Around the Web with a Cup of Tea

Here are a few interesting things I found on the internet this week. Short and sweet today. Enjoy.

Trying to decide what to read this summer? Here are a few suggestions.

I think I have to buy the ingredients for this. Yum.

This looks awesome. Found out yesterday that Anna is returning to Ann Arbor this summer - July 11th. Definitely going to see her again.

We might have to take the kids to Toledo for this.

Knitted Works in Progress

I've made a little progress this week. Knitting hasn't been my focus, so I'm not as far on these as I would like.

I spent one day mainly working on my Low Tide cardigan and was able to finish the left front piece and started the back. Hopefully by next Thursday all three pieces will be finished and blocked.

I was able to get 20 more rows of the Earth shawl knit this week. This is what I usually knit in the evenings after Floyd has gone to bed but I've been doing other things instead this week - such as editing - so progress on the shawl has really slowed.

And I started another hat for charity because I needed something I could pick up and knit whenever that didn't require a pattern. This is fingering weight yarn and is taking longer to knit than the other hats that were knit with worsted weight. There are 120 stitches. The other hats I've knit were between 80 and 96 stitches. It takes several rows before I feel like I've done anything on it but I'm almost ready to start decreasing for the top.

What have you worked on this week? I can start my Camp Loopy project on Monday, so there should be a new WIP next week. 

What I read in May

3 great books read this month. I'd recommend them all. 

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson

Even though I'd recommend this book, it is not for everyone. If you enjoy Jeanette's novels (and I do), this book will be of interest to you. It's about her childhood, her relationship with her adoptive parents and then finding her birth mother as a grown up. Part of me wishes I hadn't read this as I think it will influence how I read her work from now on. The other part of me likes knowing a little bit more about one of my favourite authors. Jeanette is a lesbian. Her adoptive parents, especially the mother, were evangelists. It was a rough childhood and she left home as a teenager. But I like how Jeanette looks back on it and can see the many sides of her adoptive mom. 

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

I've seen this author's name pop up on other lists, so I thought I would give her a try. I read it in a day and I guess I liked it. It's around 400 pages but one of the big little lies, I had figured out by page 100. Not sure if I was supposed to. I enjoyed this book more for learning the technique of writing. I pretty much knew the ending but I wanted to see how the author got there. Was it believable? There was only one little twist I didn't see coming but it made sense. An enjoyable book. I'd read another of hers.

Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science - and the World by Rachel Swaby

This was a great book and I might be buying one for every young lady I know. So many women ignored in history. I loved learning about them. This should be an assigned book in Middle School and each student pick a woman to research. Or find someone new. I knew a few of the women - Sally Ride, Ada Lovelace, Florence Nightingale - but a lot I had never heard of. So many of them went unpaid or were denied access to education just because they were women. We should be ashamed. Read it. 

I've been quilting

After writing a blog post about editing on Saturday, I looked around my desk, closed my computer and started quilting instead.

My Made in Cherry quilt has been waiting too long to be finished. I had grand plans for this quilt but couldn't completely decide how to achieve what I had in mind. I decided a finished quilt and an empty desk was better than what I had so I started free-motion stippling over the whole thing. I'm about a quarter of the way done and am liking it.

I'm using pale yellow thread so it's a little hard to see. I'm already on my second spool of thread. Lucky for me, thread was on sale this weekend at Jo-Ann's so I picked up a couple more. I would love to finish quilting it this week. Editing a novel is much harder than I thought and this quilt is providing a great way to procrastinate.

Around the Web with a Cup of Tea

Posting a little late this week as I choose a desperately needed nap over blogging. Here are a few interesting things I found on the internet this week. Enjoy.

New to Ravelry? Or want to know more about participating in threads? Shannon had a great post this week that could help.

How to make your own bias tape for sewing.

Our family had a rare vacation 4 years ago to Cannon Beach, so I had to buy this pattern.

Learn to knit faster? Yes, please. I've been thinking about learning how to knit continental but I might give flicking a try. Here are some videos to explain what I'm talking about. Or help you become a faster knitter.

My daughter becomes a teenager in just over a week. She has requested cupcakes but I haven't shown her this cake yet.

I've been turning the tv off more in the afternoon and listening to more podcasts. Elise's episode about Fear was one I liked this week.

Trying to Edit

I feel like I've been editing my novel for years. This particular round of editing seems to be taking much longer than my last but I've added over 18,000 words so I guess that's why it's taking so long. I've edited 14 of 31 chapters and would like to finish by the end of the month. I've given myself a crazy schedule of editing 2-3 chapters a day but I am already several chapters behind. Each chapter is taking longer than I thought and Floyd isn't really helping.

I try to get some work done while he naps or after he's gone to bed at night, but I also try to sneak in some editing while he watches cartoons. Unfortunately, he thinks he still needs to be with me. 

Floyd getting some cuddles while I try to work.

I tried to put him on my lap, facing the tv so I had two hands for typing...

... but he prefers being up. Got to admit I love the cuddles. 

I was able to finish editing a chapter this morning while he watched Saturday morning cartoons with his big brother. My reward? Writing this blog post. Now back to work, cartoons are done in 15 minutes.

On the Needles - A Few WIP's

  I have a few things on the needles. When I pulled out projects to take pictures for this post I realized that they were all for me. Oops. Once these are done, I'll be starting Christmas sweaters so there will be less selfish knitting.

For Shannon's Tops, Tanks and Tees KAL (#TTTKAL on twitter and instagram if you're on those), I finally cast on Low Tide. I have loved this cardigan since I saw it. But once I actually started it, I began to doubt if I was using the right colour of yarn or if I should be making the pattern at all. All that doubt means I have made very little progress. I finished the right front bodice this morning, just so I had something to show here. The beginning of the pattern is a little finicky. I still need to make the left front bodice, than a piece for the back. Then they all 3 need to be blocked before I join them and knit the rest of the cardigan. I think making all the pieces is kind of slowing me down - kind of like sleeves. I'm hoping with one done I'll be motivated to finish the other two. 

This is the Earth mystery shawl by Erica at Fiddle Knits. The last clue came out a couple weeks ago so I shouldn't be spoiling it for anyone by posting a picture. I love Erica's designs but she does a lot of cables, which is a lot of work, so I waited until all the clues were out and I saw some finished shawls before I cast on. I finished the first clue Monday night and am 30 rows into the second. The third clue is my favourite and is the reason I decided to cast on. 

The shawl is knit sideways with "live" stitches for the border on the needles. I know most knitters know what I'm taking about and I could explain it here for you, mom, but it's similar to this shawl that I did earlier this year. Just know I am only knitting a small amount of those stitches every row.

And I totally forgot that I had started the Sierra scarf until I was looking at my WIP's while organizing. I admit I frogged 3 projects 2 weeks ago and it didn't hurt a bit. This one, I didn't frog. I put it back into rotation though and did 22 rows last night and another 22 rows today. The stripes are okay, right?  They don't look that defined in real life. 

So, what's on your needles? And why are there no socks in this post? I must get some on the needles quick.