Yarn Along

I'm reading a book off my bookshelf this week that I bought ages ago when I heard the author speak at an event, with the best of intentions, but have never read yet.  Susie Larson is incredibly inspiring, and I feel like I'm gaining some clarity on some things I've been praying about for over a year through reading this.  I think I've been focusing too big.  I'm realizing that I need to focus on the small.  I need to focus on the quality and service in the small things, and with the small people.  I think that's what I have been doing, but I see others doing big things, and I wonder if I'm missing something, or doing something wrong because everything in my life is small.  My self-doubt and self-criticism kicks in when it is all small.

We all have dreams, and we all have aspirations.  I realized that I was concentrating on things I often criticize the Church for doing.  I want to be flashy and noticed and smart.  The model Christ sets for us is so much more simple.  It's base level simple.  Getting off his seat in heaven he came to us.  Seeing a need, he humbles himself and washes feet like the lowliest of servants.  He is so assured of who he is, that nothing was below him.  His identity was so secure that no job could debase it.  I think his disciples were annoyed how much he talked about humility.  I think they were always thinking of the next level, and he was always pushing the fundamentals.  Sometimes the hardest areas to walk in obedience are the areas of the small.

Anyway, I'm gaining some clarity I have been seeking for a few years.  I have been patiently waiting for God to show me the next step, and in this book, I see it so loud and clear: go lower.  Be smaller.  Be faithful in the small, unflashy, unnoticed things.  Cultivate those deep, few friendships and stop having these popularity goals for my blog.  Value the sweet readers I have and give them the best I have, and stop reaching for more.  It's not that I wouldn't like more readers, it's that my quest for them is distracting, and I have no time for that in my life right now.

There's actually some very long stories behind these thoughts, but this book couldn't have come at a more opportune time.  I wonder if I would have gotten this clarity months ago when I bought this book, or if God was saving it for just this time.  Either way, I'm thankful.

_________

My knitting is coming along nicely.  I knew it was the perfect summer project, and I was right.  It's a gift for a friend of mine in ministry, who I feel needs some extra arms wrapped around her.  Since she is so far away from me, I thought I'd wrap my arms around here in the form of yarn.  I hope she likes it.  Project notes can be found here.  I'm calling this project "Miss Rumphius."  (not my pattern, but I do like to name my projects.  Naming is fun.)  That name is based off of a character in a children's picture book, about a woman who scatters wildflower seeds at the end of her life, so that beauty can be found after she is gone.  It's a book that ask the question: what kind of mark are you leaving on this world?"

Yarn Along

So, one of my dear, dear aunts and I have a lot in common, one being we have both always struggled with keeping our homes clean.  We were messaging back and forth a few weeks ago, and she said she had found an amazing book on cleaning that I just had to read.  She was so insistent that I read it, that she said, "You know what?  I'm just going to send it to you for your birthday."

It's a Japanese book, and I smiled at some of the cultural aspects addressed.  (A bedroom was measured by the number of mats fit in it.)  To be perfectly honest, I have thrown this book a few times.

Like when she said that some people have messy homes because they can't seem to put stuff away.

throw the book at the wall.

Yeah.  My problem couldn't be 5 children in my house dumping stuff faster than I pick it up.  Couldn't be.  Stupid lady.  All I do is clean up.

So I picked it up again, because I trust my aunt, and I trust her judgment.  She never sends me stuff.  If she sent it, she must have for a reason.

Then the lady goes on and on about how she never has to tidy anymore.  Her house is always clean and things are always put away, and I too can have this life where I just come home from work and take a long hot bath in my impeccably clean home.

throw the book at the wall.

Stupid lady.  I don't live in lala land.  You cannot tell me you have a method where I never have to tidy my house again.  It's against nature.

So I pick up the book again, because my aunt knows me, and she knows herself, and if she found something that works, it must work.  As I read I think there is something lost in translation because I find she's not talking about cleaning, she's talking about tidying in particular.  She's talking about clutter.  She's talking about piles of junk that show up out of the blue everyday.  She's talking about simplifying.

OK, now this is my language.  I'm slowly starting to understand.

About a week before I got this book from my aunt, I ran across this blog post about the idea of wardrobe capsules.  Studies show that most people just wear the same small amount of clothes, and most of your clothes sit unused.  This system is where you keep only your favorite clothes, and only have out in your closet the cluster of clothes that you will wear for that season (3 months or so.)  That way, when you look in your closet, it's quick and easy to see what you want.  That idea had already been percolating in the back of my mind.  I love the idea of decluttering and go through purges.  But this book isn't about going through a purge.  It's about living the purge.  There's a definite method to it that I have never been taught.  She says most people have never be taught  how to tidy, meaning we were taught how to put things away, but we are rarely taught how to decide what gets put away, and what needs to go, so the house does not get overwhelmed.  The principles to that are in here.

So with a vision of what I want my closet to look like, and using the principles of this book, I have been tackling my closet to start with.  That's where she says to startI'm constantly having piles of clothes accumulate on the chair in my room.  That chair isn't for sitting, it's for clothes piles.  Clothes are stuffed to the brim in my closet, and I even have piles on the floor in there now.

The reason that I have so many clothes and use so few is for a completely different post I'm working on writing.  For now, we'll just say that's the short version of the situation.  The fact that I've gone through the body changes of growing 5 children to birth, and I am not able to do stuff that normal people do like try on clothes in the store have something to do with it.  It's a whole long saga.

So I've decluttered before.  I've cleaned out my closet before and got rid of stuff.  That isn't anything new.  However, this book has some very different methods for decluttering, in a way that makes it "stick" and I have to say, I'm really liking this.  I've gone through my tops, bottoms, dresses and socks thus far.  I've got my underwear, purses, shoes, and accessories left this week.  You declutter not room by room, but category by category.  You don't get rid of things you hate, you pick up each item, and see if it sparks joy.  I know, I know, it sounds cheesy.  But it's been working.

Now I look in my closet, and it's like going to In and Out Burger.  OK, maybe that's not the best illustration, but I like having limited options, when all the options are delightful.  It's just been so simple.  I'm loving this and it's truly like I'm carrying around less garbage.  I don't even have enough clothes out in my closet to make a significant pile.  Once I decided which of my clothing "sparked joy" I bagged up 5 (count them!! FIVE!!) garbage bags full of clothes that will leave my house.  I then used the capsule idea without any effort at all, and only have hanging the clothes that I will wear this season, limiting myself to the portions in the blogpost linked above except I kept a few more dresses.  I love wearing dresses on Sunday and 2 is just not enough.  I kept 5.  Because I'm the boss.

So, I'm only on chapter 3 right now.  I'm hoping this book gets more into how to declutter the rest of the house.  I really like the ideas presented.  I do still throw the book from time to time, when the 20 something, I have no children and just need to keep my little apartment tidy attitude comes out through the author.  But the more I read, the more I consider that some principles are universal.  The human nature is the same no matter what stage of life you are in.  Really, some lightbulbs are going off in my head as she's explaining what I'm doing and why I'm doing it as if she has a camera watching me.  It's starting to get eerie.  I was just reading last night about why the clutter problem is so common with the younger sister, and why that is, and as a younger sister myself (in the habit of hand-me-downs) my jaw just kept dropping as I realized what I was doing.

Honestly, I'm considering reading this book out loud to my children for our next read aloud.  Silje has taken notice of my room's transformation, and she wants to read it so she can do her room next.  If this thing catches on, it could be a game changer.

***

As for knitting, I'm focusing this summer on actually writing all the patterns I need to publish.  I need a really clear brain for that since I have such a build up, so I'm pausing from knitting my own designs and making a shawl for a friend of mine.  I'm taking some Madelinetosh Prairie Lace yarn in "fragrant" from my stash and I first bought this pattern, because it is so her.  But about 2 hours into knitting this, I realized that this pattern is much more complicated than my brain is handling right now.  Seriously, I don't know what half of these abbreviations are.

This designer is all kinds of genius, way above my attention span, and I'm thoroughly impressed with it, and someday I may knit it, and I normally love it when I find a pattern where I can learn some new techniques.  But right now I'm really just looking for an easy knit I can bring outside when I'm watching the kids play.  I want something simple I can bring to the lake and hold a conversation with someone.  So I decided to go with this pattern instead, which I found through a Ravelry search.  It's really simple, but I think there's this multipurpose elegance to it too.  I want one.  The abundance of knit stitches over and over again in that stockinette stitch done in the round is exactly  what I'm in the mood for right now.  I'm chilling out just looking at the pictures.  So that is going on the needles, and I had to learn how to do "Judy's Magic Cast On" so I'm still working with a pattern where I have to learn at least one new technique.  Everyone of my personalities is happy now.

Yarn Along

The color work portion of my Norsk Cloak is now complete, and I've started work on the bottom ribbing.  Then there's some steeking to be done and some ribbed bands, but it should be all downhill from hill.

I finished up Midsummer Night's Dream for school prep for next year.  I love this version.  I laughed until there were tears.  The kids are going to love it, as we memorize actual passages using the reference How to Teach Your Child Shakespeare.  I did think while reading the last chapter, that I will really struggle reading that one aloud because several characters from various story lines going on are all coming together and interjecting in each other's conversations.  It's a hysterical scene, that I think they will only understand if they act it out.  So I'm currently brainstorming ways that can be done, since there isn't a local theater that is doing this one where we can go see it.  I really hope the kids like it.

Yarn Along

My Norsk Cloak has come to a short standstill as I ran out of yet another color of yarn.  In the mean time, I thought I'd swatch something pretty in the soft red/pink that didn't make it into the final version of the Norsk Cloak.  It ended up getting ripped up and terrible.  So then I looked in my stash for this lovely lace weight pretty yarn to make myself a summery shawl.  All those swatches failed too. I learned, once again, that I hate working lace patterns that needs concentration on both the right and wrong side.  I much prefer concentration on the right side, and then just purl the whole wrong side.  I don't have the brainpower, or patience to do some lace patterns I want to do.  So this week for my yarn along, I'm just showing you yarn that is doing nothing.



I've also put aside my current reading to go over the Shakespeare curriculum I'm putting together for this Fall.  We will work through How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare (which is not directed to homeschoolers at all, by the way.  It's just for parents.)  I heard the author speak on the Read-Aloud Revival podcast, and he said the Young Reader's Shakespeare versions of plays are his favorite for introducing the stories of Shakespeare, and would be a nice companion to learning the language of Shakespeare in his book.  So we got a few of those.  I have never read "A Midsummer Night's Dream" before if you can believe it.  It's painfully funny.  I know my kids will like it, but there are so many story lines going on at the same time that we may make some sort of visual/poster to sort out the various stories as we are reading them.  A guide, a few books, and some make-as-we-go posters.  That's about what that curriculum is going to look like.


Also, before I forget, I have to announce the winner of last week's giveaway for the ebook package Teaching from Rest!!



Rafflecopter drew a random winner and that is: Erin Russell!!  

The ebook will be delivered to your email shortly, directly from the author herself.  Congratulations!

I'd love to encourage others who didn't win to check out the book anyway.  It is seriously worth it.

Yarn Along GIVEAWAY!

I'm still working on my "Norsk Cloak" for my knitting project.  This is really becoming a marathon project, but I'm still, still enjoying it.  I can't wait to wear this.  I still haven't figured out what knitting project will come after this, so I'm in no hurry to finish this by any deadline.  I want the pattern ready to publish this Fall, so that leaves me a bit of time.  I have a feeling, though, that time will go faster than I anticipate.


Ingrid is still taking ages to fall asleep.  She still climbs out of bed and runs around like a madman whenever we turn our back.  It's really been good for my reading, as I continue to be forced to sit and wait with her to drift off.  During nap time I bring Lord of the Rings with me, and in the evening when it's much darker, I have read an ebook from my iPhone that I've been drooling over for awhile.  It's called Teaching from Rest and can I say this author is inside my head?  As you know, I've been writing a bit on our calling to rest and our design for rest.  This author wrote everything I wish I had written.  I just have nothing more to add to what she has said.  I feel like anything more I write on the topic of rest would just plagiarize this.  So just read this.

I think that homeschooling can be so work intensive.  Therefore, it drifts into the "works based" side of faith.  The problem is, we cannot be dependent on our works, and if we continue to depend on our works, we will continue to live in discouragement and exhaustion.

Are you exhausted?

Then this book is for you.  It talks about teaching, mothering, homeschooling, from a state of rest.  Even when no one will let you rest.  This is not written from an idealistic, rose-colored-glasses standpoint of the author, as she wrote it when she had 6 little kids, the youngest 3 being under the age of 2.  (Her youngest are twins.)  Her understanding of the impossibility of our job is deep...so deep.

This book has been balm for my soul.  It's the gospel for homeschooling moms.  How do we achieve rest when God has called us to a job that leaves no room for that?  Sarah is Catholic, and I'm Lutheran, but there is an unmistakable unity in her message: God is enough.  I could shout "Amen!" to every page of this book.

You'll have to read it to find out.  I wrote the author, and gushed how much I'm moved by her book, and she offered to give a copy away to one of you readers.  So if you want this "full package" ebook, which comes with an audio companion with some conversations with some really smart people, and a printable companion journal, just sign up below.  There are a few ways to sign up.  You can visit and "like" either Sarah or my Facebook pages (or both).  You can sign up for email notifications on this blog (the invent your own option), or you can simply leave a comment to this post.  You can do one or all.  The giveaway will run until next Tuesday night at midnight.  Sarah will email the winner the links to download her amazing book.  If you already follow Sarah or myself of Facebook, or are already on the email list, you still get credit for that.

I've also become an affiliate with Sarah, so if you don't win, or just want the book right now, you can click to her book through this site and Sarah will give me a portion of that sale.  If you are remotely interested, check it out.  (Sorry about the unaligned placement of the blog to the right.  My OCD is being driven mad right now about that but I'm finally starting up a blog migration.  It will all get fixed in due time.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Yarn Along

I'm still working on my "Norsk Cloak" as I'm now calling it.  I'm actually starting to see the end in sight, an I'm not sure how I feel about it.  I cannot wait to see it finished, but on the other hand, I have such a pile up of finished items already that need writing that I'm in no hurry to add to it.

I've gone further in Lord of the Rings.  Ingrid is still having a tough time getting to sleep with her newfound skill of leaving her bed whenever she feels like it.  It's one bright side to her not sleeping well.  I just hafta sit in her room so she doesn't climb out of her crib.  This is the only thing I can do then.

My schedule is sweeping me up, friends, and I'm not sure what to think about it.  I may sound discouraged, but in reality it's just been a bad attitude.  I can't do the things I want to do.  Our time at home I'm frantically trying to catch up on home things, and all these little pockets of time I could do "my" things are disappearing.  And yet, my family is thriving more.  My time at the YMCA while they are doing their activities there has been making me stronger, physically, and I haven't felt stronger in a long, long time.  There have definitely been perks to this busy-ness.

It's April now.  I had another knitting pattern I planned to have out by Easter, but I still can't seem to get the sleeve caps right on it.  I don't have any time to figure it out.  It's on hold.  Everything is on hold.  I'm slowly realizing that I may not get a chance to get another pattern out until this Fall.  That shouldn't bother me but it does.  I feel like my life is not my own right now, and I feel like I'm surrounded by people who would say "duh!" to that statement.  Nearly 11 years into this mom job, I can be pretty stubborn.

Most of all, I feel like this thing, this "knitting pattern" thing is holding this stress over my head that wouldn't exist otherwise.  There is an incredible amount of good things going on in my life right now.  The problem is, is that I look at my schedule, and I wouldn't change a thing...besides add more hours.

The weather around here has just been delightful.  Yesterday I took a walk through the garden, and found the strawberry heirloom popcorn I grew last year, but left in the garden because I had hit my yearly-garden-burnout, and corn keeps pretty good.  There were a small handful of cobs that were moldy, but for the most part all of it was still good.  The fine weather, and reminder of garden work ahead made me realize that these last few weeks have brought us out of the hibernation season (my favorite season of the year).  We are so desperately in need for this sun and fresh air.  We have chicks in the barn, seedlings under lights in the basement, a mommy cat with a bulging tummy of kittens and the chickens have returned to laying at full speed.  We are entering this life-giving growing season.

It's such a fun season.

It's just not a good sit by the fire and get "work" done season.  Well, at least not yet.  I'm probably going to continue to try to get my "knitting business" things done, and at the same time not let it rob me of joy when it doesn't.  I'm not sure that's the best of plans, but at this point, it's all I got.

Yarn Along

I have not caught my breath yet, if any of you are wondering.

It has been full speed ahead around here.  I got the kids signed up for all their Spring things.  I'm honest when I say that we limit them extremely, but I have realized that all of us have been benefiting from some movement and I'm eager to get us all in shape a bit.  So I'm bending the normally strict schedule for some physical activities.  Spring planting is just around the corner, and I'm trying to prep for that too.  We returned from our trip to an empty fridge and no real meals planned, so I've been busy coming up with meals, grocery lists, massive shopping, and the like.

My seedlings are starting to pop up.  That makes me incredibly happy.  The cabbages and marigolds are leading the pack right now.  I do see that white mold is starting to grow on my seed trays already. I wasn't sure what to do about that but a quick google search lead me to try sprinkling ground cinnamon on the mold, and so far the mold has quickly receded with this treatment, and I'm hoping will be gone completely soon.

But today my writing is about knitting and reading.  Well, tonight I hope to get a lot of knitting business done, but as for actual knitting, I'm still plugging away at this color work mystery using one of my favorites, Brooklyn Tweed Loft yarn.  I'm in no rush getting this done, and it has been the exact type of knitting that I have been needing: repetitious and easily memorized.  I can do this pattern in my sleep now, and can carry on a conversation while knitting it, and yet it does hold my interest, and it's taking awhile.

I know that many knitters value a quick knit, but I love a knit that gives me my money's worth in yarn enjoyment.  One can easily spend $30 on a skein of yarn that's bulky and can be knit in a day or two.  But spending over a hundred dollars, while intimidating, this enjoyment has lasted me a few months. For one who must knit for sanity, fingering weight yarn is the way to go.  I don't spend money and then rip the project off like a bandaid.  Well, in December I do, but that's December.  Everyone is looking for quick projects then.

I have finished most of the long line of Clarkson family books from the Mom Heart Conference I went to.  I feel full of inspiration.  Actually, what I feel most inspired to do after reading A Storyformed Life is to actually read The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.  I was a literature major.  I took a college class on C.S. Lewis, one of Tolkein's best friends.  I have watched the Lord of the Rings movies by Peter Jackson, and have been a Tolkein fan .... shhhhh ... while never actually reading it.

That's right.  I've never actually read the books.  [putting bag over head.] Knut has, and has this deluxe, fancy addition he got for his birthday or Christmas a long time ago.  I've always been meaning to read it.  I listened to a podcast "The Read Aloud Revival" (my new favorite podcast by the way.  Excellent, excellent stuff.  She blogs here, but I'll admit I don't follow her blog yet as much as I've been following her podcasts.)  Anyway, several of the people she interviews on that podcast answered her question "If you were stuck on a desert island with only 3 books, which would they be?" and several of these giants in literature answered "The Lord of the Rings Trilogy."  Many of them have read them many times.

I didn't think I had the time for such a tome, but 1) I haven't read good fiction in awhile, and I am a firm believer that everyone should read fiction, just like I think it's good for everyone to create things with their hands, and 2) I have this newfound time when putting my littlest to bed.  Ingrid (age 2) has been so messed up from our trip to see my parents that either Knut or I have had to sit outside her door, and put her back in bed several times after we lay her down as she has been coming out over and over again.  Sleeping next to her isn't an option.  She's just so messed up with the time changes, and sleeping arrangements constantly changing on our trip.  She just needed Knut or I to be up there and remind her of the routine.

The first couple of nights/naptimes have dragged on for 2-3 hours of her getting up after laying her down.  At first she got out about every 5 minutes.  After a few nights and afternoons of this, she is down to falling asleep in about an hour, getting out of bed only once.  We are on the right track.

Don't get me wrong, she's not calling for us, or screaming and keeping her 2 roommates awake.  I've realized that when my kids are clingy, the most effective thing to do is be clingy right back.  I smother them with hugs and kisses, and hold them in my lap for as long as they like.  It does not take any child long to push me away as if to say "Mom!  Enough!  I need some space and want to go play!!"  Depending on age, it takes anywhere from an hour to 5 minutes, but it always happens.  It's my secret, evil plan that has worked with my kids.  They know if they cling to me, they'll get me.  (evil laugh.)  It's my smother them with love technique, and I came up with it myself.  It didn't come from a book or anything.

Ingrid is giggling and wide awake at night, that's all.  It's actually worse, because while I know how to calm cries, I don't calm laughter and energy well.  She's her normal cheerful self, just in a hysterical, tired/exhasuted sort of way.  I am fairly certain, that in another week she will be down to 30 minutes or so, and maybe even by then we can start imagining our great sleeper will have returned to her normal schedule.

In the meantime, I have been reading this volume outside her door.  I am interrupted from time to time, but over the last few days I've been completely drawn in, and now I'm completely hooked.  I have seen the movies, I know how it ends but as always the book is always better.

Oh my word this is so much better.  The movies are a shadow.  My heart is racing reading this, and my heart is captivated.  I know I don't need any more stress in my life but this is fun stress, if there is such a thing.  "Thrilling" I think the word is.

I feel a bit sorry for my family, who will be neglected as I hole myself up now and just read this.  But what's done is done.  There's not much turning back.

I'm joking really.  My family is too demanding to let me hole myself up.  They like eating and stuff.  Like, everyday.

I made 3 egg bakes yesterday morning for the freezer so it will be ready for spring planting time for Knut, and invented this amazing Brussels Sprout and Ham Salad that 3 of my 5 kids really appreciated.  In the area of salads, that's a big win in our house.  Oh and we have new chicks and I have so much to tell about that, but I'll save that for tomorrow.

Linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along

Yarn Along

The knitting for the "Norsk Cloak" as I'm starting to call this pattern is still coming along.  It's quite a huge piece, so thankfully this will be a nice project to just keep going on for awhile so my brain can focus on other things.  I have the color work portion memorized now, so it's easy to just pick it up whenever.

I'm finishing up Own Your Life though you'll probably still be seeing it in my Yarn Along posts for awhile because I feel compelled to read it again, this time with a pen for underlining.  I meant to underline as I went this last time, but never seemed to have one available.  There's just so much in here that I want to sink in, that I don't think I'm done with this one yet.

I am also doing some finishing work for my Plucky Yarn pullover sweater design which will be called "Nåde."  It is inspired by one of the family heirloom baptismal gowns my kids wore.  It's so close to being done, it will soon be in my "for goodness' sake get this edited and published!" pile in no time.

Linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along, and joining other bloggers as we share what we are knitting and reading this week.

Yarn Along

So...

I'm still knitting the same thing, and reading the same books. (Pattern my own.  Books: Own Your Life and Nothing to Envy.)

This is how bloggers get writer's block.

Linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along.

Yarn Along

I'm at the end of these Irish Oats socks, and I'm loving them so much I think I'll have to make another pair for myself as these are a gift.  I'm really on a roll with socks, and I really have other knitting to do but it's just that addicting.

I know it's a funny thing to put a seed catalog into my reading for the week, but just like I love reading cookbooks when the story of the recipes are included, I love reading this seed catalog that tells you the history of that seed.

It's an heirloom seed catalog that has an extraordinary collection of seeds from around the world.  Tidbits like "we got this pepper from the So-and-so family from this city in Mexico, and they have been growing this heirloom variety since 1832."  Or, "this squash was used in Maine, with the latest known reference being in a seed catalog published in 1912, and is known to be harvested as soon as it starts to change color and ripens well in storage."  It talks about the history of which corner of the world these seeds were found, and why these families used these varieties for generation after generation.  It didn't just give the names of the seeds, it talked about which variety is better canned, which one is better fresh, which one handles frost better than another, and how well they store over winter.  I feel like I learned so much.  I actually read through the whole thing twice.  I had a lot of fun picking out my seeds for next year.

I actually love growing things in my garden that I simply cannot buy.  I like growing things that are hard to find.  The first few years on the farm, I realized that I dreaded gardening mostly because gardening was a system, and I was to work within that system, and everyone around me knew the system, and I didn't.  The system made me feel stupid.  I hated the system.  I love to experiment.  I like to wonder.  The whole thing is fun when it's childlike for me.  I'd rather try some daring new gardening technique and fail miserably than never learn anything new.

When I finally realized my issues through some discussions with Knut (when I talk and talk and talk and finally figure out what's bothering me...he's a patient man), he encouraged me to start experimenting.  He told me to make gardening mine, not just the family way.  The freedom with that this last year was amazing.  We had our best year of gardening yet.  That's not to say that we weren't overrun with weeds by the end, and we did have some major fails in there.  Our kitchen was always brimming with produce, though, and I learned so much.  It was exciting again.

So I'm going even more daring this year, and I'm going to try to correct some things that didn't go well last year.  Plus I'm starting to realize more how I want the garden to look and how I want things arranged through all of this trial and error.  I'm starting to get a feel for how it should go together.

I've been debating back and forth about starting plants early indoors again.  I stopped trying this several years ago because I couldn't remember to bring the seed trays in from the 3 season porch at night, and I always seem to have some toddler on hand that loves to play in my trays of seedlings and mess it all up.

Every time I mention to Knut that I might want to get some lights for starting seeds, and maybe a cart or shelf of some sort, he said he thinks his mom had something like that in the basement, but he didn't even know if they worked anymore, or if the lightbulbs were broken or something.  It sounded like a project every time he mentioned it, so I honestly just looked to see how much new ones cost.  But he kept saying I should at least see if I could get them working first.

So he didn't really describe where they were very well, and I went down to the "old basement" of the house (the unfinished side of the basement) 3 or 4 times trying to find them, then figure out where to plug them in, and finding cords, etc.

So I finally found them. They were fixed to Knut's wax bench, where he waxes his cross-country skis.  I think in hindsight he was clear about where they were I just didn't recognize them for what they were.  I was looking for some broken down things that I thought would be hidden under some box or under some bench or in the back of some shelf somewhere.  I had no idea they were these lovely lights on the workbench.  Knut had never turned them on, but I got them plugged in after getting an extension cord going, they turned on immediately...all the bulbs and everything.  They're in perfect working order, and will hold 4 full trays of seeds easily.  I'm so excited.  I'm starting seeds this year!  And they're even fixed to some nice shelves, and in the unfinished basement where the toddlers never are.  It could not be any more perfect.  Well, I have to kick all of Knut's ski wax out.  There's not much snow this year, and I still have a about 2 months before I plan to start the seeds, so it shouldn't be too hard.  But it's good to know that there's a plan.

Linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along.

Yarn Along

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading (though not at the same time!), and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? ~ Ginny Sheller

So, last weekend, I was debating back and forth between which knitting project to bring on the plane. I was fluctuating between 2 of my current projects I'm designing, but in the end, I had the thought.  "Hey, I'm going to be on vacation!  Knit from someone else's pattern!"  After I made socks for the kids for Christmas (that still don't have the ends woven in...ahem...) I've sort of been on this sock kick, and fell in love immediately with the Irish Oats pattern.  I was honestly expecting on getting more done on the plane, but I forgot the flight was only 2 hours each way.  Most of the time I have a connecting flight, and so I wasn't expecting such expediency.  So far I'm loving this pattern.  It's very well written, and of course, I'm using some of my Quince Yarn on stash.  It's my basic, blue jean, goes with every single pattern yarn.

When I was in Colorado, I bought a shameful number of books for the kids and Knut and I...again.  This is one area of my life where I seriously lack self control.  I'll share 3 of them here today.

The Green Ember is a book I've heard about for awhile now, and I got it for Silje.  She loves her rabbits, and rabbits on an adventure seemed like a really good fit for her.  She was handed the book Sunday night, and by Monday afternoon she came to me frantically saying "Tell me there's a sequel!  Tell me there's another one!"  She was so disappointed that this book is relatively new.

We read a lot of classics at our house, mostly because I've really been trying to weed out the "candy books" as I call them.  Candy books are the quick, entertaining but not edifying books we find (usually at the library) that take her 30 minutes to read and she forgets what it was about the next day.  They're not bad/evil, but I've learned that they set a level of easy-entertainment attention span for my kids that my kids resisted higher quality books with depth, which I want them to love.  So I started getting rid of them around the house, and stopped bringing them home from the library.  When good quality books are the only ones you can read, your palate for children's literature changes a bit.

So many modern books are "candy books" in my opinion, but this one was recommended by Sarah Clarkson, and if you know my blog, you know that I haven't struck out with her recommendations for my kids even once.  Every book she recommends for them has been a huge hit with my kids.  So since we read so many classics, Silje hasn't really ever had to wait for another book to come out.  What's out is out.

The rabbits with swords have this story to tell, and you just don't see new books these days that are this epic.  She's already started her 2nd read-through.  I think she just wants to hang out with the rabbits in there a little more.

Now, that's not saying there will be a sequel.  I have no idea. But I posted a picture of her with the book on Instagram yesterday, and the author of the book sent us a message.  I was thrilled.

I got A Time to Keep for the little girls, which is just a precious little book with stunning illustrations and stories of how kids used to play to spur on imagination.  4 year old Solveig loved it, but 2 year old Ingrid kept trying to yank it away from us.  They both love it, and it's such a pretty book.

Little Red Writing ended up being for Elias, not because it's at his level to read by himself, but because I thought it would be a good book to have for our homeschooling library.  He loves all things funny, and this book is really funny as the little red pencil goes through an adventure writing a story, and has to go through forests of adjectives, and adventures with adverbs.  It's full of puns, which is right up his alley, and he laughed pretty hard, and happened to learn many parts of speech and their uses in the meantime.

Linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along.

Yarn Along

I'm still on A Girl of the Limberlost which was Silje's Christmas book.  I've cried twice, now.  The amazing thing about this book is that I'm not crying from sadness (yet...I don't know how it ends).  I'm crying from beauty.  Very, very few authors can make you cry because something is so beautiful.  It goes beyond excellent storytelling.  This is storytelling at the highest artisan level.

This is the best book ever.  I simply cannot recommend it highly enough.  I keep looking up at Silje and saying, "Oh my goodness this is so good.  I cannot put it down!"  Then she just smiles and said "I told you!!"  A book that spans generations with people of all ages being effected by it?  That my friends is the definition of a classic.

My color work project using Brooklyn Tweed has reached the 6-8 inch simmer.  (The point in all of my designs, right around 6-8 inches deep when I second guess everything about the design.  So I pause and rethink it all.  This process can take anywhere from 1 day to 8 months.)

Fortunately, my "Nade" sweater, as I think I'm naming it, made from squishy, heavenly, cashmere-blend Plucky yarn is finally out of the thinking stage.  The front and back have been done awhile, but the sleeves have been simmering, as I did not like how it was turning out in the stitch pattern I had swatted out.  So in the end, I picked a super simple eyelet stitch for the sleeves, and this first sleeve is knitting up like a dream.  I could knit with this yarn for the rest of my life and die happy.  Seriously.  I am worried my design is not doing the yarn justice.  We shall see.

Linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along.

Yarn Along

Sorry for the lack of blogging during this winter break.  I try to never apologize for my lack of blogging because it's a bit cliche, but I do miss it.  I feel like I have all of these thoughts floating around in my mind, and I'd be so much better if I could just grab those thoughts and write them down so they stop cluttering up my thoughts.  I've been working on better priorities, though, and though I love all you readers, my kids need me a tad more.  So it's all been good.

I was very eager to return to my lovely, lovely, cashmere blend yarn that makes my heart go pitter patter, and all that's left is 2 sleeves.  During my time off of yarn along, I have made a beautiful swatch with the pattern I was planning for the sleeves, and I've started knitting one of the sleeves, and I think I want to tweak or change the stitch pattern I picked for the sleeves.  It's not quite right.

So that project has moved back to the "bring out the stitch dictionaries" phase, which is a non-knitting phase.  That's not a big problem, but I need at least one project going in the knitting phase, or I go a bit crazy.  So I started swatching up my next project, which again, uses Brooklyn Tweed yarn.  I know, I know.  I sorta get stuck on a yarn, and think of a million projects that would work well with it.  I will move on someday, but I'm quite content being stuck on Brooklyn Tweed.

I did make a swatch with a variety of color work patterns that I wanted to play around with.  From the swatch, I think I picked out the lines I want to use, and I got a good idea for gauge.  I have lost the size interchangeable needles I needed for ribbed edging, so I finally broke down and ordered replacements that fit my set.

So I have the beginning of the neck working on the needles.  It's coming along really nicely.  This will make perfect plane knitting for me in 2 weeks so I have to be sure not to work too fast, and actually pause and spend some time in the stitch dictionaries working on finding a new plan for the sleeves of my other project.  I need to remind myself that this is my only sanity knitting, and not get-it-done-all-the-time knitting.  I must use it sparingly until my trip.

As for reading, I'm stuck in the most delightful book right now.  Every year for Christmas, Knut gives each of the kids a special book, and writes a yearly letter to them in the front cover.  It's become such a treasured tradition, but in the last few years, he's asked for a bit more help in picking out the books. I'm constantly seeing book lists, and picking books for school, so I'm more aware of what the kids have and don't have, and where they are at reading level-wise.

The majority of the kids' Christmas books this year, except Ingrid's, were taken from booklists found on Sarah Clarkson's website. Silje got "A Girl of the Limberlost" and I had to hunt one down that was hardback because I wanted it to be almost an heirloom for her, with the letter from her daddy in it and all.  The only reason I got this book was Sarah's extremely strong recommendation, and my trust in her excellent taste.

So Silje got the book Christmas morning, and she was stuck in this book for awhile.  She came up for air, sometime around the evening of the 26th.  She put the book down with a long sigh and said, "That book was soooooo good!  Mommy, you have to read it!"

I had watched a movie of the book when I was a kid, and the movie was enchanting, yet slow and boring all at the same time, so I was intrigued that she recommended it so highly.  I started reading a chapter, sometimes only half a chapter, every night before I go to bed.  (The chapters are kind of long.)

Oh my goodness, this book is nothing like that slow, boring movie.  In fact, the movie gets so many things wrong and left out about 90% of the storyline, and a few main characters.  I wish I had the luxury to put everything aside and just read this book in 2 days like Silje did, but my kids won't allow it.  So I'm chipping away at it.  The depth and wisdom of the characters is spectacular.  The community is charming, but so believable.  The lessons learned are profound, yet not annoyingly obvious.  The love for nature, as well as the love of learning is so deep in Elnora, the main character.  She has this contagious optimism, and self-sufficiency.  The suspense is strong, though the danger isn't high all the time, though it's alway looming, which I find interesting.  This may actually make it to my top 5 all time favorite books.

Linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along where friends gather to discuss what they are knitting and reading.

Yarn Along

Well, it turns out I'm a bit behind already.  I was planning on having all 4 animals done by now, and just have the clothing left to make.  Last night I finished stuffing Miss Dandilion Doe, and she just has her ears to sew on and nose to stitch.  I have to go back and stitch the noses on the other 2 animals too, because I forgot that step.  It doesn't take long.

Mr. Fox is not even cut out, yet.  There's still plenty of time to get Mr. Fox done for Elias.  I'm cutting it close, though, and I still don't have any idea how to make a car pillow for David.  I think I'm going to rearrange my gift giving a bit since I'm about a week behind schedule.  You see, I bought a really fun robot making, engineering-type set off of Zuilly a few months ago, intending to give it to David for his birthday.  It was a bit extravagant, because we usually spend $30-50 on gifts, and this was a $150 dollar gift on sale for $50 or something like that.  I was thinking when I bought it that Elias will be so jealous because even though David is a crazy builder, Elias is as well, and robots are sort of his thing.  So I wasn't quite sure how I was going to get Elias an equal enough gift.

But David's birthday came, and I showed Knut the building set, and he said that David really wanted a snowboard, and Knut wanted him to have a much practice during the snow season as possible.  He said we'll give the snowboard to him for his birthday in the fall, and give the building set to him for Christmas.

Well, I was putting together a Christmas gift list for the kids, and realized it was very lopsided.  Each of the kids get a small, homemade stuffed animal, and David gets this enormous building set worth 4 times as much.  He wanted a car pillow, so I thought I'd closet the building set until his birthday comes around again, but reluctantly, because he would really like it and I want him to have it now.  At the time the only other solution I could find was buying bigger/more gifts for the other kids, and that would get expensive quick, not to mention just that much more clutter in my house to control.

So I'm going to de-stress this last home stretch of gift making.  I'm going to skip making the fox for Elias, and I'm going to give the boys the shared gift of the building set.  That way neither one of them can lord it over the other that they can't touch it.  That will free up a few days of crafting time with 2 less gifts to make, and allow me to finish up the other animal clothes without pulling some super late nights.

With this step I can also easily finish some handmade wool socks for the boys that I was hoping to do, and that way they're still getting something handmade by mom for Christmas, as is tradition.  I can knit the socks in front of the kids easily because I have knitting projects around the house all the time.  They really don't ask questions anymore.  But stitching up a stuffed animal has to be done in secret, and there's only so many secret waking hours I have.

Silje and Solveig's socks are pretty much complete.  I just need to graft the toes and weave in the ends.  Ingrid's first sock is done, but they're so little that they knit up in a blink of an eye.  I plan on finishing up hers today or tomorrow, and then start on the boys' socks.  I really wish I hadn't done the block coloring with the little girls and just did one solid color for each pair.  Oh well.  I'm so not redoing them.  They don't look bad, but I think I could have done it cuter.

I should be doing more advent reading, but actually for my own reading time I've been still going through Susie Larson's book "Your Beautiful Purpose."  This book has now completely drawn me in, and I find myself thinking about something I read in here even days later.  I'd love to explain further the huge ways this book is touching my heart right now, but I don't have time to write that tome.

Linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along.

Yarn Along

I'm getting completely off track with my Christmas crafting.  I'm supposed to be making the little animals for 4 of the kids.  I still need to make a car shaped pillow for David too, and I'm not quite sure how to do that yet.  So all of that is pretty much on track, but I got a bit distracted because as I was going through the master list of Christmas gifts yet to buy, I realized that part of the contents of the kids' yearly Christmas stocking is a good pair of wool socks.  For a cross-country skiing family like ours, it's an essential.

So this idea hit me this year, that I could skip buying them this year, and just make the socks from yarn in my stash.  It's not exactly cheaper, but I'm not spending any cash, so that's a bonus.  I'm starting to see 2 big problems with this plan: I have never made socks before.  Baby booties, yes, but I've actually never made socks.  Second, is I have 5 children, which means just whipping up 10 socks as if I had the time.

This plan is very soon approaching a scrap point.  I started making socks for Silje first, and figured I'd just go down the ranks.  I picked this pattern for her socks, and since she wears the same size shoes as me now, I'm just fitting them to my feet, which is easy.  Since she has narrow feet like me, I used a size US 0 needle for these, but after trying them on, I wish I would have used a US 1 because it is a bit snug from side to side.  The length is good.  Maybe they'll loosen up with wear.  On the other hand, maybe my feet are a bit wider than hers.  I'm not sure on that one.

I'm not sure what pattern I'm using with the boys yet, but for Ingrid and Solveig I was planning on using this easy one from Purl Soho.  Maybe I'll just make some socks for the girls, and buy the ones for the boys.  My boys LOVE homemade gifts, (more than my girls even) though, so they may take that hard.  Maybe I'll save them for Valentine's Day.  Maybe they're not getting socks this year.

There's a lot of maybes going on right now.  'Tis the season.

At any rate, I shouldn't be working on these, but I am.  I will soon be returning to working on what I should be working on.  I get distracted easily.

Also, I'm totally making a pair like Silje's for myself soon.  They're so cute.  I think I want mine to be an slightly off white and grey stripe, with a light pink heart on the heel.

This is the time of year I get distracted by anything pretty and all things wool.  I'm such a procrastinator.  I'm also supposed to be working on a baby gift for a new niece coming in March.  I have zero time for falling in love with sock knitting right now.  Well, at least I should finish this pair.  That feels at least a little responsible.

Yarn Along

Monday was a day of sickness in the house.  Fortunately only 3 kids actually got sick, and even then, they were fine after a few hours of misery.  It didn't even last a whole 24 hours.

I've been doing a lot of Advent preparation this last week, but unfortunately, not working on the Christmas animals for the kids.  I'm realizing I have just a few weeks left and sort of hit a panic last night.  So this might be the last you see of this sweater in progress until after the New Year.  Whew!  I have a lot to do!

The front of this pullover is everything I hoped.  I loosely based it off of one of the antique baptismal gowns my girls wore that has been in my husband's family for more than 120 years.  It is just so lovely, that I started sketching, and wondering how the design would translate into a sweater.  I originally thought of putting garter stitch down the front for the horizontal lines, to mimic the pin tucks in the the gown, but I didn't like the idea of the different row gauge that would involve and the general pulling and adjusting while wearing.

Not that long ago, I thought of using a Latvian braid technique for the center horizontal panel.  It was just perfect, and made the row gauge pretty consistent throughout.  I'm currently playing around with some neck shaping, so it's not totally done.  The sleeves, once I get to them after Christmas, will be more lacy, which is also in line with the heirloom gown.  The swatch for the lace in this yarn still needs to be done, so I'm a bit away from getting that completed.

As for reading, I went to a conference with a friend of mine last Saturday.  It was just a morning and early afternoon thing, but the speaker was Susie Larson.  It was so good!  I was writing feverishly the whole time, and had pages of notes brought home with me.  Since I can't resist a book table, I got 2 of her books afterwards.  I've been reading through (be it ever so slowly) Your Beautiful Purpose.  So far it's been really inspiring, and yet grounded and practical.

Linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along.

Yarn Along

So, this yarn has me hypnotized.  I had heard on Ravelry about this "Plucky" yarn.  Friends on Instagram etc. were raving about it.  So I went on the website and thought I'd check it out.  The sheer number of color ways available were overwhelming, but I thought I'd order a bit, and see how it was. It turns out that's easier said than done, because it only goes up for sale twice or month or something online, and sells out in a matter of minutes.  But I knew so many people using this yarn, so I figured it couldn't be that hard to get some.

So the first month I tried to get it, I went online at the specified times, tried to remember which color way and base yarn I wanted ordered.  I got it all picked out, went to put it in my cart, and got a "sold out" notice.  I had missed it.  Shoot.

So the next month, I had everything all picked out.  I got online at the right moment.  I got it in my cart.  But the Plucky Knitter lady just added a new base yarn, and I thought I would drop just one skein of it into my cart to make a little accessory, since it looked so great.  It was a bad move because once I pressed the "purchase" button in my cart, everything was sold out.

On the third month, I went online at the specified time, I had everything picked out, I was moving it to my online cart and Knut walked in the back door.  "Hey honey, can you help me with something quick outside?"

"No!  Just...!  Hang on!" as I ran from my husband and kids with my laptop in my hands into the bathroom, locked the door, and as the little ones were pounding and screaming on the other side, I finally completed an order.

Victory.

So...I got a sweater's worth of the base: primo sport, which is a merino wool, cashmere, nylon blend.  This is my first time working with a cashmere blend, and I'm hooked.  People, I was made for cashmere.  I got the color way "Papier" which is sort of a grey-blue with bits of lavender in it.

It is the most perfect yarn ever.  I will so stand on top of my toilet with an army of toddlers pounding on the other side of the door and my husband asking "Gretchen, is everything okay?" all over again for it.

I'm knitting a pieced and seamed sweater, which is a first for me as a designer.  Trust me, it just makes this sweater more simple, not less.  I started with the back, since that is just simple stockinette, as I got the details of the rest of the sweater worked out on the spreadsheet.  The back flew off the needles over the weekend without much effort.  The softness of the cashmere, and the addition of the little bit of nylon for stretch makes it one of the most comfortable yarns to knit with, and I can go for hours without feeling any stress on my hands.

This week I'm onto the front of this sweater.  It has 2 panels of cables, which was all swatched out, but I did not swatch the distance between the panels.  So about an inch into this front, I've decided that I want the panels about an inch closer together, so I'm going to rip back this little bit today and start again.

The kids and I are moving onto Detectives in Togas for our morning tea time reading.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along, when a bunch of us blog about what we are currently knitting and reading.  You can click on over to Ginny's blog and find out what others are doing, and get inspired!

Yarn Along

"Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading..." -Ginny Sheller

I finished this shrug yesterday, blocked it out, seamed up the arms, and then decided that I want it about 3 inches shorter.  So I have a bit of ripping back to do this next week, but it really won't take too long.  I'm certain with the growth that happened with the blocking that this small ripping back will make it exactly perfect.  I just cannot wait to share this pattern with you.

Once again I find myself quite backed up with some knitting pattern writing to complete.  I got behind schedule this last week...two weeks in fact, as my "work time" has been sucked into "real-work time."  I've had such a hard time as a mom these last 2 weeks.  I don't want to go into details mostly because I don't want to share too much on the internet, and also because I don't want to remember these last 2 weeks in the long term.  It's not exactly scrapbook worthy stuff.  Let's just say it's been hard.  Very hard.  The last time I showed up at the library for my scheduled alone time to finish up writing a pattern, my mind was so tired I just sat there, and knit here and there, and stared into space.  I have spent a lot of time on my knees these last few weeks.

It's hard work, this parenting business, isn't it?  We have reached outside our home for help these last few weeks, and I'm certain that we have identified the problem now are over the worst of it.  All the experts we reached out to kept saying, "Keep doing what you're doing."  My husband found it encouraging, but I found it discouraging, as though this was going to be our new normal.  I did come around as I saw improvement bit by bit.  

After all of that, I feel like we're finally starting to get back to normal after harvest.  My husband will be soon, though I can tell he's still not back to normal since the intense harvest season.  Tomorrow is my knitting-business afternoon, and I feel like I'm finally back in a spot where my brain will be able to be all in it.  Through all the stress, my house hasn't been this clean in ages.  As a family, we're learning how to work hard, and there has been ample work around us to help us practice.  Through it all, I feel like my relationship with my kids has grown deeper, and stronger these last few weeks, as the trust between us and the unconditional love was put to the test.  These hard things are sometimes good things.  We have had lots of long talks on the couch by the fireplace, and huge portions of our hearts have been poured out to each other, as we have been taking some intentional time with each one of the kids.  These things have demanded my attention, as they should.  Sometimes you have to put aside the writing, the activities, the hustle and bustle and just work it out until it's done.

Yesterday was our weekly trip to the library, and it wasn't until we got there that I realized that it was closed due to Veteran's Day.  I knew it was Veteran's Day, but I hadn't connected that with the trip to the library.  So the kids were disappointed, but I told them we could go to the used book store instead.    It totally did the trick because my kids love that place.  I'm so glad we went, because I got so many books that were on my home-school wish list that I had never seen there before, and I still had store credit there to be spent.  Plus they sell books by the pound, so I got them for barely anything.  You can turn in used books to this bookstore for store credit, and I take advantage of that as often as I can.  I had forgotten that I still had credit to spend from a few months ago.

I've been reading a bit of Educating the Whole-Hearted Child once again, like having coffee with an old friend.  The Clarksons have mentored me so as a mother through their books, and conferences.  I think this time I picked it up to read it again because I needed the reminding of what my calling and goals as a mother are, and how to take my children's personalities and unique design into consideration.  I needed that down to earth, practical advice.  For anyone considering homeschooling, this is the book to look at first.  Oh the heartache and money I would have saved if I had only started here!

Linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along.

Yarn Along

Christmas crafting has begun, late in the evenings as the kids have gone to bed.  Last year I made 3 Miss Maggie rabbits for my girls.  The creator of this pattern has come out with 4 more patterns this year, and I dropped some leading questions to the kids earlier last spring, wondering if they would be interested in them.  I was thinking just the Solveig and Ingrid, but preteen-Silje and even Elias showed a huge amount of interest too.  David was the only one who said he didn't want one, he would rather I make him a car pillow for his bed.  So that's what he'll be getting.  Silje will get the cat, Solveig the deer, Ingrid the mouse, and Elias the fox.

I'm starting with Silje's kitty.  Since I have made 3 products of this designer already, the whole process feels familiar.  It was so overwhelming last year, but this year I see the simplicity of it all, and know how quickly everything will come together.  One night I got the shawl for the kitty done, and all of the felt pieces for the body cut out, as well as the dress pattern pieces.  Last night I did the facial embroidery and stitched the head together.  I've realized that the whole project can be done easily within a week, only using a few hours each evening.

I've also learned that the draw to this type of present is all in the accessories.  Silje showed as much interest for this as she does her American Girl doll, and as I thought about it, she loves having all the pieces that go with it.  So I'm wondering if I should make a little cardigan for each one, or maybe a knit dress as I did last year.  Rosy Little Things has so many cute accessories to add on.  It really is a relaxing, easy project, that finishes so quickly in comparison to the adult sized projects I do most of the year.  Compared to my usual knitting, this is instant gratification.

My reading is Christmas-related as well, as this is the month I need to do my family-advent preparation so that December isn't the most stressful month of the year.  I'm holding off in sharing that with you, as I know some don't like about talking about Christmas this early in the year.  :)

Linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along.

Yarn Along

I have set aside Silje's Ambroise for a bit, and started work on a shrug/cardigan pattern.  This was the pattern wrote and started knitting the sample a few weeks ago, but was stressing over the fact that I had to be stopping all the time due to the fact that the yarn I had picked out was half acrylic, and that makes my arms ache like crazy for some reason.

So after some serious internet shopping, I finally decided to get the yarn "Meteorite" in Shelter by Brooklyn Tweed.  I love using tweed for this project, although the sheen of Madelinetosh would have been perfect as well, but they just didn't have the perfect brown I was looking for that Brooklyn Tweed had.

I'm reading Down the Long Hills by Louis L'Amour.  When my parents were visiting last summer, my mom and I and some of the kids went to my favorite used book store.  She found this book, and she asked if I remembered this.  Of course I did.  My mom read aloud this book to my siblings and I when I was little.  That may have been my first experience being read aloud a novel, and being on the edge of my seat for weeks.  So we got it so I could read it aloud to my kids too.  I have such good memories associated with this one.

It's an old western about 2 kids, aged 3 and 7 who are traveling west in a wagon train, and wander off from camp before dawn to hunt down a pet horse before the grown ups notice it was gone.  When they get back to camp with the horse, they find that there had been a massacre, and they are now left alone in the wilderness, with a stallion who is so large that the little boy can't even mount him by himself.

So I'm reading it before I read it to the kids, since I have such a list of books that we're going to read aloud at night, I wanted to assess reading level and placement on my master list, but I got sucked in, and now I'm staying up, once again, past midnight every night trying to find out what happens next.

This is why I avoid suspenseful novels: not because I don't like them, but I love them way too much!

I love how this book paints a picture of the wild west, from perspective of both the settlers and the indians.  I love the self sufficiency of the children, and how they conquer things that the grown ups thought were impossible for kids to do.  I love the relationship with the 7 year old and his father, who he was headed to meet out west, who comes looking for them.  They have spent so much time together that they practically read each other's brains, and the dad can almost pinpoint what his son will do next, and is the only grown up who believes that this little boy will make it.

I love the relationship between the boy and the horse, how the horse looks out for the boy, even taking on a grizzly to protect him.  (That was the chapter I read last night.  I think my heart has slowed down now...)

Linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along.