powder blue

Life has been chaotic lately. We just bought a cozy 1922 Craftsman bungalow and we have been busy fixing it up a bit before moving in at the end of this month. I'm knitting a powder blue sweater vest for B in size 2T -- how did the time pass so quickly? She's getting so tall and learning new words every minute. 

 

Those pink roses may not look like much to a seasoned gardener, but they're a real triumph given the state of the garden at our rental home when we moved in a year and a half ago. Nothing feels as good as giving things new life.  

I found this sweet vintage dollhouse at a rummage sale and am looking forward to fixing it up for the kiddos. Also, where can I order a lifesize chalet like this? So charming!

 

 

 Kayaking at sunset on the Detroit River near Belle Isle state park.

 

My constant companions, looking like bookends.

texture and test-knitting

reading Texture and test-knitting a new hat pattern for Thread & Ladle

I'm not sure if I can post spoilers, but I'm using Brooklyn Tweed Shelter for the first time for testing Beatrice's new hat pattern. Lovely yarn, nice pattern.You can never have too many handknit hats.

 

a girl and her cat

 

Chouette is one of my most well-received handknits. Erik loved it last winter, Bridget even likes to wear it in the house. A quick knit, warm and eye-catching, lots of compliments.

I am reading Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders, too -- terrific! Too bad it's overdue at the library. Must. read. faster.

yarn along: beloved + after you

 joining the yarn along with Ginny & co.

 

I just started After You and just finished knitting a Beloved hat for Erik.

 

Moxie cat, hard at work helping me knit

 a happy customer

 new knitting books to peruse

yarn along: knitting from the north

So many wonderful new knitting books and magazines these days... Knitting from the North is what I'm currently perusing. I'm knitting a simple hat for Erik out of this amazingly cozy and cheerful yarn made right here in Michigan -- Stonehedge Crazy. No skein is the same -- Erik had so much fun picking out this yarn. I'd love to do a blanket with oodles of different colors!

joining the yarn along with Ginny et al.

yarn along: between the world and me

reading: Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates

knitting: Strokkur (still)

An important book to read at a historic time. I'm alternately hoppin' mad and heartsick these days.

 

B wore her Chouette hat for our local Women's March. I wish I had broken out the pink yarn, but I spent time writing letters and calling congresspeople instead. 

B wearing her Little Buds cardi (so sweet -- the silhouette makes her look like a smock-clad French painter)! Real life around here -- potty chair in the background, Matchbox cars, the kids' new toy mop and broom (which they love -- they "clean" far more often than the grown-ups do!).

I'm joining Ginny for this week's Yarn Along.

indecision

yarn along

knitting :: strokkur

reading : making no. 2 / fauna

color combination no. 1: teal with "straw" and "truffle hunt"

Far too many minutes have been spent mulling over color combinations for my strokkur pullover. I'm stymied.

Here's Ysolda's pattern photo:

What do you think? Color combination no. 1 above? Or one of the choices below?

 combination no. 2: teal with blue and natural

 

combination no. 3: teal with straw and blue

combination no. 4: teal with straw and natural

new year knits

 joining this week's yarn along

reading: Kazuo Ishiguro's The Buried Giant

knitting: Strokkur, by Ysolda Teague

I'm still sorting out colors for the yoke of my Icelandic pullover. I paid a long visit to a lovely yarn store in Royal Oak, Ewe-nique Knits (oh, knitters and their puns!), and vacillated over a beautiful array of yarns. I came home with two shades of Brooklyn Tweed's Shelter, then promptly set them aside as I rummaged through my yarn bins.

Bridget, looking sprightly and saucy in her Morpheus sweater.

 The holidays flew by in a blur. We did a Midwest road trip yet again, and as good as it was to see family and friends, I long for the year when we spend Christmas at home. Erik's gnome stocking is hanging on the mantel, but Bridget's stocking is still on the needles.

yarn along: mabel again

knitting :: Mabel Cardigan

reading :: Detroit Hustle: A Memoir of Love, Life & Home, by Amy Haimerl

Detroit Hustle was an interesting read, and not what I expected. It truly is a memoir -- one woman's journey from a trailer in Colorado to hipsterdom in Brooklyn to fixing up a ramshackle house in Detroit's West Village, not too far from where we live. It's about her, not the house, really, and she and her husband aren't into DIY, so it's not a how-to guide. But it's thoughtful, personal, and (for me) local.

joining Ginny for this week's Yarn Along

Belle Isle: handknits in the wild

 The Christian Children's Temperance Fountain at the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory

 

 

Yesterday the kids and I trekked over to Belle Isle, an island park in the middle of the Detroit River on the border with Canada. It's beautiful -- a huge park with biking and hiking trails, a charming old aquarium and conservatory, the Detroit Yacht Club, all manner of things to do. It's one of the many places where you get a hint of how wonderful and prosperous Detroit once was, and hopefully will be again.

  

Erik is in the midst of an independent streak, and while he refused to wear his rain coat, it warmed my heart that he happily donned the Flax pullover that I knit last winter. It still fits, but just barely -- time for mama to break out the purple yarn again

 always in motion

 a few steps ahead

yarn along: mabel

Knitting a Mabel cardigan for Bridget and reading Circling the Sun, by Paula McLain, on my Kindle.

I'm using leftover Malabrigo worsted yarn (hooray, always a good feeling) for the cardigan. As always, it's a delight to knit. The pattern is worked top-down and the yoke features these amazing cluster stitches for the increase rows. They look so neat, and they're fun to work, so long as you read the pattern very, very carefully, since they are slightly different as you go along. I just may have had to rip back a few times. 

Circling the Sun is beautifully written, evocative of place and time. You can tell that Paula McLain came to historical fiction via poetry. I attended her author talk at the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House last weekend, and she was terrific. Funny, genuine, down-to-earth. I love hearing about authors' journeys -- how they have come to writing, how they work, what inspires them. Lauren Willig spoke, too -- I haven't read her books yet, but she's a gem. A PhD student-turned-attorney-turned-author. It was so neat to hear how both authors approach writing and have made big, bold choices, embracing doing what they love, immersing themselves in books and writing. 

A big weekend for me! I also went to the Fiber Expo in Ann Arbor, which was great fun, and I made some wonderful new knitting-related discoveries. More soon...

** joining Ginny for this week's Yarn Along **

yarn along: tiramisu

Joining Ginny for this week's Yarn Along:

I'm reading The Shepherd's Life and it's eye-opening. The introduction got me, with Rebanks'  assessment of Wordsworth and Romanticism and how they have affected life in the Lake District, and the sheep farmer's connection to the land. The Guardian's review is here. On my e-reader is Circling the Sun (so good! hard to put down!), and I'm really looking forward to seeing Paula McLain speak at the authors' tea at the Edsel and Eleanor Ford estate later this month.

Tiramisu is done and dusted, ready to be dispatched to Chicago to warm up a dear friend's new baby. The pattern's free, and it's written by the ever-wonderful Alicia Paulson of Posie Gets Cozy.

busy autumn days

 

Bridget just turned one. The months go oh-so-quickly, I can barely believe it. B loves swinging, playing in the sandbox, snuggling, reading books, and doing whatever her big brother is doing.

 

 And Erik? The usual -- hugging goats, loving the color purple, playing with Matchbox cars, running. He turns three this weekend, which is amazing.

 

 

Me? I'm up to the usual, too -- reading (Undocumented is a great read!), swatching, knitting a Strokkur pullover for myself, and drinking plenty of coffee. I wish I could bottle these beautiful fall days -- the leaves changing color, the cool breeze, the first sip of coffee in the morning, the apple orchard's dappled light, the children laughing at the playground.

autumn

 

reading :: The Red Tent

crocheting :: cosy stripes

Somehow I missed reading The Red Tent when it was so popular -- it's my book club's pick this month. Perhaps a bit overwrought and overwritten? Ah well, I'm not the target demographic for this one.

Cosy stripes is almost done! Just 1.5 rows of edging left to go... Wonderful pattern, cozy yarn, perfect thing to crochet on these beautiful, crisp autumn mornings. Sometimes I get up before the rest of the family, enjoy a mug of hot coffee, and knit a few rows as the sun rises. Blissful.

Then it's go-go-go around here for the rest of the day. Bridget is a busy bee, curious, getting into everything, wanting to do everything her big brother does. She loves books, crayons, Matchbox cars, Magna-Tiles, cats, exploring the contents of my purse (that one I'm not so fond of). Here she's wearing her Lottie Cardigan, which I love. So sweet... now I want to knit her another. But first I must make her a Mabel cardigan. Never enough hours in the day!

joining this week's yarn along

yarn along: pompom + baby doll

reading: a back issue of pompom quarterly (so charming!)

knitting: a baby doll for Bridget's first birthday

joining the yarn along with Ginny and co. on this fine Wednesday

yarn along: rib-a-roni and 'the nightingale'

starting Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale

just finished a Rib-A-Roni hat for my purple-loving little boy

Erik picked out the yarn himself (Stonehedge Fiber Mill Crazy) at a lovely yarn shop we happened across in Rochester, Michigan -- Skeins on Main. Definitely worth a visit! Easy, fun pattern -- I like the crown shaping and nice decreases. I'm working on a birthday present for wee Bridget, too -- a knit baby doll like the one I made for Nora's first birthday two years ago. Amy Gaines, the designer, has a new pattern for a sweet mermaid, too, which I may attempt next.

joining Ginny and co. for this week's yarn along

yarn along: The Bronte Plot

Just starting The Brontë Plot and mulling over hat patterns for Erik. He picked out this one-of-a-kind crazy Stonehedge Farms yarn at Skeins on Main, a charming yarn store in Rochester, Michigan. Erik is my purple kid!

Joining Ginny for this week's Yarn Along.

yarn along: fairy tale

reading and crocheting along with Ginny today

Helen Simonson's The Summer before the War is hard to put down, esp. since the main character is a Latin teacher (I used to teach Latin and Greek before I came to editing). NYT review here.

Lorna Landvik's Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons is a book club pick, and it has made me nostalgic for Minnesota. It has also made me think about my mother, who was a young wife and mother in Minneapolis around the same time, and just how much things have changed, while still staying the same. Worth a read -- not quite the fluff the cover would lead you to believe, but a familiar story. Coming to it with a deep knowledge of the setting has made me enjoy it far more than this reviewer did.

The magenta crochet number is a Tiramisu blanket (free pattern!) that is working up quickly. It's the perfect companion to snuggling up on the couch and binge-watching Catastrophe.  I'm using Knit Picks Comfy Worsted in Fairy Tale -- a fitting name for a baby blanket for a dear friend who's expecting twins.

yarn along: cosy stripes

I'm still enjoying making this cosy stripes afghan. The lovely colors cheer me up whenever I get a free moment to settle down to crochet (not as often as I'd like -- we've been going through a bit of a rough patch around here.) Yukari Takahara's Story Quilts: Through the Seasons features creative and unique quilts, such a wonderful mix of whimsy and embellishment. Inspiring!

Joining Ginny's Yarn Along this week...

doing

 

making :: attic 24's cosy stripe blanket

reading :: making magazine, issue 1: flora

 

 

 baking :: German rhubarb cake 

1/2 C. butter, softened
1.5 C. brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. clove
1 tsp. vanilla
2 C. finely chopped rhubarb
2 C. + 2 T. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 C. buttermilk

topping:
1/3 C. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 C. chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter. Add next seven ingredients (through vanilla) and mix well. In a separate bowl, mix flour and baking soda. Alternately add flour and buttermilk to first mixture and mix well. Fold in rhubarb. Pour batter in a greased 9" x 13" pan (metal is better than pyrex). Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle on batter. Bake for about 40 min.

Recipe adapted from the Minnesota Heritage Cookbook, by Sue Zelickson

  

playing :: giving new meaning to the phrase "all-purpose bucket"

 love that impish grin