Joining with Ginny for another week’s yarn along!

With all the excitement of our book sale finds there has been more time spent reading than knitting over the last few days. Even so, I’ve been making some progress on the elephant I’m knitting for a friend’s babe with this wool along with a newborn hat in this beautiful sock yarn (my specific colour has been discontinued). Both projects required the same size needle so I got a head start on the hat before making a special trip out for a circular needle to use instead. Oh boy, how I prefer bamboo needles to metal…my fingers, shoulders and head all sighed when I traded the metal dpns(double pointed needles) out for the bamboo circular. I’m thinking there will be a second trip out to replace the metal dpns with bamboo before I get too much further on the elephant. My fingers, hands and wrists get rather sore from the extra work of holding on to metal needles. I have mostly bamboo already but not in this small size.

I am most excited to share about our reading this week. I’ve been enjoying The Forgotten Garden on loan from a sweet friend (whose books are all in pristine condition giving me just a little stress at bringing some of them into this house with many curious hands…). I haven’t gotten far but I’m intrigued and enjoying the pace. I have heard warnings that it gets rather slower towards the middle but, to be honest, my favourite books are slow-paced classics so I don’t know if I’ll mind.

The other books shown are book sale finds that had been whisked away to little beds before I managed to snap pics for my previous post. I found a copy of one of the Rupert Annuals for a little friend across the country – the Rupert loving children of this home are making sure we’ve read through it before sending it off. Have you seen these books before? They are so great – we’re very happy this little friend’s mama introduced us to them!

I also found an unabridged, lap-size copy of Swiss Family Robinson. The copy is one in a series (!!) of classics (I missed out on nabbing the copy of Robin Hood). It is illustrated with encyclopaedic-type entries in the margins relevant to the story – info on whelks, mutton and beaver rats for example, along with vocabulary definitions. I love it!

And the last set of books which have seen near constant attention over the last few days are the BOB books I also picked up. Liam has been scream reading them at every opportunity. I’m not sure why his out-loud reading comes out quite so loud but his confidence sure has been boosted to discover he can read “real” books. I love watching children learn to read and enjoy reading! So, so wonderful!

Since I like to leave you with a question I’m curious after my rant about the metal needles what type of needles other knitters prefer to use. Are you firmly attached your bamboo, metal or plastic needles? Or do you use an assortment of different types?

Thanks for coming by! As always it will be nice to wander around other yarn along posts for some knitty and reading inspiration.

Some may think the title is a little lofty considering the subject of this post. Dan’s eyebrows raised as he exclaimed, “The stuff of dreams?!” before concluding, “Oh, books.”

Not everyone shares my love and passion for books. Not everyone shares my love and passion for used books. But I love the stories they carry – within their pages as well as across their worn covers. I can forgive the sun bleached covers, peculiar stains and dog-eared corners for the dedications, margin markings, post-its and occasional family photos that come with a well-loved copy. It feels like such a book has a soul of its own.

Every year I await what is quite possibly my most anticipated weekend of the year – the weekend that hosts my favourite charity book sale. It’s held in an arena with table after table of books sorted by adult fiction, children’s books and many different categories of adult non-fiction – and they’re cheap. It really is the stuff of (my) dreams.

Because I’m so happy with my great finds (and because you’re reading this whether you’re interested in mug shots of my new books or not), I’ve taken pictures of those books that haven’t already been whisked away by happy readers.

So let me introduce you to the newest additions to our bursting  growing library…

A series I’m hoping we’ll fall in love with (I’m in love already).

Some favourite books from my childhood.

Some new classics to lose ourselves in.

Some new to me books and series. I heard about Enid Blyton often but have never read any of her stories.

A few picture books made it into my pile. This book is Grimm Fairytales on one side (I haven’t read any yet to see how truly grim the are)…

…and Babar on the other. Oh, how I love Babar.

And a pristine copy of a current favourite of ours for a special friend.

And just to show you I branched out from children’s books – a book for the hubby, a book for a friend and a book for, uh, me.

But we already know that all of these books were really for me, right? Just checking.

Thanks for indulging my obsession. Now I just have to tear the older littles away from the Magic Treehouse books they can’t get enough of to convince them they do in fact love the “boring classics” I bought for them…And perhaps convince Dan to build some more shelves because at this point I have no idea where I’ll be storing these…

Do you have a favourite book or series from your childhood?

Joining with Ginny’s yarn along to share what I’m knitting and reading this week.

I’ve been getting that summer feeling that usually has me drop the knitting needles for a time. I have so many projects I want to tackle (thanks to the suggestions so many of you offered last week) and so many requests from the little people that I’m hoping to stay motivated by taking my knitting outside for the wonderful weather we are (finally) having.

I’m just about finished the little hat I started for a friend’s soon to arrive little one – I’m knitting with Cascade 220. For that same little one I decided to try knitting one of these sweet elephants (here‘s a Ravelry link to the very sweetest one I can imagine).And just because I love knitting hats so much I also want to knit one of these hats on Sara‘s suggestion and I can’t resist this one or this one. So many aspirations but we’ll see how much I actually get made.

For reading I enjoyed the The Unusual Suspects over the weekend and although it is a children’s book I was surprised how gruesome it seemed at times. Not a book my little people are ready for but I found it entertaining. I’ve also been reading through Ecological Gardening. I’ve been learning more about soil, composting and mulching and love that the author presents the info from a Canadian/Northern gardening perspective so there are lots of tips that match our climate. We’ve also spent lots of time with The Garden Primer and are thumbing through The Canadian Edible Garden. I’m looking forward to implementing what I’m learning in our new garden.

The sunshine is calling through the window and I think I’ll sneak out with my knitting bag. I’m looking forward to browsing other yarn along posts in Ginny’s space!

Thanks for stopping by!

It’s time for another yarn along, kids!

This week I’ve been working and reworking my itty bitty pebble vest. I had it bound-off and was weaving in the ends when I discovered why it looked so odd – it seems I must misread a pattern at least once before I get it right. I tore out the problem and am nearly done for the second time. I’m having a hard time believing this will fit a newborn – are they really that tiny? Despite the fact that this new one will be my sixth child, it still amazes me how small they start out.

I’ve also been knitting a newborn hat for a friend’s baby-on-the-way. I had a hard time deciding what type of hat to knit but decided to follow my go-to hat pattern for kids (seen on my youngest daughter here) and tiny-size it. I hope it suits the new little one. I’m thinking of either one of these or one of these to go along with it. I’m always a little breathless when knitting for others – hoping they (or in this case their parents) appreciate hand-knits.

I’m still reading The Dirty Life and enjoying it but not finding much time for reading. I thought rather than show another shot of the same book I’d photograph a couple of thrifted book finds from the weekend – Anne of Green Gables and Shakespeare for Children. I get very excited about used books and, yes, I already own a copy of Anne of Green Gables but not in hardcover with such sweet inscriptions….so I was justified in buying a second copy, right?

Since I have been thinking about baby knits so much lately I am curious to know what favourite baby knits are out there. Do any of you visiting knitters care to share your favourite knits to gift to new babies or to knit for your own newborns?

Thanks for stopping by! If you’d like to check out other yarn alongs post visit Ginny at Small Things.

Happy Wednesday! I’m joining Ginny for another week of yarn along where we share what we’ve been knitting and reading over the week.

Have I done any knitting this week? I know I have but I don’t feel like I have much to show for it. My previous weeks’ knitting frenzy seems to have calmed down a little – I think I’ve been feeling too tired to do anything in a frenzy by the time the littles are in bed.

I did knit up a couple more little balls and a bunny nugget as little Easter treats. Both are free patterns from Rebecca Danger. The balls were meant to be Monster Chunks but I ran out of time to add the feet at 1 am on Sunday morning. So balls they became. They are a total hit without the feet  and I’ve since made another for little bro’s birthday this week because he’s been stealing everyone else’s. I stuffed them with felted sweater scraps wrapped in a little wool roving. I knew I was saving those scraps for a good reason. They give the balls a perfect weight – heavier than wool stuffing but light enough that we haven’t broken any pottery…yet, anyways. I think they would make a great set of juggling balls. The bunny is also a new beloved friend – I have orders to make a few more. Simon and Sarah have had so much fun playing with their bunny and birdie, I love it!

After all my talk about starting a pebble vest, I finally got into it. It’s kind of refreshing to be knitting on straight needles again. I’m using the Fisherman’s Wool that I had left over from this sweater. I decided the dreamy green wool my sister gifted me was a little too fine so I’m saving it for the perfect project.

I’m still reading The Dirty Life and enjoying it. I am amazed by this story. It is putting a lot of my homesteading dreams into perspective and confirming my suspicion that I probably couldn’t handle livestock very well. I’ve also picked up Independence Days from the library on Charity‘s suggestion. I haven’t cracked the cover yet but I’m looking forward to having a look through it this week.

And since I feel like all of this is rather repetitive of previous weeks I just have to show this next project I am dreaming of – the Owlie Sleep Sack. I am in love with this and must knit one up for new babe. Babies get cold in August right? I’m saying they do.

Happy Wednesday everyone! We’re getting ready for some birthday celebrating tomorrow – four children are very excited and the birthday boy has no idea what’s coming his way!

More yarn along posts here.