Category: knitting

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MarthaKimball2 Comments

Since last week, I have finally cast on Wren’s birthday bunny sweater.  The yoke has a sweet bunny motif and I think she will love it.  Now any time she sees me knitting on something she asks if it’s for her.  She was thrilled when she heard this project finally was for her (though she hasn’t quite figured out the design on it yet and I do hope to keep it a surprise).  I have about a week to finish it and hope I can make it.  The yoke is knitting slowly because it’s fingering weight yarn, and the pattern isn’t intuitive for me and needs constant checking.  Once I’m past the yoke I hope it flies and I’m able to finish it in time.  It is really nice to work on though, giving me lots of spring feels.  All other projects are on hold until this one is done.

I’m nearly done with Lila and am reading it in the evenings.  In my morning reading time I’ve been reading Delighting in the Law of the Lord, which has been so very rich and good thus far.  I bought it a few years ago and never have gotten around to reading it, and now the time is right. I appreciate Barrs as an author and it has been good to read something theological again.  Though I’m coming to this book with my own personal wrestlings, it is remarkable how much it is speaking to our times and the philosophy/worldview of our age and is bringing clarity for me on a lot of what is going on in the world and culture around us.  I highly recommend it!  It is theological without being heady, and is engaging and readable.

What might you be reading and making this week?

xo

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I have been working on a few gift knits lately, and have gifted them so now I can share about them. 🙂 I knit a lopi sweater for my mom called Stonewood. I think it looks great on her, sometime I’ll have to get a picture of her wearing it. I also finished knitting some 3×1 rib socks for my sister-in-law for her recent birthday. Sock projects are always on my needles now because it is good knitting for days that we are at homeschool co-op or whenever we’re out on the go really. Also there’s just something so enjoyable to me about knitting socks. I’m working on a pair for Noah, just another simple 3×1 rib pair (my favorite to knit lately) knit out of Patons Kroy. I’ve been itching to knit some crunkle socks and cast those on a few days ago for myself in yarn from Little Lionhead Knits. Her dye job is always fantastic and this colorway makes me think of spring. The pattern is really fun to knit! More engaging than a plain vanilla sock but easy enough to need a very low level of concentration. The repeat of the pattern keeps me moving onto the next row, so they’re knitting up quickly. Wren’s birthday is coming quickly and I haven’t even cast on her sweater yet, so I’m making a mental note to get on that in the next couple of days.

I finished reading My Connemara and enjoyed getting to know the Sandburg family more. I’ve since been reading Lila and am enjoying it more than Home and Gilead, even though I have liked each book in the series.

Do feel free to share with me what you may be reading or making lately.

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MarthaKimball4 Comments

I have a couple gift items on my needles so my Morchella cardigan has been on hold for a little bit, though I have finished knitting/shaping the two fronts and am now knitting the back panel. The combo of the rustic feel of the yarn, it’s deep rusty red color, and the mindlessness of the knit make it such a satisfying knit to work on when I need something easy and soothing. Knitting is truly such a gift, such a comfort to me in the quiet pockets of my day and I’m very grateful for it. I guess at this rate I will finish this cardigan on the cusp of spring when I no longer have need of it, but as usual, I seem to do a lot of my winter knitting during the spring and summer months when I’m not busy with birthday and Christmas knitting. Speaking of, Wren’s birthday is coming up fast and I need to get started on her birthday sweater stat! I’m planning a sweater with a color work yoke that has a bunny motif. I think she will love it!

The kids and I have been reading The Bronze Bow as our evening read aloud. During morning reading time we’ve been reading Hattie Big Sky, and recently finished Calico Captive, so it was time for something geared a little more toward our male audience. Phoebe was complaining about starting The Bronze Bow and said she didn’t think it would be of any interest, but after the first chapter everyone was hooked. Most evenings after dinner and baths are done, I (or sometimes Brandon) read aloud while they color or do something quiet with their hands (play cars, knit, etc.). Even though by that point of the day I am beyond weary of using my voice, it is worthwhile because it is such a sweet time that I think we all look forward.

I picked up My Connemara to read since we often visit the Carl Sandburg home near where we live for hiking the trails or visiting with the goats in the warmer months. It has been a charming and quick read, written by his granddaughter sharing about what it was like growing up on the farm. I’ve really enjoyed it for my own quiet reading escape before bed. I had to return The Song of the Lark to the library and was very nearly done with it, I may need to recheck it out to finish. I wasn’t terribly enjoying it but I think I need to know how it ends. Have any of you read it? Thoughts?

What are you reading or making lately? I love to hear from you guys, feel free to share if you want!

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Christmas season came and went in such a hurry it seems. I still have photos to share about our holiday season, but am finding it hard to make time to get on here and do so. I received a sweater’s quantity of peace fleece DK in the color way “sheplova mushroom” to knit a morchella cardigan. I watched for it on Christmas day and cast on sometime around then. I want this cardigan in my wardrobe so badly, and thought it would be more of a product knit versus a process knit, anticipating it would knit slowly and be a bit tedious. However I have been so, so enjoying the process of knitting this sweater. I can’t quite explain it. It’s just the only thing I want to work on and there’s something deeply comforting in returning to it at the beginnings of endings of my days. It’s familiar, easy, and such a long bit of knitting, yet the excitement to have the finished piece moves me continually forward. These are strange times we find ourselves in, and I must say I have been battling a lot of discouragement. Life for me lately is pared back down to the basics and my words feel few and also terribly small and unimportant, especially in the wider world of the internet. Maybe it’s a bit of an existential crisis. From what I gather, I think many of us are struggling a bit right now. I am finding grounding in the scriptures, in quiet spaces, in observing nature around me and spending time in it, in my knitting, in the company of trusted friends and loved ones.

I’m slowly making my way through Willa Cather’s The Song of the Lark. I am mostly enjoying it, and am curious to see where the story goes, but I feel like I’m reading it very slowly. Have you read it? If so, what did you think? Some fiction has definitely been a welcome reprieve in the evening before bed.

How are you? Are you reading good books, making things with your hands?

Sending love to you today, friends, and trusting that the Light can overcome the darkness any one of us may be facing.

xo
Martha

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Both Phoebe’s and Noah’s birthday sweaters were miraculously finished in time, even with what has felt like very minimal knitting time. Noah loved his sweater which is always a joy! Phoebe’s sweater finished blocking yesterday and I wrapped it up last night for her birthday tomorrow. There’s always a great sense of relief when the gift knitting is done. I had hoped to have Phoebe’s socks and horse mittens done, as well as a hat for each of the kiddos for Christmas but none of that will be happening. I’ll continue to work on those projects and gift them as they’re finished. I did cast on one ribbed hat a few days ago for some easy mindless knitting. My plan is to knit a few of these 2×2 ribbed hats for our basket of hats and mittens by the door for anyone to grab because they all love wearing my ribbed hat so much.

Last night I picked my stoker shawl back up and it was nice to re-familiarize myself with it. These last days of the year always feel very overwhelming for me trying to get all the things done, birthdays planned and executed, etc. It was good to just have a project to pick up that was well under way and not to need the mental energy to cast on a new object.

I’m nearing the end of Cry of the Soul and this morning began reading Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortland. I listened to the free 14-day devotional from this book on Spotify and knew then that I needed to read the book in its entirety.

Thanks for reading along as I share my current makes + reads, and feel free to share with me what you are working on creating and reading.
xo

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A week into December and it still feels all a bit surreal. But we have decorated and we have spent time daily in Advent readings all the while with Christmas music playing, our rhythms and actions helping our minds and hearts catch up to the season we are in. We are enjoying our fifth? year of reading Unwrapping the Greatest Gift together, coloring the little accompanying free ornaments each evening and hanging them on our Jesse Tree. This is such a sweet tradition that the kids really love forward to, as we trace Jesus’ family line and marvel afresh at the story God has written. May He prepare our hearts for a fresh coming this Christmas season! I’ve added a few Christmas books to our collection, which I pack away with Christmas decorations and pull out only during the month of December. One of those books is Ollie’s Ski Trip and another which we are reading during our morning time is All Creation Waits. A favorite from among the ones we already own is Christmas Farm. I’m still reading Cry of the Soul slowly.

As for knitting, I’m nearing the last few inches of the second sleeve on my Sweater Hug. I’m still working on Phoebe’s sweater sleeves too. Sleeves, sleeves, sleeves. 🙂

May your Christmas + Advent season be merry and bright.

xo
Martha

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MarthaKimball3 Comments

December is upon us, hard as it is to believe. I’ve still got two birthday sweaters to finish this month so I’m trying to devote all of my knitting time to those projects. I finished the body of Phoebe’s leksak tunic and have started on the sleeve. I plan to modify the sleeves a little and add in decreases for a slimmer fit. The yarn for Noah’s sweater hasn’t arrived yet but I hope to get it on the needles soon! I have other little small items I wanted to knit the children before Christmas but I don’t want to bite off more than I can chew.

Still reading Cry of the Soul and very helped by it so far. I definitely recommend.

Wishing you a happy start to your December and Advent season!

xo
Martha

Joining with Ginny’s monthly Yarn Along.
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Just slipping in here today for a quick yarn along post. I keep trying to find time to post about other life happenings but it just hasn’t happened! So here I am to wave hello. Knitting and reading are still happening in the cracks and crevices of the day, in the quiet moments before bed or upon waking. I finished reading Still Life and really enjoyed it. It was a very sweet novel. I am just beginning The Cry of the Soul and just a few pages in, but already gripped. I think it will be a slow read requiring a lot of chewing on the truths expounded therein.

I am deep in the flurry of birthday-sweater-knitting. I’m still trying to figure out what exactly Noah wants for his sweater, but as soon as I finished Philippa’s, I cast Phoebe’s on. My “trick” to make three kid’s sweaters before Christmas is to pick simple sweaters knit with a worsted-weight yarn if possible. Phoebe’s favorite knitted item was the Leksak tunic I knit for her a few years ago and she had hard time letting it go when she outgrew it and had to pass it down to Philippa. She requested another one this year in a “burgundy color with flecks.” I think this yarn from Beaverslide Dry Goods in the chokecherry color way is just perfect for what she was imagining. I don’t love all of the purling involved in this sweater which makes it knit up a bit slower, but it will hopefully be just what she’s wanting, and that’s good enough for me. Noah is easy to knit for and he loves anything I make unless it’s too scratchy. I need to get cracking on his sweater soon.

Of course, I’m still knitting on my Sweater Hug with a goal to finish that before the end of the year. I finished the first Hyak sock which I shared last week (they knit up so quickly!) but I have borrowed the needles from them to work on another project. I like having a few projects on the go to bounce between depending on my mood.

I hope you are well as we ease from fall into winter. Most of the leaves are gone, the temps here are swinging from freezing at night to warm and sunny during the day. Still so pleasant for November. Philippa’s birthday is this weekend, then we will be into holiday season. Stay well, friends and loved ones.

xo

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After finishing up Philippa’s birthday sweater (apart from blocking and weaving in ends), I’m back to knitting on my sweater hug. I also cast on a new pair of cozy worsted weight socks called the Hyak socks. I have had the yarn for these socks and plans to knit them for maybe two or three years now and I am happy to finally be making them! The yarn is very special, purchased from a local sheep farm to me, very woolly, warm, and filling my hands with lanolin as I knit with it. I’m eager to have these cozy socks on my feet!

I’m still reading Boundaries (highly recommend) and Still Life (also highly recommend), but pictured above is one of my favorite books that we’ve purchased for the children. Literally it often brings tears to my eyes as I read it, and not because it’s a particularly touching story, but because it depicts a life I love and long for. Its called Sleep Tight Farm, and I love it because the illustrations are beautiful, depicting the shift of seasons, my favorite time of year, the shift from hot, muggy, buzzing and busy summer into fall and winter, specifically with tucking in a farm for the winter. So many beautiful woolens included in the illustrations too. I just want to step inside and live in the book, ya know?

Do you find yourself craving to make more with your hands lately? That desire seems to ramp up even more so for me in the fall and winter months. What have you been making and what books have been enriching your life lately? I pray you are well today, friends.

xo

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These busy days of motherhood have long seemed to change the way time feels for me now, always racing by. But time this year has felt especially strange. We have all jointly carried the burden and toll of the pandemic, and yet many of us have also carried other heavy burdens and losses. How can it already be November? In some ways I still feel like life paused back in March and all these many months have been surreal. Yet time marches on. Yes, the election weighs heavy on all of our hearts, but there is more to November than this. Welcome, November.

Welcome, November, welcome gentle friend, with your rust + ochre crisp leaves nearly all off the trees, with your frosty mornings and warm afternoons, your candlelight, your days marked by gratitude as we move toward Thanksgiving. Welcome, with your slower gait and deeper breaths after the hustle of October. Welcome.

I’m making progress on this extremely simple and soothing sweater, the Gotland in my hands feeling warm and sheepy, the stockinette easy to pick up when my hands need something to keep busy. Why is stockinette so calming and helpful when the heart and mind are overwhelmed? I’m grateful for it. I went ahead and knit the collar on the sweater instead of saving it for last because it was the element that drew me to this design, and also because I wanted to make sure the yarn wasn’t too scratchy right up against my neck. I love it!

I’m still reading Boundaries, but for some easier fiction reading I started Still Life. It is enjoyable and intriguing so far!

Joining Ginny for her monthly Yarn Along.