Category: things I make

yarn along

MarthaKimball4 Comments

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The skies are brooding, ready to open up any minute.  I am just sitting down with a cup of afternoon coffee, which I never ordinarily make, but after a busy morning running errands and sitting for 2.5 hrs (!!) in eye appointments for the children and then hurriedly mowing the lawn for the last couple of hours before we have a few days of heavy rain… I think I’ve earned it. 🙂

Yesterday I took the kids to the Greenville Zoo for a fun day trip before we picked up my parents from the airport in Greenville.  It was a super fun day but no naps were had by all and today the house is quiet and hopefully the younger babies sleep and we have a more peaceful afternoon.

I finished the test knit hat for Noah and you can see finished photos of it on instagram or ravelry.  I’m making more headway now on Wren’s like sleeves top, beginning on the front/bodice portion of it.  It is so lovely to knit with Cestari, even if it is primarily cotton.  This yarn is super soft and just so soothing moving through my fingers.

I just ordered the book Devoted by Tim Challies (affiliate link) with some birthday money and am excited to start it.  It’s a small book about the lives of the mothers of some of the most influential theologians and men of faith in history, and I’m curious and hungry for the mothering tune-up I so need.  I feel the need regularly to immerse myself in books that sharpen, encourage, and shape me as a mom since this is probably the most impactful and important work I will ever give myself to.  Still have a few other books on the go as well.

Anything good that you’re reading or working on lately?

Joining with Nicole’s weekly Crafting On and Ginny’s yarn along.

yarn along

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Still knitting on wren’s like sleeves top here and there between working on my campside shawl and a test knit hat for noah.  I’ve been having some pain in my wrist and elbow, so I’ve slowed a bit to rest and not overdo it.

Picked up a few books from the library, Homeschooling with the Brain in Mind and Play the Forest School Way.  You can tell what I have on my mind!  Play the Forest School Way is one I wanted to look through before I buy it and I do like what it offers.

Joining with Nicole for this week’s Crafting On.
Affiliate links included.

a birthday shawl

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I bought this yarn with birthday money, catching one of Ginny’s summer yarn updates.  I always swoon over what she makes, she has such great taste!

The yarn is gorgeous, naturally dyed but with the most beautiful speckles.  Truly, I don’t know how she does it!  It is such a bright and happy color, and the yarn is really lightweight making the shawl feel airy and summery.  The yarn is 100% american wool, single ply fingering weight, very soft yet with a rustic feel to it.

I knit the antarktis shawl pattern, which I’ve knitted twice before for gifts, and it is sheer enjoyment to knit.  I modified the pattern a bit by adding some repeats, wanting to use as much yarn as possible.  I cast off before adding much of a lace border, thinking to save a bit of yarn to maybe add a couple of tassels on the corners of the shawl.  Should I?  I can’t tell.  I think I like it how it is.

I finished the shawl a week ago or so, and slipped outside after a shower to take a few pictures in the last light of the day, thus my wet hair and glasses.  I have been grabbing this shawl often in the early mornings or late evenings for a luxurious simple summery wrap and I love it so, so much.

yarn along

MarthaKimball4 Comments

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I’m hearing summer’s first cicada this morning as I type this, as the heat and humidity build outside.  I’ve been working little bits each day on spreading fresh wood chips around the kid’s play gym, the garden, and the flower beds around the house but I don’t think I can bear the heat and sun this morning.  Maybe this evening.  Brandon and I often do yard + garden work amongst the fireflies after the children are tucked into bed and the day’s heat has subsided.  This week is about settling back into our ordinary routines, the daily and weekly things that ground us.  I have a lot of organizing and planning to do in the month of July to get ready for the next school year, hunting for good prices on books + curriculum, restocking supplies, tidying our school room and maybe adding a few items for interest + curiosity.  Phoebe does testing for the first time in a week or so (our state’s annual requirement) and I’m eager to see how she does.

I’ve finished up a few projects, and I’ve been trying to get a new shawl started (using new-to-me brioche stitch) but I cannot seem to get just the first rows right.  I will figure it out eventually, but when I just need something soothing to pick up and knit, I’ve been reaching for my campside shawl.  I’ve been working on it again (after a year hiatus) for a few days but already it’s flying off the needles.  It won’t be long.  (I stopped knitting this shawl last year at this time when I was so sick with my pregnancy with Wren, and couldn’t even look at yarn.  Oddly when I pick it up, I have had waves of nausea just in the remembering.  Its so strange, how our circumstances and memories get knitted into our projects.)  This is one I’m thinking about offering for sale, though I have no idea how to price it really.  So many loved ones and friends have asked me to sell things I knit, but I’m not sure exactly how to go about it since I don’t plan to regularly sell things, and just would have random items up for sale here and there.  Any suggestions?  I’m thinking to offer it for sale through instagram.  Also, any interest in buying some hand made items from me?

The kids and I have been reading this new book, 100 Bible Stories for Children, which I am reviewing this month.  We have read the Jesus Storybook Bible every evening together for years now and have read through it countless times, so it’s always nice to put a new bible storybook into rotation.  I really like how this one shares stories that aren’t often included in children’s bibles, and I can tell my older kids are fascinated with some new-to-them stories.  The stories are relatively short yet true to the original text, and the illustrations are beautiful.  My kids keep taking it to their rooms and spending time poring over the pages, so that’s a sign to me of a good book.  I would recommend it!

Joining today with Ginny’s monthly yarn along + Nicole’s weekly Crafting On.
Affiliate links included in this post.

Also, thanks to Tyndale House Publishers for a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

yarn along

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I’m sorry I’ve been absent here!  If you follow me on instagram you know we’ve had a bunch of family in town and it’s been busy.  I hope to get another post up this week but we shall see.  I cast on for another antarktis shawl (for myself this time) with my birthday yarn from Ginny Sheller.  I think I cast it on on my birthday, actually.  Later I realized I have been knitting this shawl every June for the last three years (since I learned to knit).  Sort of bizarre.  It must be a Juney sort of thing to do.  I’ve already finished the pattern and still have the amount of yarn pictured above leftover so I’m going to add a few repeats of lace and garter and use up most of the yarn if possible.  Also, I’m thinking about adding tassels.  Thoughts?  Would it look nice with this pattern?

I’m slowly reading my way through Slow Knitting (affiliate link) and really learning a lot as well as resonating with it so much.  This craft has my heart. ❤

Linking up with Nicole’s weekly Crafting On.

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.

yarn along

MarthaKimball2 Comments

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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. 

yarn along

MarthaKimball1 Comment

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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.

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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yarn along

MarthaKimball2 Comments

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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.