Wednesday, August 12, 2015

yarn along: mamma mia!




I have been admiring the Hitofude cardigan for many months now.  Everyone seems to be knitting them and I know at least one friend who is knitting her second!

My mom and I escaped last week together to a little town just about 45 minutes from my home; mom had to drive a bit further but I was so glad she did.  It was such a special time!  We visited my local yarn shop, Yarn Folk, and I was even more impressed than ever by Ann's selection of truly wonderful yarns.  I went in intending to pick out yarn for a hat and mitts but when I saw Ann's Hitofude, I decided to take the plunge and see if I could find a yarn that I liked that was affordable enough to fit into the little budget I'd set aside for yarn on this trip.  I settled on Skacel CoBaSi and I am loving the way it is knitting up!  I'm savoring the knitting.  Other than the knitting we did for many hours, my mom and I also spent time in bookshops and coffee shops and eating out and one of our evenings was spent singing along to "Mamma Mia," my ultimate summer movie, and it is especially fun to watch that movie about a mother and daughter with my mom who also [shamelessly] sings along with the Abba music.  If we hadn't been in a hotel room, we'd have belted it out even louder and I, at least, would have had to dance around the room.  I love the movie for several reasons, but one is because it portrays the older ladies and the younger ladies all having wild, raucous fun in community together.  I need more raucous fun in my life and I'm on a mission to find it this coming year.  Any ideas on how to be exciting and have light-hearted fun with your family are welcome!  ;)

I finished my Radiance shawl the first night of my getaway and although I still need to block it I thought I'd show it as is. I can't wait for cooler weather to get to cuddle into it; right now the apple orchards are being watered and it is HUMID on our property.  

I have been waiting for a good time to pick up the book that I'm now reading and I was finally between books and hunted it down at the library.  I usually scoff at Jane Austen fan fiction (I mustn't, though, it's really too snobby of me and I am seeing the error of my ways) but P.D. James is one of my favorite authors and it's really fun to get to spend time with my "friends" at Pemberley again.

Other than that, we are in the thick of the long languid days of our summer.  The garden is full of weeds and ripe vegetables, the sparrows and doves stay out late on the line, the children chatter long and loud in their beds while the sun still shines.   We are getting ready to start our homeschooling journey next month and part of my preparation for that is to finish "KonMaring" our home, so I've been working steadily through her categories of tidying up. 

Joining in with Ginny and all the others at Yarn Along this week, and hopefully this week I will get a better chance to peruse my friends' blogs than I have had the past few weeks!

8 comments:

  1. Your Hitofude is going to be so pretty in grey. I have been wanting to cast on the same pattern, just need to work on my to knit list a little more.
    I have never seen the movie Mamma Mia, but I do remember singing along to Abba while playing their 'record' on my turntable as a teenager ;) You made me smile when I read about your mission to have more raucous fun, it keeps you young!

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  2. Oh that shawl!!!! Gorgeous!! and I'm glad you've been bit by the hitofude bug, you will have fun sinking into that pattern. Love the gray :)

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  3. I am making it my mission to finish my Hitofude before October. I put it aside to finish/start some other projects. I am a very visual person and the written directions confused me for a bit, but with the help of the cranky owner at the LYS we got it figured out and I have a third of the sweater left. You'll love it!

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  4. Your shawl looks fabulous - I am another who is intent on knitting hitofude - I have the yarn waiting!

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  5. Your shawl is gorgeous. I have never seen or heard of the Hitofude. Where have I been? I'll have to look it up. The yarn you've chosen is beautiful. Family times are precious. My three children live all over the world, none at home in Spokane. My daughter and granddaughter are flying in next week for a two week visit and I AM EXCITED! Our families favorite movie? The Princess Bride. We can all quote virtually every line. A sad but true fact. :-)
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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    1. Thank you! I hope you have a great visit with your family!! We love The Princess Bride too and I was just musing about what age it would be appropriate to show it to my children! Thanks for stopping by!

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  6. I did my Hitofude in grey, too! And I love it....this was one very satisfying knit, and I know you'll enjoy doing it. Sounds like a great fun getaway....MamaMia has become sort of a cult show for us; I think I've seen the stage version a half dozen times, but can anyone really do the Mom better than Meryl Streep? (I'm more of the 'Mom' age, so I guess she's the one I relate to!!!)
    And that shawl!!! Praying right along with you for the colder weather....I'm ready to cozy up, too!

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  7. Hi Sarah, your shawl is beautiful! I would love to be able to knit that well. Hopefully someday I'll get the hang of it. I would love to see Mama Mia! My parents saw it on Broadway when it first came out and they loved it. I haven't read Death Comes to Pemberley but I watched the Masterpiece series on PBS a few months ago and thought it was very good. Thank you for your comment on my blog today. I've just started reading through yours and I'm enjoying it very much. I look forward to getting to know you better. :)

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