Category: the shelves

yarn along

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I’m feeling a bit of the knitting woes.  I finished up three projects this week which is always really fun (to clear the slate, especially from some longer-standing projects) but at the same time I like to have at least one bigger knitting project that I can just pick up and work on when I need something mindless and relaxing.  I have yarn ready for my first brioche shawl project, but that is a technique that is new to me and so I’m swatching and trying to learn.  It’s really fun so far but I realized I will probably need to step down a needle size and I don’t have that needle size for a larger shawl project, so I will need to wait until I purchase something.  Ugh.  I also have had yarn ready to cast on another karen’s bonnet (for wren this time), so I started that as a quick project in the meantime, and realized I’ve made a mistake so I’m ripping a couple of rows back.  Anyway, it’s nothing big or worth complaining about but I am ready to have a project going thats “in the groove.”  I think knitters understand that. 🙂  At a homeschool conference I attended last week, someone quoted that “idle hands are the devils workshop” (Prov. 16:27) and I was laughing to myself, bouncing baby wren and wishing I could fit some knitting into the time I was spending sitting there.  That verse sounds like a knitter’s excuse.

I’ve barely read any more in my book, Wearing God, in the last week simply because of time, not because the book isn’t engaging!

Linking up with Nicole of Frontier Dreams.

Posted on by MarthaKimball 0

yarn along

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I finished up the bonnet I was knitting last week but haven’t had time to block it or snap photos.  I cast on a Sunday Sweater for Wren for the fall.  It’s a bit early, I know, but I think it’ll be nice to have some things ready for the cooler weather in advance, especially since so many knitting requests come in during the fall/winter.  Not to mention all the winter birthdays we have plus Christmas.  The pattern is very clear and well-written and I’m loving it so far.  I’m knitting for the first time with the Lykke needles Brandon bought me for Mother’s Day and really enjoying them, although I feel like wooden needles pair so well with rustic yarns.  Also, the yarn is dying my needles blue which I’m hoping will come off?  If not, it’s not a big deal.  I love blue. 🙂

I’m still working through Wearing God (affiliate link) by Lauren Winner.  I feel like I get so little reading done lately.  So many things I want to read, so little time!  I think I may need to make mandatory reading hour for everyone in the house, myself included, so that I don’t feel guilty sitting down to read for a bit.  It’s hard to read in our bed at night like I normally do.  With Wren in our room I feel like turning on the light wakes her.  Anyway, I hope you make a little time this week for creative and life-giving things for yourself!

Linking up with Nicole of Frontier Dreams and Ginny of Small Things today. 

Posted on by MarthaKimball 2

yarn along

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Currently knitting the sweetest little bonnet for a gift, but planning to make another one for Wren soon.  I’m playing a bit of a game of yarn chicken and I’m afraid I won’t win, but here’s to hoping!

Also, my copy of Wearing God (affiliate link) came in at the library and I can’t wait to get back into it.  I was reading it at our cabin getaway and I haven’t read anything by Lauren Winner before though I’ve heard authors I respect recommend her.  Anyway, it’s good so far.

I’m linking up with Nicole’s weekly Crafting On.

Posted on by MarthaKimball 1

yarn along

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My timber cardigan is currently blocking and I truly can’t wait for it to be dry and wearable (even though we are officially out of our cold weather months).  Since finishing it I have been working steadily on my pure shawl, hoping to finish it soon also.  It is now so bunched up on the needles I have no idea how large it is getting, since I added repeats to each section to make it a cozier bigger shawl.  It’ll be fun to bind off and let it spread its wings!  Hoping I didn’t go too crazy and end up making it into a blanket.  It’s a very simple, intuitive mindless knit which is wonderful at the end of these busy days when my brain feels fried.

I’m still reading Love in a Time of Homeschooling, and Phoebe and I are reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which I don’t believe I have ever read.  I wasn’t a huge fan of the movie growing up, but Phoebe was doing some copy work from the book in her writing curriculum and she was enchanted with the story so we’ll read it together.

Joining up with Nicole’s weekly Crafting On.  
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Posted on by MarthaKimball 0

yarn along

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My husband and I were away this past weekend on a small trip to a cabin nearby to celebrate our anniversary (I hope to share more about it in a post later this week).  I took along a few projects, but worked only on my timber cardigan.  Sadly, I really didn’t knit as much as I planned to, with a baby in arms often and just spending time talking with Brandon and resting, too.  I did basically knit one sleeve of the cardigan and hope to finish the second one up this week maybe.  Then it’s just knitting the pockets and it’s done!  I know its nearly summer and we have already had a good bit of hot, humid days.  We often go up on the blue ridge parkway in the warmer months for hikes and picnics and usually its a lot chillier up there, so I plan to wear it as soon as I need a warm layer!  It fits a little snug considering I began it before I was pregnant and so it will fit better after I get back to my normal size, but it still fits.  I put my arm in the finished sleeve last night and it’s the first time I’ve been wrapped up in Brooklyn Tweed yarn.  I’m sold for life.  It is so incredibly cozy.  How can it be so rustic and so comfortable at the same time?  I love it.

I’ve been reading Love in a Time of Homeschooling by Laura Brodie (affiliate link) and enjoying it so far.  Her writing style is engaging, and after hitting some real walls with Phoebe in school this year I feel like I need some helps and was drawn to this book being its about a mother and daughter relationship.  Being that God has seen fit to entrust me with three girls, I find I’m drawn often to things about the mother/daughter relationship, really hoping to do this well and feeling often like I’m not.  Goodness, parenting is hard.  Homeschooling is hard!  Thank goodness for knitting and the bright spot it is–a productive distraction.  Here’s a better picture of the cardigan so far.

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Linking up with Nicole of Frontier Dreams.  

Posted on by MarthaKimball 2

yarn along

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My pure shawl has been growing steadily as I knit it in between a couple of smaller projects.  It has been lovely to work with alpaca for the first time (this yarn, O-Wool local, is 50% wool 50% alpaca) although is it possible for alpaca to hurt your hands?  I feel like my right wrist and elbow have been bothering me lately while I’m knitting (minor tendonitis maybe?) which could be due to holding a baby often with that arm while going about my regular duties through the day.  I’m not sure, but either way knitting on the shawl is a treat.  It’s a gift for someone that the Lord put on my heart and I can’t wait to finish it and send it off.  I’m making it larger than the pattern calls for so that it’ll be a  really warm and cozy wrap, and I sort of wish I could keep it for myself, which is usually a sign of a good gift.

I’m still reading When Comes the Spring (affiliate link) and I have been dabbling in a few other books, but mainly reading this one while nursing the baby.  I’m close to finishing it and will probably slowly work my way through the series as I read other books as well.  It’s interesting and relaxing, and the northern territories is a nice place to retreat to at the end of the day when I’m needing something simple, happy and easy.

Linking up with Ginny of Small Things.  

 

Posted on by MarthaKimball 3

yarn along

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Well, it definitely was too ambitious to think I could knit this little cardigan before Easter and also with only one skein of yarn.  It has been really enjoyable to knit, and I’m waiting for another skein to arrive in the mail so i can finish it.  Sweet Wren wore her camilla babe sweater for Easter instead, which was really beautiful on her.  I can’t express how much fun it is and how satisfying to be able to make clothes for my children.  I am really wanting to learn how to sew, so I can sew them some dresses, too.

I picked up book two in the Canada West series by Janette Oke, When Comes the Spring (affiliate link).  It seems appropriate for this time of year, hey?  I remember my older sister reading the series when we were growing up but I don’t think I ever read it.  I read the first book sometime last year and have been watching the latest episodes of “When Calls the Heart,” which really seems to be nothing like the books.  Both are enjoyable, but I’m hoping the books are better, seeing how the characters and plot is really entirely different thus far from the tv show.  I’m finding little time to read, but am squeezing in a few pages when I nurse in the evenings.  It’s good to have a happy simple novel to read.

Joining with Ginny’s monthly Yarn Along, and Nicole’s weekly Crafting On today.

Posted on by MarthaKimball 3