~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs.
I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~ ginny at small things

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It’s the SECOND day of November … what the heck happened to October? Well, it’s ok because I have started my holiday knitting (I know there are some out there that start in March, but I’m not one of them).

Just off my needles: the felted slippers (waiting to be lined and sewn to the suede soles). Felting … ya gotta love it! These beauties went from a 12-inch foot and 10-inch leg down to a perfect-fitting 9-inch foot and 8-inch leg. Some of the colorwork is a bit muted from the halo of the wool, but I’m going to like them when the snows start falling. I’m going to line them with cotton flannel to avoid the potential itchiness of said halo. I also designed and knitted my Godson’s Christmas stocking — this will be Malcolm’s first Christmas and I wanted to make sure he had something extra special. The stocking design (with additional color-work motifs in case you don’t want to personalize your own stocking) is for sale on Ravelry. Peeking out just next to the stocking is my newest knitting, started and ripped out and reknit at TaeKwonDo last night: the cashmere scarf for the knitting retreat down at Spring Gate Farm on Veteran’s Day weekend. This scarf will be used for the charting and the tips and tricks class (and the participants will be knitting their own versions while I’m talking all things knitterly!).

On my reading table — lots of lace knitting books for the original designs for the knitting retreat …. A Gathering of Lace by Meg Swansen, Victorian Lace Today (with amazing information about lace knitting, history and inventing your own) and my trusty Japanese stitchionaries! What a treasure trove of ideas … on Friday evening of the cashmere retreat, we’ll be making a beaded necklace, so finding a lace stitch that would show the cashmere and beads to perfection has been lots of fun! [BTW, if you want your own copy of Victorian Lace Today … you can find it cheaper than Amazon is showing … I just always link to Amazon so you can see what the book looks like; also, if you purchase thru Amazon, I get an itty-bitty commission that helps me buy more knitting books to mention here!]. I’m also stumbling thru a Christian chick-lit book for review — and since I don’t much care for the main character, it is slow going. Oh well, more time for knitting!

Our read-alouds have shifted to audio books since I’ve been busy cranking out the knitting and the kids have been feeling less than chipper (I HATE flu/cold season). We’re listening to The Bellmaker (a Redwall book) read by the author, Brian Jacques and a cast of characters. This makes the book really come to life. If you like the Redwall books, do check out the audiobooks done by the recently-deceased Jacques — they are wonderful.

So, what’s on your needles and on your reading table? Why not come and play at Ginny’s yarn-along?