joining Ginny’s yarn along

Knitting: Only three squares to go! Looking forward to starting something different. Thinking about making other gifts (since I’m so early – do I miss the last minute stress? I guess so).

Reading: I wanted something simple to read while thinking about my own writing, so I reached for The Gallaghers of Ardmore by Nora Roberts. One of her trademark trilogies; lots of romance, family and friendship, a bit of a fairy tale ghost story and so much love for Ireland that I want to visit that country more than ever (but I have yet to convince my husband to spend a  much needed vacation in a region that has even more rain than we do).

So what are you knitting/making and reading?

Last Friday night I turned off my computer for the weekend, reached for my knitting basket and decided that in fact I really didn’t feel like knitting. So I did a bit of light reading (Nora Robert’s Gallaghers trilogy). About half way the book I suddenly realized I did feel like knitting, but I just didn’t want to make potholder squares (still 12 to go).

So I grabbed some scraps of yarn and decided to make something fun. A hat. Yes, that’s what I call fun 😉
I didn’t really have a plan, just picked some colors that looked nice together and started to knit something not plain garter or stockinette.

I messed around with twist ribs, a bit of texture and even cables.
And on Sunday morning I ended up with a hat that is actually wearable.

Maybe I should just give them all hats (again)…

I’m joining Ginny’s yarn along today.

Knitting: Yeah, I know, I’m boring. Still potholders. Progress is slow. I haven’t been knitting a lot these days. Mostly because I’m writing a lot (trying to do Nanowrimo this month – I will post about that soon, I hope). My hands need rest after full days on the keyboard.

Reading: Same story. When I’m writing, I hardly read. I am reading bits and pieces of the book pictured though. I don’t think there’s an English edition, but the title would translate as “Food on earth”. It has lots of information about historic and recent food related traditions all over the world, accompanied by traditional recipes. So far, I like it.

So what are you knitting and reading?

I’m joining Ginny’s yarn along today.

Knitting: Still working on those potholders. I made it a tiny bit more interesting by starting striped ones. Also, I decided to stop thinking about how many I need to make (24, not 28, I’ll skip giving them to myself) and instead try to decide who I’m knitting these for. I think I have made enough of these squares to give each of the girls a set. Next I’ll try and make my mother some (she loves them) and maybe I’ll add my brother and sisters to the list. I also decided to give these for Christmas, not Sinterklaas (Dec, 5th). Feels like a relieve and that’s great. It should be fun to knit gifts, shouldn’t it?

Reading: The daughter by Jane Shemilt. I first heard about this book on Karens blog and what she said about the plot intrigued me. So I ordered it from the library and received it last week.
Oh my, this is another one of those books that I couldn’t put down until I finished it. And then I kept thinking about it. I won’t give away the ending, but it has a nice unexpected plot twist at the end and as Karen said, the family dynamics and the way the main character finds out she never really knew her daughter (or the rest of her family) are very well written.

Funny sidenote: I also kind of fell for the cover when I read that blogpost about this book. I liked the little house on it. But ours is different… (I think the other one is more fitting to the story)

So what are you knitting and reading?