Yarn along 11.30.11

Yarn Along with Ginny today, where we share what we are reading and what we are knitting/crocheting.

Okay so I know I've been spotty with the yarn along posts, but it's because I am as fickle as the weatherman and if it's hot, I have zero desire to knit or crochet. So, you can surmise then that it's actually cooling off in FL at the moment. Please for the love of yarn along may it stick around!! I did finish my mitts from the last yarn along post and I am a bad bad yarn alonger for not having a picture of them, but they turned out great :).

It's dark here right now, so I had to shoot by the light of our tree to get the yarn along photo in :).  I am knitting once again the Big Lace Scarf pattern from the More Knitted Gifts book, but this time with smaller yarn. In my greenness and due to my fear of gauge mishaps, I usually knit with the exact size yarn for the exact same needle size that the pattern suggests. Well, this pattern allows me to face that fear head on and change it up a bit, even though it's another scarf, again, like I don't have enough already, but maybe this will be a gift....scarf.

Anyway, what I am reading...still Jane Eyre, which I love, and I have now added The History of Love by Nicole Krauss, and Hold On to Your Kids by Gorden Neufeld and Gabor Mate. I am in the early stages of the latter two books so can't say much other than they both came highly recommended and they both have grabbed my attention within the first chapter. Hold On to Your Kids came as a recommendation from friend and blogger Stacy at Sweet Sky, and focuses on the importance of attachment between parents and children, how more and more peer attachment has replaced parental attachment, and the detriment this has had on our relationships and our culture. I'll share more as I progress if you are interested, but here is a great review that Stacy had linked to in her post.

And with a wink from Santa, I hope you are off to have an excellent day...
love to you friends..
xoxo

Yarn Along 11.2.11 Soup Goddess dream

Yarn Along!!!... with Ginny of course...It's been gorgeous here lately, and I am keeping fingers crossed that the cool weather is here to stay.

I casted on some delicious yarn to make Peekaboo mitts, a pattern so generously offered by Abi. I have a mini obsession with fingerless gloves as you can see here and here.

I am reading On the Road by Jack Kerouac and Jane Eyre, but what I'm really excited about it the fall issue of Real Simple's dinner tonight: done! 

I had no idea that Real Simple magazine made these easy recipe magazine cookbooks (and they published a book). 75 recipes, 30 minutes or less...perfect. The pictures are gorgeous, the recipes are truly simple with everyday and easy to find ingredients, I am now having dreams that I could actually become a soup goddess with this little magazine.

 It's true I also have a growing obsession with beautifully crafted cookbooks...maybe there is hope for me yet with the actual cooking part. That's a whole other post I think I need to write about, maybe get some advice from you cooking gurus out there, though my issues are not skill, I think know they are more psychologically related...yikes that might be too much info. Oh well, it's truth, and maybe it's time to get it out here :).  Looking forward to see what you are reading and yarning!

xoxo

Yarn Along 10.26.11 {same but different}

I am joining Ginny today for Yarn Along, and thought I'd show you what I've been fiddling with lately.

I have three photos, pretty much of the same things--the knitted hat using leftover Honey colored Puffin yarn from Quince and Co. and Soule Mama's favorite hat pattern, and Ahab's Wife which I'm aaaalmost done reading (good but definitely drags here and there, and the excessive symbolism is beginning to drive me mad, like a lot of characters in this book).

The difference in the photos is that the first is a real polaroid pic, the second is a polaroid pic app., and the last is from my digital camera. It's just curiousity really, and I wanted to see and feel the difference in emotions evoked between the photos. What do you think?

It's all fun, and it's nice to know there are several apps you can use to play around with the feel of your smart phone photos...In the end, though I love the vintage feel of a real polaroid, the digital cameras are the most honest. That is, until we start playing with the editing, which I didn't in this one, I swear...

Happy Wednesday and Yarn Along :)
xoxo

Yarn Along 10.12.11

**First, the winner to the Persisting Souls photography e-course giveaway:
Erin @ Wild Whispers!!

Congrats Erin!!**

Joining Ginny today for Yarn Along, where book and yarn lovers share what we are reading and knitting/crocheting :)...

I'm so happy to be knitting again. I'm working on another Big Lace Scarf from More Last Minute Knitted Gifts. The yarn, though acrylic, is so thick and chunky, I contemplate using the scarf as a cozy blanket instead :). And the needles!! I could not find US 17 needles at the regular craft store. So I ran with childlike excitement dragged myself to the fancy yarn store and found that happy happy joy to my dismay, they only had the wildly colored Harmony Wood by Knit Picks in the US 17. Huge needles, but I love working with them!

For reading, I just finished Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. NO ONE TOLD ME THIS WAS A TRILOGY!! Uggh. To have invested so much time on a 592 page book only to have to wait for 2 more?! But that wasn't even the worst part. It wasn't even that great. The heroine was so annoying and whiny and I think poorly developed. The story itself had it's exciting moments and there are definitely interesting subplots. I love historical fiction so there are those aspects that I appreciate, but many other components were uncomfortably familiar with another vampire romance series you may have heard of called Twilight!! We'll see if I want to continue this series or not...

I am also reading Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund. Beautifully written. The opening is captivating, the beginning to middle a little slow, and now finally things are picking up again. Sena has such a poetic way with her words. She is deep, complex, symbolic and metaphorical, so I have to re-read periodically to make sure I didn't missed anything.

I am reading a few others, but I'll spare you since there are so many other places to visit today!

Looking forward to yours...

xoxo

p.s. thanks for all the well wishes for my boys...hubs is better and back at work
E. still is having stomach issues but eating normally, good sign I think :).

Yarn Along ~ Stories coming to life

Yarn Along with Ginny today :)...

I've restarted the hat that I frogged a couple projects ago, purely based on principle and not because I need another hat :). In case you haven't seen the book this pattern comes from, oh you simply must!! There is a beautiful granny square purse in there that I will make one day. Wanna see?

From the book, Gifted

But honestly it's not the knitting or crocheting that I am so excited to tell you about today. It's about a very special book, a beautiful, groundbreaking book.

I don't need to tell fellow book lover's about the magic that stories bring into our lives. Today, droves of fans will pay their $10 ticket to see the final installment of Harry Potter, to see the story they vividly imagined breathe its way onto the screen.

Most of us who live in our books never want the story to end. We want to be a part of it somehow and we hungrily look for that next story that will draw us in and keep us there for awhile.

Movies, tv shows and series, even video games do their best to meet our high demands for giving life to the stories we hold dear. Some succeed, some fail. But what I want to share with you is a whole new magical dimension added to the life of a story, with the help of a gifted ex-animator from Pixar. Meet the The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Lessmore. Originally an award-winning children's animated short film, it has now been released as a storybook iPad application. It allows you to join in the story as it is read along to you. Please take the time to see this magic...



Its gorgeous visual perfection, our ability to participate and engage, and then the beautiful story itself... all of it is pure magic.  Created by award-winning animator and illustrator William Joyce and Moonbot Studios, this application I believe will forever change how we use digital children's books and how we read stories to our children.

Happy Yarn Along today, can't wait to stop by yours :)!

xx oo

Yarn Along ~ Obsessions

Joining Ginny in another Yarn Along...

Blogger issues, aaaggh! Ahem... My pointy gnome hat is coming along nicely. I think next time I will pick a chunkier yarn for more texture, but I can't wait to see it on my girl!!

Last week, I shared with you a pop-up illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen and was fascinated with the familiarity of their artwork. Well, I've gone head over heels with Alice and Martin. I have started digging and searching and found a trail of all sorts of wonderful visual and literary treasures they've created!

Take Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses, for example. Grant it, this book has been republished, oh I don't know, 100 times. Okay maybe not 100, but it was first published in 1885. Since then, most re-publications have had different illustrators each time. It seems that 1951 was the printing in which Alice and Martin did the illustrations. I'm in love.  Fair warning, this won't be the last time you will hear of the Provensens :).

I'm still reading the same books from last week, and now have added A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (audio). I think I am enjoying it so far, but it's still too early to tell for sure. But along with my latest obsessions with Provensen's illustrations, my thoughts keep turning to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Have you ever had the strong urge to re-read something, like right this very minute?!! Oh what to do, as if three books weren't enough already. But isn't that what summer is for? Fickleness and flightiness? Distractions and obsessions?  Stories and dreaming?? Uhhh, okay, maybe it's just me :)...

Cheers to summer!!

xx oo

Yarn Along ~ Art that pops

Yarn Along with Ginny is here again :)!

It's slow going on the gnome hat from last week, though I am trying to take my time and keep an eagle eye out for eager stitches looking to drop :).

Speaking of eagle eye, do you like how Leo and Mona are both looking at you?  Hee hee, me too :)...

I had to share with you one of M's passions.  Pop-up books.  She is drawn to these books and I have come to love and appreciate these works of art just as much. Our latest addition to our collection is Leonardo Da Vinci by A. & M. Provensen. What I LOVE about this book is the artwork by Alice Provensen. I did not realize how much her  (and her husband's) illustrations have been sprinkled throughout my childhood.  Do you remember this or how about this (ok that one's a bit older than me)?

I am still reading Bird by Bird which I still love, love, love. And I also became a little sidetracked with picking up Nurture Shock: New Thinking About Children .  It's basically a collection of statistics that debunks a lot of mainstream thinking regarding children and sleep, praise, race, giftedness tests, sibling rivalry, and a few more. Interestingly enough, for most well informed and conscientious parents much of it is nothing new :).

One last thing, I have to thank Zoe at Give an Earthly for inviting me to interview for her Super Woman series (you've seen my cape haven't you--LOL).  If you are interested and have an extra few minutes, you can read it here.

Always thrilled it's Yarn Along, looking forward to seeing yours!!!
Cheers
xx oo

Yarn Along ~ Keep the flow

Another fine Wednesday with Ginny's Yarn Along :).

Remember that cute little hat I was working on last week? I had only about 3 or 4 rows left when I noticed it. Two dropped stitches in two different places leaving two lovely, gaping holes.  And so it goes, yes?  I unraveled it all, row by row 'till I was down to a crumpled pile of yarn.

The lesson? Cuz you know there is always a lesson.  Keep the flow baby. I could cry over crumpled yarn or I could go on with something else, and I have. Honey arrived as if right on cue to comfort me with a little a sweetness and softness. A little gnome in my home ordered up a hat, which of course is found in this lovely book. No introduction necessary right? And the flow keeps right on going :)...

I finished Woman in White. Loved it. With a surprise ending that came much earlier than the end of the book, it was quickly followed by more mystery, excitement, and finally redemption. It is a long read, but I will tell you my secret to prolific reading if you promise not to judge me too harshly. Audiobooks. (And I know I'm not the only one <wink>). Without audiobooks, there is absolutely no way I could "read" as many stories as I have.  There is such pleasure in listening to a fabulous story while sewing or knitting.  I still love the presence and feel of paper of course, but the single task nature of paperback is saved for permissive, lazy days, which I am always on the look out for too :).

Three Tales of My Father's Dragon and Free Range Learning both came highly recommended so I look forward to sharing those when I can delve into them.

So happy it's Wednesday :). Looking forward to stopping by in your spaces...

much love
xx oo

Yarn Along ~ Creative distractions

Before I get started into Yarn Along, thank you, thank you, thank you for all the beautiful birthday wishes yesterday.  Your words will continue to lift me for days!!

Yarn Along with Ginny!!

I swear I just need to stay out of the yarn stores. On one of my last visits, I found an irresistible book called Gifted: Lovely Things to Knit and Crochet, and they were not kidding!! The Downside said in a fatherly voice "You don't need more projects MJ, you still have your afghan and a sewing project laying all over the table."  Then the Upside said in Zsa Zsa Gabor's voice "One can nevuh be too showt of projects dahling, especially if you already have the yahn!"  I love the upsides, and I love Zsa Zsa.

So there you have it, another adorable cap has drawn me in.  I have to make an I-cord which I have no clue how to do, but that's what You Tube is for :).

Still reading the same books as last week. I have gotten so emotionally involved with the Woman in White that I couldn't put the story down!!  I would have hated being a woman in Victorian times.  But the story itself is rich with intrigue and excitement. The characters are masterfully created and my emotions are now tied to every victory and defeat. It's a roller coaster and if you like roller coasters you'll love this book :).

Looking forward to your yarn along!! Happy Wednesday :).

Yarn Along ~ Needles, hooks, yarn, and books

Joining Ginny for a yarn along today.

The upside to two long airplane flights? Needles, hooks, yarn and books, of course :)!!  By the way, how is it that I can get my pair of sharp, pointy 10" needles through security, but not my shampoo??

I love my colorful washcloths. Never in my life did I think I could love washcloths the way I do these. I don't even want to use them.  I need to make them uglier and less colorful I guess.  The crocheted afghan is still slow going but I am loving how the little flowers are turning out!

On the book front, I finished Friday Night Knitting Club.  In two words -- big sigh.  I wouldn't say I wasted my time as it did have elements that I enjoyed-- like the bonds between women and, of course, the knitting. But I do believe it could have ended much better :).

What I am reading now, I am thoroughly enjoying.  Bird by Bird by Ann Lamott.  She grasped my attention from the start. Her style and her brutally honest truths about writing spoke to me with revealing clarity.  If you love to write and want to get better, I definitely recommend this book :).  I am also reading the Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, a lovely Victorian mystery and classic from the latter 1800's.  I'm loving this so far, too, and will give it a proper review when I am finished :).

Happy yarn along, looking forward to yours!!

xx oo

First things first, then Yarn Along ~ Of Mothers and Women

Wow, first I need say that I am humbled by the thoughtful and amazing comments left by everyone on yesterday's post. You all are so inspiring to me, and I am comforted knowing how many other mothers (fathers, grandparents, and teachers) have discovered or are in the process of discovering the impact that parenting peacefully can have.  Sometimes we can feel awfully lonely on this path of change, but I believe it is clear that we are not.  From the bottom of my heart, thank you...

On a sidenote, for anyone wanting more reading materials on this path of peaceful parenting please visit the Library page.  I have also decided to add a page soon for a list of sites that I go to for peaceful parenting support.  For now, here are my favorites:

Naomi Aldort's site,
Scott Noelle's Enjoy Parenting site
Life Learning Magazine,
Parenting for Social Change,

** I am cooking up a giveaway in response to yesterday's post.  Please come check back soon to enter. Here's a look at what I'm giving away :).

And now for Yarn Along!!!  Joining Ginny today...

Because you know I have to show the results of my fling with Lemongrass from a few weeks ago :).  If I were good at keeping up with Ravelry, I would link there. But, alas, I am not yet.  So you can find the pattern for this lovely Mother's Day Shawl here.  It is a very simple crochet pattern and I have every confidence that if anyone wanted to whip it up for a Mama before Sunday, they could!!

On the reading front, I mentioned a few posts ago that I finished Thirteenth Tale.  A-M-A-Z-I-N-G story I tell you.  I highly recommend it.  It is in the same genre as Forgotten Garden, full of mystery and intrigue, ethereal and dramatic.  I am now onto Friday Night Knitting Club (thanks again to Sherie).  I am looking forward to delving into the camaraderie of women.  As I read the first chapter, I couldn't help thinking that I wish I was a part of a knitting/crochet club.  And then look what I stumbled upon yesterday--  Sip and Knit.  It is a bit of a drive from my house, but how exciting!!!

I finally started adding to my crocheted flowers for the afghan.  I feel more committed to it than I did before.  Guilt, perhaps? 

Looking forward to seeing everyone's creations and reads today...

Cheers!

Yarn Along ~ Messages

Joining Ginny in Yarn Along~

What would you think if, within a week and a half of each other, you won these 3 knitting books?  Well, actually it was 2 different giveaways, but one included 2 books!!  Thanks to you all, I was inspired to read these books, but then to win three in such a short time frame, I think the universe is trying to tell me something, don't you?

I want to thank Amy, of Knitter of Hat Speaks for Needles and Pearls, and the Beach Street Society and Yarn Club, and Sherie at Rain Blissed for The Friday Night Knitting Club, for these wonderful giveaways.  The question now is, which one do I start first? Any suggestions?

I am still in the midst of my fling, but should be finished by the end of the week.  I have plans to continue the afghan after that, but I have to tell you, it's getting really hot down here.  And for those still in snow, I wish with all my might I could send some of this your way.  This kind of heat is the miserable kind, the unbearable, sweat behind the neck, can't breathe deep, crank the a/c  kind of heat.  The kind that says, why the heck are you still crocheting shawls and afghans????  So, with exception of the occasional crocheted flower for the afghan, I think I am going to hang up my needles and hooks for a bit.  I think it might be time to take the dust cover off my sewing machine.  I am quite giddy about it actually, I think it's dying to be used and I know I am dying to use it :). 

Looking forward to seeing what you are yarning along today!!

Yarn Along ~ A Fling and an Invitation

Joining Ginny again for Yarn Along~

I was minding my own business, as devoted to my afghan as I could be, especially knowing that we were in it for the long haul together (with 95 squares still left to make), when what should arrive at my doorstep?   Lemongrass from Sweet Basil FibreWorks.  Yes, I admit, I may have looked at Lemongrass a few times and did invite the yarn to my home, but I had absolutely no intention of beginning a relationship, not soon after I started with the afghan!!   But, that Lemongrass I tell you... I was teased and wooed, relentlessly!!  I even put Lemongrass away, sure that if it lay out of my sight, I could stay faithful and loyal to the afghan.  But, I am weak, you see, hopelessly in love with new colors, textures, and ideas.   And so, yes, a fling has begun, and I must tell you, it is soooo worth it :).  It won't be long before a new shawl will be completed from lovely Lemongrass, and maybe, just maybe, afghan will get some attention again.  But, I must admit, I do have wandering eyes....



On a totally different note, remember that apron I knitted and never posted?  Here it is!!  I was so excited about my giveaway last week I totally forgot to post it.  Better late than never, yes?

As far as reads, I wanted to post a poem I came across for the first time recently.  You may already know it, but I loved it so much I wanted to post it here.  It spoke to me, magnetically, and I am wondering, does it speak to you?  I hope you enjoy :). 

The Invitation 

 by Oriah

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for,
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.
.

It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love,
for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or
have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own,
without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own,
if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful,
be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true,
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself,
if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul;

I want to know if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty, even when it is not pretty every day,
and if you can source your life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours or mine,
and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes."

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up after a night of grief and despair,
weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done for the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself,
and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

With peace and love...

Yarn Along ~ Squares, doodles, and a surprise

Joining Ginny once again for Yarn Along!!

I started working on the vintage crocheted afghan I showed you last week.  The hardest part is staying conscious of the conversions or I find myself doing the wrong stitches.  The rebellious side of me wants to say---who cares! As long as it measures up and it still looks like a flower, right?!  Then that other voice says--what?? Deviate from the pattern??  Then I remember all of my lovely friends that don't even use patterns, and I think--why not?? 

I finished Forgotten Garden :).  It's a wonderful book and I recommend it to anyone who loves mysteries, fairy tales, and drama.  As far as new books, I have been drooling over the newest issue of Flea Market Style, which also has a lovely blog.  But the biggest surprise is what I've found at Anthropologie!  As expensive as it is, I still have to torture myself and browse the place.  I absolutely adore the style, the furniture, the dishes, the little details--, you know what I mean right?  I have noticed lately that they have been expanding their book section and selections.  Decorating books, cookbooks, kids' books, art books, etc.  I usually go straight to the sale section and what I found that day was Made at Home: A guide to simple sewing by Lisa Stickley.  Originally $23, I got it for $10!  It looks lovely and I can't wait to really dig in.  Then, though not on sale, but reasonable, I found these for the kids: 

Doodles for Breakfast, Doodles for Lunch, and Doodles for Dinner are adorable tear out placemat books.  Each page is alphabetical, and has step by step visual directions, using that  letter to help create the doodle.  So it's learning while doodling!!

Let me show you.  The doodles E. is working on are a "helicopter", using the lowercase "h" (sideways), and "Grandpa", using the uppercase "G" to draw Grandpa's head.  Can you see?





Cool right? Well, I thought of you all because I got an extra copy of Doodles for Dinner and want to give it away!  Just leave me a comment on today's post and I'll "draw" the winner tomorrow!!

Looking forward to your yarn along today :)!!