~ 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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Well, ok … it’s been over a month since I’ve done a yarn-along … sorry! What with Lent and prepping various projects … I just haven’t had the spare minutes to indulge in playing with y’all. But …. I’M BAAAACK!

I’m currently working on a couple of designs for an upcoming book (which is why all you can really see in the knitting picture is the lovely hand-dyed yarns from Lisa Souza!). We’ve also started a new read-aloud (which … shhh, don’t the tell the kids … is really a textbook!) … Which Way to the Wild West? by Steve Sheinkin is subtitled “everything your schoolbooks didn’t tell you about America’s westward expansion”. This is a GREAT book — lots of fun stories about the Alamo, the Louisiana Purchase, the finding of gold in California … and all those other amazing events that occurred in our nation from about 1803-1890s. Sheinkin has a way of weaving eye-witness accounts into his narrative so the kids are getting “living history” while laughing at the comic-illustrations scattered throughout. Excellent for our Westward Expansion trail we’ll be on for the next couple of months.

For me? I’m just about done withThe Founder’s Key by Larry P. Arnn. Arnn is the president of Hillsdale College and an expert on the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. His book is fascinating reading about the connection between these two historic documents and what our country stands to lose if we choose to follow one over the other. I’ll do a full review when I’m done (I had some quiet time and was able to finish the book and posted a review)… but so far, this is a real keeper!

And since I can’t help showing you all the knitting designs I created since last we visited:

the pattern includes a crew-neck version:


and projects just finished … the patterns will be up later today are available on Ravelry and Craftsy … for a class I’m teaching on Saturday at DHY’s Spring Knitting Workshop

So, I’ve been busy but hope you’ll find time to come along and play with us?