Yarn Along - Around and around and around

Around and around and around and yet not getting anywhere.  Well, at least, that's how I feel about knitting my Branches and Buds sweater at the moment.  So much stockinette knit at a fine gauge on US 4 /  3.5 mm needles is slow going.  I positively flew through the yoke with it's stranded knitting of the branch pattern as it was so fun to see the pattern emerge, but now I'm left with stockinette and a little 2 x 2 ribbing.  Sigh.  I knit up one of the sleeves to break up the monotony of  knitting the body, but it too was stockinette so it wasn't much in the way of variety.  I am dying to block it and sew on the buds in the beautiful golden yarn I have chosen.  Pretty sure the sweater is going to be lovely and having tried it on twice I think it's going to fit well too.  The dark navy blue I believe is part of my problem.  You see the weather here in Central Minnesota has been very dark and gray and it has me craving the color I find lacking in my landscape.  This is the sweater I am wanting to cast on in hopes of getting to wear it this Spring.  It calls for Cobasi Plus yarn which I have in the most beautiful shade of indigo blue.  I'm excited about the pattern and trying out a new to me yarn, but I'm pushing it down until I finish my current sweater.  At least so far...

As for reading again I have no book of my own, but instead will share with you a book I'm reading to my ten year old called The Witch's Boy by Kelly Barnhill.  You may recognize the author from this previous post where I wrote about another of her books called The Girl Who Drank The Moon.  This story is a bit darker, but again has a boy, Ned, and a girl, Aine, as our main characters.  At first their lives are separate, but they soon become intertwined in the effort to save the world from magic.  Ned's mother is the town witch who uses the magic for good and Aine's father is the Bandit King and uses the magic to rob and steal.  What's interesting is the magic has a mind of it's own and has major consequences when used.  It starts with us just being concerned about Aine and Ned's families and then expands to us to hoping they stop a war between their two countries.  My son loved it and highly recommends it.

Joining in with Ginny for Yarn Along.   

Yarn Along - Hats for Women's March

You've probably heard about the Women's March on Washington, but have you heard of the Pussyhat Project?  It's a lamentable name I think, but the idea is to give the marchers a striking presence that cannot be ignored so they can better be heard.  Being a knitter I thought this was a great way for me to contribute.  My friend is flying to Washington DC to be part of the March so I am sending a hat along with her as well as another two for friends participating right here in Minnesota for our own Women's March.  You can find the very simple pattern and more about the project right here.   I used Blue Moon Fiber Arts Mopsy aran weight yarn in the Orchid Queen colorway.  It's a wonderful yarn to knit with very round and squishy and blooms beautifully when blocked.  I made a few changes to the pattern which can be found in my Ravelry project page.

Photobombed by my son when taking a project photo.

So, that's what has occupied my knitting time.  As for reading I currently don't have a book of my own, but I will share with you the book I am reading to my son.  It's called The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill who is a Minnesota author (I have just a wee bit of state pride I guess.)  It is a very lovely almost poetic story of a girl who becomes in-magicked by the moon when she is rescued as a baby by a kind witch.  There is a loving swamp monster, a tiny but enormous dragon, an evil witch as well a a kind one, and a sad village.  There is triumph as well as loss, but the balance is so well done that you never despair.  I first heard of it from Laura of The Knit Girllls podcast.  She is a Middle School Librarian as well as an avid knitter.  Their show is mainly about knitting, but they have a segment where they discuss what they're reading and often Laura is reading kid/teen books for her job which she reviews.  

I'm joining in with Ginny for Yarn Along.  Wishing you a wonderful rest of your week!