Yarn Along

For the past few weeks, I have been working on this Oaklet Shawl.  I really like the variegated yarn and think it will get more use as a scarf, since we're not really shawl people around here.  My problem is that when I started my 2nd ball of yarn, the color pattern got all messed up and I think it looks bad.  I'm going to have to rip back and try again.  Any advice from the Yarn Along bunch to help me out of this pinch?  Maybe this yarn was a bad choice for this pattern?

My book this week is Brideshead Revisited.  I am only reading it because a friend gave me the book and said that it was a classic Catholic novel.  I'll be honest.... I'd rather be reading the medieval mysteries by Margaret Frazer that I had been gorging on at the beginning of June! Think I'll go back to them after this little side trip.

Check out Ginny's blog for more Yarn Along adventures.

Yarn Along

I'm a little late joining the Yarn Along crowd this week.  I've finally started on the back of the Bianca sweater.  Really interested to see how this all comes together in the end.

Can't tell from the photo but it's all one piece now.  The front sections are at the bottom of the picture and the sleeves are toward the ends of the needle.  I think I hit the long boring part of this pattern.  Only five more inches and the decreases will start and things will speed up a bit (I keep hoping, anyway).

I just finished reading Arms of Love.  Had that book for forever and could never get around to finishing it.  I'll probably pass it on to Clare when she's older.  I wanted to like that book so bad but it just didn't seem very realistic.  Bummer! 

For this week's read, I started Consoling the Heart of Jesus for the second time.  I loaned it to a friend who liked it so much she decided to buy her own copy.  It's the kind of book that's hard to loan out because I keep wanting to reread parts of it.  Maybe I'll be on a perpetual do-it-yourself retreat!

Yarn Along

I finished the Reversible Tank last night and just need to take care of the loose ends. Hoping to wear this with a certain skirt that was impossible to find anything in stores to go with it.  I'm reading Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Deibler Rose.  It's about her mission work to the people of New Guinea at the time of WWII.  She ends up in a POW camp but I haven't gotten that far in the book yet.  Hoping to spend some time outside reading this week.

I've already started the Bianca  from Berroco's website. I'm using Mirasol Tupa in Onyx.  Really love this yarn!  Haven't decided if I should finish a dress I'm sewing for Marianna (which means I'm stuck inside on a beautiful day) or if I should sit in the sun and knit, knit, knit! (Or I could read, read, read!)

 
Check out Ginny's blog for more great Yarn Along ideas.

Yarn Along

I've had a lot of "sitting time" in the past two weeks, so I turned it into a whole lot of knitting.  Almost finished a reversible tank from Mother Daughter Knits.  Here it is after blocking. 

I also spent a fair amount of time reading and worked my way through Style, Sex and Substance.  It was a quick read, with a lot of food for thought.  I would have photographed the book with my knitting but I've already loaned it out to a friend!  Really want to read the last essay by Barbara Nicolosi again. With a number of teenagers in our house, her particular message definitely hit home.

Well, that's it from me this week.  Short and sweet!  Happy Yarn Along to all of you!

Yarn Along

I skipped a couple of Yarn Along's because I had nothing to show for my recent knitting time.  I realized part way through the fleurette project that I was reading the pattern incorrectly so a whole lot of ripping and recounting has been going on. I didn't bother with a picture because it looks about the same as the last time I posted it.

In my desire for a faster project, I started this scarf...

It's the first time I've ever knit with sock yarn.  Don't remember how it ended up in my stash.  Not the softest yarn in the world but I like the way it looks.  Wasn't as fast as I thought it would be either.  The pattern refused to stick in my head and it's only a 2 row repeat.  Ugh! After some major ripping out sessions, I am starting to see progress.

In a sudden turn of mad woman knitting frenzy, I did get this little shrug finished last week for Marianna to wear on Easter. (Started Palm Sunday; finished Good Friday!)

The original pattern is a full length sweater but I didn't have the time or patience (probably not enough yarn either!) so made a few modifications. I can't say enough about Baby Bunny yarn.  It is just so soft and sweet.  Kind of reminds me of the little girl who this was made for! I hope she will get some use out of it this summer, too.

As for reading material, I have been SLOWLY working my way through the Moviegoer by Walker Percy.  I thought his writing was similar to Flannery O'Connor's and her stories fascinate me, so I jumped into this novel with anticipation.  This post has helped me get a grasp of the author's life.  Now I'm hoping to get more out of the storyline.   Maybe I'll have a better opinion of it by next week.

Happy Yarn Along with Ginny!

Yarn Along

Obviously, I'm still working on the Fleurette jacket.  Seems like I've barely started.  I did get the ribbing done and figured out the math to cast on for the upper body.  Also discovered an extra hank downstairs in a box (good thing we've started spring cleaning!).  Because the weather is unusually warm and delicious this March, we are spending a ton of time outside soaking up the sun. I'll have to look for a less involved knitting project (Therese has been begging for a new hat...I hardly think she'll need one this Spring, though.) and pick up on the jacket in the Fall.

I'm just about finished with Redeemed (last week's read) but couldn't resist starting Parched by the same author,  Heather King.  The first book is a group of essays about her thoughts on the Catholic Church and musings about her life in general.  The second book is her journey to sobriety after something like 20 years of alcohol abuse.  Kind of unusual reading for me, I've definitely learned a lot.

Not sure if it was the lack of snow this winter or the immediate warm-up, but my garden boxes went from drowning to dry in just 2 days!  Makes me want to plant something.

Lots of playing in the woods,  drinking lemonade and SOCCER!

 Check out Ginny's blog for other Yarn Alongs.

Yarn Along

I'm still working on the fleurette jacket from last week.  This narrow strip

which will be the middle section of the jacket, is taking FOREVER. 

It's downright boring but on the upside I only have about 4 inches left to go. 

I am reading Redeemed by Heather King this week.  She's not your typical Catholic writer.  This book is her journey from recovering alcoholic to being received into the Church.  She's lived quite the life and I think she has an interesting perspective.  

For our breakfast reading,  we are working our way through St. Patrick's Summer.  Just like it says, it's an adventure catechism.  We've had this book for forever and when I saw it on the shelf, I knew it would make a great Lenten read.  The catechism is taught through time-travel stories of Old and New Testament happenings.  The first chapter on the nature of God is not to be missed. I love revisiting old favorites with the younger bunch in our family.

Totally off the subject here...check out what I found on the bathroom floor this morning...alive and kicking...a not so friendly wasp!  Hope there aren't anymore wherever he came from....please....

Anyway,  check out Ginny's Yarn Along for some great knitting and reading ideas.

Yarn Along

Surprise, surprise...I finished the sweater I had been working on for the last few weeks.  So glad I kept at it because I really like everything about it. 

Thinking about making buttons, like the original sweater has. Not sure if I'm really that ambitious though.  Hoping to get pictures and other details on Ravelry soon.

To celebrate finishing one project,  I cast on for the Fleurette jacket.  I know it looks like a doll scarf right now and that might be all the farther I get with it because I'm also starting in on Marianna's Christmas stocking.  Hard to be in the Christmas spirit during Lent, though.

I'm reading Fertility, Cycles and Nutrition for like the third time.  Lots of info about vitamins and general nutrition.  I always have to re-read after I forget that all these things make me feel better... well, the right food and that whole exercise thing.  Did you know that a woman's body loses 1% of its muscle mass every year after she turns 40?  I am seriously considering some weight training, nothing drastic (you know me).  According to my calculations, if this body is going to last long enough to spring 8 more kids into self-sufficiency...I'm gonna need all the help I can get.

Check out more Yarn Along inspiration at Ginny's blog.

Yarn Along

Joining the Yarn Along has done wonders for my sweater.  I'm hoping to finish it by next week.  After getting back into the swing of the pattern, I remembered how much I loved this yarn. It's just exceptionally yummy! So soft and springy and warm, I have been happily knitting everywhere I go. Practically begged Timothy to drive on Monday for grocery shopping so I could keep at it.  Didn't work though.

I've been reading The Captain's Dog out loud to the little people for breakfast.  You'd think we'd be pretty sick of Lewis and Clark by now, but this book has been great fun.  A short journal entry from Captain Lewis for the beginning of each chapter and then the dog's point of view on the same events.  Matthew and Andrew keep begging for more.
Sorry to say I have been so busy knitting that I am not reading a thing for myself right now.  Have to remedy that for next week I guess.
Enjoy more Yarn Along adventures with Ginny.

Yarn Along

Thought I'd join Ginny's Yarn Along with the hope that I won't give up on this sweater.

I left this project in the dust in order to finish Gabriel's Christmas stocking.  Now I'm having a hard time finding my groove and seriously thinking about ripping the whole thing out.  Timothy and Stephen have a fit whenever they catch me ripping , so I'd have to do it in secret if I really get serious about it.  In the meantime, I've started reading up on Haiti.  Joe and Stephen are just 6 weeks away from their mission trip and I thought it would be a good opportunity for the whole family to learn about where the boys will be for the end of March. 

This book was about more than Haiti.  It's actually about the author's journey from helping people immediately after 9/11 at Ground Zero, to working in Sri Lanka following the tsunami in 2004 and finally heading to Haiti in 2010.  Not necessarily what I was looking for initially, but interesting anyway.  For the younger bunch, I found this selection at the library and we are working through them slowly along with a few more general info type books.

Joseph watched a DVD by Frontline filmed just days after the earthquake.  He described it as "not for the faint of heart".  So glad our guys have this opportunity to serve others and make friends along the way. The stories from this part of the world are so heartbreaking.  Will you please keep everyone involved in this journey in your prayers?