Woolly Wednesday

Due to our trip to Boston, I wasn't able to get a blog post together that I am happy with on Protein fibers.  So...I will be delaying that Woolly Wednesday until next Wednesday.

However, it is Wednesday and I would be remiss to not most something about yarn and fiber.  So, I will leave you with this beautiful picture!

Oh, if only that were my closet at home!!

*Picture From

Where we went this weekend...

BOSTON!!! We had a great time.  I had never been and we had a long list of things that we were wanting to do.  Luckily, one of my best friends is currently getting her PhD from Harvard, so we had someone to help us get around the city.

Don't worry - I went on Knit Map and found a knitting store close to our hotel.  I will post about the weekend as well as the yarn that I purchased later this week!

Jane Eyre

Netflix to the rescue again.  I wasn't able to see the newest adaptation of Jane Eyre when it was in the theaters, but I was able to get it this past weekend from Netflix.

While it wasn't my favorite adaptation, it was still really well done.  And yes, those are two copies of Jane Eyre  in the photo - I firmly believe in owning multiple copies of some books; Jane Eyre being one.

Well, we are off to Boston for the weekend, I'll post pictures next week.

The fall is coming!

And that means more knitting, and hopefully more finished projects.  I am almost done with a shawl that I have been knitting from my grandmother for quite some time.  I am just a few rows away from finishing!

I should have it finished and shipped down to her within a couple of weeks.  Luckily, there is enough left over yarn for another project, maybe a small project, maybe one for a little niece of mine!

Woolly Wednesday

I bought a book called The Knitter's Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes, (of Clara's Window blog) about a year ago, but never got around to reading it, until about two weeks ago.  It really made me look at my yarn in a completely different way.  And lucky for you all, I will be sharing with you what I have learned.

At the beginning of the book, she outlines and explains the difference between the four different kinds of fibers that make yarn.  Protein, Cellulose, Cellulosic and Synthetic fibers.

Next Woolly Wednesday - Protein fibers.

I have a secret!

And it involves this yarn...

The yarn is Cascade Yarns 100% Superwash Merino Wool, 128 Superwash Lemon color.  That is all that I am going to say at this point - all will be revealed eventually!

My Weekend

This weekend was the Politics and Prose Member Sale.  For those of you that don't know that joy that is Politics and Prose, it is an independently owned bookstore here in D.C.  It is a favorite of D.C. residents and quickly become one of our favorites as well.  It's author events are often broadcast on BookTV on C-SPAN.

Politics and Prose reminds me a lot of Lawrence, where we went to school.  I always love going there and just being around similar people, and soaking up that feeling of a desire to know things that you don't always feel from others out in the world.

Since it was the members sale (and of COURSE we are members :) ) we wanted to go and see what we could find.  I immediately went to the knitting section to see if there was anything new.  And there was!

The first was a book called A Life in Stitches: Knitting My Way Through Love, Loss, and Laughter by Rachael Herron.  It isn't a knitting book in the sense that there are patterns or new stitches, but it is a knitting book in the sense that each of the pieces that she writes is about how knitting helped her through life.  I have been going through a trying summer (maybe later, once it is all past, I will write about it on here) and thought that this was exactly what I needed. (Wendy Knits, a blog that I follow, also has read this and even interviewed the author - check it out if you have time.)

The second book is called The Knitter's Life List by Gwen W. Steege.  Again, no patterns, but there are SO many ideas, things that she thinks every knitter should experience at least once that I know I will be posting knits and experiences that have gotten from this book!  I will keep you informed on my journey through it. (There apparently is a facebook page as well!)

Last is not a book at all, but a notebook that I am intending to use as a knitting notebook.  There are so many knits that I want to make as well as so many blog posts that I want to write, that this notebook will serve as my storage for all of those ideas until I can complete them.  I choose it because it has my favorite painting as the decoration on the outside.  Whatever better way to be inspired than by the very painting that I can sit in front of for hours and see want to sit for longer.

Politics and Prose came through again! If you are ever in D.C. you have to stop by and visit them.  They also have an amazing mystery and fiction section (which I also visited today).

Make Do and Mend

In the recent edition of Debbie Bliss the magazine, there is a fun article called "Make Do and Mend." As some of you may know, that is the phrase used in England during World War II because of the rations and it is also what the article is about. Because fabric and wool was so hard to come by during the war, there was a push to mend and reuse or pass up or down clothing. Sweaters were unwound and re-knitted into something else to wear. While we are not under rations or under the constraints and stress of 1940s England, it is always a good reminder to value what you have (and good reminder to me that I can actually live without an iPad, plus I could buy more yarn with that money). The article has inspired me to not only go through my clothing and re-purpose things, but to go through my knitting yarn and do the same.

It's been a while...

since I posted last.  I am working on some posts right now and should have some soon.  Stay Tuned!!!