Last week we went away to a lake house for a few days and it was so restful and nice. I cast on a dogstar sweater for Philippa while there, since her birthday is about a month away and I like to get a head start on birthday sweaters. I knitted both sleeves while there and got started on the body. It’s a bottom-up sweater, which isn’t my favorite construction, but it is nice to know the sleeves are done already. The yarn is a merino cashmere blend, very soft for my prickle-sensitive girl, and it has been quite nice to have in hand. Knitting the body is just mindless and easy, very soothing. I made simple modifications to the sweater, adding part of the colorwork motif to the bottom of both sleeves and also the bottom of the body, as Philippa requested. I hope she loves it, she is notoriously disdainful of the sweaters I knit for her, but also always requests one. 🙂 Handknit socks, however, are definitely her jam.
I planned to do a lot of reading during our time away but vacations with small children are never quite as restful as one imagines. 🙂 I have been reading Boundaries, and while it’s not really super “fun” reading, it has been interesting and helpful. It has sparked a lot of good conversation between Brandon and I. Be that as it may, I’m needing some kind of fiction read on the go soon.
I’d love to hear what you are making or reading lately, if you care to share!
everything He gives 
I am a new reader of your blog and am enjoying it very much. I am working on a sweater for my granddaughter [I have 6 of them and no grandsons!] And it had a wonderful little cat in the corner peeking out. But, I simply couldn’t do it. I ended up ripping out the front and will try to do it in duplicate stitch as maybe that is easier? So I admire greatly your colorwork motif and wish I could do that! I am currently reading “The Best Land under Heaven” by Michael Wallis, which is the story of the Donner Party’s overland trek in 1846 to California that resulted in such a disaster trapped in the snows of the Sierra Nevada Mountains that they ended up having to eat some of their party that died in order to survive. I’ve known the story of the Donner Party all of my life and even have a second home at Donner Lake where the poor starving emigrants were forced to live that horrible winter but this is one of the best histories I’ve ever read. It’s hard to put it down as it reads almost like a novel.
Rita, Thank you so much for this sweet response! I’m grateful to have you reading along and sharing with me what you are reading and making. Your granddaughter will be blessed to get such a fun hand knit sweater! Also, the book you shared sounds interesting. I remember driving over Donner Pass with my family many years ago.