tiny happy

The season of golden light is here properly now, and I'm trying to remember to find a patch of the syrupy sun to sit in each day while it lasts. How is it where you are? I hope you've had a good week. 

On the weekend my sister Tamsin and niece came to stay with us. It was a cold weekend and we filled in the days mooching around town, drinking coffee, sitting around the fire knitting, cooking and baking. T makes excellent muesli, and she made a big batch for our pantry and it's delicious. We also went for a walk where she picked an autumnal bouquet of leaves, berries and seed-heads. A dried-out leftover of summer.

I finished a project that had been on the needles for a while: a pair of socks for me. I started these on the plane on the way home from Japan. I had brought some some balls of leftover sock yarn for just this purpose, knowing it would take my mind off the long flight. As it happened I only knit about a quarter of one sock, despite the hours on the plane. But they've been good company in the evenings since. 

I love using up odds and ends to make something new! For these I used scraps from socks I've knitted over the past few years. The pattern is a free one you can find online: Wise Hilda's Basic Ribbed Socks. I use this pattern nearly every time – it always fits perfectly and is easy to customise if you feel inspired to do so. Sometimes I use a different heel or stitch pattern than that given, and for this pair, did a bit of 1×1 ribbing at the top of each sock. You can find more details about this project here on Ravelry.

Also pictured: the book I'm reading right now, Blue Self-Portrait, by Noémi Lefebvre, which is translated from the original French and about music, specifically, the work of composer Arnold Schoenberg and is clever and interesting.

And also in music news: the highlight of my week was buying a gift for myself: PJ Harvey's album Let England Shake on vinyl. I'm afraid of playing it too often, and being banned by my family to put it on the turntable so will save it for whenever they go out. I do love this album deeply, and it feels timely right now: (autumn, Brexit, Anzac Day, Cyclone Idai, climate change, everything…) This one is my favourite song from it.

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