Back in time for Yarn Along.

 Hello!

I simply had to be back for Yarn Along ( a chance to share what I'm knitting and reading each week). It cheers me up so much and has become one of my favorite days here in blogland. How about you?

I can't tell you how much I love that aqua trunk!

I have resurfaced from my illness the last few days. I slept for most of my day while my husband did errands with the kids and I must say I am beginning to feel like a normal person again...

who am I kidding?, I have never been normal...but normal in the healthy sense?... yes, I am getting there.

Thanks so much to all of you who sent me your prayers and healing thoughts; It blessed me. My hearing has not yet returned and likely won't before the summer is over... so I suppose it will be a quiet one spent with the thoughts inside my head a gentler version of all the noises that usually surround me in my day.

For those of you who don't know, I perforated my eardrum (twice apparently) with a very nasty ear infection last week that came out of nowhere and hit me like a steam roller (moving at much faster and very non-steam-roller-like speed).

Anyway, I had planned all sorts of things for my blog this week including give-aways and some posts of a more personal nature... I will get to those but let's just forget deadlines and schedules and expectations and just let the laize faire summer vibe take us over on this Solstice night shall we?

I'll keep you up to speed when I get the give-aways going again...but I will make no promises because I must admit the pounding of sewing machine matches a certain resonance in my bad ear that isn't pleasant....

So I have at least been able to return to my needles. I can't lie, I haven't made  much more progress here, I'm still working away at the mohair scarf I started last week. In fact I took out a bunch of it and re-knit it after my little son pulled the needles right out of my work and took off with them to some corner of the house where he could wield them at the poor cat....


(don't worry though, the cat is fine... she's found a new hiding place on the top shelf of my mantle bookshelf behind the "A-D" books, snuggled up safely behind Austen, Dante and F.W. Dixon....she's good.)

For my own reading however I have taken a good dose of eye candy.

I am loving this book my sister lent me " Canadian Country Style"... I will have a VERY hard time parting with it when she comes looking for it.... and even then I might plead amnesia and hide the book somewhere she'll never find it...

I finished "The Thirteenth Tale" so much that it ruined me for other books for a while. I've got to let all the thrills and chills fully subside before I'll be willing to give any other author half a chance.

So that is my weekly offering for Yarn Along, of course if you want to check out some other very fabulous reads and projects go visit over at Small Things with Ginny and all the other ladies who've joined up this week.


(also, you may note there have been some "small" changes here on this blog and yes, there is still quite a bit of tweaking to do. The header titles need to change and the black has go to go. But if you feel so inclined, you can check out the Yarn Along Section in the header to look back at some of the projects and reads I've posted about in the past)

Well, it's nice to be back (can you tell by how starved for chatter I am?) and I'm looking forward to being back here tomorrow to share a little of my personal story with you as I close in on an emotional birthday this Friday.

Cheers.

Mohair and Bamboo {Yarn Along}

Maybe some of you picked up on the subtle note last week (or in the last few weeks actually) that my love for crocheting has been getting a little stale.... I just think we need some time apart.

Enter the NEW and the EXCITING.

I was bored with the same stitches and ready to pull out my knitting needles again and my beginner's manual to try once again with the world of knits and purls.

Now, I've tried knitting multiple times and crocheting has always won out because I am prone to less mistakes with it, I find it easier to manage one needle over two and the sculptural nature of crochet projects makes more sense to me and doesn't require as much reliance on a pattern once I've made something a few times, I can do a method pretty easily to make something simple like hats ore scarves.

However, crocheting has it's limitations as well. I find that no matter what I make, crocheting has a very feminine quality to it, and as pretty as I think it is, I don't think Jackson will be wanting to wear what I've been making and I really want to be able to make something for my boy. It's hard enough to find great projects for boys with sewing, let alone crocheting.  And almost every day I see some new thing that I want so badly to be able to make (you all inspire me so much), but in order to make- first I must learn.

So back to the  needles I went; I picked up these lovely bamboo needles for  pennies at a thrift store and man, oh man, I think they are the right needles for me. Something about the feel of them in my hands just makes me want to hold them and for my first yarn I also chose the finest in my stash; a gorgeous mohair in my favorite shade of smokey brown.

Even my little niece loved playing in its softness like a little kitten.

The pleasure of working with beautiful yarn and beautiful needles is, I believe, half the battle I formerly fought with the process.

So, I have no real project  per say to share this week. I've just been practicing and practicing. The knits and purls and making sure I keep tension and don't drop and add stitches.

For my reading this week, I've picked up a novel I've seen floating around the blogosphere for a while now, and I found it at the same thrift store for a dollar... so it seems like it was meant to be.

I .... AM..... TOTALLY..... HOOKED.

I can't remember the last time I read a novel just for the sheer joy the words on the page gave me. The combinations of great words, written so so so well, just gives me goosebumps and I find myself re-reading my favorite sentences aloud.
And that's not to mention the actual story... on that count- also totally hooked.

Yes, the Thirteenth Tale is working it's way one word at a time into my top list of books I've ever curled up with on rainy afternoons and late nights curled up under the blankets... just the right amount of spooky, just the right amount of everything.

In fact I think I might just sign off here and go draw a bath and take that delicious volume with me... and while the water runs, I might fit in a few rows of knits and purls....

For more knitting, reading and delightful inspirations, check out Ginny's blog at Small Things. She's the one who started it all, and so you will have her to thank and join up with, 

with some "yarning along" of your own.

A Yarn Along Tale.. a moment of contemplation

My confession this week is that I really haven`t been doing too much reading or crocheting.
Instead I've been focusing on my sewing room (I've relocated it and now it is one hot mamajama place to be!...and yes, I will share it here soon) and whittling away at my tremendous pile of mending/repurposing (as seen HERE).

Yes, I know some of you have seen this yarn a million times now... cheer me on for finishing it FINALLY so I get something new!!!!!!!!!

I figured pretty early on last week that any crocheting that was gonna get done was gonna be done on the fly...(a.k.a. in the van). So it's been sitting at my feet in my messy mom van all week (when I'm on the passenger side, don't worry it's not been distracting me whilst behind the wheel... My two kids do a good job of that already.)

On Friday night we made a VERY rare trip into the city to the mall and after we had wandered around it like total country bumpkins with our mouths hanging open at all the sights and sounds, we stopped off at the grocery store before heading home.

No really. We kept looking in all the store windows and pointing and ooh and aahhing and giggling like small children ( our kids were pretty excited too, but they come by it honestly being actually under the age of five... we have no excuse). Kevin turned to me and exclaimed with a big happy smile. "WOW! I can't believe we haven't been to a mall in SOOOO long! THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!" 


But I know what you are all thinking... "Gosh, that is sooooo sad."


Anyway... that was a tangent....

While Kevin and the daughter ran into the grocery store I stayed with baby boy in the van and he happily drank a cup of milk while I got a few rows of a "hat for Japan" done. (actually more than a few rows, I was amazed when we got home to find that in the 20 minute drive I had all but completed it).

The rain pattered on the vehicle's windows and the soft strains of instrumental music was playing on the radio. I was toasty and happy and took the moment to really stop and pay attention to all that made me feel so full of peace and gratitude.

There was the big picture stuff such as healthy kids, a happy marriage, a roof over our heads (and a nice one at that) food in our tummies and love in our hearts

But there were also the little things that can slip by without being noticed if we're not too careful:

My baby was content and happy; singing to himself between sips of milk.

Tomorrow was a Saturday full of possibilities and free of obligations

I had remembered to bring my yarn with me and it was soft and soothing in my hands

All felt right with the world and as I whispered a little prayer of thanks for all these things and more, I turned that prayer in to one of blessing for whomever it was that needed the small hat being woven in my hands.

Bless the head that needs this, Lord, that it also would have a roof over it, that they would have health and warmth, and happiness again.

And the prayer grew larger still...

Bless, Lord the hearts of those who've lost so much recently in the waves of natural destruction. Bless the work of their hands as they rebuild, bless the work of their hearts as they recover, that their days would again be full of possibilities and that you would see and wipe their tears.

I closed my eyes and when I opened them again I was quick to wipe away my own small tears at the sight of my happy daughter and husband splashing toward the van, their arms full of good things, including bright pink flowers that they felt I needed to have.

I had and have everything I need and more....


So, that is my story for this week's yarn along. I have, since friday completed little else and have spent more time inside my own mind than in the pages of someone else's.

Sometimes that's a good place to be. Just like a passenger side seat in a minivan on a Friday evening in the rain.....

Have a wonderful day, and don't forget to check back at Small Things to see what Ginny and all the other talented ladies out there have been reading and stitching up!

Cheers.

A Cradle Full of Yarn...

For Yarn Along this week I wish I had a bunch of finished projects to show you... or at least something new started... I'd even settle for some progress made on something on-the-go. Instead, I've got this...

Behold my stash of projects the site of my "yarning along", tucked next to the sofa and toted to various rooms of the house when the moment for a couple rows presents itself (frankly, not often enough this week.) In this messy pile are some finished and unfinished hats for Japan, an -oh-so-close-to-being-done baby sweater for an -oh-so-close-to-being-born baby niece, a jute doily, a pillow-cover, a scarf, a doll cardigan and something I can't remember...

All this mishmash is held in this little vintage babydoll cradle I scored at an Antique store back in the winter, and it makes me so happy with all it's cracks and flaky adornment of little Jack Horner with a plumb on his thumb. I suppose it would have been nice for me to show you this charming little piece without all my mess in it, but now you see it as it stands in my living room, making a clumsy pile of mismatched yarn into something that invites me and my needles to sit a stay a while.

And while I am sitting and staying, I've been reading up on yet another gardening book. If there's anything I love more than a good gardening book these days it's one with great information, well laid out  and full of great, straightforward pictures.  I think I just might add this title to the list of gardening books I should own as reference rather than just perennially taking it out from the library, although that list is growing at an alarming rate these days....

Anyways, perhaps next week I will have yarned myself along to something worth showing, but for now I'll enjoy looking at everyone else's projects shared at Small Things.

{Yarn Along}

I almost missed it, and was hoping Ginny from "Small Things" who started Yarn Along would be absent and that would mean she was having her baby....alas, this morning there she was along with a host of others you can check out here.

I've been working on this little newborn sweater for my brother and sister-in-law's baby girl that should also be here any day now, and I'm getting pretty excited!

The sweater is from a pattern I made myself with a few alterations on the sweater I made in this post. I call it a "100- stitch sweater" because you start with a chain of 100 stitches and work up from there. I think I'll try to get the pattern ironed out and post it here soon for anyone else who wants to give it a go. I'm  beginner crocheter so it's a nice and easy sweater.

An update on the Jute Doily... I am pulling out a row of stitches.... grrr.....But all your kind encouragements last week have inspired me to keep going with it, and we'll see what comes of it!


And in reading, the kids and I are on chapter 18 already of Charlotte's Web by E.B. White.
I could gush on and on and on about this book which is one of my personal favorites and I believe, one of the best books ever written.

Every time I read it, I am swept away by the simple beauty of White's prose and the profound themes.  I laugh out loud and I guarantee you, I will cry when we get to the next few chapters... heck, I even tear up at the beginning of chapter 15 when the crickets start heralding the end of summer....

anyway, here's to hoping next week the Jute Doily will be conquered, Wilbur's life will be spared by his spider friend, a newborn niece might be in her new sweater and Yarn Along might just be canceled for another new born too...

cheers.

Mango Curry and Jute "Doilies"

Somehow in the craziness that is my life, I keep finding the time to crochet something new (or at least start it) and read something ongoing and I keep finding inspiration in joining up for Yarn Along.

For more great reads and projects visit Ginny's blog at small things

This week I devoured "Secret Daughter" by Shilpi Somoya Gowda, and loved ever page of it. I have had a love for literature focusing on women from other countries/backgrounds since I took a class in my second year of University in International Women's Literature. I had the most gracious, intelligent, sophisticated professor (who's name I wish I could recall) who was born and raised in India. I really admired her for so many reasons, and I think she personally got me hooked on the culture of India and Pakistan in literature, and I am always enthralled with every book I read from that setting.
This novel certainly delivered. It was a poignant story of the intertwined lives of three very different women. One a lower caste farmer's wife from a village outside of Mumbai who must give up her infant daughter for adoption in order to spare her from infanticide. The other, a Californian Doctor struggling with infertility who, along with her Indian husband, adopt a little girl from India. Tying it all together is the young girl herself, Asha Thakkar, torn between wanting to bond with her adoptive mother and finding her identity in the mother who gave her up.

It is very much along the same lines as the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" in it's effort to take a hard, objective, but still celebratory look at the culture and society of India, which the book describes as a "Five star pile of contradictions". The narrative is haunting, and melodic and for a white westerner like me, gave me that little taste of India in all her mysterious chaos, like a jolt of curry and sweet mango.

okay, enough of that, cause I could go on and really embarrass myself :)

I also found a little bit of time trying to crochet myself a doily. Yes, you read that correct; a doily. Now, I have always been an old soul on the inside but crocheting doilies is still taking it a bit far even in my opinion. So instead of doily, I'm going to call it a place mat and explain further, that this place mat I am trying to crochet is supposed to substitute for the cute sea-grass one I saw at Ikea the other day and didn't bring home with me because a little voice inside my head said, "No, see if you can make it before you buy it."

"hmmmmm...." I thought, "there's  a concept for a whole new blog right there....."

and then I put the place mat back on the shelf and walked out of the store; determined to wrangle my spool of jute at home into something just as cute as the store's wares.

Only jute is not fun to crochet with.

No, my friends, it is scratchy and rough and does not submit to crochet hooks or my will very easily,
At times, sitting there on the couch while distracted by the very intelligent sounding people on reruns of "The West Wing", I felt distinctly like a fishermen mending nets....alas with no sunshine on my back or ocean spray on my face.

The doily is only half finished... it may actually just stay that way forever. It looks much less like a hip sea-grass place mat and much more like a scratchy brown doily than I had hoped and so it may just be worth abandoning. Besides there are babies about to be born all around me and so many little things to be made out of soft lovely wool in soft lovely colors...and that get's me quite a bit more jazzed.

And as if on top of all this rationale, I had time to crochet anything anyways... for my life is indeed crazy on somedays..... one sometimes feels like taking off for a distant land... like India perhaps?

Or at least another shopping trip to Ikea to pick up the sea-grass place mat I should've just got that day anyway.....


cheers.

Hats for Japan and the Beginning of a List...

For this week's Yarn Along I am excited to show you some of the little hats I've started crocheting for the Knit for Japan project you can read more about here or by clicking on the button in the side bar.

I'm at the point where these little beanies take no more than an hour or two to complete and I don't really have to count the stitches at all, so I'm hoping to make quite a few in my spare moments to warm the heads of some precious children in Japan.

The book I've started reading is one I've wanted for quite some time now, and my gracious friend Breanne was kind enough to lend it to me.

It has been like a drink of cool water for a very thirsty me.

If you know nothing about Anne Voskamp and her poetic book on gratitude then you really should do your soul a favor and check it out here. The message of this simple yet profound little book is to find the joy of our living and the substance of our faith  here and now by giving unreserved thanks.

eucharisto

In keeping with the book and the inspiration it has given to so many of who've read it, I decided I need to start compiling my own list of the things for which I am deeply thankful right now, right here; today.


1. honest conversations


2. a wall of memories left untouched, but instead added onto for the years to come


3. kitchen experiments that don't go awry


4. beautiful music filling the house while splashes of water and soap cover the babes on the floor


5.little girls in green dresses watering little white trees with red watering cans


6. a sleepy little boy so happy to go to his bed, he waves "nigh nigh" as I lay his head on the pillow.


7. a pantry divested of all of it's clutter and dust and space made for homemade treasures


8. seeing daddy walking home from far off and running to meet him for tickles and hugs in the grass


9. a timely letter of encouragement from an old friend


10. a bedtime story with a lullaby written right into it

For more information on Knit for Japan you can contact Ginny at Small Things as well as check out all the other reader/knitters who've got projects and books to share for Yarn Along.

Yarning Along with Patience....

I cannot not post for Yarn Along. Even though I hardly accomplished 2 rows on the dolly sweater I started last week and the stack of books I had lined up were only perused. (well, that's not entirely true, I did start some of them... but I'd have to share exactly the same photo as last week if I did that )
But this week, I am here again joining all the ladies (much more talented than I) of the blogosphere who've been inspired by Ginny of Small Things to post a picture of what we've been knitting/crocheting and reading this week.

This week I am focusing on patience; the patience of my little daughter (who, like most four year olds, is not patient by nature), as she waits for me to finish this simple little sweater for her babes and her patience in listening to "Wind in the Willows"  Those of you who've read any of these stories by Kenneth Graham or have even seen the old animated series, know it's not exactly riveting by today's standards. The language is antiquated and there aren't many pictures. There isn't even the haunting melody of the show's theme song to conjure the nostalgia that I at least feel. (and is the reason I bought this book a while back at a library discard sale... I guess the kids today weren't really ripping it off the shelf there either).

Yet for some reason known only to herself, she brings me this book asking me to read it every few days or weeks and we are slowly and painstakingly making our way through the adventures of Rat, Mole, Badger and the ever incorrigible Toad.

When I ask her if she remembers what we read from the last chapter she is miraculously able to tell me the gist of what happened and follows along remarkably well, thanks in part to my quick translation of words such as "harken" to "listen" and "Principle Hall" to ...."living room".

Having patience is something I've also been thinking about independently as well. I often try to think of ways to teach my children life's lessons in the most painless manner possible, but it struck me just this morning that patience is one thing we only learn the hard way; waiting for something is always agonizing, being disappointing, being long-suffering, making room for other's mistakes and differences... this is the work of a lifetime.
The skills of sitting quietly while someone reads a placid tale and taking the time out to crochet each stitch in a row, each row in a block... this is the stuff of patience.

It's good stuff, but so hard to come by... much like the waiting for spring itself.

Cheers.

Doing This Instead...

Today is "Yarn Along" hosted by Ginny at small things and I had been gearing up to share a post on what I've really been working on this week. It's a little crochet project that my heart needed to make and a book that my soul needed to read, but it really isn't the type of post that says "don't ya just love fiber arts and good books" but more of the "don't you just want to curl up in a little ball and cry sometimes" kind, and I chickened out... I'm way too scared of taking the lid off the most private thing about me and perhaps someday I'll be able to share it, but for now the project is tucked under my pillow and the book is being saved for my few evenings alone where no one but my bathtub needs to see this woman's tears.

I'm okay-- really I am... I'm just not at the sharing stage... so this week I have been doing this instead....

Stocking up on more crunchy books about food and where it comes from... and crocheting yet another sweater, for yet another doll my daughter has fallen in love with... yet again.

If ever crocheting was soothing in it's repetitious yet still creative way, it is in these days; the magical days of spring that drive us mad the same way celibacy before marriage does...

Yes, this is at about 6:50 in the morning and courtesy of Ava Grace's photo skills

Spring is such a tease and keeping my mind and hands productive while watching the stubborn lumps of snow S-l-l-o-o-w-w-l-l-y  take their sweet time dissolving (or sublimating --which was the new word of the day on Monday) is really very necessary.

Before embarking on the sweater (which I am doing in this soft lump of Georga wool - the last of the Walmart stash, before I can justify buying something REALLY worth working with) I had to make dolly some little booties at the request of her little mama because poor dolly has cracked and broken feet because of her age  (being a rather vintage dolly on loan from Oma). It really wouldn't do to have her poor heels split and cracked and Opa's glue job on them needs to be preserved, so booties seemed just the thing. This little pair ended up taking about 5 minutes each to make and I made them up myself,so I thought I would share the pattern here with you all....

5.5 m hook and size 5 yarn.

chain 3

Single Crochet into first chain, single crochet into remaining two chains.

Chain one and single crochet in the first two stitches. 

Single crochet twice into the last stitch. 

Chain One.

 Single crochet into first 3 stitches and single crochet twice into the last stitch

Chain one.

Continue around-single crochet into each stitch  and chain one(2x)

Flip work over and single crochet into next  or four stitches Chain one (2x)

Flip work over and single crochet into next stitch. 

Stitch two together and single crochet into last stitch

Slip stitch all the way around both whole bootie 

When you get back all the way around chain about 6 stitches to use as a bootie strap. 

Tie off and tie a little shank button onto the end. 

You should be able to fit the little button into the stitches on the outer side of the bootie like a buckle.

Super quick and super cute and Dolly is as happy as the little mama.

As for more thoughts on all those crunchy food books I have piled up to read... there will be more on  that in tomorrow's post which I've also had to work up quite a bit of  courage to actually publish.

Please visit back and have a read, my  words have been cooking a while...here's to hoping I won't have to eat them....

Ah, we get braver and stronger every day don't we?

Go put something warm and soft on your cracked broken feet 

(if you are like me, and your feet sorely need some TLC)

and have a brave and strong day!

Love.

Yarn Along

In true Wednesday Fashion, I present you with another Yarn Along, inspired by Ginny of Small Things, who's given us all a chance to share what we're reading and crocheting/ knitting, it's a lovely weekly ritual and this week  I've got two  such lovely things to share:

My head is surely enjoying the slouchy beanie I crocheted this week, making a few changes on the pattern I linked to from last week's post. It stitched up very nicely with only a couple hiccups along the way (which was really nice, because pulling stitches out of that boucle is really not a very fun job... and pulling out stitches is not fun at the best of times).
Anyway, the beanie and I have enjoyed  coffee time, trips to the park, and to the library and just sitting in my melting back yard.

Oh, and yes, I got all my hair chopped off... I am like a shorn sheep very much in need of my beanie

And all this while, I've still been reading Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal Vegetable Miracle." I think it may just become one of my new favorite books. Every few pages I stop and read aloud to whomever will listen and have started many more conversations like the Asparagus One on such topics as methods for beheading and plucking poultry, fascinating facts about tomatoes, the history of industrialized farming, the true nature of lactose intolerance and my new desire to try my hand at making cheese (because of the intolerance our family suffers with). I've told only several souls about this latest inspiration because... well it's cheese and something about it feels like the ultimate barefoot hippie thing to do. In Barbara's own words:

"Most people find the idea of making cheese at home to be preposterous. 
If the delivery guy happens to come to the door while I'm cutting and draining curd, 
I feel like a Wiccan.
What kind of weirdo makes cheese?" 

My one friend B however boosted my confidence in this latest endeavor by telling me that her mother had been making her own cheese for years and that she herself had made her own mozzarella for lasagna's in under an hour. I almost felt the compulsion to kneel in the presence of such domestic wisdom. I'm like Luke Skywalker wanting to learn all I can from Yoda, except that my beautiful friend B is NOTHING like Yoda and I'm pretty sure they don't have cows on Dagoba....

Anyway, I keep telling all who will listen that this book holds the potential to change my life and I think I am beginning to mean it, changing what we eat, really does change our lives, and without going off the deep end,  I think we're ready for some changes around here. My plans are not grandiose; just a vegetable plot for starters, some different meal planning and the plans to support the local farms in our area as much as we can.

But who knows; I've been heading down the crunchy granola path for a while now and have laughingly been describing myself as "chewy". But nothing says "crunch" like an organic vegetable and one of these days you might just find me in my kitchen stretching and braiding my own mozzarella cheese....

I guess I am that kind of weirdo after all.

Yarning Along on the Path To My Garden....

Here's what's Yarning Along this week....

I just about missed Yarn Along this week. I have been so busy with .... so many other things and me and the pillowcase I've been trying to do for two blessed weeks now aren't really getting along. We're bored of eachother  and needed to spend some time apart. In fact the whole stitching world has been losing my interest this week in favor or messier, sunnier pursuits.
This week, I've been reading this Children's book on gardening and actually learning a whole lot. I bought this at a garage sale last year for my kids for an Easter gift, but already it's sitting on the coffee trunk, the countertop, kitchen table, playroom floor and nightstand because we've all been flipping through it so much.
I actually woke up this morning to Jackson sitting on my pillow next to my head. leafing through the pages and hooting excitedly at all the pictures of carrots wearing cowboy boots (it's that kind of book... so it's the kind I like)

Anyway, all of this talk of seeds and plants got me thinking of beans and then I thought that perhaps with all the spring days we have planned in the mud patch we are calling a garden, perhaps my head would like a little beanie to wear... no... scrap that.... a slouchy beanie.

I have wanted a slouchy beanie for quite some time now, so I went to my yarn bin (not unlike a potato bin) and squinted down into it to see what's left in there that might inspire me. I found the loveliness pictured above and it almost shouted at me "MAKE ME INTO A SLOUCHY BEANIE"... no scrap that again... it was more like a seductive  whisper " make me into a slouchy beanie Ashley... you know you want to". 

SO ANYWAYS.....

A beanie has been cast on following the pattern I found here, and a garden is being planted which you can read more about here.

And to see more of the fabulous knitting/crocheting and reading that's been going on this week, check out Ginny's blog at Small Things, you'll be so glad you did.

So here's to renewed inspirations, learning from books, getting things into the ground and each little stitch being like a little seed, all growing into something great.

and slouchy. (let's not forget the slouchy)

cheers.

Yarn Along

I know last Wednesday I made a lofty promise about sharing some of my thoughts and feelings on all the Montessori research I was doing, and that I would have pillow covers to share. Alas, my brain reached a point of information saturation on the whole Montessori thing, and it's taking it's time to sort it all out before it can make coherent thoughts and the pillows... well the pillows just didn't get finished.

I worked on one all week, but in all my thinking, pondering, reading and imagining, I lost focus of the work in my hands. When I looked down at the mess of yarn in my lap, I realized I had lost and then gained stitches all over the place so that my supposedly rectangular pillowcase looked more like a giant yarn Kotex.

Out go the stitches and back to the beginning we go....

Also, I got a sewing machine this week....so it's kind of been trumping the crochet hook for quality time spent with Ashley, and perhaps the crochet hook in her fit of jealous rage, grew a mind of her own and is working to thwart the making of the pillow cases, who really knows?

Anyway, here's the half finished pillowcase sitting underneath the real thing worth talking about-- my reading this week.

As if Montessori wasn't a heavy enough load for my cerebral cortex, this week I've picked up a book that goes straight to the heart and soul of our whole existence--our food.

Yes, I've cracked the cover of the tome that has been making it's way into the hands of so many of us homesteaders at heart; I'm reading Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal Vegetable Miracle"  Now I too, must join the throng of humans that  are taking a long hard look at what we consume.

In just the first few chapters I have devoured (no pun intended), I can already tell this book holds the potential to shake a few of my foundations, inspire a whole lot of passion and make me crazy over the ways in which I find myself changing so fast sometimes I hardly recognize myself .

This book is sobering, moving, humorous and informative and lead me to open a conversation at Sunday family dinner with, "I've been learning some amazing facts about asparagus this week...."

(yes, my brother in law met the silence that ensued with his imitation of a cricket sound)

It was quite the opener...but this book is quite the eye opener too, and as I tread into the strange new territory of food information, a revolution feels on the brink, because after all, if we are what we eat, then a whole change of self can surely be sparked by the inspiration of what one may choose to put on one's table.

food for thought.

To see more of what others have been reading or stitching up this week, check the growing list at Small Things started by Ginny.

It's Wednesday so we'll take a little break from the corners of my home and focus on what I've been crocheting and reading along with Ginny from small things and the community of fellow knitters/readers who join up for Yarn Along.

This week it's still all about the ideas....

I was poring over some very gorgeous cushions from Pottery Barn and the discontinued SNOA cushions from Ikea when I thought
"Wait a minute, this is the homemade life, I will just make some cushion covers myself!"
So, that's exactly what I'm doing.
I'm using up all the leftover yarn from Ava Grace's sweater from last week, and so in keeping with what I value most, I am creating a solution for the pillows on my couch with a handmade skill and some leftover thrifted yarn....this is where it's at, my friends.

And for books, the ideas are sure to pour forth in great abandon with these new picks from the library.
I, like most people often hear the word "Montessori" but unlike most people, know almost nothing about it. (other than it's very expensive).
When I read "Love in a Time of Homeschooling" a few weeks back, Laura Brodie talks a bit about her daughter's experiences in a Montessori preschool, and the little I gleaned from her writing had me intrigued. I've had further conversations with my friend, Suz, and done a little reading on Wikipedia so I figured from a home-schoolers point of view, this is something I really need to look into. I'll report back on my thoughts on it once I've gotten a little further in. (I would also love any one else who knows the topic to weigh in and lend me their thoughts as well!)

So there you have it; nothing great and glorious this week, just the brave new world of research and practical projects...

 I hope you are up to something good too and enjoying it all as much as I am!

cheers.

Yarn Along

Every week I've been inspired by Ginny at Small Things to post a picture here of what I've been reading and crocheting, but really it has turned into so much more than just a weekly blog post for me.

This week, I picked up another ball of thrifted yarn. It is very unlovely in quality, but it was just the right color (white) and the right price (just shy of free).

Somehow it turned into a very lovely spring cardigan for my little girl.

I shocked myself at being able to complete an entire sweater in 5 days, and I suppose that is a testament to the fact that practice, practice, practice does in fact produce speed.
I've been doing much practicing in the last few weeks months, since starting Yarn Along and I really can't believe how much I've improved!  With every project my confidence is increasing and crocheting has been the encouragement I needed to pick up knitting again (which I found very difficult the last few times I've tried it).
Of course my little sweater is again full of amateur mistakes, but there are certainly less of them this time around and I'm learning how to follow patterns better.  The finished sweater is a deviation from a free pattern I found on Ravelry. (89-15 Crocheted Cardigan in Muskat by Drops Design). Basically I just subtracted everything to make it smaller and followed the basic idea; also,  I dropped the lace stitching.

I finished it off with another special vintage button, which Ava again chose herself (good taste, this girlie has!)
Then she had to try it on with the rest of her Easter Sunday ensemble (she loves her clothes and plans them out for special occasions far in advance) including the new white leather shoes.

The book I've been reading and re-reading this week is " I like to be Little" by Charlotte Zolotow. It's a lovely little find we came across in our thrifting a couple weeks ago.  I hadn't cracked it until the other night and when it was chosen for bedtime the other night, we ended up reading it about 3 times over.
The text is sooo precious and the illustrations soooo gorgeous.

 It's the story of a little girl having a conversation with her mother, just like the conversations I often have with my Ava-girl. The mother asks the little girl why she likes to be little and her daughter replies with some of the simplest and most profound reasons for why she loves to be a child.
After reading it through the last time, I gathered my little girlie up in my arms and just prayed silently that I might be able to give her a childhood that will last; that she'll be able to somehow hold onto the innocence and wonder of these years that are slipping by far too quickly along with all the simple and untainted pleasures they hold.

Yes, this has felt like a rather special Yarn Along week for me, I'm so glad to share it with you! This humble, simple book touched my heart with it's loveliness and the humble, simple stitches of my yarn all added up to something lovely too.

I hope it's been a lovely week for all of you and a lovely one to come!

Yarn Along

It's Wednesday and that means it's another Yarn Along--inspired by and joined with Ginny from small things.
Every week, I'll post a picture of what I've been knitting/crocheting and what I've been reading.


Drum roll please............

THE SWEATER IS DONE!!!!

The sweater started here is finally done!
Sure, it's full of mistakes that actually make me cringe and I had to bribe my daughter to put it on and model it for me, BUT IT'S DONE!
I finished a whole sweater, and of that, I am proud.

I started off with reading a free pattern online and once I got the hang of where the whole thing was going, I improvised a little here and there. I added stitches and lost stitches and lost count and lost sleep (and lost a little sanity at one point with the sleeves), but all things considered, my daughter has something she really does love (she refused to take it off once she had it on and she was very particular about what buttons should complete it), and I learned a great deal.

I think personally these little red leather plush vintage buttons were a great choice, don't you?

Of course there's no where to go but up with improving and learning, and in the end, I think the sleeves turned out to be one of my favorite parts; I'm actually pretty proud of them (they look less like lumpy elephant trunks than I feared they would).

For Books this week, I thought I would share one of the books I've been reading to the kids that has been making an impact on me (perhaps more than them).
Twice this last week I've sat down to read Dr. Suess' "The Lorax" and twice I have cried and gotten all goosebumpely.

If you've never read this book, I highly recommend it.
Even if your not a typical Seuss fan (we are) this book strikes a cord similar to " Oh the Places You'll Go" for it's poignancy and deeper themes.
The story is about a beautiful place that is made very un-beautiful by a foolish merchant who cares more about producing useless "thneeds" with no respect for the environmental resources he must destroy to do so. The "Lorax" is the advocate in charge of protecting the lifeforms that the merchant is damaging and in the end ....well, I won't spoil that, but it did bring wistful tears to my eyes.

I think what I love about this book is it's ability to take a rather heady message such as environmental sustainability and put it into a perspective that even my preschooler can understand. The fundamental message of the book succeeds in being thought provoking without being preachy and by removing all the shades of grey that surround this topic in our real adult world, Theodore Giesel reminds us of the basics of caring more about our planet and each other rather than for manufactured needs.
I've had so many great conversations with my preschooler in reading this book and it's one I'm happy to have on our shelf.

I'll be back to post again later today, cheers!

Yarn Along

Every week I've been joining up with all the fabulous ladies (so talented they are!!!) that are part of Yarn Along, started by Ginny from Small Things. I post a picture of what I've been reading and stitching this week.

                                                                            ****
What a week it has been!
I feel like I have barely wet my toes in the mighty ocean of needleworking and I know I have so much learning and practicing and catching up to do! But oh! how I have enjoyed even just the smallest of baby steps I have taken!
This week was particularly exciting,  but not because I finished any spectacular project (in all honesty I got very mad at the sleeves on a certain sweater and decided we were not going to spend any more time together till we can both calm down).
 This week I took one step further into these bold waters  and started looking up  local Yarn Shops, Yarn Sites, (Beaverslide...oh my!), Tutorials, Books on Crocheting, Knitting and this amazing thing called "Ravelry", has anyone ever heard of it?
( I really hope most of you know that was a joke...ahem)

Moving on...

I climbed into bed the other night and sighed deeply. When my half asleep husband asked what was burdening my soul, I replied, "There are too many things I want! There are too many gorgeous yarns, and patterns...and shops and classes, and things to learn and make and do....and not enough hours in the day."

I felt daunted but exhilarated.
 
Yes, it was a great week, not because of what I accomplished but because of what I started to dream about.
I want to tackle everything, but I'm focusing on the baby steps.

A freak blizzard this weekend canceled my plans to visit River City Yarns, so that is still on the list of things to do, along with investigating the classes they teach, pulling out my book on knitting again and sifting through a mountain of tutorial videos and web sites on questions like, "what is blocking"?

***

So, now that I've blathered about all of that and displayed the full extent of my ignorance (matched only by my enthusiasm), I will discourse on this week's  Yarn Along photo, properly.

I spent a good hour trying to hunt down the color code for the yarn I am using, but all I can tell you it is Georga's  Recycled Fiber "Deluxe Spun"   from their "Easy Knit" collection, and it really is easy to work with. 

It feels like a very soft wool and the recycled fibers make  it  interesting. This week I'm working on practice, practice, practice; so while it will all hopefully come together as a pillow cover eventually, right now it is really just a mishmash of different types of crochet stitches with a 5.5 mm needle.

As for books....

My reading this week  whole winter has been lacking, (I've been doing plenty of reading, a lot of it just hasn't been great). Then hallelujah! my first issue of Country Living finally showed up in the mail, (Thanks Jan!). 

I received it only a few short days ago, but it is  already quite dog-eared and has even been dropped a bit in the bathtub...

Someday someone will invent a little floating table or something for somewhat clumsy people like me who love to read  in the bathtub, but don't love to have their reading materials destroyed,  and I will owe that person a debt of gratitude.*

Anyway, that's what I've been up to. 

Not all of my hopes from last last week came true (in fact none of them), but I have some new dreams now to replace them...

....and we just keep yarning along.

*while you're at it, maybe you could invent this little floating table to have a place to rest a nice drink... and maybe even a little snack...I would like that.

Yarn Along

It's Wednesday again, and as usual, I'm joining Ginny at small things with a photo of what I"m currently crocheting and reading this week.

I wish I had more to share this week than I do.  

I'm afraid this week there's nothing but a poor photograph ( I didn't realize the camera cord was in the way until just now-- the good camera is still broken)
A sweater that is still awaiting sleeves (sleeves... eeek!) and
An  idea book that has been inspiring me all week, (but no lovely drawings of plans for the yard as I hoped there would be).

You see, my children have been sick .
I feel that their noses must surely be hanging by the thinnest of threads with how much wiping has been going on around here....and really there are only so many boogers that one sane mother can take.

Winter drags on and on and on...

We're drinking lots of tea with honey, finishing one row at time on a little pink sweater (made with a ball of yarn I grabbed for .25 cents at the thrift store, so I'm afraid I  have no details on it other than it was very, very cheap) and dreaming about a garden that will inherit the ground still covered in too much snow and ice....

So....
Here's to hoping that next week:
The sleeves will be done (eek!)
The garden will be planned
The sniffles and coughs will be gone
and perhaps even the camera fixed?

A girl can dream

Here's to "yarning along"....

Yarn Along

Every Wednesday I've been posting a photo of what crochet project and book I've been reading this week. It's been so great to join along with all the other bloggers out there in this link-up created by Ginny at Small Things.

This week I've finished another mohair button up scarf, this time for Al, and I am enjoying Laura Brodie's "Love in a time of homeschooling" immensely. (I think I'll have much more to add to my ongoing thoughts on homeschooling by the time I'm done it for sure!)

I promised I would put up the pattern that I used for the button up scarf  (also pictured here in last week's yarn along) So here it is:


The guage on this was a size 6mm hook and a # 5 Bulk yarn.

Ch 44.
Turn back into fourth chain from hook and dbl Cr ever SECOND chain till end of row.
*Ch4 Dbl Cr till end of row.*
Cont. * to * for 38 rows.
Next row dbl cr to 15 stitches. Skip one and dbl cr. to end of row.
Ch 4.  dbl cr to end of row.
Ch 1. St 2 tog for first 10 stitches. S Cr. to end of row.
Ch3 SCr. 8 sts Turn
st 2 tog . SCr to end of row.
Ch3 SCr. 5 sts. Turn
St 2 tog to end of row.
finish off yarn.

The final touch is to place a button or clip on the scarf opposite where you shape the lapel and the dropped stitch from row 39 becomes the button hole, so a nice big vintage button, clip or brooch would be fabulous!
If you have any questions, leave them for me in the comments and I'll message you back.Enjoy!

Yarn Along

So, I was talking to my sister yesterday morning about Yarn Along which was started by Ginny at Small Things and how it has been the perfect impetus to get  into my needles and yarn...only trouble is, it's created a monster....a crocheting monster of many projects that are flying off the needle at lightning speed.

It's a very good monster to say the least but I find I am actually a whole project behind now with posting on Yarn Along. Yes, this is the project I worked on this week and the book I read, but I also did much more which will have to wait to be shown next week....all of this is exciting because it means there is a finished project photo to go with this week's yarn along.

 This week I set out to make a basket of slippers to put by the door, but when I pulled out this gorgeous Mohair yarn to work with,  (that I got on an end of aisle sale at walmart (walmart! can you believe it?, I could not)) it was too gorgeous to put on feet so instead I fashioned it into a button wrap scarf for myself adapting a knitting pattern I found on the inside of the yarn label. (If anyone wants my pattern I will gladly post it for you).
In reading we are on our first ever chapter book, Ava Grace and I. She's been begging me to start a chapter book for her and I thought this one that belonged to my mummy when she was a little girl would be a good choice. I explained to Ava about how she would have to make up the pictures in her head and she assured me she was already really good at this so off we went.
We're about 4 chapters into it and it's a lovely story I remember reading when I was small, about a young girl named Penny who loves ponies and makes friends with a little gypsy girl while visiting her stuffy Aunt. The success of reading aloud thus far has already made me excited enough to snap up all sorts of chapter books when I was at the thrift store on the weekend. (can't wait until we reach the age and stage of  Laura Ingalls Wilder!)

Here's the finished button up scarf with a little vintage clip I found at Sally Ann, it's great because I can detach it and still dream about putting some vintage buttons on it if I so choose. But I'm warm and happy and my husband thinks I'm cute. What more could I ask?

It's another Wednesday with Yarn Along! Once again we're joining in the community Ginny started at Small Things. The point is to picture what you've been stitching away at this week and what you've been reading.

My selections this week are a little sweater I'm making for Ava's naked baby doll that has only one outfit that has gone missing. Poor little baby is cold and needed a sweater, so I pulled out this ancient stash of boucle yarn and went to work. (this yarn is not the easiest to work with, especially on my first attempt at a little sweater, but it hides the mistakes well too.)

My book selections this week were Ecoholic Home by Adria Vasil, which made me feel like a chemical hording monster for all the Eco-no-nos around my house, but it will take A LOT of time to refit my entire house, especially when a lot of the products that are preferred cost more than my usual grocer bill for the month....sigh.
Then I read  Homeschooling Take a Deep Breath- You can do this by  Terrie Lyne Bittner. I was also really disappointed in this book. The section I had looked forward to the most, "Creating support for homeschooling among spouses, parents, in-laws and relatives", basically just told me I should manipulate them all emotionally by exaggerating problems in the public school system and try to make them think Homeschooling my kids was their idea...
ummmmm......
no.

So my reading  selections this week were less than inspirational, but the doll sweater came off great!
Here's another little pick of it in progress... finished pics for next week perhaps?

waiting for sleeves.