Yarn Along:

Finally finally finished Outlander a couple of days ago. I basked in the glow for the rest of the day. I've decided to read something fast and snappy, then begin the next book in the series. The obvious choice for my palette cleanser was Gone Girl.  I wish it could be Poldark, but my husband and I are reading that together and I wouldn't want to barrel ahead without him.

As for my knitting, I am careening through the border now and planning to finish before we finally, FINALLY make it home later tonight. Our car broke down on Saturday and we have been camped out at my sister's house ever since. I'm grateful for the extra time with her but we are a little saddlesore after 17 days away from home.  

I'm looking forward to beginning something tiny and precious for a future godchild of mine who is making an appearance in a mere 6 weeks. Let's hope this fingering-weight silk and wool flies through my fingers.

Yarn Along

Lots of car knitting going on around these parts. I've finished up one of the sleeves on Lucy's sweater. Since taking this picture, I've also made a good dent in the second one. I'm documenting the process with photos every other day on Instagram. 

We're on the move here in Atlanta all day long. Hotel living has been an adventure.  I was nervous about putting both kids to bed simultaneously in such close quarters, but they have gone easy on me. Afterwards I've been occupying myself by quietly reading a few pages of Outlander each night. 

Since watching the first few episodes of Poldark, my husband and I downloaded the audiobook to enjoy on our road trip.  It is taking a tremendous amount of willpower to not listen ahead while he's hard at work at the conference late at night.  I'm hoping we can quickly catch up to what's already been covered by the miniseries, which goes at a fast clip. Apparently there are about a dozen books in the series. So much to look forward to. Highly recommend. 

Yarn Along:

Lucy's latest sweater is coming along nicely. I plan to finish up this skein, then knock out the sleeves. I'm hoping to find some buttons during our upcoming road trip.  Meanwhile I'm already plotting a garment for Sebastian out of the leftovers.  

I barreled through a couple of chapters of Outlander, my sense of dread mounting. Since I had a chance to watch the final two episodes of the season recently, relying heavily on the fast-forward button, I was reminded in painful detail of what lies ahead. My tolerance for fictional torment has gone way down since having children.  I suppose I'm looking for reassurance about the rest of the series.  

Stitch

Last night was magic.  My sweater dried in time for me to bring it to our monthly gathering of makers at the local library.  We arrived and found it unexpectedly locked up, so we all just plunked down on the porch and got out our work.  We had a lively conversation full of ruckus laughter.  When the librarian finally came, we all opted to stay out there.  A little later, a gorgeous breeze blew up, so I even got an excuse to wear my sweater in the middle of July.  When I went home, my babies were completely content, yet happy to see me.  What a great way to end the week!

Date Night

On our very first date, back in 2008

On Wednesday, Peter and I went on a date.  Our friend recently set up a babysitting co-op which has really taken off.  As a result, all of our lives are infinitely better and we're all wondering why we didn't start one years ago.  After quickly racking up tons of points, we felt compelled to take a couple of hours for ourselves just to even things out somewhat.  It amazed me how little time we needed for the whole exursion. I'm hoping to make it a more regular occurrence.

As we waited for our dinner to be served, I worked on the button band of my sweater. The waiter asked me what I was making and after telling him, I went on to joke about bringing my knitting on a date. He asked if it was the first and I proudly held up the sweater and bragged that I had made quite a few. "Oh, I meant your first date."  We laughed and told him we'd been married for four years and had two kids together already--so, yeah, it probably was our first date in over a year.

Yarn Along: Weaving in the Ends

Last night I finally finished the interminable ribbing on the body of this sweater and flew through the neck band. I even took a few moments to weave in the mere five ends so far.  This sweater-from-a-single-skein game is positively intoxicating.

Now all that remains are the button bands. I've been meaning to read up on how to do them properly. The pattern goes into detail on it, but I remember that it varies slightly depending on individual row gauge. This is where knitting gets nerdy. For the faint of heart, there is an app for that. Still, I'll have to get out a ruler and measure for myself--there's no escaping it. 

I'm committed to blowing through the rest of Outlander.  If I succeed in finishing both my sweater and this giant tome in the next couple of days, I'm going to have to act fast and come up with a few things to keep me occupied on our upcoming road trips. Lucy has requested a yellow sweater, while I've been mulling over what this pile of handspun will become.  This week I watched a couple of my favorite miniseries (Emma, Wives and Daughters) which might deserve rereads.  Still, it would be nice to start something new after dwelling in already-explored fictional worlds for so long.

July 2

  What do you love the most about little children?

Biting them. I can't help it.  I have a killer case of cute aggression. 

I remember reading a passage in L.M. Montgomery's The Blue Castle where a character who lost her baby describes how much she loved him. She tells Valency, the main character, who doesn't have any children, about how she "used to bite his satin-smooth little face all over--softly, so as not to hurt him, you know--" Valency interrupts her, saying, "I know--a woman always knows--and dreams--" That same reaction is described in this article, (“Tears of Joy” May Help Us Maintain Emotional Balance - Association for Psychological Science) which explains my strange response to adorableness better than I ever could. 

I just can't resist taking a few nibbles. I try to get in as many as possible before they get teeth and start reciprocating. Unfortunately both of my children are showing signs of being just as violently affectionate as I am, so I need to be constantly vigilant against counter-attacks.

July 1

I heard about Ronnie's Life Captured Project from The Little Snail.  It feels like the perfect opportunity to document my life in more detail here.  I'll probably be a day behind throughout July, since I tend to write in the morning.

Describe a moment from today that you want to remember always.

We celebrated my mother's birthday a day early.  While Sebastian napped, Lucy and I started her cake.  If left to my own devices, I would have made this cake all alone--and it probably would have been a simple sheet cake.  But each of us had a hand in how it turned out, which makes it memorable to me.  First, my mom suggested the recipe and got out her round pans.  She described how to line them with parchment paper and then set about washing dishes while I assembled ingredients.

Lucy caught wind of what was going on and begged to help.  I summoned up some extra patience and pulled up a stool.  She cheerfully dumped ingredients in after I measured them out and for once got to sample the batter, since the cake was vegan.  After we got them into the oven, she even helped me clean up.

Later, Emily stepped in to decorate with mildly expired icing, sprinkles, vegan whipped topping, and  raspberries we got on our pilgrimage to Trader Joe's.  She added her unmistakeable style to this cake and made it a true masterpiece.

For the first time in several years, all but one of us siblings got to eat a slice of my mother's birthday cake.  As we enjoyed it, she told us it had been a few years since she'd bothered with a cake at all.  Since becoming a mother myself, I feel I've started to understand her better and can truly see her now.  I wonder if it will be the same with Lucy.

Yarn Along: throwing & picking

So of course I have been savoring the Taproot magazines, but I also checked the entire Y: The Last Man series out of the local library and have been devouring it.  Last week I mentioned that Vol. 1 contains some knitting.  Later in the series those same needles are indeed used as weapons—and at one point they even pick a lock.

Mine have been otherwise engaged, finishing up the body of this sweater and turning the heel on this sock.  We can't all be Agent 355, after all….