Knitting In The North

Poor Little Bunny

 

 

Little Liam has been felled by a nasty stomach bug - I don't think I've ever seen him so sad, or quiet.  He was at the computer on his own for a few minutes, and Stuart found him like this.  Poor little guy...

 

"9"

 

 

Brian turned nine yesterday.  He opted to take a couple of friends to the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie instead of having a party, but I had to turn it into a bit of one, anyway.  Quick fish cupcakes, and a few little accessories can make any day into Pirate Day, right?

 

 

 

 

Just the fact that he would rather go to a movie with a few buddies shows how grown-up my boy is getting.  I love it, though, that he's not to big to throw on the pirate gear, and act it out when he came home, checking with the Blackbeard book brought home from the library (for accuracy, of course).  

 

 

 

My, how the years have flown...

Yarn Along

 

 

While I've always known that Liam is a boy who knows his own mind, I got a taste of just how particular he can be this week.  He has been, for several weeks now, asking me to knit him a blue sweater.  Last week, we finally had a quiet day at home together, and he decided that he had waited long enough.  Happy for the peaceful time together, I sat with him and looked through patterns on Ravelry.  He seemed to have something in mind, as none of the patterns I showed him were right, until this one popped up.  He immediately shouted, "There's my sweater!" 

 

I had planned to knit him a heavier, more outdoorsy sweater for fall, with some wool I have in my stash, but when we went to look at my yarn, he latched on to this GGH Bali he saw, and there was no swaying him.  I must say it is very rewarding to be working away on it, and have him come up to me with a smile and ask, "Are you knitting my sweater?"  He's so sweet sometimes, I could just kiss his face right off.

 

The book I'm reading right now is a collection of essays that were published in a Canadian newspaper.  The whole idea of gardening in a relaxed way, accepting things the way they are and not striving for perfection is just what I need to focus on as our gardening season gets under way.  I'm the first to admit I tend to be a tad obsessive about things, and could easily send myself into an emotional spin while I attempt to have a perfect, mature garden all in place by this fall.  We know that's not going to happen, so I'm really working at accepting what I have, and how much I can really do this summer.  It's amazing how much what I read affects my feelings, and reading things that support what I'm trying to do here and now is very helpful.  Imagine that, eh?

 

~ Joining in with Ginny for her weekly Yarn Along ~

Yarn Along

 

~ Taking time again to join in with Ginny's Yarn Along ~

 

 

Although the past week has been busy, I've been anxiously awaiting this Yarn Along!  I've made pretty swift progress on Shalom, (thanks to a small bout of flu last week - everyone is recovered now, though) and started on the sleeves yesterday.  I almost always prefer to follow a carefully written pattern, and am feeling a bit at loose ends trying to find my way with adding on sleeves, but so far, all is well. 

 

The exciting thing I wanted to share, though, is the book I'm currently reading.  At the library where I work, we do a quarterly inventory of all the paperbacks, magazines, etc.  This allows us to look for any missing items, and also do some weeding of older books that people aren't taking out anymore.  The other day I was going through the Science Fiction section, when the book above caught my eye.  Did you know Cat Bordhi had written a fantasy book?  I didn't, and so instantly added it to my shelf to take home.  Even better?  I'm enjoying it!  I suppose any woman who is so skilled at teaching and writing other types of books is well equipped to put out a novel as well, so I'm not sure why I was so surprised.  But I definitely am enjoying myself!

Yarn Along

~ I'm joining in with Ginny's Yarn Along, and you can, too!~

 

 

May has finally arrived, and I am so, so happy to see her face!  It's funny how the whole world seems to be a better place once the weather warms up a bit, and I can take walks more often.  Another thing making the whole world better recently has been the arrival of two honorary nieces, who I'm so blessed and thankful to have in my life.  The only thing better than one beautiful new baby is two, and so I'm busy finishing up two baby blankets to bless these sweet girls.  I'm using the same pink yarn for both blankets, but doing two different patterns, so that just like these girls, they are similar, but not the same.  I'm using Mission Falls 1824 cotton, which I love.  It is soft and pretty, but has a sort of rustic texture to it.  (Strange that I never seem to finish a baby gift before the baby arrives - it's not like I didn't know they were coming, you know?)

 

Since I'm between school semesters at the moment, I've been reading as much as possible, lots of fiction and fluff to give my brain a rest.  However, this non-fiction book has really grabbed my attention this week.  The New Normal, by David Wann, is a proposal for some major changes in our culture and thought processes, and I'm loving it.  I especially appreciate the way he makes a point, and then offers practical steps to take from both a personal and civic/community perspective.  So often, I hear that we need to change things, that we need to take action, but seldom do I hear real solutions and options for effecting that change.  Wann may not have all the answers, but he does offer a place to start, and I really enjoy that.