Yarn Along

Joining in on Ginny's Yarn Along today!

I've started a Baby Surprise Jacket for our December baby, using Noro's Yuzen (a wool/silk/mohair blend). If you haven't made anything with Noro, get thee to a yarn store. The colours are just unimaginably delicious, from pearl grey to raspberry, sea green to deep purple. You never know what's coming next which of course adds to the "Just One More Row" syndrome that many knitters are suffering from! It's been awhile since I made a BSJ and I had to frog and cast on about three times before I started getting the rhythm of those darn sleeve decreases. Now it's fun, as I remember it being!

Shelter is one of the books on our library's Evergreen program (a reading club for adults, featuring Canadian novelists). This was a beautifully written first book, telling the story of two sisters who have are abruptly left at a neighbour's house by their mother after the death of their father. Through reminiscences of their idyllic, forest upbringing and their attempts at finding their mother, this book explores the bonds between mothers and daughters, the connections between sisters, the families we create for ourselves, and the search for truth about others and ourselves. Highly recommended!

Chris Judge's The Beast is appealing in all the ways a children's book should be. The cover sparks a discussion with your children: "What is a beast? What are some words that might describe a beast? Why do you think the beast is lonely?" The illustrations are bright landscapes, from forests, to oceans, mountains, cities, and plains, made all the more dramatic by the presence of this wonderful, expressionless beast who goes off in search of others like him. My children have decided that we have to write a letter to the author to tell him just how much we loved this book, and to encourage him to write and illustrate more! We fell in love with the lonely beast.

Stop by Small Things to find out what others are reading and knitting these days!