yarn along

Joining Ginny for Yarn Along once again. This week, I’m happy to report that the yarn has made it out of the project bag. This is one step closer to actual knitting, don’t you think? It will be a scarf for the little one. She’s been asking for a while. Since I have until autumn, perhaps it will actually happen. The book is one of my favorites from childhood, rediscovered not long ago at a used book fair. We’re also very much enjoying Uncle Wiggly’s Story Book at bedtime. Our copy came from the library but I imagine we’ll be having to secure one of our on because we’re becoming quite enamoured with the antics of the long-eared fellow.

M A Y   G U E S T S:  If you haven’t noticed, some very creative people have dropped in already this month and introduced themselves. Check out the guest list in the sidebar. You might discover a new favorite read, or better yet, a new friend! 

P O E T I C * P L A Y: This week’s poem is Of A Spider by Wilfred Thorley (1878-1963). You’ll find a copy of the play guide HERE with suggestions for outdoor exploring, crafting, additions to your book basket, and ideas for your nature table. Look for a new poem on Monday!

L I S T    L O V E R S: On Thursday, I’ll post my new list and you’re welcome to play along by linking up. All of the details are HERE.

yarn along

I’m happy to be joining Ginny for Yarn Along again today but still there has been no knitting this week. I nearly bought several skeins of yarn yesterday and thought better of it until I get all of the spring cleaning finished. But reading? Oh, there is always reading! Every now and then, a true gem of a book lands in my lap and I want to shout it from the rooftops. This has been on my shelf for a couple of years and I just keep going back to it. I read it several times a year and it never grows old. It helps me to recognize and reorder priorities, set new goals, and live intentionally, without inducing guilt or making order and routine seem like an insurmountable task. My kind of book! I typically find myself reaching for it with the changing of the seasons so I suppose its not surprising that this week it found its way off the shelf and onto my kitchen table.

p.s. The debut post for List Lovers goes up bright and early tomorrow morning. Do you have your list ready? I can’t wait to share mine with you.

yarn along

I’m joining Ginny for Yarn Along today and I’m sorry to report that there isn’t any spring knitting going on inside these four walls, but oh my, are there books! And more books! This is my new favorite. We jumped right into the spring theme and we are loving it! The activities are perfect for preschoolers. If you love children’s books, you’ll love this book. I especially love the flannel board suggestions. I have a feeling we’ll be getting even more use out of our reading nook now that this one is on our shelf. Two of our favorites right now are Possum and the Peeper by Anne Hunter and House of Leaves by Kioshi Soya. Any other suggestions for our spring reading?

yarn along | 5

We drifted off on in the Sunday darkness to the sound of winter’s fingers rapping loudly against the window panes and woke to a white world. Now the landscape is thawing and a steady drizzle has settled beneath the trees as the ice loosens its grip. Ahhh…winter. It’s the perfect sort of day for all the perfect sort of things like warm mugs and thick blankets and, oh yes,…good books. (Perhaps today, I’ll finally get around to the knitting.) This collection of poetry and illustrations by Charlotte Pomerantz and Gabrielle Vincent has quickly become a favorite and earned a permanant place under the table.

String me to a star,
tie me to the moon,
let me travel far –
and soon.

…Joining Ginny for Yarn Along today. It’s sooooo good to be back!

Pomerantz, Charlotte, Gabrielle Vincent, and Pili Mandelbaum. Halfway to Your House. New York: Greenwillow, 1993.

yarn along | 4

I’ve spent two days hurrying about, occasionally pausing at the window to watch autumn chase winter across the thick grey overhead. The twin sycamores behind the house have steadily discarded their garb, some leaves larger than our hands and each like a golden magic carpet sailing past the panes. Even on the ground, they waft restless, waving goodbye to November while December rings out a haunting melody on the chimes outside the kitchen window. Everything around me, all creation, has seemed a whirl of endless motion and nagging noise. And this morning, December was born into cold quiet, and I awoke to an entirely different duty. Stillness. It is time for me be still, and I wonder, is that even possible? Could I, for the next twenty-five days, just be still and here and childlike? Have I forgotten how? And then my eyes come to rest on the bounty piled early on the kitchen table and I’m hopeful that somehow between breakfasts with Calvin Miller’s The Christ of Christmas and then The Advent Jesse Tree (Dean Lambert Smith) in the flickering candlelight at each day’s end, I will not return to the far too familiar frenzy.  But instead, in the space between, we would burrow deep in blankets and finish the peppermint scarf begun last winter and mine golden books like Shoemaker Martin {tell me, how have we missed this book until now?!?!} and for twenty-five days, we would just be.

Today we begin the slow recounting - the quiet wait – twenty-five days gleaming bright and clean, wrapped warm in words and pictures. I’ve not entirely settled on a rhythm for this space during the Christmas season, but it will likely shift. Some days, perhaps only a quiet picture or two. Gentle reflection. After all, there is noise everywhere, isn’t there? I’m joining Ginny for Yarn Along today. {I do love Wednesdays!} Be sure to visit her original post for a list of delicious books and beautiful handmades.

p.s. Friday, Saturday, Sunday…we’ll gather once again for three days of  {i n h a b i t}, a celebration of home. I am so enjoying the growing community that has embraced this weekend ritual. Your words and pictures are so beautiful. Thank you for sharing them.

yarn along | 2

Every now and then, a book finds its way to me at the eleventh hour – when these momma bones are tired and dry and in need of life-giving breath. This is one of those books…oxygen on paper…refreshment…renewal. Just in time. Undeniable Grace.

{Linking up with Ginny for Yarn Along today.}

Also making magnetic vintage paper dolls here. Oh so fun!

Yarn Along | 1

I’m waiting for that call – the one that jolts me from a sound sleep and sends me fumbling for the nightstand to silence the jingle. I imagine her voice, calm and steady in my ear across the miles: We’re on our way. This is it. And I’ll whisper some sort of half asleep nonsense to bolster her confidence that we’ll later laugh about, then quiet prayers for safe travel…for her and you, and try to find sleep again, but chances are it won’t come. And I’ll lie in the darkness thinking about you and the gifts and wondering if the blanket will be just right and if you’ll grow to love the Henry that lives between these pages as we have. And the sun will rise too early. The long silence will last too long and I’ll be waiting for the next call – the one where she’s breathless and tired and you’re crying the melody we’ve waited to hear and I’ll whisper thank you for Grace that brought you safe thus far.

O’Leary, Sara, and Julie Morstad. When You Were Small. [Vancouver]: Simply Read, 2006. Print.

————————————————————————————

Ginny {Small Things} is hosting this meme, Yarn Along, to mark time and seasons in books and needlework. What’s not to love? And if you’re trying to build a rich collection of children’s literature, check out today’s resources.

Thank you all for your very kind words about The Farm. It has been stretching for me in the best sort of way.