Yarn Along

I’m loving this yarn along party, as it’s fun to see what others are doing with their knitting and reading.  Thank you to the “Small Things” blog for hosting it again!

For the reading, I thought I’d post a picture of the books Knut picked out for the kids this year for Christmas.

We’ve done this for years now.  Well, actually he does it.  I recommended for Silje this year “The Secret Garden” and it has been a hit so far.  Knut picked out for David a Robin Hood book based purely on the amazing illustrations in it.  Although I think the reading level is much too high to even read aloud to him yet.  As always, I’m sure that it will soon be his favorite book, as other Christmas books in the past have become.

Since Elias is really into trains right now, “The Polar Express” was Knut’s choice this year and I’m so excited to have this book in our house!  It’s so full of magic and the pictures are just stunning.  Solveig got a little “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” board book.

My favorite part of this tradition isn’t just the books, but the notes inside.  Knut writes a long letter to each of the kid in the front cover of their books.  He spends so much time composing each letter to each kid, sometimes coming up with several drafts before the final copy is penned into the inside of the book.  So far, the kids breeze right past them and don’t notice them.  I hope, though, that someday they will be very important to them.  Each letter makes me cry each year when I get to read it.

You thought I was the only writer in the family?  Oh no.  Knut is a great writer.  He just doesn’t know it.  When we were dating long distance, states apart, he wrote me every week.  I don’t think many couples have a stash like this as a reminder of their courtship.  Knut said that it was the most strategic thing he’s ever done for our relationship.  You see, whenever he does something stupid, or I’m mad at him (which can often occur at the same time) I can always go to my desk and read all the things he wrote back then, and I’m reminded of how much he loves me, and how God brought us through so much.  Makes his life pretty easy.

He doesn’t write me weekly anymore, but I still get a few letters from him a year. The last one was during harvest, and it was during the time when all I saw of him was traces that he was home sometime when we were all sleeping. It was so sweet about how he appreciated how much extra work I did when he was gone, and how he missed spending time with the family. I love things in writing because you can always come back to it time and time again when things aren’t as “sweet”.  I feel bad for modern couples whose only “documentation” of their love is through text messaging.  A whole generation of instant gratification.  Words said with the purpose of speed, rather than deep thought.  I won’t go down that tangent any further, though.

As far as my knitting, what you see will soon be frogged.  I put my notebook in the picture too, because I’ve finally decided to push myself even further and start trying to design my own patterns.  Why not?  It can’t be rocket science. This is just a prototype, and I don’t like it, and so I’m recording the areas that will change, and making plans for the next tester.   This is the 3rd tester that I’ll be frogging, and I’m waiting on a reference book that should be coming any day to help me figure out the stitch I’ve been trying to accomplish.  Don’t worry, it’s not frustrating at all.  I’ve been kinda giddy so far in this whole process.  When I finally have the pattern done, I’ll show you what it actually looks like, and what it actually is.