Sharing in another week’s yarn along at Small Things.

This week has been filled with the promise of new knitting projects but I only actually took the plunge last night….around midnight. As I mentioned last week I had lots of possibilities in mind but actually settling on one was harder than expected. So many people to knit for, anxiety over matching a yarn with a pattern (I’m terrified of messing up gauge) and trepidation over starting a sweater had me dreaming (perhaps nightmaring) of knits, needles and skeins.

It all seems rather ridiculous.

I’ve very happily settled on the Fisherman Pullover (Ravelry link here) which I had been drooling over the last few months for my older son. The version Ginny revealed this week only increased my eagerness to give it a try. And, silly me, I didn’t even realize that the designer, Veera Välimäki, is the same who designed the pattern for my hat. I say it was meant to be.

I’m hoping I do okay with the pattern – I’ve only just started and have already had to pull out a few rows. Those short rows are a bit tricky. I’ve only done short rows once before and the YO at the beginning of the rows was confusing me. I’m still a little perplexed but hope I can make sense of it…if not I may be begging for help in this space next week!

I am knitting it in Quince and Co’s Puffin in Pea Coat which I won in this giveaway. Can you imagine my excitement when I won?? Plus it involved an email from Amanda Soule herself which, I’ll admit, made me rather giddy. And, oh my, it is a beautiful wool to work with.

I got some lovely reading time in over our quiet weekend and sped through The Fairy Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley. I really enjoyed it and look forward to checking out the rest of the series. A fun children’s book, geared to a younger set than last week‘s book, with all my favourite ingredients: magic, mystery, adventure and fantasy. Now I have the choice of what to read next, this decision I can handle. I spied a couple of books on my basement bookshelf that jumped out at me so I think The Complete Sherlock Holmes and Peter Pan will be up next – can’t believe that with all the classics I’ve devoured over the years that I haven’t read either of these. In the meantime I’m flipping through Anna Marie Horner‘s beautiful book, Handmade Beginnings.

And can I just draw your attention to the beautiful illustrations in my $2, 1980 version of the book? I love them.

We’re heading off for a week in the mountains a few day from now so I’m hoping there will be a little extra time for reading and knitting – although with the five littles in tow, snowy activities and an indoor pool at hand it may be wishful thinking.

Thanks for coming by – I always appreciate your lovely comments! I look forward to following others’ knitting adventures over at Small Things.

**Update: It’s 1 am and I’m still trying to figure out these short rows. I thought I was doing it correctly but now I am missing (I think) seven stitches. Anyone know this pattern and can offer any suggestions? I’m stumped! Thanks so much!!**

Joining Ginny for another week’s yarn along.

First I must thank you all so much for wonderful feedback on last week’s hat dilemma! I decided to go with the light-coloured (yellowish) wooden buttons – although the dark brown and red buttons were close contenders. I was so glad I got the hat done when I did because it went from unseasonably warm to frigid overnight and it was needed.

Trying to catch the last of the light. And yes, as Dan lovingly pointed out, the buttons are crooked – I’ll have to fix that.

I’ve been dutifully finishing up my UFOs (unfinished objects) and almost have the two last mittens done. (Okay, so admittedly the mitten pictured looks a lot like the mitten pictured last week but last week’s was #2 of 4 and this is #4 of 4.) I also have the second of these fingerless mittens to whip up and…hooray…two of my three work in progress bags will be empty and ready for new projects!

What to start next is proving more of challenge than I thought it would. Each week I see your Tiny Tea Leaves, Milos and Fisherman Pullovers – I was planning this one for my little guy but it is all too beautiful (and yes, I love Jane Richmond‘s designs). I’m almost afraid to see what everyone has on needles this week in case I change my mind again!  (Sorry for all of you not on Ravelry if you can’t view some of those – I’m trying to use other links if I know of them.)

As for reading, I started and finished Reckless in about a day. It started out darker than I expected but I did enjoy the story very much. So far, I’ve enjoyed all of the Cornelia Funke books that I’ve read – perhaps this one the most. Now I have just started thumbing through Elizabeth Zimmerman‘s Knitting Without Tears. I’ve heard no end to her praises and thought it was time I checked her out – and then of course I read this post today and had to laugh at the timing, I may be having EZ dreams myself. If I get into some fiction, I’m going to start the first of the Sister’s Grimm series, The Fairy Tale Detectives – once again I admit I love, love, love juvenile fiction.

Looking forward once again to seeing what everyone else is up to! So inspiring to see all the projects on the go.

My plea for this week:

Have any of you knit any of the above sweaters? Can you offer any advice for a novice sweater knitter like me?

Joining Ginny again this week at Small Things for yarn along.

We’ve had a full and lovely week preparing for and celebrating Valentine’s Day. Although my hands have been busy with hearts, sweets and a bit of sewing for my little Valentine’s, I have managed to finish my hat – well mostly. I closed it off and blocked it today before sewing in the ends. It seemed rather lumpy and I feared I might be taking it apart but when I gave it a quick try on while it was still damp I found the blocking seems to have done wonders! I have not blocked any of my knitted items before (I know, *gasp*) because I have mainly stuck to small things like mitts, hats and toys. I thought blocking seemed really intimidating, turns out it’s not so bad (will I be saying that after I block my first sweater?).

To finish the hat I need to pick three buttons and I have laid some possibilities out on the hat but I can’t decide which direction I want to go. I’m asking for opinions here. What do you think?

I’m tempted to abandon my, albeit weak, resolve to clear off my existing projects – especially after seeing all the sweet sweaters and vests that other yarn alongers are working on. Considering that three of these unfinished projects are belated Christmas gifts – two pairs of these mittens (shown in the photo above) and a surprise gift, duty would dictate I finish what I’ve started. In the meantime I am going to dream about what I am going to do with this wool from my stash.

I have almost finished listening to Howards End. It feels a little like cheating and some of the volunteers here read it all wrong (in my humble opinion) but it has been nice to listen to while I’ve been sewing or folding laundry this week. I’ve enjoyed the story although I did prefer Room With a View. I should have it finished this evening and I’ve decided to choose Reckless from my tall stack of library fiction. As you can see I’m also still enjoying Wee Wonderfuls and Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts. They are both falling into the category of drool-worthy and daunting.

Since there is nothing really new on my book pile this week I thought I’d also show a little peak of what my two oldest daughters and I have been enjoying at bedtime. Destination Moon proves to be another entertaining Tintin Adventure – not to mention straining with all the different voices to keep track off! The Magic Tree House books are so wonderful for the kids – just at the right level for them. We all enjoy the mix of adventure, excitement and information. We’ve learned lots – so far Tonight on the Titanic has been my favourite – I even cried while we were reading it. I don’t know about our current title – my kids are really sensitive to anything ghoulish (as am I for that matter) so I don’t know if we will actually get through this one. I may have to abridge it for them.

Looking forward to seeing other projects that are on the go this week! Thanks for stopping by!

Another week come and gone?

I am thoroughly enjoying yarn along with Ginny and all the knitters who join in there but Wednesdays come as a stern reminder that I haven’t accomplished quite as much as I’d hoped in the week that’s past. We’ve been busy with Valentine’s Day projects and plans this week which has had me neglecting my novels and knitting.

I’m still reading Howards End – slowly indeed but savouring it more than dragging through it. Somehow I just haven’t found time to pick it up much this week despite toting it along with me all week. On our trip to the library this week I picked up far too many novels for my reading pleasure and I’m a little worried that Reckless or The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing (anyone have anything to say about either of these titles?) will sneak onto my reading path before I’ve finished this current read. I am bad for reading too many books at once. I would rather get through one but they are far too tempting and I get pulled aside by another title.

My husband did bring home a couple of exciting books for me from the hold shelf at the library this afternoon. I’ve had my eye on these for a while. The first, Wee Wonderfuls, had a rather long hold list so I was waiting a little while to see it. It is a beautiful book of which I have heard rave reviews and although I haven’t had much more than a peek through it, it was enough for me to fall in love with Hillary Lang‘s beautiful dolls.

Along with dreaming of sometime making a doll, I spend far too much of my time dreaming about making a quilt. I am weak for patchwork but feel very inadequate to the task. Even if it doesn’t have me sitting down, rotary cutter in hand, I know that the second book that came home today, Last-Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts, will definitely inspire more dreams of quilting.

As promised, I finished the little pink mittens for my daughter and she has been wearing them on every occasion much to the warming of my heart. My hat is so close to being finished – I’m decreasing and probably only need an hour of knitting to finish it all up. Finding that hour of knitting is easier said than done, though.

New projects are more fun to consider than finishing the projects I have on the go but in the spirit of good non-procrastination I’ve decided I am going to try to clear off my needles before starting something fresh. Then I hope to start this sweet sweater I’ve been dreaming about for one of my boys with this wool.

We’ll see how that goes.

Looking forward to seeing what others are sharing this week on yarn along!

*We have more Valentine’s Day projects and treats coming up this week – if you’re interested in seeing what we’ve been up to have a peek here and here and check back for more fun tomorrow!

Joining Ginny over at Small Things for another instalment of Yarn Along.

Things aren’t looking too different since last week…

I have nearly completed the mittens – only a thumb left at this point. I really could have finished the pair in a longish evening of knitting but this week, although I have often carried my knitting around the house, I have gotten little needle time in. I am determined, though, that as soon as this post is up I am going to escape the computer and work on my hat. It has been cold, cold, cold here and although they are calling for a warm up over the next few days it will undoubtedly be followed by a return to the cold, cold, cold and this mama needs a warmer hat!

As for reading, I am loving Howards End. It has been so enjoyable – just the thing for my craving of all things turn of the century. I’ve even had a little luck listening to it for free at Libravox (public domain books, ie. published before 1923, are read by volunteers are made available for free). I don’t usually do too well with audio books and I really do prefer the feel of a book in hand but I’m finding I can squeeze in a chapter without having to rewind too often and still keep my knitting in hand. I have particularly dug into it since the end of Downton Abbey (no spoilers, but for those of you who watched it – really, that’s how it ended??!).

I have also been listening to Animal, Vegetable, Miracle on my iPod. I read through most of it last year but didn’t quite get through it before my library renewals were up. Now I have been listening to it while I’m folding laundry – and because no one wants to get roped into helping me fold, I don’t usually have too many interruptions. Such a good book and I love having the audio book read by the authors. I would highly recommend it to everyone – although I do feel increasingly guilty about the bananas on my counter.

I’m hoping to have a new project (or at least a different project) and book to show for myself next week. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else has on the needles and in the book pile this week.

Happy Wednesday!