The Soldier's Wife by Margaret Leroy

The book for September is The Soldier's Wife by Margaret Leroy

A novel full of grand passion and intensity, The Soldier’s Wife asks “What would you do for your family” “What should you do for a stranger” and “What would you do for love”


As World War II draws closer and closer to Guernsey, Vivienne de la Mare knows that there will be sacrifices to be made. Not just for herself, but for her two young daughters and for her mother-in-law, for whom she cares while her husband is away fighting. What she does not expect is that she will fall in love with one of the enigmatic German soldiers who take up residence in the house next door to her home. As their relationship intensifies, so do the pressures on Vivienne. Food and resources grow scant, and the restrictions placed upon the residents of the island grow with each passing week. Though Vivienne knows the perils of her love affair with Gunther, she believes that she can keep their relationship—and her family—safe. But when she becomes aware of the full brutality of the Occupation, she must decide if she is willing to risk her personal happiness for the life of a stranger

-excerpt from Google Books

Briar Patch and Checkered Lace

Hello knitters!  Have you been enjoying your fall so far?  I have.  September has been a great (but busy) month!  My Little Big Man just started preschool and is loving it!  He's excited to go to school and see his new friends and learn new things.  Aside from the memories of when he was a wee babe, I'm doing fine too.  He's my first to ''go to school'' although it really is only a couple of hours a week.  It's fun to have a few hours with my younger son (or if he's napping, to myself).  I'm happy to say we are all adjusting well to this new stage.

On the other side of the "September's Great" coin, the weather has been awful.  Half of Washington is on fire right now.  While the fires aren't too close to us, the smoke is relentless!  We've been getting stagnated air and poor air quality alerts and the sky is a murky tan.  By now, the weather is supposed to be clear and sunny with just the tiniest hint of crispness to alert us of the coming season.  We've had to keep the air conditioner running and the windows shut to keep out the smoke. Blah.  Hope it clears out soon and the fires stop so those poor fire fighters can go home to their families and get some rest!

I've got two pretty lace swatches for you for September.  Both are a series of repeats within the main pattern repeat.  Take a look at this post if you need some help with the decreases ssk and k2tog.  They do look different and will define the direction of your knitting.   

Briar Patch

by Lindsey Melvin

This swatch is a 12 row repeat over 9 stitches.  The borders, as written, are 4 stitches each knit in seed stitch.

Cast on 44 stitches
Border Rows
1, 3, 5: K, P across
2, 4: P, K across

Pattern Rows
Row 1, 3, 5: (P, K, P, K) *(K1, YO) 3 times, K2tog 3 times repeat from * across (P, K, P, K)
Even Rows 2-12: (K, P, K, P) Purl (K, P, K, P)
Row 7, 9, 11: (P, K, P, K) *K1 (SSK) 3times, (yo, K1) 2 times, yo repeat from * across (P, K, P, K)

Repeat these 12 rows until square measures approx 9 inches from start, ending with either row 5 or 11.
Repeat border rows 1 thru 5.  Bind off all stitches loosely.

I adore this swatch!

Checkered Lace

by Lindsey Melvin

This swatch is a 12 row repeat over 12 stitches. The border is 4 stitches on each side knit in seed stitch.

Cast on 44 stitches
Border Rows:
1, 3, 5: K, P across row
2, 4: P, K across row

Pattern Rows:
Rows 1, 3, 5: (P, K, P, K) *(SSK, yo) 3 times, K6 repeat from * across row (P, K, P, K)
Even rows 2- 12: (K, P, K, P) Purl across row (K, P, K, P)
Rows 7, 9, 11: (P, K, P, K) *K6, (yo, k2tog) 3 times repeat from* across row (P, K, P, K)

Repeat these 12 rows until square measures approx 9 inches from start, ending with either row 5 or 11.
Repeat border rows 1 thru 5.  Bind off all stitches loosely.

I hope you enjoy these swatches.  Next month (and the remainder of the year) we'll be working on cables.  I wanted to let you know that I have a bit of a surprise planned for October.  Last year, I took part in a blogging challenge over at The Nesting Place called The 31 Day Challenge.  It's where you blog about a single topic for 31 days!  I had so much fun that I am planning on doing it again this year.  I don't blog over on my other site anymore, so I am going to incorporate it into this blog.  I will have a swatch for you (hopefully) at the beginning of October along with the daily account of my Challenge.  If you'd like to take a look at what I did last year, you can check it out here!

Happy knitting!
Lindsey