Yarn along -- Baby cardi

Taking inspiration from Ginny over at Small Things, here's this week's Yarn Along update:

I've had a silly week with work (desk work, not farm work, which is actually okay as the weather has been horrid the past few days, so we haven't managed to put plastic on the greenhouse, for if we had I'd rather be out there than in here), but I'm trying to finish off this sweet wee cardigan before a baby shower this weekend. (The pattern is available on Ravelry here.) I only have another 15 rows or so to go and then I can go back and knit the sleeves.

As for books, I have a number on the go right now, but my most recent acquisition from Thomas Allen & Son is "Homegrown Whole Grains: Grow, Harvest and Cook Wheat, Barley, Oats, Rice, Corn & more" by Sara Pitzer.

I've been thinking that I'd like to add small-scale grain growing to our farmstead activities (eventually... not this season, or even the next) and this handy book provides a solid introduction on how to grow, harvest and cook nine nutritious whole grains, from wheat to millet, rice to heirloom grains, including amaranth, quinoa and spelt. There are also a number of tasty recipes, from simple cornmeal dumplings to millet-broccoli souflé.

I'll eventually write a The Bookish Farmer review, but for now I've got to get back to work. Or maybe I'll just knit a few more rows...  

Yarn along -- Ella's Luuk hat (cont.)

Taking inspiration from Ginny over at Small Things, here's this week's Yarn Along update:


I'm still working on Ella's Luuk hat. I would have finished it by now if I had read the pattern, or at least read the pattern correctly for the size that I'm knitting.

It's an easy and fun knit and I'm hoping to have it done before the end of the week so I can start Jack's birthday socks. No, they're not even on the needles yet, but I showed Jack the yarn (Patons Stretch Socks in Pumpkin Spice Jacquard) and he's happy to wait for them as he's still wearing and enjoying last year's pair.

As for reading: In addition to mothering, working and homesteading, I'm also studying to be a yoga teacher. (I'm halfway through a 225-hour teacher training program at Wavelengths Yoga Studio in Norwood, Ont.) While it sounds like one more pursuit in an already-too busy life (and in some respects, it probably is), to me it's a natural progression in a path of study and practice that helps me become more focused, mindful and grounded.

Simply put, yoga makes me a better human being.

Some people do therapy; I do yoga. And this teacher training is allowing me to go deeper in this life's work, and eventually share this learning with others -- in particular kids and teenagers. So one of the books that is currently on my night table is "Health, Healing and Beyond" by T.K.V. Desikachar, son of T. Krishnamacharya, one of the greatest modern-day teachers of yoga. It's a fascinating read and one that helps me deal with my everyday with a bit more clarity, grace and integrity. Well, some days at least.

Yarn along -- New Luuk hat for Ella

It's been ages since I've participated in a Yarn Along (see Ginny over at Small Things if you'd like to join along), and I had a hat for Ella that I was going to share today, but as soon as I finished it, I decided I didn't like it. Not one bit. She wasn't too pleased with it either. It was a bit tight and plain and just not "Ella" enough. So I frogged it, before I even took a photograph.

I love knitting hats for the kids. Each is a small project, so it works up quickly and as they both enjoy wearing hand-knit items (it's even a source of pride as they tell people, "my mum made me this!"), they get good use out of them. To me, a hat, like anything I create with my own hands, is a token of my love for them. But it's important that we all like the finished product.

I really like this one...

And I think Jack looks so smart in his WW2 watchman's cap:

So while it was a drag to unroll an entire hat, I'm happy I did. I've already picked out a new pattern for Ella: the Luuk hat from Raverly. I think it'll look really sweet in a variegated pink Cascade 220 wool that I've been stashing.

As for reading, I just received another shipment of books from publishing house Thomas Allen & Son for my new The Bookish Farmer feature:

I think this'll keep me busy. But then again, maybe I won't have much time for reading over the next few days. It's Jack's birthday next week (his 10th, no less!) and I just picked up some yarn for another pair of birthday socks. (Yes, I am the ultimate last-minute knitter.) It was May before he got his last pair of birthday socks -- I'm hoping I can crank these out before the end of April!

What are you creating and/or reading right now?

Yarn Along -- Jack's socks are done!

Taking inspiration from Ginny over at Small Things, here's this week's Yarn Along update:

I don't have anything new on the needles right now (just give me an hour), but I do have a project freshly off the needles -- yes, Jack's socks are finally done!

Author Malcolm Gladwell discusses in his book Outliers, that the key to success in any field comes from practicing a specific task for a total of around 10,000 hours; also known as the "10,000 hour rule." If this is true, I must be an expert sock knitter now. Just kidding, sort of.

Here's a photo of him modelling the almost-completed pair before school this morning...


... and here's the completed pair (this is also my April Year in Colour project), along with one of the books I'm currently reading: May All Be Fed -- Diet for a New World by John Robbins.

I unearthed this book in a thrift store and as I was flipping through it, found this short passage in the introduction:

"May All Be Fed is an invitation to eating with gratitude for the blessed gift of life -- and to understanding how our food choices affect our health and our world.

In a culture that is as commercialized and depersonalized as ours can be, bringing consciousness and thanfullness to our meals is no small achievement. It is, in fact, an act of liberation."

Part one talks about how we can all benefit from eating lower on the food chain; part two offers a delicious selection of good for you -- and the planet -- recipes. I look forward to sharing some in the future!

Yarn Along & announcing another giveaway!

Taking inspiration from Ginny over at Small Things, here's this week's Yarn Along update:

As we're almost halfway through April (does anyone else feel like time is just flying by?) I thought I should check in with the Year in Colour project -- and this month's colour is green. Perfect. This is the motivation I need to finally get Jack's second sock off the needles and on to his foot!


As for the book I'm reading: When Penguin Canada asked if I'd like to participate in a blog tour for Gillian Deacon's new book, There's Lead in Your Lipstick, I thought it'd be a great opportunity to educate myself -- and readers -- about how to reduce our chemical burden.

Even though I'm a low maintenance kinda girl and we use many natural and homemade body care products, I'm finding this book a fascinating read. Jam packed with loads of information, it helps readers identify what the dangerous ingredients are -- toxins such as phthalates, parabens, triclosan and lead -- and provides alternatives, both store-bought and DIY.

To learn more, check back next Monday, April 18th, for more information and the chance to win a fabulous giveaway!

Yarn along -- baby cardi and a thrift store read

The sun is shining, the thermometer is climbing and I'm itching to seed at least one of the cold frames -- but it's been a quiet day inside. Jack left for school at 8:30 and promptly returned at 9:30 looking greener than my yet-to-be-planted spinach.

He crawled back into bed and fell asleep almost immediately. I could have slipped outside but I had some editing work to do; besides, I wanted to stay close in case he needed me. He woke up a few hours later, said he was feeling much better and even asked whether he was well enough to go to basketball tonight. Then he threw up. A lot.

So while the poor lad is back sleeping, I thought I'd quickly check-in with this week's Yarn Along.

Here's what I'm reading and knitting this week:

I finished that baby cardigan, sort of. I cast off the main body but simply couldn't get myself excited about knitting the arms or collar. (I think it makes a pretty cute vest anyway and it still counts as this month's Year in Colour project, right?)

I'm happy with the pattern but the yarn (Lion Brand Homespun -- homespun my foot) was horrible! I only used it to see if this cardi would make a good quick-knit gift for a yet-to-be-determined expectant mama, but the bother just wasn't worth the savings. I am so done with synthetic yarn.

There you have it: I've officially become a yarn snob.

I think I'm going to begin my recovery by casting on some wholesome worsted-weight Shetland wool or perhaps that special skein of perfectly delicious baby alpaca. Yes, that will make things right in my knitting world again.

The book I'm reading is "Flight from the city: An experiment in creative living on the land" by Ralph Borsodi, which I recently picked up at a thrift store for 25 cents. First published in 1933, the book chronicles one family's move from the city to the country in search of economic and domestic security. It's dated: a decent salary then was $50 a week and their homestead was purchased for $4,000, with $500 down and monthly installments of $50, but it's a fascinating and thought-provoking read.

What I find truly sobering is to think how far society has come since then -- unfortunately, down the wrong garden path. But no rant today. I'm off to check on the bedridden boy and bring him some ginger & honey tea...

Yarn along -- Sugar snaps and baby sweaters

I've been so preoccupied with thoughts of baby goats this morning that I totally forgot it was Yarn Along Wednesday.

So here's what I'm reading and knitting this week:


I'm still working on last week's chunky baby cardigan. I'd been looking for a 'stock' baby sweater pattern that would be a good quick-knit gift, so I decided to try this one.

Thing is, I'm liking the pattern but not loving the yarn. It's a Lion Brand Homespun yarn synthetic. I wanted to use something inexpensive as I'm just test driving the pattern but it's just not the same as real wool and real homespun. I also think I'm a bit short in yardage, but we'll see.

But the book I just started reading -- that I'm loving! When the folks at publishing company Thomas Allen & Son asked if I'd be interested in a review copy of Andrea Bellamy's new book "Sugar Snaps and Strawberries", I jumped! She's the green thumb behind the lovely Heavy Petal blog, which is devoted to urban organic gardening.

Featuring beautiful photographs and a stylish design, the book offers advice and information on finding, assessing and using even the smallest of growing spaces. Later chapters cover the nitty-gritty basics on garden planning, soil testing, sowing seeds, garden maintenance, making the most of limited space (think succession planting, interplanting, vertical gardening, and so on) plus harvesting and preparing for next year. She also includes a substantial list of edibles from A to Z.

There are also DIY instructions on how to make seed bombs (or balls) (the activist in me loves this idea!), building a raised bed and preparing a container for planting. She also provides handy quick reference lists on the top power plants (aka dynamic accumulators), top 10 easiest edibles and ornamentals for part shade, just to name a few.

Even though this book is about 'simple solutions for creating your own small-space edible garden' (that's the subtitle), I'm looking forward to learning about some better ways to work with my own garden.

Yarn Along

Last week I wrote about Ginny over at Small Things, who has a fun way to share two of my favourite indoor winter activities -- reading and knitting. The idea is to take a single photo of what you're reading and/or knitting right now and share it on your blog. At the bottom of her weekly Yarn Along post, there's one of those Mister Linky's Magical Widgets where you can share your blog post.

Here's what I'm up to this week:

We're adding bees to our farm this year (more on that soon) so I've been reading up on beekeeping. This is an older book -- first published in 1977 -- but it's got loads of practical information. Hence the title... duh.

While I'm still working on Jack's second sock, I wanted to cast on this month's Year in Colour project. There's another pattern in Judith Durant's One-Skein Wonders book that I've been wanting to try -- a quick-knit baby sweater that uses chunky wool and 6.5 mm needles.

Everyone relax -- it's for a mama-to-be, not me! More on this project soon, too.

I must dash. The farrier is coming today to trim the equines' feet and I've got to catch them before he gets here. It's astonishing how fast those lugs can move (in the wrong direction, of course) when they see his truck pull up to the barnyard!

Yarn Along

Blogger Ginny over at Small Things has a fun way to share two of my favourite indoor winter activities -- reading and knitting. The idea is to take a single photo of what you're reading and/or knitting right now and share it on your blog. At the bottom of her weekly Yarn Along post, there's one of those Mister Linky's Magical Widgets where you can share your blog post.

Here's mine:

I'm still working on Jack's now very overdue birthday socks, but as he's enjoying his dream pillow, I'm not getting too worked up over my tardiness. I'm at the pick-up-the-gusset-stitches stage, so this one should be off the needles in a day or two.

I might have finished before now if I hadn't been distracted by some beautiful wool my dad brought me, or the two cardigan patterns I just downloaded from Madelinetosh (Tea Leaves for mama, Tiny Tea Leaves for Ella), or the mitts I promised Lucas, or what I'd like to knit for this month's Year in Colour project, or...

But first, I'll finish his socks. It's another good life lesson in patience, focus and finishing what you start, even with things get tough/boring/stale or something more exciting comes along. (There's also a lesson in acceptance: a skein of delicious wool and/or an inspiring pattern can throw the most steadfast knitter off course!) Not that I think there's anything wrong with having multiple projects on the go -- knitting diva the Yarn Harlot (aka Stephanie Pearl-McPhee) writes in her book Knitting Rules that socks are a great distraction when she's deep in a sweater pattern. I just know that for me, I'm really good at starting projects but it's very easy for me to lose interest and momentum.

Not so when it comes to reading. When I get hooked on a book, I will burn through the pages with a voracious hunger for what happens next and how the story ends (if it's a happy ending, all the better.) But with Kristin Kimball's book, The Dirty Life: On Food, Farming and Love, I'm trying to slow down and savour each page. It's not easy, because her lyrical writing and compelling story of her intense love affair with a man (who would become her husband) and their farm, drew me in from the first page -- and I'm not one for romance novels. Despite the romantic overtones, she doesn't sugar coat her journey from freelance writer to farmer, either. She writes:

"The people we met kept telling us, with varying degrees of tact, that we'd fail. They said nobody in the area was interested in local or organic food, or even if they were interested, they wouldn't be able to afford it. And if we did find people to buy out food we'd still fail, because the farm was too wet and nothing would grow. And if we managed to grow something and sell it, well, then, it was only a matter of time before we'd fail, farming being farming..."

I get this. I've heard it myself. So I took some solace in this passage:

"When we would talk about our future in private, I would ask Mark [her fiancee, later husband] if he really thought we had a chance. Of course we had a chance, he'd say, and anyway, it didn't really matter if this venture failed. In his view, we were already a success, because we were doing something hard and it was something that mattered to us. You don't measure things like that with words like success or failure, he said. Satisfaction comes from trying hard things and then going on to the next hard thing, regardless of the outcome.What mattered was not whether or not you were moving in a direction you thought was right.

This sounded extremely fishy to me."

I love that last sentence. I see myself as a hybrid of these two people -- full of Zen-inspired possibility and hope at one moment, then skeptical and fearful in another.

I'm only halfway through their story and what I find so compelling is despite their many hardships and setbacks, they keep at it. I know how their story ends -- their ambitious idea to grow everything needed to feed a community worked, and today Essex Farm provides weekly "whole diet" shares to 100 people -- but I'm still looking forward to reading the happy ending.

So what book or books are on your nightstand? What project are you knitting/crocheting/sewing/wood working/creating? If you'd like to, head over to Small Things and share your story with Mister Linky or simply leave a comment below. I'd love to hear from you!