Yarn Along

Well, I didn’t get as much knitting done on the plane as I thought I would.  Then everything I did get done (about 2 inches) got frogged.  I have flown on 2 different trips since learning how to knit 7 years ago.  The knitting done on both trips got entirely ripped out.  That is not a good pattern.

Also, right before I left I finished the fingerless mittens for my sister-in-law.  They’re a bit belated for her birthday, but she said she didn’t mind.  I hope she doesn’t.  They’re really more for her photo shoots in the Fall and Spring, anyway, and I doubt she’s doing any outdoor photo shoots in the -40 degree wind chills we’ve been getting anyway.

We were prevented last week of driving the gloves over to her because of the weather, so I’m having Silje model them here.  They’re a tad big on her.  The pattern is Alicia Plummer’s Raw Honey pattern which I adored the moment she released it awhile back.  Sometimes I love a break from designing myself, and love a quick knit like this that lets my brain relax and let someone else do the math.  Plus, you can’t go wrong with one of Alicia’s designs.

As for reading, on this knitting-and-reading Yarn Along post, I’m all over the place.  The Mom Heart Conference I went to had a book table.  It was quite dangerous, actually.  Plus, they had their most recommended books in children’s literature there.  So I figured I’d bring a book home for each kid.  Well, some kids got two or three.  Oops.  Let me just say that I was showing great restraint, and it could have been much more.

Here are the ones I’ve been reading a bunch to the kids.  There technically is more, but these are my favorite of the bunch:

The Raft by Jim LaMarche.  This is the story of a little boy who is dropped off at his Grandma’s house for the summer.  She has no t.v. and there are no kids his age there.  She lives by a river, though, and he builds a relationship with the outdoors and the animals that live there through the discovery of a raft.  The illustrations and the story of him and his grandma especially are so touching.

A Home for Virginia by Patricia St. John. I especially loved this one because it expressed beautifully 2 things that resonated with me: a picture of a strong man caring gently for a child, and a picture of how one child can change a community in ways no one can foresee.  A little baby girl is orphaned in a dirty mining town with a bunch of gruff men.  Instead of sending her down to the orphanage, of one the older miners decides to raise her himself.  First he just starts meeting the little baby’s needs, but as the baby grows, and her needs increase, he starts changing the whole town.  First he sees that she needs a clean, safe place inside to play, so he cleans and fixes up his cabin that is usually dirty and run down.

Then as she starts toddling around, he thinks she needs a little yard to play in, so he plants a garden for her.  As he changes his little property into a place for a little girl, all the other miners start noticing the beautiful spot, and want their property to look at least as nice.  Pretty soon the run down mining town has beauty everywhere you look.  All because of a little baby.

Dangerous Journey which is an illustrated version of Pilgrim’s Progress.  The language is a bit elevated, so more suited to my older 2 kids.  The illustration in it is magnificent, though.  It captures the imagination so dramatically that I’m enjoying going through it myself as well.

Linking up with Ginny’s Yarn Along again this Wednesday.