Yarn Along 2015.7: It Makes Me Happy

My Wednesday can't make up it's mind if it wants to be sunny or snowy today.  It keeps switching back and forth: snow squall, a few hours of blinding sunshine, another snow squall, some more sunshine. . .  That's okay; I'll take it.  It's like the best of winter all in one day; the beautiful clear blue sky with sun shining on clean white snow, and the diffused light mingled with dancing snowflakes.

Since it is Wednesday, no matter what the weather, I'm joining with Ginny and the Yarn Along again this week.

My Sunlight Shawl for Sad People is finished. I loved working on it. I love the colors of the yarn.  I love the way it looks now that it's finished. And, I love that I secretly made it for someone else, and that someone has no idea they will shortly receive it in the mail.

Sunlight shawl

Was there anything I didn't love about it?  Well. . . I'd never made a shawl with a picot edge before.  So I had no clue what I was in for when it came time to block it.  I did not love how long it took to stretch and pin that shawl--a pin in every single picot. And readjusting every single pin in every single picot at least three times before the shawl was shaped properly (as in, symmetrically).  I'm gonna have to think twice about any picot edge patterns in the future.  And definitely buy more blocking pins.  I ran out of t-pins and ended up employing about 30 safety pins in the blocking; a few of which are a little bent now since my 'blocking board' is actually the spare bed that DD1 or DS2 use when home from college on holiday break. Safety pins were not intended for spearing things to a mattress, LOL.

another view, showing almost end to end

I've started my next project; a pair of Rosamond socks for a KAL/swap I am participating in.  The sock pattern is very lacy, which is a first for me.  Yet, it isn't at all hard to do.  I only cast on Monday evening and so far I have the cuff and three (of eight) pattern repeats on the leg done on sock #1.

a lacy leg

The yarn is Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in Frozen.  I really love the icy blue coloring of the yarn.

a better photo of yarn color

Still reading Ben and Penny Hewitt's Nourishing Homestead, although I'm only 22 pages further along than I was a week ago.  Need to find more reading time this week, or pray that this book doesn't have a waiting list at the library so I can renew it.  Or, perhaps I should just find little money in the budget and go buy my own copy; I can't tell you how many passages I've read in 28 pages total that I find myself saying "Right on, Ben! Preach it, brother!" which is kind of out of character for me, but I just identify so much with how and what he writes about.  Like we're long lost fraternal twins or something.

But what I get most from reading his blog and his book, is really verification of why I knit, why I grow so much of our food at this little place here, why I sew and quilt, why we heat with wood, why I choose to work outdoors in all weather with horses and the garden and making syrup, and making hay, and hunting deer and raising chickens.  It makes me happy.  That's why I do the things I do.  And that should be reason enough.