Yarn Along...Downton Cowl

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs.  I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading?

I've put aside my sock for a few days to work on the "Downton Cowl"-something that I signed up for as a Downton Abbey knit along over at Luvin The Mommyhood.

I messed up the lace pattern in the second row and had to rip back a few rows and start over. I'm terrible at counting while the kids are trying to talk to me, or if there are any shenanigans going on around our house. (It's safe to say that there usually are.)

Once I got it ripped back and got the first set of pattern work done, I found it much easier to figure out where I was in the pattern if I was interrupted. And not near as much counting now because I can just see where I am, what I've just done and what needs done next without looking at the pattern chart.

This is my first project using Madelinetosh wool. I'm not sure that there's any going back after this, knitting with Madelinetosh is pure luxury!

I'm a bit confused because the woman who owns the yarn store where I bought this wool told me that i'm knitting wrong and that my stitches are going to come out twisted. (Because I knit continental, she said I should be knitting through the back loops?)

It bothered me a bit-and it took a bit of motivation to start again. I didn't want to continue if I was doing it *wrong*...but at the same time what i'm doing feels right, and ends up looking the way it's supposed to. 

I've watched quite a few knitting videos on youtube and I don't think doing anything different than what they're doing. And my stitches aren't twisted either, so I'm not really sure what she was trying to say.

Once I got over that hump, I'm  back to loving knitting. There were a few days though where I just left it in it's bowl afraid I was somehow going to mess things up.

I've been reading "The Mermaid's Chair"...it's been sitting in my "to read" pile for a while now and decided it was time. To be honest, I wasn't a big fan of the story line (from what I know by reading the jacket anyway). Stories about unfaithful spouses-or stories that excuse that behavior, rather, tend to bother me.

I do like Sue Monk Kidd already though, so I decided to give the book a chance.

Also, re-reading "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis. It's been a while since I've read it and found it floating in a stack of my Dad's books.
It might take me a little while to get two books read with the little reading time I've got...but at least I wont' be short on reading material!

P.S...Don't forget! The Lexicon project starts tomorrow!! Check back here or over at House Full of Jays for the project word of the week!

The Lexicon Project

I've been so excited to share this blog collaboration that Rachel and I have been wanting to do for almost a year now. We've finally lined up our ducks and have a plan. Horray!

Rachel and I noticed that a lot of the time our pictures end up looking similar. 
Sometimes it's something as simple our children, the way that they're posed, or the lighting. And sometimes they're so close to the same that it's just weird. 
It's not as if we get to take pictures together, as we're over 1000 miles apart and haven't seen each other since college. 

We've decided that we needed to play a little game...and you're welcome to join us!
Each Thursday, we will be posting a word. A single word, chosen at random. (Would you believe that there are Internet generators dedicated to just that?)With that word in mind, we're going to take a photo to submit for the following Thursday. Rachel and I are going to take turns hosting each week. One week it will be here on my blog, and the following it will be over at House Full of Jays, and will include a link up for those who want to participate! (you can participate anyway you like-via your blog, flickr or instagram etc.)
Won't you join us?

Yarn Along....Socks!

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs.  I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading?  Yarning Along with Ginny



I have about 5 projects on the go right now... Eeeek!  I normally like to have at least two projects going at once so that I have a few options to take with me in the car etc, but 5 is a little much! 
I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but alas, I have a lot of knitting to do. (oh...darn?) 
I have my mother in law's hat to complete which I started before Christmas-and was supposed to be a Christmas present. I'm so glad that she's a sweet, understanding woman!
This would have been a quick project, however I attempted cabling while fevered. That didn't turn out so well. I have to rip back about 10 rows and carry on.

I'm also starting this cowl as part of a Downton Abbey Knit-Along. Could it be? My favorite show mixed with knitting? I'm so excited-I've only just cast on but i'm itching to get some rows polished away on this. 

Our local knitting group is also doing a knit along right now, we've just started on socks since so many of us have never knit them! The pattern has been a little bit tricky for some of us (myself included) because we're using circular needles rather than double pointed needles. The pattern refers a lot to "needle 1", or "needle 3" etc. It's taken a little bit of patience to figure out but with the help of Kelly's videos (from Knit Picks) I think i'm finally getting the hang of this. I'm ready to start on the toe of the first sock. Now if only I can remember how I did the first sock when I go to do the second...haha.

Last but not least, I'm working on two baby gifts for friends. At least those will be fast, since babies are so conveniently tiny. I just love knitting for babies!

Lately i've been reading "Things I've Learned While Knitting", by Stephanie Pearl McPhee, a.k.a, the Yarn Harlot. What can I say? I just can't get enough of this woman. Her writing, even when informative and practical, never fails to put me in good spirits. I often end up laughing out loud and have to re-tell her story to the boys or Mark who wonder why i'm laughing. Who knew that there could be so much knitting humour?!
Later this week I hope to start "The Mermaid Chair" by Sue Monk Kidd. This has been kicking around in my pile of books "to read" for a while now and I decided it's time. I really enjoyed "The Secret Life of Bees" so i'm hoping that this one will be equally satisfying.

I'd love to hear about your knitting and reading if you'd like to leave a comment! 

~Corra

P.S...Tomorrow (Thursday) i'm going to be announcing an exciting and fun project that Rachel and I are going to be working on together, and anyone else is welcome to join in! Stay tuned!

Coming out of Hibernation

I would include a nicer picture, but my memory card decided to fail big time and delete all of our recent pictures.

Over the holidays, I ended up taking a completely unplanned, (some would say forced) break from updating here. We were hit with every viral illness and 24 hour plague possible, it seems, one right after the other. Those flu bugs rolled their eyes and laughed at our vitamin armed (but sleep deprived) bodies, marched in and took the fort.

 Our long list of things that we wanted to do over the holidays were reduced to doing nothing but what felt like a trillion loads of laundry, and fevered movie marathons.
Despite spending the holidays with humidifiers, mentholatum on our chests, cold packs on foreheads and with emergency buckets in our laps, I honestly can't say that it was all bad.
We spent a lot of time together as a family, crowded and piled on two sofa's together in the basement rec room, cozied up under blankets and laughing together. (I did manage to knit some, but I wouldn't recommend knitting cables while fevered. I have some frogging to do.)

While I'd never want to spend another Christmas feeling so lousy, I don't feel like all was lost. A lot of happy memories were made and for that I'm grateful.

I'm still picking up what's left of Christmas and putting it all away in the appropriate boxes, hoping that next year we're able to enjoy it all a little more. 

I don't normally make resolutions for the new year, I'm from the school of  thought that if something in your life needs a drastic (or slight) change, it really can happen any time of the year, why wait until the new year?
However, cleaning up after Christmas always brings bittersweet refreshment and inspires more cleaning/purging. I not only enjoy having the floor space back that our Christmas tree took up, and having a simple, much more sparse mantle, but I'm also finding a cheap thrill in taking the time to get rid of things around the house that we aren't using or enjoying anymore and are just taking up space that we could be using more efficiently.
Also, i'm going through closets and finding things that are either outgrown, never worn, or in need of mending before they can be worn again. 
I have been trying to think of the things that take up more space in our lives than they're worth, if that makes sense. Simplify. I find that when my surroundings begin to feel chaotic, I begin to feel stressed, and scattered. I can't focus as well, and feel as though something is always eating at me.

Part of this is simply how life is with a baby-babies make messes, and force you to keep putting things up on higher surfaces so that they don't get into things that they shouldn't. I find though that i'm running out of surface space and no longer enjoying my home.

I'm no where near my goal yet, i'm still sorting through boxes of odds and ends, making piles of boxes to go to the thrift store, and still adding to them.  Hopefully before too long our home will be restored to a peaceful dwelling and we'll be all the more happier for it.
 
What are your tips for keeping down the clutter level in your home? Leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you!

P.S 
I'm also going to be joining Rachel over at House Full of Jays for a smart, daily water intake challenge. I know a lot of us sometimes forget out important it is to hydrate, and how thirst can often be mistaken for hunger! If you're interested, check it out here.

At Play

Here's just a small peek into some of the creativity and play that's been happening around here this week. The boys have been hammering and drilling away some little wood projects -I'm not sure exactly what yet...

The smallest as learned to carefully line up my old cabbage patch and strawberry shortcake dolls and then march through their freshly created order like Godzilla, growling. Her older brothers insist that this wasn't taught, and that she's just naturally awesome. I think she's pretty awesome too.

Yarn Along

I decided a few weeks ago to make up a few of these stars-not as a garland like the pattern suggests, but just as individual ornaments for gift toppers, or a little something to hang on a bottle of wine etc.
 I used utility twine which isn't very pliable so the stars don't have a real "point" to them, but I like the way they turned out regardless. I'm not even 100% certain that this twine is even cotton or acrylic...i'm thinking it might be paper, It's really hard to tell.
I might make up a few more though in something different just to see how it turns out.

I'm also making a few of these for gift exchanges-owlie coffee cup cozies. In order to fit in the whole owl these do turn out a little long, so maybe they're not suitable for a small coffee cup, but lucky for me, I don't think I have any friends that would actually order only a small. Yeah, not happening. I still need to block this out and add some peepers!

I really wish I had bought more of this yarn though-it was a really cheap clearance sale early this autumn. At first glance it looks like grey marl, but then if you look really closely, there are tiny bits of colour running through it, like little pieces of bakers twine. I only bought one skein of this colour, and another in pink. Definitely kicking myself now.

I have a few other projects on the go that i'd love to post but i'll have to wait until after Christmas so I don't give anything away!

Wind All the Things! A Daybook Entry

Outside my window: a grey morning with drizzle. It's warm though, maybe we'll take a walk later.

I am thinking: of my daily tasks and what order I should do them in. Our living room is in shambles after getting some furniture out of the house and some new (used) furniture into the house. I've finally gotten my Christmas decoration bins out of the living room and put back in the basement.

I am thankful: for my new yarn winder and also a new serger! (I may have gone a little overboard with the yarn winder but I couldn't help myself.) A friend at church gave me the serger and I can't wait to set it up.

In the kitchen: I haven't started today's bread yet (well, tomorrow's) but aside from bread, I'm hoping to make some of these Lemon Ricotta Cookies. I've never made them before but I happen to have a huge tub of Ricotta cheese, and I've been wanting to try these for a while. If they're good I might include them in some Christmas baking for gifts.

On the needles: I have too many projects going on right now, but in short, working two pairs of slippers for the boys. I'm making them with leather soles and crocheting the tops. Also working on two cowls, and one hood/hat for gifts. I'll explain more tomorrow for yarn along.

I am wearing: The most comfortable yoga pants ever, cushy thick socks, a domo t-shirt and a knit cardigan. My hair is up in a twisted bun, held up by a paint brush. I may not look classy, but i'm cozy!

I am creating: Later today I hope to work on a little set of wooden peg people for Lotte for our nativity set. All the people that came with it are glass and not very play friendly, and I really want her to be able to play with it. Growing up we had an antique plastic set and the heads came off, and my sisters and I used to switch Mary and Joseph's heads. We were horrid children.

I am wondering: how long Lotte will nap today-her sleeping has been horrendous again lately.

I am reading: I have been getting some crafty (and yummy) Christmas inspirations though from a few fun magazines, like the British Country Living Magazine.

We are learning: About India. We had friends visiting over the weekend who are missionaries in India. The boys soaked up all the tales from far away and are so fascinated by them all. As I tucked them in to bed they were still rattling off some of the details of the stories, just in case I had missed out. I smell a homeschooling project coming on.

I am listening to: Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong. What would the Christmas season be without these two?

P.S I was recently inspired by a friend who used some prompts for her blog post so I'm borrowing her idea and tweaking it a bit with a few of my own.