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Knitting and Reading

reading and knitting

A photo full of things I am currently enjoying!

The book is I Thought it Was Just Me (But it Isn’t): Telling the Truth About Perfectionism, Inadequacy and Power by Brene Brown,  a great book about a difficult subject – shame. I am just reading a little at a time, trying to let it sink in a help change how I think about things, but that said I’m 40% of the way through already, and I feel like I’ve learnt a lot.

The knitting is a secret project in OxfordKitchenYarns Aran which I hope to share later in the year.

And the Peanut M&Ms? I stopped eating peanut when I was pregnant with FB, as was the advice at the time for people who already suffer from alergies of some sort. And, with one things and another I didn’t think I could start eatting them again. But the advice has changed, and so I’m happily back eatting peanut butter and the like (cashew nut butter is great but it’s hell on the food budget!)

In other news, there is a box full of yarn in my front room, thanks to our friends at the wool mill!

New Yarn in my Front Room!

YARN!

- oky_katie 5 Comments

Yarn Along

If I’m honest, I have been feeling rather miserable lately. We have had SO many illnesses recently – we are in week 4 and my sinuses still hurt. FB had ANOTHER fever this weekend, though luckily it only lasted a couple of days this time.

But because of that everything has ground to a halt. Or so it seems.

The shop is still not sorted and therefore is still closed. It really pains me to write that.

However – The shop WILL get sorted and WILL be open very soon. I promise.

In the meantime up until this week I had done very little knitting. And – as you can tell – very little blogging. Partially because there wasn’t time around all the illnesses, and also because I felt bad blogging about things that aren’t the shop being re-opened.

But I have things I could blog about. I might blog about them anyway, and hope that you understand that the shop is really important to me, but that some making for my family has happened regardless, because the two tiny people in our family couldn’t care less about the shop. 🙂 In fact there are things from back as far as back as October 2011 that I haven’t told you about. So I might blog about them soon, regardless of my fears. And somewhere in amoungst those posts hopefully there will be a positive post about the shop.

We can be hopeful.

Yarn Along - Damson on my needles and Mason-Dixon Knitting in my Head

Back to the very little knitting, and onwards to the Yarn Along… I have been revisiting some knitting comfort reading, and it has really bolstered my spirit. The two Mason-Dixon knitting books by Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne – Mason-Dixon Knitting and Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines are still superb – they are funny, fearless and read like they are knitting in the room with you. It was just what I needed, and I’m really grateful for that.

Yarn Along - Damson on my needles and Mason-Dixon Knitting in my Head

On my needles is Damson by Ysolda Teague, which I’ve been wanting to knit since it was released. This one is for my sister, as her wedding shawl. It’ll hopefully be ready in plenty of time for her wedding in June. I started it on Saturday and have been steadily plugging away at it and I’m currently about 10 rows from the border. Not bad for someone who isn’t getting much in the way of evenings right now.

Yarn Along - Damson on my needles and Mason-Dixon Knitting in my Head

It’s knit in OxfordKitchenYarns 80%BFL 20% Bamboo Sock Yarn in Milk. It’s a little thicker than the OKY 100% BFL sock yarn and slightly sproingier, and has a slight sheen to it. I think it’s wonderful to knit with, and have another project waiting in the wings in a great orange called Ginger Tom.

And it will be in the new shop! SOON!

 

- oky_katie 6 Comments

Yarn Along

Yarn Along 25/01/12

This week’s Yarn Along (via Small Things) looks very like last week’s. The cardigan has come on – a bit – though it doesn’t much look like it. I’ve completed the yoke, so now I’m slogging my way down the body in small snatched of time (usually after meals, waiting for the children to finish.) It’s great fun to wallow in my own yarn though – something I haven’t really had chance to do for a little while.

(I’m biased but I think it’s great stuff.)

Book-wise, I have managed to get hold of a large chunk of the Little House on the Prairie series through our local charity shops. They are 60’s-70’s Puffin editions, and all (except The Long Winter) are in very good condition. I grew up with this era of paperbacks (though I’m only 33!) so they fit right into our bookshelves and already feel very familiar. I’ve never actually read the series before, but I started Little House on the Prairie while waiting for the washing to dry at the weekend and really enjoyed it.

I’m finding the parenting is a great excuse to finally read/re-read all those classic children’s books that have been on my list for years.

W read original version of The Wind in Willows at the end of the last year and had a great time. I bought my sister Swallows and Amazons (to go with her theatre tickets to see the musical), at christmas, and got myself a copy while I was at it. And after crying at the end of a very, very heavily abridged version of The Railway Children (father steps off the train and I’m a puddle of tears!) I’ve promised myself some time with the original novel at some point this year.

Excitingly, you can get a load of these classic texts for free via Project Gutenberg, which works well if you have some sort of digital reader. Mind you I’m a sucker for a second-hand edition from amazon or charity shops.