Good Yarns: April 2008

Apr 30, 2008

Picovoli and great sock yarn

This is my progress on Picovoli by Grumperina.
#1 did agree to let me knit it up for her and it is going well. It may be a little monotonous to make without any pattern interest for the knitter, but it makes up for it because the recipient is dying to wear it!!!!

It may be too tight.

But it looks great on her, huh?

I think I am going to keep going. If it's too small soon, she can pass it on to # 2.

Checkout this great yarn I won over at Lynda's blog:

Her daughter Kaity dyes beautiful yarn as you can see, and she dyed some here in colors I got to choose myself. I must say, I LOVE IT. Thank you both!!!!
Editted after the orignal post: you must click on the yarn picture....so beautiful when it's bigger.

Apr 26, 2008

Days going by...

Last weekend my youngest had another birthday. This is just too much for me. Look at her glowing at her homemade ladybug ice cream cake.

And this is some of her friends playing chain tag at her party. The weather here has been hot on the weekends. I think it's 85 today. We spent the morning walking along the beach.

This flower is one of thousands, if not millions of them growing in the dunes at the beach. Amazing, huh?

This is an afternoon shot at the top of a 10-15 foot dune cliff recently. They had so much fun and the breeze at that spot was swift!

Of course, I took my knitting to the beach.

More knitting to come soon.
I am going to skip some of the hot weather and go to the LYS.

Apr 25, 2008

Three Great Books

"A Daughter of the Land" is a book I read because my mother, down from my grandmother, passed this book on to me. I received it way back in my teenage years and I read it then. I found it harsh and depressing...the story of the 12th child, a daughter, who was expected to slave at home for her family while the other children received many comforts and wealth from their austere, but abundant farming family. Yuk.
I picked it up again when I was about thirty and re-read it, thinking maybe I had misjudged it. No, it was Yuk.
At a conference in 2006 the author of this book (Gene Stratton-Porter) was highly recommended for other works, which I then read... and ...LOVED. Her books now inspire my high recommendations and comments. Soo...I gave "A Daughter of the Land" another chance. It was humbling to realize that the book wasn't at fault before, it was me who hadn't yet grown up enough. Suffering was indeed still a theme, but so was hope and humbleness and loving in spite of disappointment. It was about forethought and wisdom and about the consequences of following foolishness, but it was not preachy. "Daughter" is not like her other works. It has a humanity which is more pronounced, and yet the nobility seems the richer for it. Read this book. Tell me what you think.

"Three Cups of Tea" is no sweet English fable. It is the true and mesmerizing story of a man who has lived through many recent events in the world. It gave me a feel for the mountains of Pakistan and the people who live there. It gave me a feel for how to work within a new community and culture. It was terrifying when the Taliban captured Greg and when they put a jihad against him. It mostly brought the people in Pakistan to my mind, and brought them to my mind in a human way. Again, the humanity of this book is what got me. Have you read it?

"Hinds Feet" is an old one for me. I felt like I needed to read it again. It was written in the mid-century while the author was in the Swiss Alps and is allegorical to the life of a Christian in the same way as "The Pilgrims Progress". It is definitely a book for those seeking the Lord.