~ 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! ~

Yarn-along: January 29, 2014

Good morning … snow on the ground … 12 degrees (at 0630) … and the highschoolers/dh are home on a snow day. Life is good as we’re all safe, warm and have power.

AND I can always knit…

On the knitting front:
In progress: I’ve got the body of the cabled sweater done (up to the underarms) and have started on the sleeves (as you can see in the picture above). The plan is to have the cable that runs up the center top of the sleeve continue across the shoulders (saddle-shoulder style) and into a hood. Cool, huh? I haven’t been knitting on this much so the sleeve isn’t too far along … but we’ll get there.

Newest designs: I posted a new design this week: Road-Trip Cowl, a perfect design for this frigid weather we’ve been having across the country. Knit all in the round with bulky yarn (the sample used a skein of Swedish Yarn’s Duo — 100% acrylic that is amazing to knit and wear!), this one goes fast … I knit it on the way home from the NC Mountains at Christmas-time. Here is a collage of pictures so you can what it looks like:

Road-Trip Cowl

On the reading table:
Read-along: We’re still working on King Arthur by Sir James Knowles — we love the language and the fascinating tales that are unlike the watered-down versions that get filmed. Lots of chivalry and derring-do that makes this a fun read for both my 13yod and 11yos!

Knitting books: Love this book from Mary Jane Mucklestone! Fair Isle Style: 20 Fresh Designs for a Classic Technique is not just eye-candy for stranded colorwork knitters; it is packed with amazing and unique designs and colorways as well as lots of tips for making your colorwork really sensational. This book, one in the Interweave “Style” series (I think I own all of them … just don’t tell dh), has a final section titled, Design Notebook, with practical tips and how to design your own color combinations and stitch patterns.

Crafting a Career: With the economy the way it is, I’m going to have to beef up my fiber work, bringing more money into the family coffers [so go ahead and buy as many of my patterns as you’d like … we’d sure appreciate the funds!]. As I put out feelers into the fiber industry (as well as local work possibilities), I want to learn as much as I can about crafting a career. What better place to start than a book — especially today when I’ll be able to sit and get some reading done while the kids entertain each other on yet another snow day! Country Living’s Crafting a Business: Make Money Doing What You Love is filled with anecdotal evidence of successful business women who took their crafting/artistry to a new level. This is pure inspiration for me … even if the book doesn’t have any “hand-knit designer” stories.

So what’s on your needles and reading table … wanna come play?