Joining Ginny for this week’s Yarn Along.
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My goodness how the last week sure flew on by me! I’m so busy catching up that I never got another post published after my last Yarn Along. March is going crazy fast for me right now. I need it to slow down a little. We’ve got lots of birthdays in March including little Gabriel’s at the end of the month. Lots to get ready for!
I just finished Gabriel’s Milo vest yesterday while he napped. When he got up I was so excited to show it to him and have him try it on. Then, wouldn’t you know, the little guy decided to be a stinker and refused to try it on. Crushed my heart. I’m sure he will wear it in a few days– if I don’t make a big deal of it. He probably knew I’d chase after him with my camera if he put it on!
I’ve been steadily knitting away at my Weekend Shawl. Only three more rows to go then I begin the second (and final) lace chart. I can’t wait to finish this one and get it blocked. I’m loving it so much right now. My goal is to be done by the end of the week. It is destined to be a gift and the deadline is rapidly approaching!
My fiction reading is still slow going. I can never seem to tear myself from the nonfiction books. I recently received a copy of The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton through Paperback Swap and I’m hoping I can start it this week. I have read mixed reviews on it. Has anyone else read it? Would you give it a thumbs up or down?
I look forward to reading all of your Yarn Along posts. Hopefully it will not take me another week before I blog again!
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My how the last week sure flew on by me! I published my Yarn Along post last Wednesday morning, looked at a few other Yarn Along posts and then as the morning progressed I slowly succumbed to the nasty bug that claimed everyone in my home last week. Thanks to being so sick I did not accomplish even half of what I wanted to do on my knitting. And reading didn’t really happen either as I was just too tired to focus.
I did work here and there on my Weekend Shawl though because I have yet to reach the lace part in the pattern so knitting was still rather mindless. I am loving the shape of this shawl. I don’t know if you can see it in the photo or not but it is not your typical triangle shaped shawl. As the pattern states the shawl is more like a three-quarter circle. I really like how it is going to naturally drape over the shoulders. About another 10 rows to go and then I get to begin the lace!
Last week I revisited one of my all time favorite books on herbs, An Encyclopedia of Natural Healing for Children and Infants by Mary Bove. This book is so well loved. It is dog-eared, stained, and full of notes. I have owned it for well over 10 years and still refer to it today. I pulled it off the shelf last week when my youngest two babes were feeling the effects of that horrible virus. Fever, cough, congestion. Noted in the book I have written down how well my oldest son responds to mullein leaves, thyme and anise seeds during bouts of cough with congestion. This little note-to-self proved to be helpful in preparing a tea that soothed Ariella’s cough on her worst day.
I hope to return to the fiction book I started last week now that we are all feeling better. It feels good to get back to normal! I hope you are all feeling well and I look forward to seeing what you are reading and working on this week.
So here it is Monday evening and I feel like I am slowly emerging from some deep dark sleep. It has been 7 days since that very unwelcome virus paid a visit to our home. Today is the first day we have felt somewhat back to normal. We are moving slow and resting lots so as not to overdo it. I am grateful we are all beginning to get well and hopefully in a few more days we will be just about back to our everyday rhythm. I feel like I lost an entire week. I had so many plans lined up and ideas in store and then Boom! out of nowhere we are all very sick. I now find myself wanting to jump back in the game and get right back where I was this time last week before the virus hit. But it seems my body knows better than my mind and is forcing me to go slow. I hope all of you out there will be waiting for me to catch up. I do have lots I want to share with you when my body feels strong again.
Until then, I hope this little post finds all of you well.
xoxo, Cynthia
p.s. Photos in this post are from a few days before we became sick. I have never seen a Wooly Bear Caterpillar crawling about in late winter– only in the fall. Maybe this little guy Gabriel found was finished overwintering and was checking out how close we are to spring.
Speaking of spring’s arrival, the last photo in this post is of the Black Pussy Willow (Salix gracilistylus ‘Melanostachys’) I planted last year. It is obviously slowly beginning to wake up from its winter nap. It is probably one of the strangest looking plants I have grown so far. From a few feet away I thought it was covered in little bugs but upon closer inspection saw that it was beginning to display its catkins. Wicked little plant.
According to a tad bit of research I did upon finding the caterpillar it seems the willow’s catkins appearance have something to do with early spring insect activity. Interesting!
It’s been so long since I’ve done a Yarn Along post! I’ve missed this weekly blogging routine so I decided to take part in today’s Yarn Along. It is always so inspiring seeing what everyone is creating and reading.
This week I decided I really needed to take a break from all the nonfiction I keep reading. It’s literally been months since I read a book just to read. I need a book to escape to right now. Something to take me away from my own world for just a bit each day. The other night I picked up Astrid and Veronika by Linda Olsson. It is a smaller book so it’s not quite so intimidating to finish. These days I seem to have just little fragments of time to devote to reading. The book instantly pulled me in and I find myself looking forward to the night when the house is quiet and I can escape to reading it.
As far as knitting goes, I am still working on Gabriel’s Milo. I’m only managing a round or two a day this week so progress feels slow. I’m loving the little cable! I was going to skip adding a cable and knit just a simple little vest but then decided the blue yarn would look good with a cable. I’m glad I changed my mind!
One reason my Milo progress is slow is because of the Weekend Shawl I just started the other day. I’m loving the color and the silk. I want to just keep knitting away at it! It is going to be a gift for someone so it has a deadline which is another reason why it is receiving more of my attention this week.
I look forward to seeing what everyone else is reading and working on this week. As always, thanks so much to Ginny for hosting the Yarn Along.
