Not quite committed ...

Still not much knitting around here. I am about to embark on some (possibly over-ambitious) Easter projects--more on those later. But right now the only active project is this ten-stitch blanket. I had a lot of worsted weight leftover from various hats, so that's what I'm using. (Pardon the odd lighting ... those are lovely shades of teal and purple, if you can't tell. But there's foxy orange and a pretty blue in the middle.)

I keep having doubts though. Is this really the pattern I want to put my leftovers into? Is it just going to be kind of ugly looking, and am I okay with that? I like the fact that it's knit all in one piece, but maybe something with granny squares bordered in a neutral color would tie the different colors together better ... like this. (Or if the colors still clashed, it would be more like a kaleidoscope, which sounds more interesting to me.)

I am looking forward to reading these essays published by Wiseblood Books. Poetry is not my "thing." I can receive a good poem, even fall in love with it. But I don't have the instinct to delve more deeply in without guidance. And I certainly don't sound intelligent when speaking about poetry, which perhaps doesn't matter except as it affects my own ego.

Linking up with Ginny.

Chickadee!

I haven't done any knitting since last week. I think I'm having trouble committing enough to anything to cast on. Nothing seems to be calling my name, not even the slippers, which I haven't really needed thanks to this mild winter. Cold feet would probably motivate me.

I do, however, have some yarn to show you. A group of women are working to set up the Steel City Fiber Collective, and I contributed to their Kickstarter drive a few months ago. And then I forgot about it. So it was a very nice surprise to receive this gorgeous hand-dyed skein in the mail!

The only crafty thing I've accomplished lately is that little chickadee, and though it's definitely beginner's work, I'm pretty proud of it. (If anyone has any advice for a neater blanket stitch, or for cutting out small felt pattern pieces, I'm all ears!) I'm hoping to make another felt birdie for my brother's birthday (tomorrow ... we'll see if it happens). He's an amateur ornithologist, and I've been wanting to try my hand at felt ornaments, so when I stumbled upon an amazing collection of felt bird patterns, it seemed providential!

I have been doing quite a bit of reading. I got this book from a friend, and am enjoying it so far. I need more nonfiction for my Catholicism & Literature course, and this fits the bill!

Linking up with Ginny.

Update

Hello friends.

It's been a while, so let's do a little combination day-late-yarn-along/life-dump, shall we?

I finally--FINALLY--finished knitting the last of the boys' Christmas stockings. Holy cow. That's four inches of stockinette that just gets tucked INSIDE the stocking to give the cuff a little substance. Pure torture at the end of such a frickin' huge sock. I still have blocking to do, and little i-cord loops for hanging, and maybe, maybe they will get their names embroidered on the cuffs before Christmas. But I realized that all the names in the pattern are 3-4 letters--"Emma" is the longest--whereas our kids all have seven letter names. This is going to be interesting.

The book--I am greatly, greatly enjoying it. It had been on my to-read list for some time and when I saw Karen reading it that pushed me over the edge into buying it, and honestly it is worth every penny.

So, life.

On Saturday I fell down the stairs holding Gregory. It wasn't as dramatic as it sounds--my feet slipped, I slid down a few steps and landed backwards on my bum. It has happened before. (Usually when I'm wearing socks ...) But this time my elbow landed on Gregory's foot, and now he has a cast on his whole leg, and will for about a month.

If you are looking for a way to slow down your Advent, physical injury works. But I would not recommend it.

We've been lighting our Advent wreath and singing "O Come Emmanuel" at dinnertime. And opening doors on our advent calendars. And I have been reading a story a day out of this book with Michael, as well as other books from our seasonal book basket.

And our unoccupied stable is out on the mantle, as well as our Little People nativity, with Baby Jesus who gets put to bed with a binky in Dominic's crib for his nap by helpful little hands.

That's it.

And it is more than enough.

I decided that wrangling three kids--one no longer mobile--plus cookies to our local Catholic mom's cookie exchange was a bit much, but a sweet friend is stopping to pick up cookies from me this evening AND bring me some back from the exchange. Such a kindness!

And this weekend, on Gaudete Sunday, we will get our tree.

So really, we want for nothing in this season of preparation.

And I? I need this advent so much. My heart is crying out for Jesus to come, to be with us, and for the grace to keep the door open for him. He will find no humbler home than this, but He is more than welcome here.

Yarn Along

I type this riding on a writing high.

After receiving an email about it from a dear friend, I have decided to jump in with both feet and participate in NaNoWriMo this year.

Two days ago I wrote. And I hated it. And it made me so depressed. Like, incredibly melodramatically depressed. I won't even go into it. So I turned around, jumped ahead in the story, and inflicted those feelings upon my main character. End Day 1 of writing.

Yesterday I continued from that point in the story rather than the beginning. And while I would tremble to go back and look at that writing, it left me feeling excited, and happy. I guess tormenting your characters can lead to good things? ;)

And all of these things are just emotions, dangerous things to ride without caution. But after two days of writing and meeting the daily word goals (although I'm still one day behind), I feel like I am legitimately "doing" NaNoWriMo for the first time in years, and that makes me very happy. It seems that naptime is usually just enough time to pound out 1500-1600 words. So we'll see.

Right now I am working on a test knit for Little Woolens. It's worked up in chunky yarn and thus flies by very quickly! Malabrigo Mecha is delicious, and I find myself calculating how expensive it would be to knit a sweater for myself out of it ...

If it weren't for a knit-by-Christmas list as long as my arm I'd immediately cast on for all of Annie and Ashley's other designs, because seriously, how cute are those little knits?? Especially the Winter Hoodie and Trane Vest.

I set aside Possession for a bit to read a Catholic book about a teenage vampire for Halloween. (Yes. Maybe a review forthcoming?) So I'm still not that far in, but I'm enjoying it and stayed up far too late to read it last night.

Linking up with Ginny.

Aaaah, that's better.

I am about to start the ears on the third and final fox hat. Hurrah! My children are excited. :) A lovely friend lent me her set of DPNs so I could knit this final hat without frustration. I'd been using two sets of circulars and it was getting very tiresome!  

I am almost wishing the boys were going to be foxes for Halloween. I would make them little tails to match! But their costumes are already underway. Michael has his heart set on being the Cat in the Hat, so the twins, of course, will be Thing 1 and Thing 2. (But who knows? The tails may make an appearance under the Christmas tree!)


I am still in the first pages of this book, which I first heard of on the Fountains of Carrots podcast. Any recommendations from those ladies are generally a good bet. Since then I've seen it written about in a few other places, so when we made a spur-of-the-moment visit to our favorite city library after Mass on Sunday, I took the opportunity to pick it up.

Linking up at Ginny's place.

Autumn Yarn Along

Knitting: a fox hat for winter. The first of three, because there's no way I could knit just one without a war breaking out once it was on someone's head. There would be blood shed over that hat.


Reading: a book that has been on my to-read list since its release. I am very much enjoying the literary fairy-tale feel going on here.


The book and the yarn arrived on the same day. I think they go quite well together! :) Fairy-tales and a foxy orange ("Allspice") both speak to me of fall. And also something more about the book ... the atmosphere of forgetfulness and search for memory seems to me very autumnal.

Linking up with Ginny.

Of Mice and Motorcycles

Keith starting reading The Mouse and the Motorcycle to Michael a few weeks ago. I wouldn't have thought he was ready for it, and I think there are lots of things he misses or doesn't follow. But he understands the story. He loves the idea of a mouse riding a tiny, mouse-sized motorcycle that moves by making an engine noise. He loves the interaction between the a mouse and a boy, and he loves the threat of owls outside.

We've been reading it before his nap, and sometimes afterwards over a cup of tea. Today I came down from putting his brothers to bed, and he'd opened it and found the chapter where we'd left off. We read two, because he asked for another (happy Mama heart!), and now there is just one left.

I am so pleased that this world has opened for him, for us, especially just as the seasons start to turn. How wonderful to settle in to read when the winter is all outdoors; to be cooped up inside and enter the wider world of a story.



(I may be thinking of doing 31 posts in 31 days? Or some version of it, just to get blogging again? Just noticing/reflecting on/documenting moments from our daily life? Not sure I have the guts to commit ... but we'll see. :) )

Stocking Progress

I just realized that in addition to not being very well-lit, you can totally see where Michael scribbled all over the couch with a ball point pen in this picture.

But I'm trying to participate in the yarn along regularly again, and it's this or nothing.

So there's your dose of realism for the day. ;)

I've been hearing about The Penderwicks a lot lately and bought myself an inexpensive copy to read. So we'll see! I am about halfway through the leg of the stocking. I know I will have Second Sock Syndrome when it comes to knitting the next one. I don't hate knitting these, but I don't particularly enjoy it either.

I will probably take a break to knit myself some birthday socks.

Linking up with the Yarn Along.

A yarn along!

Wow. It's been ... a long time.

Well. I have been knitting quite a lot these days. Mostly hats. (And painting. But that is for another post.)

Seedling and Lucy

Not pictured: a purple beret (this pattern) I already mailed off to a cousin, and a brown cloche-style hat (this pattern) for her sister who entered a Carmelite monastery last month and need "a brown woolen hat."


And I finished Michael's leaf blanket. I need to take proper pictures, but here is a quick shot of it in its natural habitat.

I went on the Steel Valley Yarn Crawl and managed to make it to all eleven shops (!!!), which is where I picked up yarn for the hats and a future shawl.

And now I have settled down to a Christmas stocking. I forgot what slow knitting this is--a huge sock with not-so-huge yarn. And I've made a mistake. I forgot to continue the pattern on the sole while doing the gusset increases ... I still haven't decided what to do about it. I tried knitting back on just those stitches, but discovered it to be well nigh impossible when dealing with the strands at the back. So it's either pull out five whole rows, or just move forward with a new "design element."

This is the first book I've read by Chaim Potok, at the recommendation of my *other* cousin (brother to the two mentioned above). I am really enjoying it. And in fact, it is making me think about visual art in a way that I love. A way that excites me rather than exhausting me. ;) (I asked my cousin if this was a read that required one to think. He responded with praise for the book. I don't think he understood the question, not being a mom of three whose brain space is limited. ;) )

Linking up with Ginny.

Life-Changing Magic, and other things

You know the deal. Even when I can't keep up with anything else I can manage a yarn along post.** ;) I was a bit under the weather last week as I recovered from my first ever case of mastitis after almost 3.5 years of nursing. I have so much admiration for mothers who struggle with this on a regular basis early in their nursing relationship ... I think I may have given up if I hadn't so much experience behind me already.

Anyway.

Are you bored of leaves yet? ;) I pulled a skein of Tosh from my freezer , baked it in the oven, shook it vigorously to make sure no moth eggs came tumbling out, and ... it seems to be fine. No damage that I have noticed! Fingers crossed.

(I'm thinking of typing up a post--hopefully with pictures--about how to survive a moth infestation with your sanity intact ... helpful? Or have I talked about moths too much already?)

So many thoughts about this book. As I read it, I always picture a single person living on their own--or at least in a child-free household. I don't think her ideal really encompasses the necessary and healthy level of not being in control that comes from living with several little people who are figuring themselves and the world out. She writes of how tidiness can transform our lives by helping us make decisions about not just what we own, but who we are. I think this is great, but if you're living with people who are still figuring that out in the most basic of ways ... there's going to be some messiness. :) (Also, is it just me, or do her descriptions of herself as a cleanliness-obsessed child make anyone else a little sad??)

But I really love her philosophy about possessions. They are not bad. Your home is not a thing to be conquered, but love, and the things you own can and should bring you joy. But you shouldn't be so attached to things that you can't let them go. The material things around us are good and meant for our benefit and happiness. But they should not determine or own us. I love it.

Also I really need to try out her folding technique and see if it helps my husband's t-shirts fit in his dresser, because none of those are getting discarded anytime soon ... much to his wife's chagrin. (If there is one recurring disagreement in our marriage, it is about the number of t-shirts that's reasonable for one person to own. ;) )


I also just finished What Happened to Sophie Wilder. Oh my goodness. It took a bit of patience on my part because there was just a touch too much of the "jaded literary people living an immature lifestyle" stuff that can plague literary fiction. But I could tell it was going somewhere different. And it didn't disappoint. The ending of this book pulled the rug out from under my feet, in such a good and heart-aching way. I am still a little bit in shock. And still thinking about Sophie. As though she were a real person, who truly did wrestle with the truth as she knew it to be, versus the lived truth of suffering in mind and body. It is not a hard or a thick read, but it truly does seek truth, and it is excellent fiction, and so I recommend it highly.

Linking up with Ginny.


**Although I am loving Instagram lately. If you're on there, we should hook up! :)

Stacking up!

After hearing an interview with the author on the Read-Aloud Revival podcast, I just finished The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma. What an excellent book! A well-written memoir is one of my favorite things to read, and I can highly recommend this one.

(I am loving podcasts these days, by the way. Now that I have a smartphone I can listen to them in the car! I use the Stitcher app, but I don't know much about what else is out there. How do you listen to podcasts?)

Michael has attempted to stack books like this for the purpose of standing. It doesn't usually turn out well.

Thank you all for the feedback about colors for Michael's leaf blanket! A few of you were unsure what the final concept was. The pattern I'm using is the Family Tree Afghan. The leaves all get stitched together to form the blanket, and right now the plan is to spread out the colors as evenly as possible. :)

Last Saturday I bought some more green and blue yarn in shades close to those I've already used. I really, really love this yarn in DK weight, and the colors are just perfect.

Big stack of nonfiction from the library!

On days where we mostly stay at home and nothing crazy happens (ha), I can usually knit a leaf and a half. This is leaf number 65 of 110. (Or possibly 62. There are three leaves I've decided I don't like. But even though there's not that much difference between having 62 and 65 leaves, it's really hard for me to see that number go backwards ... so, right now I'm still including them in the final count!)

There's a layer of shawls under those leaves that I will have to block soon, just to make room for more. 

Sadly, somebody (don't know who for sure but I have my theories) got into my knitting basket and used one of my needles as a drumstick. It took me a while to find all the pieces. This pair belonged to my grandmother, and were among my favorites to use, so ... sadness. :( Luckily my bamboo needles get about the same gauge. 

Linking up with Ginny!

Leaves and Colors

I have been parenting solo since Friday, so, not much time for knitting or reading this week. But I met with the webcomic Namesake a few days ago, and ... well, that consumed my life for a few days. Now I'm caught up and have to wait for each page like a normal person. If you like fairy-tales, fanasy, and stories that are very meta ... you should read it. :) (Also if you like Oz. And super cute, not too sappy romance.)

I also recently read Eleanor & Park, which was ... okay. I really liked the beginning, which I thought was very original; not so much the second half. 

I've knit a few more leaves for Michael's blanket. Number 48 is on the needles out of 110, according to the pattern. I might stop at 100, depending on how big it is. (Although when you've come that far and only have ten left, I guess you might as well keep going!) 

My original idea was to stick only to leaf colors--green, brown, orange, red, yellow, plus some blue for the sky peaking through the leaves. But I'm wondering if maybe I should branch out? Maybe try some teal or some other jewel tone? I'm not sure. What do you think? I don't want it to look too "scrappy" ... perhaps I should buy more yarn in some of the colors I already have to keep it unified? 

A skein of teal?

Linking up with Ginny.

Yarn Along

I took a break from blogging.

I signed up for the CWBN's Mid-Atlantic Conference, which was last Saturday, and gave myself until then. Until then to just let it go, not try to write or even think about writing. (I am always thinking about writing.) Partly because a break just seemed to make sense in light of the last post. And partly because I'd been struggling a bit about writing here.

The conference was wonderful! I feel refreshed and a bit more purposeful about blogging; I've been reminded why I do it, which was something I really needed. I have a half-completed post about it in my drafts folder as I type this. (Which may mean nothing. Sometimes the draft folder might as well be the garbage bin. ;) But I have determination!! And exclamation points!!!)

In the meantime, I am, of course, knitting and reading.

The blanket is for a baby (not mine!), gender unknown. The book is Dorothy Sayer's Gaudy Night, picked up because Haley and and Christy talked about it on Fountains of Carrots, and the other books they've read together have all been ones I love. I am probably committing some sort of book crime, because I haven't read the other books in the series first; I can tell I am missing out on the depth of Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Wimsey's relationship, but it hasn't really given me much trouble. I am enjoying it quite a bit.

Linking up with Ginny as usual.

Comfrey

Still crocheting flowers! I'm working on purple now--a lovely lavender color called Comfrey. It goes a little slower for me than knitting, because crochet seems to be much less friendly to multi-tasking. You have to look at it. No reading, or watching television (at least not without a lot of pauses to look up). However, I suspect it might just prove perfect for listening to podcasts, so perhaps I should do that today.

I finished Story of a Soul and am now focusing on The Hidden Face. I'm also reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn before bed. I started it a few weeks ago and couldn't get into it, but now am enjoying it quite a bit. Funny that this is the second work of fiction in a row for me that takes place in New York.

This is the first time I've read it, but for some reason I've always thought of this book as one that everyone's supposed to read in high school. Like Catcher in the Rye, or Animal Farm, or what have you. So ... do people read this in high school? Because it seems a bit old to me. Which I guess may not be a bad thing ... but I feel like so many books are read in high school and then never again, which means that so much is missed in them.

The oven timer is beeping at me, and so I must pull my cookies out of the oven. They are Michael's consolation prize for not going to the library today, since I looked at the clock as we started getting socks on everyone and realized it was far to close to naptime. :( Given the choice he would still have preferred the library.

Linking up with Ginny's yarn along.

Winter Knitting

Oh my goodness, but this is a long book. I stopped by the library today to renew it. I didn't expect to take so long to get through it. But it seems fitting, since I picked it up during the coldest part of winter--it has been so bitter these past few weeks. This book unfolds in a way that is vast and majestic--a particular sort of movement that is well suited to magical realism, I think, although that genre can also be smart and zippy--so it is hard to zip through, but I am certainly enjoying it. I'm hoping to finish it this week ... and maybe it will mean the end of winter? (Yes, friends, winter is still here and strong because I am reading this book. I am sorry.)

These socks. Today is my brother's birthday, and I'd hoped to hand them to him today. It would totally be possible if the kids slept for another two hours. But they have been in bed two hours already and are ready to get up. Sorry, Anthony!

Linking up with Ginny.

Two Favorites

It's naptime! I am eating homemade English muffin bread, drinking hot chocolate, and getting ready to knit some leaves. My other two projects are still on the needles and looking much the same, but I decided to switch things up for a bit. :) The needles were my grandmother's; I use them quite a bit. Also my reading and my knitting coordinate this week. Fun!

I just finished Shirt of Flame and am actually getting ready to start reading it all over again! This was such a good book. I flew through this book, but it is subtitled "A Year with Saint Therese of Lisieux," and there is a chapter for each month. There is some intense stuff here, and I am hoping to read it throughout the year with some friends, giving it space to really sink in. (Also? I knew I was meant to read this book right now when a simple line from the introduction started me bawling out of the blue!)

I have a special place in my heart for St. Therese (and she played a role in my engagement!), but it's been at least five years since I read Story of a Soul. (Time to rectify that.) This book is part meditation, part memoir; I really love the contrast between the more earthy, gritty (is that the right word?) struggles of the author with the sentimental Therese--especially since I know some people find Therese a bit too emotionally pious to connect with.

And yes, The Hobbit, with cover art by JRR himself. :) That makes me happy. I love old editions like this. My aunt gave me this one from her own collection, years ago. I am happy to say it is every bit as wonderful to me on rereading as it was in my memory.

Linking up with Ginny's yarn along!

Two by Two

Two projects, two books.

I preordered Hunter Hammerson's latest book and it came in on Christmas Eve. A local yarn store is doing a knitalong, so I thought I'd join in with some yarn I got for Christmas. I'm knitting the pattern on the cover. The color is very subtle--a greyish-green silk.

The TARDIS socks are technically a Christmas present. My brother opened a package of bright blue yarn and said, "Um, are you sure you gave this to the right person?" It's been a troublesome knit. First I started the pattern as written and realized it was never going to fit his calves, so I cast on again with more stitches. Then I knit half of the "Police Box" chart upside down. And then I had to rip back because the gusset is much, much too big for anyone, even my wide-footed brother ... argh. I've reknit the gusset on smaller needles and really hope that fixes the problem ... if not, then ...? I may try a short row heel. (Why are heel flaps so popular, anyways? Personally I don't find them very attractive and the fit just isn't as good.)

I've been meaning to read something by Willa Cather for a while. Elizabeth recommended Death Comes for the Archbishop, and my husband saw it on my goodreads list and got it for Christmas. :) I am also excited to start the book about St. Therese. Progress is slow because I've been reading it in the morning before the babies wake up, which isn't that much time. But that's okay. :)

Linking up with Ginny's yarn along.

Christmas Animals

I am now officially knitting like mad to get everything done by Christmas.

Well, and sewing. The twins are getting a (knit) stuffed animal and a (sewn) cushion apiece. Gregory is getting a cute little dragon, which is all done but the face and the ears and wings.

And maybe horns for the head? I don't know. Right now I'm thinking no horns. (And yes, the arms are crooked. I didn't even notice until I took this picture, grrr. The angle makes it look worse than it is, but I will have to see what I can do about that.) 

And Dominic is getting a polar bear.

Except the face shape turned out a little pointy. Keith and I were laughing last night about how it looked like I was knitting an albino badger. I may undo the grafting and see if I can plump the nose up a bit more with stuffing. 

After that knitting is all done, I may turn back to Christmas stockings. We'll see!

Reading: I zipped through Leviathan and the sequel, Behemoth, and the last book (Goliath) is waiting on my couch. But I've put it on hold while I read Lavinia by Ursula LeGuin, which I am reading with some other lovely ladies who are part of the St. Greg's Pittsburgh Pocket. 

After my crafting has slowed down I am really hoping to post more often here. Life happens and I meant to write about it and then it just keeps moving. Which is a good thing, the moving! But not the not-writing. I need to write. 

Linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along! 

More Stripes!

My blogging companion this afternoon. Gregory thinks he only needs one nap a day now. Yikes. He's pretty happy in that box as I type this. :)

A couple more stripes and I will finish the first sock up. It's coming along a bit more slowly than before. The past two weeks have been just ... kind of crazy. It seems to be all-cranky-all-the-time around here these days! There has been more than one evening when Keith's come home and I've just sort of given up on making dinner. Dominic was sick AND teething, so hopefully that's past!

Still reading Acedia & Me. Parts are narrative memoir, parts are a more intellectual discussion/exploration of acedia. I fly through the narrative parts because that's how I read; with the other chapters I feel the need to slow down more and let it sink in.

A few weeks ago I bought a yarn cupboard from Target. (My yarn is still in the freezer though.) It's not moth-proof, but it is better than open storage. Right now my knitting books and paraphernalia are in there, along with the box of yarn I'm using for my sock. It hasn't been eaten yet. (I did buy moth traps that arrived just today, and will be setting them out this evening.)

(Sometime in the next few weeks I'm going to move that changing table out of the living room. I moved the bag of poopy diapers out of the frame for this picture. You're welcome. ;) )

I'm thinking eventually I will store yarn in ziplocs in the cupboard. It will still be colorful but a little more safe.

Linking up with Ginny's yarn along.

When in doubt ... hexipuff!

Still reading The Body of This by Andrew McNabb. The stories here are short and quite intense. I think I'm going to take this book slowly. (Although I imagine I'd devour it if I had a long stretch of time to devote it proper attention.)

So I am looking for another book to read at the same time. On my Kindle I have A Mother's Rule of Life and The Nesting Place; which should I read?

I ran out of yarn for my leaves from last week. I'm still in a somewhat scattered place and not ready to settle down to a real project. So instead I have turned to puffs. Now I am addicted again. And in no danger of running out of yarn anytime soon, as you can see from the above picture ... all fingering scraps go into the shoebox. And I have quite a few mini-skeins I traded for last year as well.  

These 14 are all from the past week or so. Last night I actually found myself knitting puffs in my sleep. :-P (Not literally, just in my head.) The one on the needles is #129. And if you are wondering what that many puffs looks like .... 

...the answer is surprisingly small. If I ever want this thing to cover an actual bed I have a looong ways to go. But I'm pretty sure I have enough yarn. Heh.

(I'm going to pretend that Sophie the giraffe is in this picture for size comparison and not because there are toys all over my living room floor. ;) )

Linking up with Ginny.