~ 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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Good morning … we’re under a winter freeze warning (it’s only 18 degrees at 0730 .. and that doesn’t include the windchill). I sent dh and the highschoolers off at 0545 to head up to the March for Life in Washington, D.C. I’m really hoping the teens wore enough layers and took enough food. Prayers for all would be appreciated.

But since it’s so cold and nasty this week … not only will we be doing school, we’ll also be doing lots of reading and knitting. So all in all … let the cold weather keep on keepin’ on.

I was able to finish all the kids’ hats — the plainest and most difficult was the one I did for HamBone — a solid black watch cap/beanie. It’s so hard to count rounds in black yarn … and then I decided to get fancy and include a purled swirl (9 sts of k, 2 st p that shifted every 2 rnds) … it’s soooooo hard for this 52yo to SEE the blasted stitches.

But I persevered … he loves it … and he’ll wear it.

And in the final analysis that’s all that matters: that he’ll wear it.

But, now that I’m done with the caps, I can begin the cabled sweater I’ve been aching to start. This is a custom design, commissioned for a dear friend. The cable patterns which I charted (see this blog post about the benefits of CHARTING cable knitting) are all meaningful to this friend and her family. It’s a surprise sweater so I can’t tell you till after for whom I am knitting it … or the meaning behind each of the patterns. Suffice to say, I’m having a great time with this one.

In between knitting on this sweater, I’m reading … about knitting (I know, right?). I just started Laura Bryant’s newest book, Artful Color, Mindful Knits: the definitive guide to working with hand-dyed yarns. WOW … is it a cool book. We carry many hand-dyeds at Dog House so to be able to show them to their full advantage is very important to me … can’t wait to start playing with designing with these yarns.

I rec’d the book, Adventures in Yarn Farming by Barbara Parry, yesterday as a gift. And what a great book it is … I’ve just glanced thru … reading snippets here and there … and boy, is this book a keeper. Gorgeous and filled with info from sheep-to-shawl… with tips on spinning and dying and knitting patterns and weaving info … it’s all there!

We’re continuing our read-aloud of King Arthur tales … and our unit on the Middle Ages is proving quite fun. Today, we’ll play Shadows over Camelot, a collaborative game that includes a traitor in the midst! Perfect for what we’re studying … and just plain fun. The game is a bit pricey .. but worth every dime.

So what are you knitting … reading … or studying in your home this week? Wanna come play ….