Gretchen Ronnevik

Yarn Along

Book Reviews, knitting

I’m so happy to be a part of the Yarn Along again this week.  I haven’t been knitting as much lately, so when I got a few quicky projects done, I’m happy to be able to party along with the others again this week!  Thank you, Ginny for hosting all of the Yarning Along blogs.  You can click on her link to see more posts like this on other blogs.

So, here’s my picture, and here is my crazy lady story (me being the crazy lady).

So, we were packing to go to the wedding I blogged about on Monday.  We were having patches of rain, and I was trying to pick a dress for Solveig to wear to the wedding.  All of her cute summer-y ones had no sleeves, but I was worried that there would be a slight chill and if I didn’t have a little sweater, little old ladies would come up to me telling me how cold she looked and she would be wrapped in a blanket the whole time.  Anyway, normal mothers would just pack a long sleeved dress.  A normal mother might even hop over to a store and buy a little sweater.  This crazy-lady-mother thought that the best thing to do would be look through her stash for a cotton worsted weight yarn (which I had on hand…adding to the crazy yarn lady status).  Then this crazy mother would log into Ravelry, do a search for a free pattern for a baby shrug using worsted weight yarn for speed, print out the pattern, cast on, and make a quick little shrug for the wedding…which was the following day. 
I had to do a little knitting during our 4 hour drive, but Knut was so tired from planting this last week that he made me do most of the driving, and I only got about 30 minutes of knitting squeezed in when he drove.  I had to weave in the ends when we got to the hotel to change for the big event, and voila:
I used this pattern and loved it.  I want to make 10 more.  Here is it from the back:
Since the knitting bug never bites me just once at a time, when we got home I immediately cast on and finished a simple garter stitch cowl for my store this fall over the last few days.  It’s using Debbie Bliss Como which is 10% cashmere, 90% merino wool in super bulky.  I just need to finish weaving it together so it’s seamless, and weaving in the ends.  In other words, who knows when it will be done.
As far as reading, I’m still on Chesterton’s Orthodoxy, so I threw in some new books which are on my reading list that I’m hoping to attack and review soon, so you won’t be bored.  Loving the Little Years is a book that was given to the mother-to-be at the shower I just threw for my friend.  It looked so good, and was so cheap that I ordered it with my swagbucks.  The author has 5 kids ages 5 and under and loves “color, fabric, yarn to knit with, kids to laugh at, and laundry (not so much).”  It’s recommended by Tedd Tripp, author of Shepherding a Child’s Heart, R.C. Sproul Jr., and Nancy Wilson.  
The back of this book has this caption:
“I know this is a hard job, because I am right here in the middle of it.  I know you need encouragement because I do too.  This is not a tender reminiscence.  At the time of writing this, I have three children in diapers, and I can recognize the sound of hundreds of toothpicks being dumped out in the hall.  Excuse me for a moment, won’t you…”
In other words, this woman sounds like someone I want to be my best friend, and I can’t wait to read it.
I also have a highly recommended book on the queue: The Read-Aloud Handbook.  It’s been recommended to me by so many homeschoolers, and has a 5 star rating on amazon, so I guess a lot of people think it’s great.  I’m trying to figure out how you could write a whole book on this, but maybe it’s like one of those eye opening books like “How to Win Friends and Influence People” that looks like a pretty basic self-help book, but really is very revolutionary.  I’m going to read it for my preparation for next year’s school year, and I’m looking forward to it.
Lastly, I got this book as part of my birthday present from my in-laws, but I have yet to crack it open and am just dying to do so.  When the Wind Is in the South and Other Stories is by the author of “Giants in the Earth” which is one of my favorite all time books.  This is his short story collection and it’s nearly eating me alive that I haven’t even read one short story yet.
Chesterton’s book isn’t being read very quickly.  I’d say about 5 pages a week.  He’s so deep, and so so so funny!  I need to get through it faster so I can get onto the other books, but you just can’t speed through his writing!  If you have made it all the way through this long post, I’ll leave you with a few Chesterton quotes to brighten your day:
“I believe in getting into hot water, it keeps you clean.”

“The people who are the most bigoted are the people who have no convictions at all.”  (I could have used that one awhile back…)

“There is a great deal of difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and the tired man who wants a book to read.”

“If there were no God, there would be no Atheists.”

“The men who really believe in themselves are all in lunatic asylums.”

“Without education we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously.”

“Marriage is an adventure.  Like going to war.”

“When we really worship anything, we love not only its clearness but its obscurity.  We exult it in its very invisibility.”

Comments

  1. Love that little shrug, adorable, and I am so impressed by your speed and determination. It turned out a great success!

    Reply

  3. I love that you looked through your stash instead of running to the store. I almost laughed when you said you had to drive and only got to knit for 30 minutes..isn’t that always the way!

    Reply

  4. Love that little shrug! I just downloaded it! Who I’ll make for I’m not sure, but it’s darned cute. I so get the driving and knitting thing, we travel New England a lot to visit family and I count on my hubby driving so I can get some knitting done.

    Reply

  5. That little shrug is too cute. I wish I knew a little girl to knit for. I found you on Small Things. I really like the name of your blog.

    Reply

  7. I have the Read-Aloud Handbook, and I love using it for a reference. It has a little blurb about each of the book they recommend, and I have found books, not only to read aloud but also for Alex to read by himself. Enjoy it!

    Reply

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