knit and natter returns

Well, it has been a month of silence here on the blog... 50-60 hour work weeks and trips to Paris just aren't that conducive to writing, at least for me! I hope to do a few catching up posts, but for now this is what I am knitting and reading this week. Or, more correctly, what I finished knitting and reading!

Over the weekend I finished a hat for my sister's birthday on Saturday. It's the Purl Beret and I knit it up in a pink/purple alpaca. She moved to PA about a year ago and as far as I know has yet to purchase a winter hat. (This knowledge is based solely on the fact that in the pictures of her outside in the snow this past winter she is wearing a scarf like a babushka...)
I'm hoping that the colour of the hat matches the colours in a woven scarf I brought back from Ireland for her about five years ago.

This week I finished reading Anne of Ingleside by Lucy Maud Montgomery and The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. I've been listening my way through the Anne books via librivox this year, but Anne of Ingleside is not in the public domain so I was happy to find it in a wee shop across the street from me that gives cash for old clothes and sells second hand books for 50p. I have been "reading" The Woman in White for the better part of this year with Heather on the CraftLit Podcast. We finally reached the end this weekend and it was SO good! Highly recommend both the podcast and this not-so-well-known-in-America British classic. (Rosie, if you're reading this I think you would really enjoy this book and hearing it read by some great voices...)

I feel like I should have lots to natter about today having been gone for so long, but all I can think about is that the sun is shining and I want to get outside and enjoy it! (We have had precious little warm, sunny days this summer here in Belfast.)

You can see the other yarn along posts this week here.

knit and natter

Better late than never with this week's yarn along post!

I had a crazy week last week. I went from maybe getting about eight hours at McDonald's to starting two new jobs and getting 45 hours. Quite a change! On top of that I was manning the prayer room at Summer Madness, a Christian youth festival, over night on Monday and had my first night out with Street Pastors on Friday. I think I'm still catching up on sleep!

So, all that to say I'm still working on the bunny. She is almost finished. Since this photo was taken I finished off the second leg so I just have ears and assembling to go. Baby Elloise's due date is getting closer so I'm hoping to get bunny in the mail this weekend.

I'm reading Developing Learning in Early Childhood by Tina Bruce which is obviously for school. The coming year of our course is apparently very demanding and we were advised to do research work over the summer to help lighten the load a bit. Advice taken!

I had a funny moment while eating Mexican with some friends on Tuesday where I was pulling out things about egocentrism and other technical jargon from what I've been reading... I guess it's really getting in there!

That's all, not much nattering this week. I will have a post in the next few days about the 12th of July celebrations here in Belfast. This was my first year here for them and my observations were very educational.

You can link up with the other yarn along posts here.

knit and natter

There won't be much nattering today... I'm in the middle of a half hour break between one job and the next. My life has changed this week, and I'm not used to such busyness!

I'm knitting up a bunny for my sister's sister-in-law's baby girl at the moment. It's the biggest toy I've made so far and it's fun to see it coming together. There isn't a picture of what I'm "reading" at the moment because I'm listening to it on audio book. It's At Home by Bill Bryson and it's very random and interesting "reading."

That's all I really have time for... you can see what everyone else is knitting and reading here.

knit and natter

This past week and a half feels more like a month! It's so strange, when I look ahead the time seems to be flying by, but when I look back everything seems to have gone by so slowly. Not sure why that is...

Anyway, this week I am reading Chronicles of Avonlea on my iPod. I loved these stories when I was little and thought they would be fun to read again. Not quite as impressed with them as I was then, but still enjoying the nostalgia! And it's nice to have books on my iPod to read on the bus or at work or when out and about and waiting for whatever.

I'm knitting a market bag for a friends whose birthday is this weekend. She didn't tell me it was her birthday but I just had this sneaky feeling and checked on facebook... sure enough! So I'm using up some cotton that I had in my stash. The natural is Lily Sugar'n Cream and the blue which will make the top half is Debbie Bliss. I found some pretty wooden buttons at the local craft shop and I'm hoping this will make a nice, rather impromptu, birthday present.

While at the craft shop I just happened to notice they were having a yarn sale... I snagged these beauties, Creative Poems by Rico Designs. They're so pretty and I've already assigned projects for them. Birthdays and Christmas are sneaking up quickly!

So, I don't have much more to natter about today. I've been working in the garden all morning (pictures to come!) and need to go and have a shower and get a few more things done before heading out for my Wednesday knitting group. You can see the rest of the yarn along projects for this week here.

teacher gifts

It's been a long time since I've given teacher gifts... that's not exactly what these are, but it's a close enough description. I made them for the ladies who work at the nursery where I've been on placement this year. They are tulips and citrus leaves from 100 Flowers to Knit and Crochet and I made them into brooches. I wasn't 100% happy with how they turned out, but I'm pretty fussy and I rarely am with projects like these. Time, thought, and effort went into them so hopefully the ladies will enjoy them.

I have really enjoyed my year on placement. The children are all wonderful and the ladies have been great to work with. I'm not saying goodbye to them all as I'll be working there over the summer which I'm greatly looking forward to!

Today was the last day for most of the students so they gave us our thank you cards for the year. They know that I like butterflies so the card had a butterfly, they gave me a butterfly magnet (not knowing that I also have a thing for magnets) and one of the classroom assistants I've worked most closely with gave me a lovely glass candleholder with painted flowers and a butterfly. Like I said, these ladies are wonderful.

I mentioned that I had something for them but decided to wait till my last day next week because the teacher in my room has been off sick but should be back next week. I wrote out the card with her in mind and hopefully I'll get to give it to them when we're all together instead of everyone scattered about the building like we were this afternoon.

It was the end of the year prayer service today and it was so lovely. The children brought in their amy files (binders filled with pictures of them and artwork they've done which shows all the progress they've made this year) to be blessed by the priest. It was almost like an offering. I thought it was lovely. It's a Catholic nursery and I did feel a bit of a sore thumb being the only one who doesn't know the Hail Mary. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about all the focus on Mary, but I do love the rituals and rhythms of it all. Anyway...

I'm kind of just rambling on as I'm tired and should really go to bed... just seems a bit sad as it's 9:30 on a Friday night. I was supposed to go out for drinks with some friends to celebrate things like the end of the school year and chapters of dissertations and theses (is that the correct plural of thesis?) completed and my new job, but when it came to it I wasn't feeling well and it was cold and rainy out and I'm whining now but I just didn't feel like getting fancy and going out. It's been a long couple of weeks and I've got a long day ahead tomorrow. I just need to suck it up and go to bed.

All right, going now.

knit and natter

I finished off the tulips last Thursday (will post a picture soon) but I haven't started a new knitting project yet. I've just been adding a row here and there to my current WIP, a Tea Leaves Cardigan for a November birthday... no rush on this! This is my fourth tea leaves and it's nice to have a mindless project to pick up now and then. I bought the largest skein of yarn ever for this in September in a faint hope that I might've had the time to make it for last November. I definitely bit off more than I could chew when it came to presents last year but have hopefully learned my lesson and have already begun planning and purchasing for the next round of presents. (You see in my family we have six birthdays between August and November. Then Christmas. Then two birthdays in January, a birthday and an anniversary in March and a birthday and two anniversaries in April. That's just family, not friends!) So I've gone ahead and started on this November birthday present in the hopes that it will be finished on time...

I've been reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. It's a rather unattractive copy but it was free so I'm not complaining. I do really like Dickens and this is no exception. I'm a little over halfway through, Estella has just come to London. I loved the part *spoiler* when Mr. Jaggers tells Pip that he has come to have great expectations, and that it's not just for the future, but is changing his present as well. I just think it's a great picture of what the Lord does (not to get too cheesy). He comes into our lives and says, "I've got a future filled with hope for you." And that changes not just our future but our present as well, it opens up the opportunity for us to live life well, now.

You can find the rest of this weeks yarn along posts here.

knit and natter

This is my last week of college for the year. We had end of year interviews yesterday where we looked back over the last term and were offered a place on the second year of the course. Mine went very well. I do so love learning (even when I'm a bit burned out with all the work, thank goodness for summer!). Tomorrow and Friday I will be out on placement for my last official days, although I'm planning to go in next week as I'll just be twiddling my thumbs, and it seems rather silly to miss the last week after being with them all year.

So this is the last week of Wednesday as Saturday and it's a rather busy one. Since this is my last official week on placement I'm scurrying to finish up gifts for the ladies who have been so lovely to me all year. I'm making tulip brooches from 100 Flowers to Knit and Crochet. I have finished knitting four red tulips and four purple tulips and (even though the picture only shows seven) all eight leaves. (I used the citrus leaf pattern.) All that's left is to weave in ends, sew them up, and assemble the brooches. Yesterday while I was waiting for my interview I nipped over to the craft shop and bought the pins. I also popped into the bakery I've been passing longingly all year and bought an Iced German Biscuit which I ate at City Hall in the sunshine.

We've been given the advice to keep working over the summer as we have quite a large research paper to write plus portfolios to assemble for each unit we'll be doing next year. So gathering articles, information, and reading will continue (at least for me) throughout the summer. At the moment I'm reading "Just Playing? The role and status of play in early childhood education" by Janet R. Moyles. It's one of the more obviously academic books I've read so far, but I am enjoying it. I keep a little notebook with quotes from the books I read so that later when I'm writing papers I have plenty of references to choose from. Here are a couple of quotes I've liked so far:

"Play develops creativity, intellectual competence, emotional strength and stability and ... feelings of joy and pleasure: the habit of being happy."

"We must value play as a child's culture which, like any culture, has its own language. Like any culture, play can provide its own barriers to 'outsiders,' and communication with adults about play may be difficult not only because of the differences in values but also because adults do not belong to this particular culture." (any longer)

I think it's so funny that it took me so long to realise that working with children is wanted I wanted to do with my life instead of just something I happened to fall into when I was 11. It all seems so obvious now and I think that even if things don't go to plan and I'm not able to stay in Ireland forever I'll go "home" and be a preschool or Montessori teacher instead of the interior designer I've always claimed to really want to be.

You can see all the other lovely yarn along posts for this week here.

it's finished!

I have finished my wispy cardigan! I've already worn it twice, but I haven't blocked it yet. Oh well, priorities! It will eventually need to be washed and it can be blocked then. In the meantime I'm very much enjoying my new summer sweater!It wasn't very easy to get a picture of it. Webcams are tempermental things, as is the light in my room. I wanted to show the back off and that proved especially hard, but nevermind. I just sing the Big Booty song when I look at this picture...

saturday

Today I woke up at four o'clock am. I worked from five until eleven, opening for the very first time. (Also, I had pancakes for breakfast.) I accidentally left my wallet at home. I found lots of goodies at the £ Shop, Tesco's, and Boots (after having gone home to retrieve my wallet). Incidentally, one of the hardest parts of living in another country is having to figure out all new brands of toiletries.

I participated in World Wide Knit in Public Day. Which, I have to be honest, didn't seem that much different than a normal Stitch 'n Bitch gathering, just we were in the museum cafe instead of Starbuck's. But we had a lovely time anyway. I came home, put all my shopping away, and made dinner. I had an orange and a grilled peanut butter and nutella sandwich. I ate it in my pyjama bottoms... in my bed... while watching a chick flick on my computer. (Don't hate.) It is now almost eight o'clock pm. I'm going to do my dishes and probably go straight to bed.

knit and natter

So I've been thinking lately. A lot. About all kinds of things. A couple of which are relevant here. I've been in a bit of a funk for... a while. And I don't like it. So, I'm trying to get out of it. In trying to figure out how to get out of this funk I was thinking about that saying, "If you want something to get done, ask someone who's busy." I want some things done in my life. So I'm gonna try to get busy. One of the ways I'd like to get busy is by being a better blogger. It may be a slow start but I'm gonna work on posting much more regularly and maybe adding some features and there'll probably be a bit of design revamp. (Actually that sounds way more impressive than my skills will allow for... things will get a bit of a visual spruce up, I can probably manage that.)

All of that brings me to today's post. I've participated in Ginny's Yarn Along before, although it has been a while. Not only am I going to try and participate regularly, I want to expand it a bit into my own little feature, Knit and Natter. I'll still post a picture of what I'm knitting and reading, but then I'll ramble a bit to talk more about what I'm reading and what I think about it and how it's challenging/changing/entertaining me. Just whatever comes to mind really as "natter" is a British expression which means to chatter or talk incessantly. (You have been warned!)

Incidentally, while looking up natter on dictionary.com I also decided to look up knit and this is what I found...

verb, knit·ted or knit, knit·ting, noun

–verb (used with object)

1. to make (a garment, fabric, etc.) by interlocking loops of one or more yarns either by hand with knitting needles or by machine.

2. to join closely and firmly, as members or parts (often followed by together )

3. to contract into folds or wrinkles: to knit the brow.

4. to form or create from diverse sources or elements:

–verb (used without object)

5. to become closely and firmly joined together; grow together, as broken bones do.

6. to contract into folds or wrinkles, as the brow.

7. to become closely and intimately united.

I love that! (And by that I mean 2, 4, 5, & 7.) So much that it might reappear in some way, shape, or form... I'll have to give it a think. For now, on to this week's yarn along/knit and natter:

I am currently knitting a Wispy Cardi. The yarn was given to me in a yarn swap and it is so lovely! A picture just couldn't do it justice. It's silk and full of all these beautiful tones. At first glance it seems to be be just blues and greens, but it's much more of a rainbow with soft pinks and yellows as well. This could very well be the perfect summer cardigan and I cannot wait to be finished. I've already planned an outfit to wear it with! It's the first garment I've made for myself and I'm just so excited.

I am not technically reading this week's book as I finished it around 11:00 last night. The Poisonwood Bible was fantastic. I have been both meaning to read it and avoiding reading it for a few years now. I just couldn't decide whether I wanted to or not. I'm so very glad that I did. It's the story of a Baptist preacher who goes to the Belgian Congo in 1959 as a missionary. The story of their life in Africa and how they are changed (and how Africa is changed) is told in the five very different voices of his wife and daughters.

Orleanna is looking back after many, many years and her chapters have an almost dream like quality. By contrast the daughters' narratives are mostly contemporaneous. Rachel is the self-described dumb blonde and often mixes up the big words and common phrases that she uses. My favourite being, "It's a woman's provocative to change her mind." Leah is earnest and honest, seeking for truth and righteousness. She was probably my favourite of the girls. Adah is an observer and sees the dark side of things. She was so creatively expressed. I loved the redemptive turn her life takes. (Hope that isn't too much of a spoiler.) Ruth May is only five and her childish way of seeing everything, misunderstanding things, simplifying things is absolutely endearing.

The book provided plenty of food for thought regarding how the West has viewed and interfered with the "third world" and about "cross cultural mission." It also introduced Africa to me in a new way. I have heard plenty of stories about Africa. I've seen pictures and tv programs and African animals in the zoo. I have a sister who loves Africa. But I have never felt drawn to Africa. I've never had a desire to go there (except, for some reason I do not know, Ethiopia, and that only on vacation). There was a song on Christian radio when I was little, "Lord, please don't send me to Africa. I don't think I've got what it takes..." and that somehow got into my thinking about that big, beautiful continent and stuck there. I'm not saying that all of a sudden I want to rush south. Just that my perspective has been challenged and changed, even if ever so slightly, as a result of this book. And that is always a good thing.

yarn along

This week's yarn along is all business, business, business. I'm finishing off the second sock in the pair I'm making for my Dad's birthday. His birthday is tomorrow. If only we lived in the same country they would be right on time... unfortunately Royal Mail and the USPS will determine how late they actually are... And I'm reading (well, skimming for relevant details is more accurate) Young Children's Personal, Social, and Emotional Development and Observing Children and Young People. Lots of paper writing coming up in the next several weeks...

wednesday is the new saturday

Now that I've finished the ICT class I was required to do for my course I don't have to be at college until 2:30 in the afternoon. This is bliss! The same is true on Monday but I usually set Monday mornings aside to do any school work due in during the week. And now that I've started working I don't always have Saturday off, so Wednesday has become my new Saturday. Except for the hour and half I'm in class I spend it doing things like taking pictures of the beautiful flowering tree outside my window. (This is surprisingly challenging because the windows are not clean and they do not open.)

I'm so thankful for this tree! Charlotte, my home town, is absolutely covered with flowering trees and bushes and gardens definitely all spring and to a lesser extent all year long. Having a flowering tree right outside my window helps me feel more at home here, and it has beautiful red leaves in the fall.

I also do things like make big lunches, and then document them by taking pictures. I also baked a cake. A strange cake. A rosemary and olive oil cake. My feelings on this cake are undecided... I do not have any pictures of it because it took longer than expected baking and I had to rush out the door as soon as it came out of the oven as waiting for it had made me late for class.
After my class I head over to Starbucks. Wednesday afternoons are when my knitting group meets. This particular Wednesday was the launch of their new branding. Look at the fabulous new cups! It was also momentous because I discovered a new amazing combination; chai tea and caramel waffles. Y-U-M!!!
Once I sat down to knit I realised that my pattern had not made it into my knitting bag... thank goodness for free wi-fi and ravelry. I was able to pull the pattern up on my iPod and I successfully turned the heel on my first sock.
From knitting group I went over to Boojum's on Botanic to meet my lovely friend Laura for dinner. Boojums is a burrito bar. A burrito bar that actually bears no small resemblance to places like Qdoba and Chipotle. A burrito bar in Belfast. This. Is. A. Big. Deal. The whole time I lived in England myself and my American friend Rosie were desperate for Mexican food. It just wasn't available. But here in Belfast, they have burritos! It was a happy evening.
After Burritos I had home group, it was a lovely way to round out a lovely day, with old and new friends and some good, solid Lenten reflections.

Normally my Wednesday's aren't quite so full. And despite the cold and wind and rain, and the fact that my boots seem to no longer be water proof, it was a good day!

turning heels and the life of pi

This week I'm knitting a pair of socks for my Dad's birthday. (They're gonna be late, bother!) This is my first pair of socks and I'm just getting ready to turn the heel. Fingers crossed!

I'm reading The Life of Pi for my book club this month. The club is meant to be focused on classics and while I love this book I'm not sure it quite qualifies as that, yet. It's been a few years since I read it and I don't want to give any thin away (especially as there's no know how accurate my memory may be.) So I will just say that it is a beautiful and beautifully written story. It is self described as a story that will make you believe in God.

On this reading I'm intrigued by the descriptions of Jesus by Hindu eyes and I love this quote:

"The presence of God is the finest of rewards."

All the other lovely yarn along posts can be read here.

world book day

Fern, Wilbur, and Charlotte heading out the door for World Book Day!

pig pieces and the peace process

This week I've knitted up a pink piggy. Tomorrow is World Book Day and I'm dressing up as Fern from Charlotte's Web. Hopefully my Wilbur will be stuffed and sewn together in time to accompany me to nursery tomorrow!

I'm reading The Real Peace Process, Worship, Politics, and the End of Sectarianism by Siobhan Garrigan. Still in the beginning chapters, but excited about what's to come!

If you'd like to see all the other lovely knitting projects and interesting books in this week's Yarn Along you can find them here.

knitting and reading

I missed last week's yarn along due purely to laziness. I'm coming into the last few days of my mid term break and I have done exactly that, have a break, so wonderful. Anyway, this week I'm reading Brooklyn by Colm Toibin. I picked it up in a charity shop last week. Several things about it caught my eye: Irish author, a girl living in another country away from home, the process of making your home in a strange place. I'm not very far into it yet but this quote caught my attention: "...the rest of her life would be a struggle with the unfamiliar." I've very much been feeling like this the last few weeks. Don't get me wrong, I love it here in Belfast and I'm so thankful to be here, and I don't really want to be anywhere else. Just sometimes living in another culture is tiring and I've been feeling the wear and tear of it.
On my needles today is a Jewel Cowl in a lovely shade of green. The yarn is part bamboo and it's so silky and soft! I got it in a yarn swap my local stitch 'n bitch club held at Christmas, bonus! I'm making this for my mom, but it's a surprise so don't tell!

it is finished

Ishbel is finished, and I mean ends woven in, blocked, worn once already, finito!

yarn along

This is the third, and final, week I'll be posting Ishbel as my knitting WIP for the yarn along. I only have nine rows to go so hopefully it isn't overconfidence to say that by this time next week it will be all done and maybe even finished blocking! As for reading I just started Evening Class by Maeve Binchy. I'm not expecting anything more than a fun read but I found it at the £ Shop and that was too good of a deal to pass up!

yarn along

Another week, another yarn along. I just think this is such a lovely idea! (Even if my photographs leave a bit to be desired.) I'm reading Child Development - A First Course (for school obviously). We've been told many times that we should be reading more than just our text books so I finally decided I should take them at their word. I find child development to be a fascinating subject. Much more interesting than many of the other things we've been studying this year like legislation and health and safety regulations.

I'm still plugging away on the Ishbel. I'm coming into the home stretch and am so looking forward to seeing it finished. It's all bunched up on my needles now so binding off will be a big unveiling!