yarn along

Reading: Well, my hiatus from fiction was short lived.  I ran across The Night Circus at my library and promptly devoured it in a matter of days.  I can’t seem to get enough fantasy/fairy tale/magical realism lately — which is good, because Jake got me Wildwood for my birthday and I’m dying to jump into it.  I’m not sure what it is, I’ve got tons of “regular,” non-magical fiction on my To Read list, but nothing at all appeals to me lately unless there’s a touch of the fantastic in it.  Any favorite magical reading recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Knitting:  I’ve cast on for this hat, which will hopefully be a Christmas present.  Though I’m having some gauge issues, I’m very excited about this pattern, because I love seed stitch!

Joining Ginny & co. today for Yarn Along.

yarn along

Reading: I stumbled across a copy of the picture book The Magic Sewing Machine by Sunny Warner at our library — and what crafty mama could resist such a title?  It is a wonderfully magic tale of two orphans  who manage to save the day with the help of their mother’s sewing machine.

Knitting: Still working on Jake’s hat.

yarn along

Reading: After a good long streak of page-turning, can’t-put-it-down (and therefore don’t-get-any-housework-0r-crafting done) fiction, I figured it was time to pick up some non-fiction so I could pick up my needles, too.  Since more indoor days are just around the corner, I checked out Unplugged Play from our library.  I’ve had it before, and I really like the ideas and games inside (even though some of them are of the so-simple-I-should-have-thought-of-it variety… but I didn’t, obviously, that’s why I got the book).  Also, The Nature Connection caught my eye; it’s a wonderful nature journal/workbook, which I’d love to get copies of for the girls someday, when they’re quite a bit older.  Though I’ll probably have forgotten about it by then.

Knitting: just a no-frills, mustard colored hat for Jake.

Yarning along with Ginny & friends today.

yarn along

Reading & Knitting

Knitting: Ottobre’s wool diaper cover.  I will get this finished before she’s out of diapers … but if for some reason I don’t, at least I know plenty of other new babes coming along who could use it.

Reading: The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman.  I haven’t read anything by Hoffman since I picked up Practical Magic on a whim.  Now I’m kicking myself.  This book is wonderful!  It is the fictional history of a small Massachusetts town, told in short stories starting with the founding of the town and ending in the present day.  It has interesting characters and just a touch of magic.  It’s fascinating to watch as events in the town’s past transform into legend and folklore.  Great fun!

Yarning along with Ginny today.

yarn along

Reading & Knitting

Reading: I have a love/hate relationship with parenting books.  On the one hand, I balk at the idea that I need some “expert” with a fancy degree to teach me how to do something that people have been doing successfully without “experts” for thousands of years.  On the other hand, I recognize that we don’t exactly live in a society where we grow up helping raise our siblings and extended family, practicing the skills of mothering from a young age — and some things about parenting are certainly not instinctual!  Then there’s the eternal student in me, who is always eager to gather information on subjects I don’t know much about.

Also, I don’t tend to get so wrapped-up in non-fiction, and I simply can’t afford to get lost in a really good novel right now.  I’ve been meaning to start The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for months but I’m afraid of the sleep I might lose if I do!  I guess maybe I need some fiction that is good but not too interesting.

Anyway, that is how I end up with a stack of books like this.  Some I’ve just finished (Simplicity Parenting was amazing; and Rachel at Clean will be hosting a discussion of it soon), some I’m very hopeful about (The No-Cry Sleep Solution *fingers crossed* and Bringing Up Geeks).  After reading Playful Parenting and Healing Stories for Challenging Behaviour, I’m determined to use play, song, and story more often in our daily routines, but this doesn’t come easily to me which is why I’ve checked out Storytelling and the Art of Imagination.  And I’m also perusing Basic Montessori and Naturally Healthy Babies and Children.

Knitting: Baby hats.  Like my reading list, my knitting list is heavily stacked with things focused on small people.  Perhaps it’s time I balance things out with a simple project just for Mama … any suggestions?

I’m joining in Ginny’s Yarn Along today.

yarn along

Reading (and trying not to drool all over): The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook by Rachel Saunders.  This is like the encyclopedia of jam & jelly making.  Three-hundred-and-seventy-one pages of jam, jam, jam (and jelly and marmalade, too)!  I may never make White Nectarine Jam with Elderflower and Green Almonds or Pluot Jam with Sloe Gin and Orange Flowers, but there are dozens of other recipes I can’t wait to try.  This is one of those cookbooks that you get for the photographs as much as for the recipes.  Delicious in every way!

Knitting: Still working on that baby hat, which hasn’t come very far since my last yarn along post.  Knitting is just not fitting into the rhythm of my days very well right now.  If I ever find myself sitting down on the couch, I’ve usually got a babe in my arms, or a book in my hands and a three year old snuggled up next to me.

Come along on the Yarn Along at Small Things.

yarn along

Knitting & Reading

Reading (well, singing, actually): Tomie DePaola’s Book of Christmas Carols.  I love this book.  The illustrations are stunning.  I do not have words to describe how perfectly they accompany the songs.  We’ve been going through the entire book almost every day, and Adeline is starting to sing along to some of the carols.

Knitting: I’ve got the tiniest beginning on a tiny baby hat.  How is it possible that three of my good friends and my one and only sister dear are all due within two months of each other, right on the heels of the holidays, no less?  Sheesh!  Let the Baby Knitting begin!  I can only hope that some friendly elves will find my needles while I’m sleeping and help me along.

Come along on the Yarn Along at Small Things.

PS — My brilliant and talented friend Gi is hosting “Get Your Craft On” for the holidays and she’s looking for submissions.  Looks like fun!

yarn along

Knitting and Reading.  And Food.  Not actually eating or cooking food.  Mostly just reading about it.  And being amazed all over again (as I always am) at the brilliance of Wendell Berry.  And thinking I should stop reading and make some of the amazing casseroles in this book.  All this food reading is sort of eclipsing the knitting of that yarn (which is supposed to be made into this diaper cover).  That and I can only find one of my needles.  I think the other one is under the couch.  But I’m sort of reluctant to look for it because I don’t want to know what else is lurking under there.

Come along on the Yarn Along at Small Things.

PS — My brilliant and talented friend Gi is hosting “Get Your Craft On” for the holidays and she’s looking for submissions.  Check it out!

yarn along

Finally, I’m getting around to reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  Also, I’m finally finishing up Bea’s pebble vest.  I’m not a procrastinator, really.  I think my To Do list is just too long.

Ginny at Small Things is hosting this Yarn Along.  Check it out!