:: yarn along ::

Joining Ginny at small things again this week—

On the needles…
Julia’s Elvira tunic is coming together really nicely now. For such a small project it seems like it is taking forever, but really the first big chunk of time I had to work on it was during the drive up here, although I didn’t get as much done as I’d have liked because for some reason knitting this made me a little car sick. At any rate, I have the front and back joined now & I’m about four rounds into that part of it. Seven hours in the car back to Connecticut on Saturday & I should have it finished. Which is really good, because Julia keeps asking me to put it on her! (Ravelry details here.)

On the nightstand…
Two books this week! At the suggestion of…someone, and I really wish I could remember who it was mentioned Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s books last week (or was it the week before?), so I could give credit where credit is due—I’m just starting Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter. I am not far enough into it to offer any meaningful critique or insight, but I can say I’m enjoying it immensely so far. If you’re reading this because you are also a knitter and you clicked over from Ginny’s page (and really, why else would you be here?) and you haven’t read this book, go immediately to your nearest library and check it out.

The other book is one I actually purchased, if you can believe it. I had that $20-for-$10 Barnes and Noble Groupon burning a hole in my pocket—I wanted to use it before it expired, so I stopped in with the kids on our way to story hour at the library last week. (There is a Barnes and Noble store right outside the public library in West Hartford. I haven’t decided if this is an incredibly brilliant or incredibly stupid place for a book store.) I was poking around in the crafts section trying to decide what to buy when Absolutely A-Line caught my eye. In short, it starts with a basic A-line pattern (in girls’ sizes 3–8—or, in my universe, “the size Julia wears right now–the size she will wear approximately five years from now”) and features 25 adaptations, along with the author’s encouragement to run with whatever inspiration you find & make your own creations out of it. I’ve been thumbing through the book while we are away and planning out some projects, and I’m quite certain I’ll be mentioning this book again in the future. (Quite probably the very near future, in fact.)