canada. It's beautiful -- a huge park with biking and hiking trails, a charming old aquarium and conservatory, the Detroit Yacht Club, all manner of things to do. It's one of the many places where you get a hint of how wonderful and prosperous Detroit once was, and hopefully will be again.

  

Erik is in the midst of an independent streak, and while he refused to wear his rain coat, it warmed my heart that he happily donned the Flax pullover that I knit last winter. It still fits, but just barely -- time for mama to break out the purple yarn again

 always in motion

 a few steps ahead

yarn along: mabel

Knitting a Mabel cardigan for Bridget and reading Circling the Sun, by Paula McLain, on my Kindle.

I'm using leftover Malabrigo worsted yarn (hooray, always a good feeling) for the cardigan. As always, it's a delight to knit. The pattern is worked top-down and the yoke features these amazing cluster stitches for the increase rows. They look so neat, and they're fun to work, so long as you read the pattern very, very carefully, since they are slightly different as you go along. I just may have had to rip back a few times. 

Circling the Sun is beautifully written, evocative of place and time. You can tell that Paula McLain came to historical fiction via poetry. I attended her author talk at the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House last weekend, and she was terrific. Funny, genuine, down-to-earth. I love hearing about authors' journeys -- how they have come to writing, how they work, what inspires them. Lauren Willig spoke, too -- I haven't read her books yet, but she's a gem. A PhD student-turned-attorney-turned-author. It was so neat to hear how both authors approach writing and have made big, bold choices, embracing doing what they love, immersing themselves in books and writing. 

A big weekend for me! I also went to the Fiber Expo in Ann Arbor, which was great fun, and I made some wonderful new knitting-related discoveries. More soon...

** joining Ginny for this week's Yarn Along **

yarn along: tiramisu

Joining Ginny for this week's Yarn Along:

I'm reading The Shepherd's Life and it's eye-opening. The introduction got me, with Rebanks'  assessment of Wordsworth and Romanticism and how they have affected life in the Lake District, and the sheep farmer's connection to the land. The Guardian's review is here. On my e-reader is Circling the Sun (so good! hard to put down!), and I'm really looking forward to seeing Paula McLain speak at the authors' tea at the Edsel and Eleanor Ford estate later this month.

Tiramisu is done and dusted, ready to be dispatched to Chicago to warm up a dear friend's new baby. The pattern's free, and it's written by the ever-wonderful Alicia Paulson of Posie Gets Cozy.

busy autumn days

 

Bridget just turned one. The months go oh-so-quickly, I can barely believe it. B loves swinging, playing in the sandbox, snuggling, reading books, and doing whatever her big brother is doing.

 

 And Erik? The usual -- hugging goats, loving the color purple, playing with Matchbox cars, running. He turns three this weekend, which is amazing.

 

 

Me? I'm up to the usual, too -- reading (Undocumented is a great read!), swatching, knitting a Strokkur pullover for myself, and drinking plenty of coffee. I wish I could bottle these beautiful fall days -- the leaves changing color, the cool breeze, the first sip of coffee in the morning, the apple orchard's dappled light, the children laughing at the playground.