Joining Ginny for another week’s yarn along.

First I must thank you all so much for wonderful feedback on last week’s hat dilemma! I decided to go with the light-coloured (yellowish) wooden buttons – although the dark brown and red buttons were close contenders. I was so glad I got the hat done when I did because it went from unseasonably warm to frigid overnight and it was needed.

Trying to catch the last of the light. And yes, as Dan lovingly pointed out, the buttons are crooked – I’ll have to fix that.

I’ve been dutifully finishing up my UFOs (unfinished objects) and almost have the two last mittens done. (Okay, so admittedly the mitten pictured looks a lot like the mitten pictured last week but last week’s was #2 of 4 and this is #4 of 4.) I also have the second of these fingerless mittens to whip up and…hooray…two of my three work in progress bags will be empty and ready for new projects!

What to start next is proving more of challenge than I thought it would. Each week I see your Tiny Tea Leaves, Milos and Fisherman Pullovers – I was planning this one for my little guy but it is all too beautiful (and yes, I love Jane Richmond‘s designs). I’m almost afraid to see what everyone has on needles this week in case I change my mind again!  (Sorry for all of you not on Ravelry if you can’t view some of those – I’m trying to use other links if I know of them.)

As for reading, I started and finished Reckless in about a day. It started out darker than I expected but I did enjoy the story very much. So far, I’ve enjoyed all of the Cornelia Funke books that I’ve read – perhaps this one the most. Now I have just started thumbing through Elizabeth Zimmerman‘s Knitting Without Tears. I’ve heard no end to her praises and thought it was time I checked her out – and then of course I read this post today and had to laugh at the timing, I may be having EZ dreams myself. If I get into some fiction, I’m going to start the first of the Sister’s Grimm series, The Fairy Tale Detectives – once again I admit I love, love, love juvenile fiction.

Looking forward once again to seeing what everyone else is up to! So inspiring to see all the projects on the go.

My plea for this week:

Have any of you knit any of the above sweaters? Can you offer any advice for a novice sweater knitter like me?

Joining Ginny again this week at Small Things for yarn along.

We’ve had a full and lovely week preparing for and celebrating Valentine’s Day. Although my hands have been busy with hearts, sweets and a bit of sewing for my little Valentine’s, I have managed to finish my hat – well mostly. I closed it off and blocked it today before sewing in the ends. It seemed rather lumpy and I feared I might be taking it apart but when I gave it a quick try on while it was still damp I found the blocking seems to have done wonders! I have not blocked any of my knitted items before (I know, *gasp*) because I have mainly stuck to small things like mitts, hats and toys. I thought blocking seemed really intimidating, turns out it’s not so bad (will I be saying that after I block my first sweater?).

To finish the hat I need to pick three buttons and I have laid some possibilities out on the hat but I can’t decide which direction I want to go. I’m asking for opinions here. What do you think?

I’m tempted to abandon my, albeit weak, resolve to clear off my existing projects – especially after seeing all the sweet sweaters and vests that other yarn alongers are working on. Considering that three of these unfinished projects are belated Christmas gifts – two pairs of these mittens (shown in the photo above) and a surprise gift, duty would dictate I finish what I’ve started. In the meantime I am going to dream about what I am going to do with this wool from my stash.

I have almost finished listening to Howards End. It feels a little like cheating and some of the volunteers here read it all wrong (in my humble opinion) but it has been nice to listen to while I’ve been sewing or folding laundry this week. I’ve enjoyed the story although I did prefer Room With a View. I should have it finished this evening and I’ve decided to choose Reckless from my tall stack of library fiction. As you can see I’m also still enjoying Wee Wonderfuls and Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts. They are both falling into the category of drool-worthy and daunting.

Since there is nothing really new on my book pile this week I thought I’d also show a little peak of what my two oldest daughters and I have been enjoying at bedtime. Destination Moon proves to be another entertaining Tintin Adventure – not to mention straining with all the different voices to keep track off! The Magic Tree House books are so wonderful for the kids – just at the right level for them. We all enjoy the mix of adventure, excitement and information. We’ve learned lots – so far Tonight on the Titanic has been my favourite – I even cried while we were reading it. I don’t know about our current title – my kids are really sensitive to anything ghoulish (as am I for that matter) so I don’t know if we will actually get through this one. I may have to abridge it for them.

Looking forward to seeing other projects that are on the go this week! Thanks for stopping by!

Another week come and gone?

I am thoroughly enjoying yarn along with Ginny and all the knitters who join in there but Wednesdays come as a stern reminder that I haven’t accomplished quite as much as I’d hoped in the week that’s past. We’ve been busy with Valentine’s Day projects and plans this week which has had me neglecting my novels and knitting.

I’m still reading Howards End – slowly indeed but savouring it more than dragging through it. Somehow I just haven’t found time to pick it up much this week despite toting it along with me all week. On our trip to the library this week I picked up far too many novels for my reading pleasure and I’m a little worried that Reckless or The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing (anyone have anything to say about either of these titles?) will sneak onto my reading path before I’ve finished this current read. I am bad for reading too many books at once. I would rather get through one but they are far too tempting and I get pulled aside by another title.

My husband did bring home a couple of exciting books for me from the hold shelf at the library this afternoon. I’ve had my eye on these for a while. The first, Wee Wonderfuls, had a rather long hold list so I was waiting a little while to see it. It is a beautiful book of which I have heard rave reviews and although I haven’t had much more than a peek through it, it was enough for me to fall in love with Hillary Lang‘s beautiful dolls.

Along with dreaming of sometime making a doll, I spend far too much of my time dreaming about making a quilt. I am weak for patchwork but feel very inadequate to the task. Even if it doesn’t have me sitting down, rotary cutter in hand, I know that the second book that came home today, Last-Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts, will definitely inspire more dreams of quilting.

As promised, I finished the little pink mittens for my daughter and she has been wearing them on every occasion much to the warming of my heart. My hat is so close to being finished – I’m decreasing and probably only need an hour of knitting to finish it all up. Finding that hour of knitting is easier said than done, though.

New projects are more fun to consider than finishing the projects I have on the go but in the spirit of good non-procrastination I’ve decided I am going to try to clear off my needles before starting something fresh. Then I hope to start this sweet sweater I’ve been dreaming about for one of my boys with this wool.

We’ll see how that goes.

Looking forward to seeing what others are sharing this week on yarn along!

*We have more Valentine’s Day projects and treats coming up this week – if you’re interested in seeing what we’ve been up to have a peek here and here and check back for more fun tomorrow!

Joining Ginny over at Small Things for another instalment of Yarn Along.

Things aren’t looking too different since last week…

I have nearly completed the mittens – only a thumb left at this point. I really could have finished the pair in a longish evening of knitting but this week, although I have often carried my knitting around the house, I have gotten little needle time in. I am determined, though, that as soon as this post is up I am going to escape the computer and work on my hat. It has been cold, cold, cold here and although they are calling for a warm up over the next few days it will undoubtedly be followed by a return to the cold, cold, cold and this mama needs a warmer hat!

As for reading, I am loving Howards End. It has been so enjoyable – just the thing for my craving of all things turn of the century. I’ve even had a little luck listening to it for free at Libravox (public domain books, ie. published before 1923, are read by volunteers are made available for free). I don’t usually do too well with audio books and I really do prefer the feel of a book in hand but I’m finding I can squeeze in a chapter without having to rewind too often and still keep my knitting in hand. I have particularly dug into it since the end of Downton Abbey (no spoilers, but for those of you who watched it – really, that’s how it ended??!).

I have also been listening to Animal, Vegetable, Miracle on my iPod. I read through most of it last year but didn’t quite get through it before my library renewals were up. Now I have been listening to it while I’m folding laundry – and because no one wants to get roped into helping me fold, I don’t usually have too many interruptions. Such a good book and I love having the audio book read by the authors. I would highly recommend it to everyone – although I do feel increasingly guilty about the bananas on my counter.

I’m hoping to have a new project (or at least a different project) and book to show for myself next week. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else has on the needles and in the book pile this week.

Happy Wednesday!

Joining Ginny‘s yarn along again today.

While I would love to be showing you great progress on the hat I began last week with more of that delicious alpaca, my needle broke bringing me to a temporary standstill. But as I had mentioned there are a few mittens on needles around here so I have picked them up in the meantime. I am using a thrummed mitten pattern that came with a kit my mom bought me a few years ago and omitting the thrums….Sounds like someone is a little too lazy to find a new pattern? This pair will be seventh I’ve made with this pattern (the sixth sans thrums). The wool is Paton’s Classic Wool in not-my-favourite shade of pink but a certain three-year-old here loves that these mittens will match her scarf and hat.

In a rather lazy, marathon day of lounging around and reading I finished (well, nearly began and finished) The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma. I perhaps didn’t enjoy it quite as much as the first two but that may also have been the speed with which I devoured it. I always feel a little cheated if I speed through a book too fast (which of course gives me ample opportunities to never finish a book I am enjoying). The Prisoner’s Dilemma held the same (gentle) intrigue, adventure and excitement that the others contained, maybe I am just sad that I suspect there may not be a fourth. Hopefully I am wrong.

Now I am at an impasse over which book to get into next. The kids and I have started Mary Poppins but I suspect it will be slow going because they are too wrapped up in Tintin and the Castafiore Emerald to choose anything else for bedtime stories. I was tempted to read Mary Poppins on my own but they are still interested in it so I will wait. Now I am torn between a light, easy, yet entertaining read through Tears of the Giraffe or a longer commitment to E. M. Forster’s classic Howard’s End.

I'm drooling over this edition

As I really wanted to read a good turn-of-the-century English novel, partly thanks to watching this series on Masterpiece Theatre, I think I will happily sink my teeth into Howard’s End. Maybe I’ll amaze myself by actually making some headway on it this week….Although sadly at the expense of my knitting since I haven’t worked out a strategy for doing both at the same time.

Happy Wednesday!