Viridescent

For Yarn Along this morning I'm featuring a new pattern that is being released today by Lisa at Happy in Dole Valley.  I test knit this beautiful shawl over the past week in Duplicity Fingering from AmandaMakesYarn.  Viridescent was a delight to knit and the yarn was lovely to work with - so, so soft and such a lovely colorway.  (I should mention that Amanda included a darling DPN holder in my order which she is selling in her shop as well - go check it out!) Because of the elongated stitch rows, this shawl knit up so fast with such a delicate, open look, and I think the gentle ruffle gives it a feminine air without being too fiddly.  Follow the link to Lisa where you can find out about the pattern and a giveaway! 

I haven't cast on anything else since finishing; I had a few other projects that needed ends woven in and blocking, but those are finished so I'm a little aimless.  I'd like to knit a few smaller things for my girls to have ready for Christmas gifts and that use yarns I already have in my stash. (Actually I wish I had the money to buy Maggie Rabbit supplies because if I don't, I have a feeling it would be a small regret someday that I would always wish I'd done.)  Rabbits aside, ideally I'd like to find a good children's Fair Isle mitten pattern, or maybe a really good kids slipper pattern, which I've never really found.  Any recommendations? 

I'm mainly re-reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I picked it up before realizing a new Harry Potter book was being released... at all.  I'm so out of the loop. I also keep picking up For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macauley and Own Your Life by Sally Clarkson while also listening to The Count of Monte Cristo on CraftLit and a whole host of Burgess books with my girls on Librivox in the car.  Did you know Librivox has an app now?  Our audiobook world expanded so much when I discovered that!

We just started watching the new Netflix show everyone is raving about - "Stranger Things."  Have you seen it?  It's so intense, and so incredibly well made.  Reminiscent of the movie "Signs" in the way it feels (not in the story line really), it also makes me think of a less meandering "Twin Peaks" with which it shares several plot elements.  It's very good, and almost too scary for me, but not quite; not yet anyway.  There are not many things I'd like to binge-watch anymore (is that a sign that I'm getting old?) but "Stranger Things" would make the list. 

rooted and ready to fly {yarn along}

  

Hello, my friends.  I hope your February isn't too glum; I know it can be sometimes.  Aren't those cattails breathtaking?  I have been watching them go from solid to wispy over the past few days, the seeds slowly unfurling and preparing to drift away in the spring winds that will be arriving in the next few weeks.  They remain in both worlds; rooted and ready to fly and I feel I am too.  One moment I am in the throes of winter and slow coziness, wanting to curl up on the couch with a cup of tea.   The next moment I am itching for spring and bursting outside to tidy up the place so our outdoor life can begin again.  Thus is February in this place when the weather begins to warm.

I am halfway through what I fully expect is the hardest book I will read this year.  The Poisonwood Bible is by Barbara Kingsolver, who is one of my favorite authors and I remember why every time I read one of her books; she's brilliant.  Sadly, it is a depiction of Christians in which I don't feel convinced even one character (thus far) believes Jesus is who He says He really is and walks in a way that shows they believe it.  I'm sure one could argue another opinion but that's how I see it, anyway.  For a book about Christian "missionaries" there is a remarkable lack of Christ present.  Although it's an intense read, I'm gripped by the unfolding of the terrifying story, but there is a part of me that just kind of wants it over as soon as possible.  There are interesting thoughts here from Kingsolver about the book and characters; I haven't read it all because I'm afraid of spoilers but at least most of it seemed "safe". 

I am coming so close to the end of my Hitofude, right?  I have one more pattern repeat of the lace pattern before moving onto the hem.  I also am finishing up a dishcloth that I had started months ago; my cloths are looking very bedraggled right now and I need to rejuvenate my stash.  I have resolved not to start more new projects until I finish this cardigan but ACK, I need dishcloths!  So basically, nothing exciting or new happening here besides progress on the same old things. 

Other book news:  I now have books designated by activity or area of the house so I always have a book within reach.  The fascinating thing is that in the past few weeks as I allow myself to read a little more during the day and not feel guilty about it, I have noticed Lyddie picking up her books more often and even bringing books to the lunch table.  She also has a few free reading books going at the same time now (for the curious, Ramona and Beezus and Ronia, Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgren).  They do what they see, I guess...

*Finished Swallows and Amazons and continued to love it to the last word.  Precious.

*Reading A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola

*Reading and listening to Hamlet whenever I have quiet moments alone

*Just started listening to The Count of Monte Cristo at CraftLit - join us!

*Reading Shiloh by Helena Sorensen which I am LOVING and you can get for free right now! I got it on my Kindle a couple months ago and it just sat there waiting for me to stop ignoring it, which I do with books I get for free sometimes.  It seems like it's going to be a beautiful fantasy series ; I'm 30% of the way in to this first book (isn't that a great feature of the Kindle?  It makes me smile) and I am completely bought into the characters and invested in the mythology of the world. It's a great book for my workout time and makes those long minutes pass quickly.

*Next up: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (because I can't read Poisonwood before bed lest I have dark and brooding dreams.  This is technically a re-read but I wanted to get back into the series and only read the first one or two several years ago)

I love to sometimes share what TV shows we're watching here because, although TV is definitely not the same as reading, we do tend to watch shows that are heavy on story and characters and I know I love to know what others are watching and enjoying too. Right now I'm watching "Stargate Universe," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and "Angel" with Jesse and I am watching "The Great British Baking Show" once in a while with the munchkins.  On the nights I'm home alone and not writing, I watch "Velvet," a Spanish TV drama that reminds me of the BBC's "The Paradise."

Linking up with Yarn Along today, won't you leave me a note so I know you stopped by?  Any favorite shows you are watching right now?

tidbits

  

   

We loaded up and headed a little ways toward the mountains again on daddy's day off, this time going to Rimrock Lake and although another group came and parked themselves right next to us in an otherwise empty park (I think they were hoping that if they were loud enough maybe we'd move so they could take over the picnic table or something - we didn't) it was still a restful time.  It was hot even up there so the lake dips we took felt incredible and the girls practiced their swimming.  It is so beautiful there and I love spreading a blanket out and diving in to cool off, coming up for a snack or lunch, and settling on the blanket with my knitting needles until the heat is unbearable again.  Lyddie decided to work on her knitting with goggles on, and Rosie practiced sewing with lacing cards. A military jet flew by overhead so close that I thought my ear drums would burst.  So loud. 

Last night we enjoyed an evening at the college-league baseball game in town with our church family and staff.  I got to sit next to two sweet friends and it was so lovely to joke and watch and catch up with them while keeping a wary eye out for fly balls into the stands.  

You know, nothing really exciting happening here but tidbits of good.  

I am planning to complete the KonMari method of "tidying up" by Christmas so I dug in and got my entire wardobe piled into the guest room today and worked through each category of clothing as she recommends.  Although I frequently purge through my clothes, my drawers and closet have truly never looked this... well, empty.  Great.  Devoid of junk.  I can see now how freeing it would be if I felt this way about all our belongings.  I love it.

I have been teaching Millie how to cross-stitch.  She couldn't be more thrilled in spite of the fact that it's almost completely hand-over-hand and will be for quite some time.  No matter!  She was begging to learn after seeing some of my unframed samplers so when we stopped into Hobby Lobby, we picked up a beginning kit, which in turn has caused me to begin again on my own needlework, a really beautiful needle roll kit from Shepherd's Bush that my mom gave me last year but which has been sitting largely unattended while I have focused on knitting.   

We have been watching Once Upon a Time and are fully hooked into season two.  Who knew that fairy tale characters could be so creatively interwoven?  The writing on the show is really very good so far. I started listening to a new podcast that was recommended by Alicia recently and it is a nice fiber-y podcast that makes me want to start dyeing yarn for fun but instead I am ripping back row upon row of a lace-weight shawl and dreaming about the day I get to start knitting forward again.  I am really missing weekly CraftLit podcast releases since Heather understandably decreased for the summer but it means I have to wait two weeks between each episode of Sense and Sensibility!  

Those are the tidbits from my end; any tidbits you care to share?

Yarn and Fair Fun

  

 I couldn't help but add a few fair pictures from a couple weeks ago to this post. That little imp, the one making cheesy faces in every picture - yep, that's her almost all day every day lately.  She keeps me and her sisters laughing and smiling and we are still so in love with that little munchkin!  She's growing into such a kid and I mean, really, I bet you want to kiss those little cheeks about as much as I do. 

But I digress.  On my needles this week I cast on a little garden of Poppies (Poppy pattern by Justine Turner) that I think are going to be adorable.  The blue is Skacel Simplicity and the white is Cascade Superwash in a creamy white color.  

Ooooh, I ordered these buttons from RetroNaNa's Etsy shop to finish out Lyddie's Bulle so it will be ready for her birthday in November. I was so hoping the colors would be true to the picture online and I gasped when they came and I put the buttons together with the sweater and they were the exact colors I was hoping for - the blue is the exact color of the little peek-a-boo pockets I included.  This is what I want from buttons I add to finished projects - something that just totally completes it.  I am so picky about buttons which is unfortunate because my funding for buttons is rather limited, but these were really affordable if you ask me.  I only need to use two and would love input on which two to use - one goes at the back of the neck and one goes at the waistline.  I'm considering one of the Little Reds and the house or the wolf.  What would you do?

(photo credit goes to RetroNana, I just borrowed it from her site since I haven't had a chance to take a photo yet.) 

I am still listening to a few books via CraftLit:  This Friday should see the end of North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell and I am plowing through The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, which has me totally in its grip.  What a great mystery!  I am also reading North! or Be Eaten by Andrew Peterson and The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis a very little bit at a time but the beauty of audiobooks is that they can just come along with me on my chores during the afternoon rest time or after the girls go to bed in the evening.

My evening knitting entertainment has been varied lately since a lot of great shows just became available on Netflix and Jesse and love to enjoy a good show together.  Gilmore Girls was just added so we're able to watch the second season now.  We are also watching a Korean show called Secret Garden that is so so fun, and a really incredible anime series that is set in a post-apocalyptic world with giant and mysterious Titans, called, of course, Attack on Titan.  Check them out!

Looking forward to seeing what others are doing this week and joining, as always! with Ginny for Yarn Along

Surprise Party

This is pretty much the funniest sketch from SNL in ages - this was on last night and Jesse and I were ROLLING with laughter. We agree that Kristen Wiig is probably up there with some of the best cast members ever on SNL. She can play some pretty outlandish characters with a completely straight face. Like the one below - watch it - you won't regret it!