Tag: yarn along

yarn along

MarthaKimball5 Comments

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I’m joining up with Ginny Sheller’s yarn along today.  So, my first knitting attempt was a flop.  I was using the wrong size needle + probably the wrong sized yarn,  but I still learned a ton.  For those of you who wanted to see how it turned out, here it is:
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I could probably keep extending down the sides of it and make it into a real hat but that’s for another day.  To redeem myself, I tried the pattern again with a chunky yarn + the right sized needles and within a day knitted up this sweet little hat for my daughter.
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I still need to weave in the ends + attach ties somehow but otherwise it’s done + I love it!  She seems to, also.  My other kiddos all want one now.  It’s a really easy fun pattern + I’m ready to try something a little harder!  I’m probably going to try one other kind of child’s bonnet + maybe attempt my first shawl.

I am reading a couple of books right now, still finishing the last chapter of Jewel’s memoir + a starting on 7 Women: And the Secret of their greatness by Eric Metaxas.  I’m really enjoying reading this version of Anne of Green Gables to my Phoebe girl.  She loves a good chapter book with beautiful illustrations, and I love sitting to read with her when I can!

Yarn Along

MarthaKimball16 Comments

You guys!  I feel so cool right now. 🙂  This is my first time being able to join in with Ginny Sheller’s weekly Yarn Along!  Ginny is a homeschooling, homesteading momma of seven, and a big-time reader + knitter.  Basically, I have fallen in love with knitting via her blog and have been itching to learn.  I’ve had a couple of attempts, but it finally clicked when I spent some time with a friend recently who taught me.

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I’ve been working on this free pattern, making a little hat for Philippa and basically working on just my stockinette stitch.  I think I’m about done + ready to bind off.  Will post a picture of the finished product soon.  And I’m officially addicted!  Brandon thinks I’ve finally reached old lady status, but I really can see why people love to knit.  So, if you have any free favorite knitting patterns for beginners that you’ve loved, please let me know in the comment section below!

Also, I’ve been reading this new release, Never Broken: Songs are Only Half the Story, by Jewel.  Her music really spoke to me when I was younger, and I read all her poetry and was encouraged in my own poetry and song writing at the time.  It’s been interesting reading more of her background and story, and at times it’s been hard and depressing.  She experienced a way more difficult childhood than I had known or imagined, abused + neglected by her parents and basically left to fend by herself in the harsh Alaskan wilds.  I have been saddened to see what she had to overcome, and yet surprised at how well she endured it, and how graciously and intelligently she writes her story.  Also, sometimes we think people who have “made it” so successfully in their field, in her case selling millions of albums, have arrived there by chance, probably one day being “discovered” and everything going on smoothly from there.  Reading her book reminds me that it is a ton of work, constant “trying again,” often overcoming difficult criticism and misunderstanding to continue to offer your art to the world.  I’m not quite done with it, just the last few chapters left now.  I’ve enjoyed it but I’m ready to move on to some other books I’ve put on hold!