Tag: crafting on

yarn along

MarthaKimball2 Comments

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What a week it was last week!  This week is busy as well, and knitting truly helps keep my sane in the midst of it all.  I’m almost done with the first sleeve of my Tegna and can hardly believe I might be able to block it and have it ready to wear this week!  Woohoo!!! In the meantime, I cast on for Philippas birthday sweater, another Sunday sweater (pattern by Ginny) with my hand dyed yarn (dyed with avocados).  I will share more about this yarn soon, if and when I get a chance to shoot out another post.  In the meantime, it is the squidgiest wool and I had no idea how much satisfaction and joy it would bring me to knit with yarn I’ve dyed myself!  It makes me even more excited to see the finished product.  I plan to knit all of the girls a “sunday sweater,” having already finished wren’s (except for buttons! gah!).  Philippa and Phoebe will both get one as their birthday sweater with the yarn I’ve dyed myself.  I’ve also ordered yarn for Noah’s birthday sweater and now I have more knitting ahead than I can probably finish in time, but I will try.  Kid sweaters sometimes go really quickly for me and I’m hoping I’ve started early enough to accomplish them.

ALSO… sorry for the different format of the photo.  Tragically, I dropped my DSLR camera last week while on a hike and I believe it is toast.  I am hoping to drop it off at a repair shop soon to find out details because I won’t be able to do much of my usual blogging, family pictures, and also the (very) part time work I do taking photos for my husband/dad’s work website. 😦 😦 😦  Very sad.

I’m still reading Home Education (affiliate link).  Enjoying it but needing a fiction book soon methinks.

Joining Nicole’s weekly crafting on.

 

yarn along

MarthaKimball5 Comments

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I’m working on the front shoulders of my tegna sweater and I’m really excited to have this piece done to wear this fall.  The weather here hasn’t really cooled yet so it should be done just in time.

I’m also almost half way through (affiliate link) Home Education and am really enjoying it.

What are you reading and making?

Joining with Ginny’s Yarn Along and Nicole’s Crafting On.

 

 

 

 

yarn along

MarthaKimballLeave a comment

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When the yarn arrived for my tegna sweater I couldn’t help casting on as soon as possible.  I labored a bit over sizing because this top is supposed to be oversized and boxy, and I really want it to fit just as the designer models it.  I did a swatch but didn’t want to take the time to block it, so I’m hoping that mine turns out as I want it to!  I’d like to have this top to wear this fall, possibly to the big fiber festival that happens in our area the last weekend of October, so other projects are being neglected a bit as I work on this. Also, I am loving ever single second working on it.  My first time with mohair, it is lovely!

I’m still reading the last couple of books I’ve shared over the last few weeks but also picked (affiliate link) The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook up from the library.  I feel like I’m falling more deeply into this craft and loving it so, and am fascinated by understanding different fibers and how they behave.  It has been fun to peruse this book and it’s one I would like to eventually add to our library.

What are you reading and making lately?
Joining with Nicole’s weekly Crafting On.

yarn along

MarthaKimball1 Comment

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This space has been quiet since last week, sorry for that!  We are still figuring out our new rhythms with school, our co-op, and a fun homeschool PE class the kids are taking weekly.  I have so many things to tackle in the next month and a half, some days it all seems feasible, other days I feel completely inundated.  Right now, we are all a bit distracted with the hurricane about to hit our coastline this week.  We are pretty far inland but still have family right on the coast of SC, and we are bracing and preparing mentally for a lot of days of rain, flooding, and possible power outages.

As for knitting, I have a few projects on the needles but mainly keep picking up my plume shawl.  I’ve knit a few more repeats of the pattern since last week, in between working on other projects.  The lace is easy to memorize and even work on with children around and lots of interruptions (which I usually cannot do).  It’s going to be so gorgeous when finished after the lace is blocked, I can’t wait to see it!  It’ll be hard to part with, but at the same time I think the recipient will really love it, so that makes it worthwhile.

I’m just finishing up Courage, Dear Heart and then Home Education came in at the library.  I have meant to read it for awhile, and now am digging into it to see if it’s one I should just buy (probably, right?).

Joining with Nicole’s weekly Crafting On.
Affiliate links included.

yarn along

MarthaKimball3 Comments

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I can’t remember why I signed up for her class other than hearing older students recommend it as life-changing.  My first memory of her, my favorite college professor, was her having us draw the word “God” on our paper, then draw a box around it.  She explained to us that in this class we would have to let God out of the box we have drawn around Him, that we would have to “stand under” the Word in order to “understand.”  She was a young old-soul, petite, spoke with quiet confidence and always with a grin on her face.  She exuded that peculiar joy I’ve come to know around people who walk with God.  She opened my eyes and my mind in the most beautiful ways.  I wouldn’t ever be the same after her class, simply titled Christian Doctrine.  She spoke into my life many times over the course of my college years and even still we write back and forth here and there, all these years later.  We now both homeschool our children, and she has been a help in so many parts of my journey, theological questions, homeschooling questions, etc.  That’s a part of her dissertation-in-progress under my pretty cake of yarn which she generously shared with me, asking for my feedback.  Life is a wonder, isn’t it?  So I’m hoping to squeeze in time here and there to read it for her and remember those sweet college days with my head stuck deep in theological books.

I’m knitting the Plume shawl by Melody Hoffman, my first time knitting one of her patterns and I do so love it.  Simple, dainty, the lace is addicting and not terribly complicated.  It’s a gift for a loved one, my second time knitting with The Fibre Co. Meadow yarn (both gifts for others) which may be my all-time favorite yarn ever.  I must knit myself something with it one day!

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

yarn along

MarthaKimball2 Comments

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Just popping in here real quick for today’s yarn along post.  It’s our official first day of school and of course, things are wonky and not terribly smooth and quite rusty.  The morning went well, but of course trying to manage and divide myself to do some instruction with noah and phoebe both, and philippa wanting to be in on the fun is all challenging.  Little wren is cutting teeth (much to my surprise! and yes I cried when I saw them!) and she screamed and cried most of the morning while I was trying to teach.  We are also all a little bit under the weather, of course, because this is just how first days have to go, right?!  Still, it wasn’t horrible.

I’m on the final bit of my campside shawl, on the ribbing.  This is something I’ve knit in hopes of sharing some of my knitting with you all–meaning I plan to sell it.  Quite a few people asked me if I would sell a shawl like this after I knit my yellow one, so I’ve knitted one up and have sort of been toying with opening a very small, very seasonal little etsy shop to sell a few hand made items (not just knitted) from our home.  Anyway, it feels scary putting that out there, but do tell me your thoughts!  I will share more about it as I pull things together.  I do so hope someone loves this shawl as much as I do and finds it a cozy way to welcome autumn.

I’m still reading my way through Courage, Dear Heart and have been enjoying it more than many books I’ve read lately.  If you have been weary or walking through something painful and challenging where your soul is sensitive to the often trite and pithy words of others, you will find true encouragement in these pages.  Reynolds writes as one who understands what we most need in our darkest valleys: words to illumine the darkness, the presence of a friend, and hope.  True, deep, abiding hope that isn’t based on our performance, (because who can perform anything spiritually for God when wiped out by suffering?) but is based on the finished work of Christ.

Also, I mentioned my little book light last time but thought I would share it with you in case anyone else is looking for one so that you, too, can stay up far too late reading without disturbing anyone!  I’ve also used it in the car for car knitting when we were driving in the dark (hooked it onto my seat belt across my chest so it would shine directly on the stitches.)  It was great!

I hope this week you find time to squeeze in some making and some reading!  As always, I love to hear what you are up to if you feel like sharing.

Joining with Nicole’s weekly Crafting On.

 

 

yarn along

MarthaKimballLeave a comment

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I’m onto the last chart of my campside shawl and it shouldn’t be too long before it’s done, if I can keep myself from getting distracted with another project.  So many things I want to cast on.  I’m almost done with my pink socks, too!

Courage, Dear Heart: Letters to a weary world (affiliate link) is a book I selected to review.  Fernando Ortega endorsed it, and he is a favorite musician of mine whose lyrics often strike a deep chord with me so I figured I may like this book.  I got it in the mail yesterday, picked it up last night and had a hard time putting it down.  I think it’ll be one I hold close.

Joining with Nicole’s Crafting On.

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I finished sock no. 1 last night and cast on for the second sock.  I already love these so much.  They fit more snuggly than the last pair I knitted with the exact same “recipe” but maybe they will grow a bit with blocking.  If not, it’ll be just fine.  I think it must be a slightly finer weight sock yarn.  Even though I prefer the aesthetic of simple neutrals, I have sincerely enjoyed every single stitch of these socks.  The colors are simply gorgeous, especially the coppery flecks and golden yellow.  No second sock syndrome here.  Is it just because so many people are talking about school starting back this week or did I sense a tiny shift in the weather here?  I don’t tend to allow myself to think about fall until we are through with September because August and September seem to be North Carolina’s hottest months.  Even still, it seems the mornings have a different sort of chill to them this week and it makes me excited for cool fall mornings wrapped up in shawls next to a fire.

Still reading Devoted (affiliate link), and almost done with it.  I’ve finally gotten myself a book light (why did it take me so long?) so I can read in bed at night (when I seem to get the most reading done) without disturbing Wren or Brandon.  It’s been a game changer. 🙂  So yes, hopefully I will get a bit more reading accomplished!

Joining with Nicole’s weekly Crafting On.

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

MarthaKimball2 Comments

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Last week was hard with some unforeseen life circumstances that I’m still reeling from.  My knitting also seems to have had a rough week.  I guess it’s good for people to remember as well as myself that life isn’t always smooth and easy and neither are our knitting projects, right?  I love when I have a project on the go that is easy to pick up and work on, something that’s cruising along smoothly.  But the reality is that sometimes a project is troublesome and frustrating.  Anyway, I had picked up my campside shawl and was nearly done with it but somehow I had made a mistake and my stitch count was off significantly enough for the eyelet design to be off kilter.  I tried to improvise and see if I could make it work but after nearly finishing, I had to admit to myself it was bothering me too much.  So, rip rip rip.  I’ve started over.  It’s always hard to rip out hours and hours of work, but the reality is I’d like a better finished product so it’s worth it.  Plus, it’s enjoyable to knit so I can’t complain too much.

Then I tried to cast on a Like Sleeves top for Wren in some Quince + Co Tern that I have, but it doesn’t look like I’ll have quite enough yarn.  So, then I picked up some Cestari sock collection cotton/wool blend yarn at a local yarn store and have cast on again for the Like Sleeves top.  I decided to cast on the 12 month size for some reason but am kicking myself because she’s only 4 months and I’m wanting it to fit her now, so maybe I will rip out and cast on for the 6 month size, or more likely I will just decrease and call it good.  Sigh.

Not much reading happening, am waiting on some library books to be available, but in the meantime I am reading Begin Again for review.  I can’t say I’m into it quite yet, but I have heard others recommend it.

Linking up with Nicole’s weekly Crafting On.