Knitting In The North

Yarn Along: KAL

 

 

I do love me a good KAL!  As soon as I heard about the Stash Sweater KAL in the Stash & Burn group on Ravelry, I was in.  The idea is to knit a sweater in the next two months from stash yarn, which is always an idea I can get behind.  It's inspired me to get Liam's sweater out of the basket and back to the top of the priority list - I'm sure you can imagine his reaction.  He's thrilled to see me knitting His Blue Sweater again.

 

I did manage to finish Lonesome Dove in time last week.  Once I got into the story, it was actually pretty good (probably why it won a Pulitzer Prize...), although I think it's better suited as lazy day reading than get-through-it-quickly-so-I-can-write-about-it reading, if you know what I mean.  Now that that project is done, I've turned my reading attention to Making It.  I love this book!  It's full of great suggestions for things you can make and do at home.  I particularly appreciate the way it's organized - the book is broken down into daily, weekly, monthly and every so often projects, which I think is really useful.  I was a fan of their previous book, The Urban Homestead, but this one is even better.  If you are at all interested in doing things yourself, I highly recommend you check this one out.  And as much as I love and support my library, this is one I'm going to have to own for myself.

Yarn Along

 

 

I was so happy this morning when I realized it was Wednesday, and I could join in with the weekly Yarn Along!  I don't have a whole lot to show for it - here is my Echo Beach, in Noro Sekku.  I am more than a little in love with Kieran Foley's designs.  There is another one I have queued up, just waiting, that I love even more than this one.  See how restrained I am, not abandoning poor Echo.  This project is pretty slow going, thanks to the lace weight yarn and smallish needles, but I keep reminding myself of Elizabeth Zimmerman's advice to knit complex patterns with fine yarn if you are a knitter on a budget.  I'm practicing frugality, that's what I'm doing!  (Don't be surprised if, next week, I show off a completely different, bulky weight pattern.  All this discipline is making me long for some instant gratification, and I have just the right project in mind...)

My reading at the moment is less than thrilling for me, I will confess.  As part of one of my classes, I am learning to assess fiction, and am required to read several novels, which sounds heavenly (and it is, really).  However, we were specifically asked to read something from a different genre than usual, and since I have several nice old men at the library who read Every. Single. Western. that we get in each month, I thought I'd try a western.  I did first look for something on the shorter side, but then one of my co-workers suggested Lonesome Dove, and I was swayed by the sticker declaring that it was a Pulitzer Prize winner.  I'm only a few chapters in, and finding it slow going, but I hope it will pick up as the characters develop.  If nothing else, I will choose to appreciate a class I am learning a lot in, and I'm sure I'll find something to enjoy, even in the Westerns.  It's a book, right?  What's not to love?

 

360

 

 

Life, again, has become crazy busy.  I seem to be saying this a lot lately, don't I?  Since I've missed even the weekly yarn along in the last two weeks, I thought I'd write a quick update - a 360 degree view of life right now.

• Schoolwork is occupying every spare moment I have right now.  I believe I may have been a tad ambitious when I signed up for three distance courses over the summer semester.  I'm keeping up, but I feel the dread of falling behind looming.  I hate that.  The schoolwork is good, though.  You can tell you're meant to work in a library when you find an Intro to Libraries course fascinating...

 

• Stuart has been riding the bike we bought him for his last birthday. Now that we're all on wheels, we've been riding to a local park a few times a week, as a family.  It's great to get us all outside together, and it's really been helping me build my confidence on the scary bicycle.

 

• This week, I officially managed my first "truck-free" day.  As in, I rode my bike (with Liam in the trailer) where I needed to go, instead of driving.  Not that I just stayed home all day.  (Although that would be nice...)

 

• Liam turned three this week.  He's suddenly turned into a preschooler - it's crazy.  Overnight, he's started doing things like cutting with scissors, drawing and painting actual pictures, arguing with his mom, and reciting the alphabet and numbers.  His party is this Sunday - I'm planning a Very Hungry Caterpillar party, since it's one of his favourite books.

 

• Having no babies in the house is something different for me!  This morning, my nephew & his mom came for a visit.  He's nine months old, and so busy.  Funny how a house becomes not child-proof so quickly.  But I really love being able to get rid of so many things that we've always kept "for the next one".

 

• Flowers that are pink and yellow at the same time are my favourite.  The dahlia (above) was at the grocery store the other day, and leaped into my cart when I wasn't looking.  It makes me very happy.  Sometimes I find snapdragons this colour, too.  They're even better, because I can make the dragon roar, which makes Liam laugh.

 

• Katie was honoured at her school award ceremony last night, with a Principal's list academic award.  That means she got all A's (and one B) this year, which is huge for her first year of high school.

 

• A guy I work with is directing a performance of "As You Like It".  I'm going to get tickets tomorrow, and Stuart & I are going to have an actual date night.  Not just shopping at Costco kid-free, which is our usual date night.

 

• Brian is turning into an electronic whiz.  He went to a garage sale last weekend with $5, and came home with a TV, an adding machine and a broken DVD player.  He's been having lots of fun taking things apart.

 

• I was knitting Citron with some Noro Sekku that I bought in a fit of needing something yellow.  Then, I saw the pattern Echo Beach, and had to rip out my Citron to cast on for that, instead.  It's slowly, slowly coming along, but the colour changes keep me entertained.

 

• Gwenyth is almost finished Kindergarten!  She still loves it, but thinks it's a lot of work.

 

• I went to my first library conference this week.  My library was holding it, so I got to spend a day in workshops, and I thought it was awesome!  So many exciting things to learn about, and I was introduced to the comic strip Unshelved.  Very funny, even for those strange people who don't think the library is the best thing since sliced bread.

 

• I'm still working on Liam's blue sweater, although not as quickly as he would like.  He gets very annoyed with me when he catches me working on Echo Beach, and says, "That's not my blue sweater!" in a very threatening and meaninful voice.  I'm so lucky to have such an observant child.

 

Wow, I had even more to say than I thought I did!  Did you manage to read all of that?  What's going on in your world these days?

 

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.

Yarn Along

 

 

Now that I'm finished Multnomah, I can legally move on to another project that I've been wanting to knit for a long time - Shalom.  I'm using Twice Tweed, and while I expected to do a bunch of math to maneuver the gauge around, it seems like it's going to work just fine if I simply follow the pattern!  A couple of friends of mine are also knitting this pattern, and I look forward to seeing how they all look with different yarn choices.  I'm hoping this will be the perfect, comfy, pull-on-anytime cardi - my wardrobe is lacking in this department.

 

The book I'm reading, Better Off, is by a man who moved to an Amish-type community to try living without power.  It's extremely well written, and I'm zipping along with it.  It doesn't make me want to disconnect our electricity, but it is making me think about how much technology I do use in my daily life, and whether or not each use is actually needed or not.  Interesting, for sure!

 

This Yarn Along post is part of a great group of readers and fibre lovers - check it out over at Small Things!

FO: Multnomah

 

 

Some time last fall, I was overcome with the urge to knit a red (or reddish) scarf.  I went prowling around my LYS, and picked up this multi-coloured sock yarn that I liked.  I carried it around the store for awhile, as is my habit when a yarn has caught my eye, but ultimately went with something different (which I ended up not using at all, as I got busy with Christmas knitting - which I still haven't shown you - ridiculous).  A few weeks ago, I popped into the LYS for some other purpose, but that same yarn grabbed my fancy again, and this time made it into my bag.  I came home, sat down and cast on for this scarf (modeled by my beautiful, and younger than she looks, daughter).

 

 

 

Particulars:

Pattern - Multnomah

Yarn - Austerman Step, colourway 0134

Needle - 3.25mm

Notes/Modifications - After looking at many, many other Multnomahs on Ravelry, I chose to knit this with a one stitch centre column, instead of using five stitches as called for in the pattern.  I like it a lot like this, although I didn't think about slipping the stitch on the wrong sides until it was too late, which is kind of too bad - that would have looked sweet.  I also used a chart written up by another generous Raveler, which helped work the lace into the increases, and avoid blocks of garter stitch.  I like it, and I'm going to enjoy wearing it.  If I can get it away from my beautiful, and younger than she looks, daughter.

 

 

 

Yarn Along: Making Plans

~Joining in with Ginny's weekly Yarn Along - you can, too!~

 

 

I have been enjoying the luxury of diving into a nice, long novel in the last few days.  I've seen many other Yarn Alongers reading this one, and so was excited to pick it up.  I'm not sure what I think quite yet, though.  It's not grabbing me the way I imagined it would, but I'm going to keep reading, and see where it takes me.

 

A friend of mine has asked me to test-knit a pattern.  I can't show you too much, but what I love about it is that it's designed to use up all those scraps of yarn left hanging around, and I was inspired by waldorf mama's amazing rainbow knits to see if I could find a rainbow in my stash.  I'm looking forward to getting knitting on this, but I have to finish my Multnomah, first.  I did end up ripping back the lace, but it was for the best, since I added another repeat of garter stitch to the body before beginning the feather & fan.  If I stay on task, I'll be able to wear this scarf/shawl this spring!

Yarn Along: With Very Important Assistance

 

Every week, when I take my Yarn Along picture, Liam shadows me.  I snap a picture of the yarn, and then have to take one of Liam.  The yarn, "now me!"  This week, I figured I'd combine the two, and give you a modeled shot.  This is the face you get when you ask Liam, "Where's your smile,"  and he answers, "Right here!"  Sometimes it's difficult not to spend all day kissing his face.

 

After the slog of paper writing (the big one is finished, although I still have two little ones to do up this week), I needed a bit of brain candy.  Buttons and Bones, the latest in a Needlecraft Mystery series I have been enjoying, is just what I needed.  Light, but cute, and full of references to handcrafts, which makes me happy.

 

I'm still working on the Multnomah scarf, and have reached the garter feather and fan lace, which is nice.  (I think I may have messed it up, though, so this afternoon I'm going to have to sit down and take a look.)  This is my second attempt at the lace, which I find a little frustrating.  I seem to have so little time for knitting lately, that I get grumpy if I have to rip back and re-do something.  Which is maybe a little silly, since knitting is something I actually like to do.