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.

Little Things

I had an idea that I would crochet an Easter garland, and ordered some lovely colors in this yarn. But it's clear that crochet is largely foreign to me. As I happily perused patterns and pictures of various crochet flowers, the one thing that didn't cross my mind was gauge. When the thread arrived and I realized how small a hook I'd be using, my vision had to be revised. The flowers are smaller than I'd like, but they work up quickly and I intend to make a lot of them.

However, lately I've been drawn to my hexipuffs. Another quick and dirty project, and one I don't even have to look at much while knitting. I do need to buckle down on the flowers if I want a garland by Easter, though.

I've been reading a little of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn at night, but mostly I've been rereading Story of a Soul and The Hidden Face . I think I will read about Therese's family next, especially since her parents are being canonized soon, and her sister Leonie's cause for canonization was just opened. I've been on a Therese "kick" since reading Shirt of Flame, and I think her autobiography was perfect for me to read right now.

Linking up with Ginny's yarn along.

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!

I haven't killed it yet. :)

This picture was taken about a week or so ago; the flower is still there, just a little past its prime.

Keith gave me this mini-rosebush for my 24th birthday in October. Little did he know it was the last day of a novena I was praying to Saint Therese in the hopes that we'd get engaged soon!

The same morning he brought me the rose, he asked my Dad if he could marry me. And four days later he proposed.

So this rose means a lot to me, and I'm hoping it stays around for a long time.

(And yes, those are Christmas ornaments in the corner.)