Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Yarn Along


Hooray!  After several weeks of crazy (the biggest event being the skating show for which I ended up being "den mom" - in charge of almost 100 young skaters waiting for costumes and skates to be tied - aaahhh!!!!), things are starting to settle down and I can see signs of routine coming back into our lives.  I can't express how happy I am that it's over an that life can be normal (or as "normal "as it gets in our house).   It's so nice to return to Ginny's Yarn Along!

My knitting has been coming along slowly.  I am still working on the feather and fan baby blanket and I finished another pair of legwarmers and have started a third pair.  The one pair I made were too small so they went to a friend of Pk.  It's fun to see my legwarmers skating past me on the ice!



On the book front, I continue to read as much as I can.  In the fiction department, I have finally gone back to a book I had bought ages ago.  I love Sarah Addison Allen when I am in the mood for her.  Her books are whimsical and sweet, and are stories in which dreams come true.  There is a hint of magic in them but they are not fantasy.  I love her when she is on - she makes me look a little bit differently at the world around me.  As I am reading "The Girl Who Chased the Moon", I desperately want to make cake!



In terms of non-fiction, I have two books on the go - Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans and Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott.  Both books are by authors who I find so easy to connect with but also who have fought some pain and some questions about faith and church that make me feel as if I am not the only one who struggles sometimes.  They are also books that allow me to graze - I read a bit here, a bit there and the chapters aren't too long so I can read a tiny bit at bedtime and still feel like my faith muscles have gotten a bit of a stretch.  That is exactly what I need right now.

I can't wait to see what you are reading and stitching!

Thursday, April 7, 2016

Yarn Along

I don't get my blog written anywhere near as often as I would like but at least I have been able to keep up with my Yarn Along posts of late.  I love the Yarn Along, hosted by Ginny over at Small Things.  I love to read and I love to knit and I love to get new ideas!






I haven't had much time but I have been able to get a tiny bit done.  I finished the other books I was reading (if you haven't read Sarah Bessey's Out of Sorts, it's definitely worth it) and so I picked up again on a couple of books that I have been meaning to get to.  Simply Tuesday, by Emily Freeman, is a book from a theme of my reading that comes up every so often - trying to get out from under the frenzied pace of my life.  I haven't gotten very far but I am finding that I am enjoying this book so far.  In terms of fiction, I had a bit of trouble getting into Go Set a Watchman, which I have been meaning to read forever but that has definitely changed, as proven by the bags under my eyes at work today.  I can't put it down.  There is just something about Harper Lee's writing that speaks to me and I love her characters.

In terms of knitting, I'm working on several things, as well.  I finished the other pair of legwarmers and they ended up being too small, as I suspected (it helps to read the carefully enough to know the sizing BEFORE you have knit half of the project).  Now, I have started the larger size of these Gap-inspired Leg Warmers and I'm really enjoying knitting these.  The pattern is easy, the cables look lovely and it's simple enough that I don't have to look at the pattern now.  I also have a baby blanket project that I'd like to get going (although I know it's probably a lofty goal) that I have started.  I'll share more later but there have been several babies born at church lately and I'd love to give each a blanket.

I can't wait to see what everyone else is working on!