Tag: yarn along

yarn along

MarthaKimball4 Comments

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Are you tired of seeing socks yet?  I’m probably not a very exciting knitter.  I am on my LAST SOCK after knitting a pair for each family member and I was hoping to have this done by his birthday (today!) but, alas.. only on the gusset.  I secretly knit him a big chunky hat, though, this week, to make up for it, and I hope that is a fun surprise for him.  But I forgot to get a picture of it before I wrapped it.  He requested cherry pie for his birthday dessert, so this is my first attempt at a gluten-free pie.  (I never attempt pies, it seems; I think I am horrible at them.  I pieced together a few different recipes to make this one, so we’ll *see* how it turns out.)

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I am wanting to make my first shawl.  It is a knitter’s rite of passage, right??  So.. comment with your recommendations!  It seems there are a billion options to choose from and I have only been knitting since October so my skills are pretty limited.  I need to try something beyond hats and socks and scarves.

I’ve been reading Roots + Sky the past few days (it just released yesterday!) and I can hardly put it down.  Christie Purifoy’s voice feels like home to me, familiar somehow to my own thinking, and the imagery and color she uses in her prose is so vivid and evocative!  She makes me want to write more and be a better writer.  I love how she has captured her first year living in her home, Maplehurst, in all four seasons, journeying through change and reflecting on our connection to the soil and to the sky, a people both of the earth and yet also a people of a far-off Kingdom.  I highly recommend it!

Joining in with Ginny + all the lovely knitters and readers at her weekly yarn along.

yarn along

MarthaKimball3 Comments

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Joining in with Ginny today to share what I’m knitting and reading.  I finished Hannah’s Choice last night, and I really loved it!  I read Almost Amish a couple of years ago and learned a lot about the Amish lifestyle and how much we can learn and appreciate from their simple ways and values.  Hannah’s Choice was a really engaging novel about an Amish family and their attempt to raise their children apart from an increasingly encroaching world of outsiders.  I grew up in a “Brethren” type of gathering/meeting, and I found it interesting, reading about this family and the way they viewed those outside of their faith.  I found certain aspects reminded me of my upbringing.  Also, the author mentioned that this story, though fiction, was based on her own family’s history, an attempt for her to fill in the gaps after doing a bunch of genealogical research.  So it was definitely a story very rooted in place and history.  It was a really interesting read, I loved being hooked on a story again and unable to put it down.  And it’s the first book in a series, so book two will come out this fall.  Yay!

Anyway, I’ve started The Life-Giving Home by Sally + Sarah Clarkson.  I have read a couple others by Sally Clarkson before and have really been helped by them.  I was surprised to find that this one starts off with her on a writing retreat in my very own town, Asheville, NC!  It’s fun to see her perspective on this little town I’ve grown up in that seems so ordinary to me.  So far, though I’m only barely into it, it reminds me of The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer, which is a FAVORITE read of mine.  So I think I will really enjoy this one as well.  I find it super helpful to regularly read things that encourage and inspire me in my role as wife and mother and homemaker.  Creating a home that is cozy, inspiring, happy, and life-giving is a huge priority of mine!

As for knitting, I’ve been working on finishing up some knits this week, but just about to graft the toe of Brandon’s first sock and cast on sock #2 this morning.  He tried them on last night and really liked them, and he’s fairly picky, so I was pleased!  I also need to secretly knit a hat before his birthday next week.  I have a few more gift-y items to finish up and then I feel like I should knit myself something!  I have yet to knit anything for myself.  I’m wanting to try something beyond socks and hats.  I feel like it’s time to attempt my first shawl?  But also.. I want to make some more baby knits.  So many things!

yarn along

MarthaKimball4 Comments

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I’ve been working on Brandon’s socks now, almost done with the foot of sock one.  Since they weren’t done by Christmas, maybe I’ll have them done by his birthday in a couple of weeks? 😉  Since he never reads my blog, I can safely tell you I will probably knit him a chunky warm hat, too.  He hasn’t asked me to make him anything yet, but he asks every time I start something new “and who is that for?”  I think he’s quietly waiting for his turn.   I finished up the hat I was knitting last week (made up the pattern).  Here is Phoebe modeling it, and then myself (picture snapped by Phoebe)!  It’s a gift for a loved one.

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I’m reading a few books right now, but this one came in the mail yesterday and I just started it.  I am only one chapter in so I can’t tell you what I think just yet.  I find I rarely read fiction these days and I’m in need of some good stories to get lost in.  I’m hoping this is one of them!  It’s about a girl from an Amish family in 1842 who has two marriage proposals, one offering her the home + life she craves near her family + faith, the other offering her an adventure West.  I’m hoping she goes with option #2 for some reason.  I’m drawn to everything prairie-life, alaska-related + homestead-y right now.  Do tell if you know of other books in that genre!

Anyway.. I can hardly focus because this is what I’m seeing outside of my window from my desk.  FINALLY!

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Joining up with Ginny + all the other lovely knitters and readers at her blog today!  Hop over there for great reading + knitting suggestions.

 

 

yarn along

MarthaKimball2 Comments

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I’ve finished all the kids socks (pictures below) and am working on Brandon’s now.  But I seem to need a couple projects going at once, so when my wooden circular needles came in the mail (late christmas gift from brandon) I got to work on a hat.  I’m just making up a pattern as I go, and have never worked decreases on a hat before or knitted a hat in the round, so I’m hoping it turns out okay!  I’m just about to start the decreases.

Also, I seem to keep multiple books going at once, too.  I picked up  I Capture the Castle from my shelves this week, just in need of some fiction lately.  I remember enjoying it years ago and can’t quite remember much about it, so it’s been interesting to get back into it.  I’m about a third of the way through.  I think my perspective as a single girl reading it (before) is quite different now, almost 10 years of marriage and three children later.  Love stories just read differently when your love story has mostly been written rather than being a blank page of wonderment before you, if that makes sense?

Anyway, it’s a nice diversion.  As promised last week, here are some pictures of Philippa’s finished socks and the three kiddos all together.  I see lots of mistakes in these socks, but I learned a TON and really had fun making them, and I prefer character over perfection anyway.

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What are you knitting or reading?  (Joining up with Ginny today.  Go check out what lovely things others are making/reading for some inspiration!)

yarn along

MarthaKimball4 Comments

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So I’ve finished philippa’s first sock and onto the cuff of sock number two!  I’ve been really loving working with this color yarn (Semolina) and her sock is so darn cute on her, I can’t wait to see them both on.  Once everyone’s are finally done I will snap a pic with them all wearing them!  Philippa keeps snagging the finished sock and I catch her trying with consternation to get it on her foot.  So I think she will like them.

I’m still working through a few books but haven’t gotten in much reading time the last few days.  I have started this condensed version of Little Women with Phoebe.  I found it at the Target dollar spot (along with a bunch of other bantam classics!) before Christmas for $1 so I couldn’t pass it up.  This one looks similar.  Plus it has great hand-drawn illustrations on almost every page which she loves in a chapter book.  It is very condensed but it’s a good introduction to the basic story line and I will probably read her the longer version soon.  She and I used to always read a chapter book together, one chapter a day (we worked our way through most of the Little House on the Prairie Books) but I’ve had a harder time squeezing this reading time in with her lately and want to get back to it.  She is such a reader and it’s a way she and I can have just some special mommy/daughter time together.

Here are the socks for each child so you can see the sizing.  The pink are Phoebe’s, blue are Noah’s and yellow are for Philippa.

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Joining in with Ginny Sheller’s yarn along today.  Happy knitting, friends! What are you working on?

yarn along

MarthaKimballLeave a comment

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I haven’t been getting much reading done lately, with all the birthday and Christmas and family celebrations.  I’m still working through Parables and The Things of Earth.  I’m itching for a good fiction, though.  I have a list waiting, just need to force myself to finish up what I’m reading before I move onto something else.  James Herriot’s Treasury for Children was one of the kids’ Christmas gifts and we started on it today.  They seemed to really love it, as I figured they would.  They love anything having to do with animals + farm life, and so do I, really.

Noah’s first sock is done and I’m part way through the gusset of sock 2.  I hope to have it done by tomorrow.  He seems more excited about these than Phoebe did, so I’m hoping he likes them!  She told me after I gave her hers for Christmas that she wanted red, not pink, and that they were too hot and poke-y.  Ahh!  But when I told her I’d just hand them down to her sister, she seemed suddenly quite attached to them.

Either way, I enjoyed making them. 🙂

(Joining up with Ginny Sheller’s weekly Yarn Along today)

 

yarn along

MarthaKimball7 Comments

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So I FINISHED my very first sock!  I’m super proud and stoked.  I have learned a lot of new things while working on this one, and I’m pretty hooked on knitting.  I started the matching sock for it last night.  I am pretty eager and ancy to get these done before Christmas and I’m feeling like at this rate I will most certainly not get everyone’s finished!  😦  Phoebe has seen me working on these, she sort of thinks they are for her but I haven’t said anything directly.  Even this morning, Noah saw me taking these pictures and he was excited to see the finished sock.  He asked, “Is that Phoebe’s?”  And I said yes and he was so enthusiastic.  I have been sort of thinking they won’t be that excited about these, but both seem super interested and excited that mommy is maybe making them something.

Also, I’m still reading a couple of Advent books, and working through The Things of Earth but this book has been a favorite of mine with to read with the kids this year.  A library find, but I will probably have to buy it.  It is set in the mountains where we live, such a sweet story of a humble family and hope, and the little girl is named “Ruthie” just like our little Ruthie (Philippa Ruth).  I have added a list of some of our other favorite + treasured Christmas children’s books in my little book store (on the slide-out sidebar under “Recommended Reads”).

Joining up with Ginny Sheller’s weekly yarn along today.

yarn along

MarthaKimballLeave a comment

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The past week has been busy with family and gathering, the best sort of busy.  I’ve been trying to crank out some knitting on this sock in the few quiet moments in between.  This is my first time knitting in the round + knitting socks, I really am enjoying it now that I’ve started to see it take shape.  I’m skeptical that I’ll finish 4 sets of these before Christmas at this rate! 😦  But maybe I’ll get faster as I get the hang of it?  I’m just about ready to start on the heel flap on this one.  Lots to learn!

I’m still reading The Things of Earth of course, it will take me a bit to work through that one.  I’ve also started a few Advent books, this one is edited by Nancy Guthrie, an author I love, and is a compilation of some Christmas reflections from some of the best pastors and theologians such as George Whitfield, Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon, John Piper, Tim Keller, Jonathon Edwards, Augustine, Schaeffer, etc.  I’m enjoying it so far.  I’m also reading Ann Voskamp’s The Greatest Gift and the children + I have been eager to dive back into the child’s Advent book Unwrapping the Greatest Gift.  We worked through it last year and all loved it so much.  I think it will be a treasured family tradition for us!

(Joining up today with Ginny Sheller‘s yarn along!)

yarn along

MarthaKimball9 Comments

joining up today with Ginny Sheller’s yarn along to share what i’m reading + knitting this week!

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I am still working on making a few knitted baby bonnet hats for some nieces + nephews, per request.  I can’t tell you how much it means to me to be able to make something for those I love that they really like!  For a stay-at-home-momma of three on a tight budget, it enables me to give a unique gift of value that is affordable on my part.

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This one I finished up for my nephew, being modeled here by my son.  I’m also working on three more of these, and still working on some dishcloths.  I’ve ordered some supplies to make some hand knit christmas gifts for my children, so I’m excited to get started on those + will share pics soon!  Also, Phoebe has asked me to make her a scarf, and has already picked out her yarn, so I will be onto that soon too.  Many things to keep my hands busy!  I’m finding myself taking my knitting with me everywhere now.

Also, I’ve just started on The Things of Earth: Treasuring God by Enjoying His Gifts by Joe Rigney.  This is one I’ve been dying to read for some time now, but have been busy with some other books.  The theme of this book is one very close to my own heart and core passion, that of enjoying God in His good gifts, rather than seeing “the things of earth” as being far less important than the things of the soul + spirit.  I’m hoping Rigney makes a strong biblical case for our finding God in the good gifts He gives us and worshipping Him through them.  (I’ve written briefly about my passion for this here, here, and here.)  John Piper wrote the forward and it looks a theologically rich read that I’m eager to sink my soul into.

 

yarn along

MarthaKimball3 Comments

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I’m joining up today with Ginny Sheller’s weekly yarn along, where we share what we’re currently reading + knitting.  I took some of your advice, fellow knitters, and am working on some simple cotton dishcloths.  It’s interesting working on increasing/decreasing, I suppose, but I can’t say I terribly love making dishcloths.  It seems sort of a rite of passage though, as a new knitter, to make a stack of dishcloths and work on tension + consistency.  Plus, I do need some new ones.  I’m looking for a pattern for some cozy/simple socks for my kids for christmas.  Would that be crazy to attempt knitting three pairs of socks in the next month-ish?  I’d like to learn how to knit in the round.  If you have any pattern recommendations, let me know.

Also, I’m over half way through 7 Women: And the Secret of Their Greatness by Eric Metaxas and, of course, really enjoying it.  I read his biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer last year and enjoyed his writing style as much as the content.  It’s a book I still think often about, even a year later, and this one will probably be the same.  I’ve enjoyed getting to know more about the daily lives + history of women I’ve heard about but never really studied: Joan of Arc, Susanna Wesley, Hannah More, Saint Maria of Paris, Corrie Ten Boom, Rosa Parks, and Mother Teresa.  What’s probably most interesting is the ordinariness of these women, who we often hold up as other-worldly, and the various ways they impacted their generation profoundly.  I will review the book in greater depth when I finish it!