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Wednesday, June 1, 2011

yarn along: sweater and swatching


It's yarn along day. Yippee!

This week I have been working on my Strawberry Summer Sweater (thanks to Marfa for the name idea). I am almost finished. Today I did the bottom rib and the rib around the neck. Now I just have to knit the sleeves (only 3 rounds each), but I don't have the right size needles. Since progress is halted on that I went ahead and swatched for my Audrey in Unst. I can already tell that it's going to look good in yellow. I hit gauge, so I guess I might go ahead and cast on. I've got the right needles to get started, but need to get a few more to make the whole thing. I figure at some point I'm going to have a stock of needles and when I decide to make a new project I'll be able to pluck them from my stash rather than buying some. This day will come, won't it? 

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Right now I'm reading On Writing and have enjoyed King's memories of how he started writing. I also like that he gives concrete instructions about writing. Sometimes "everyone works differently" isn't enough to get me started; King's suggestions are helpful for people like me who want more guidance.

I've been listening to audio books every day. I'm making an effort not to watch TV, so audio books are filling that place. I thought I was productive while I watched TV--I always have yarn and hook or needles in hand--but I get much more done when I am only listening and crafting. This week I listened to the first Harry Potter book and Alice in Wonderland. Today I started Heidi and found myself longing to carve wooden spoons, build a three-legged stool, and eat goat cheese. It sounds like such a dreamy life in the mountains. I downloaded Alice and Heidi from Librivox, a site that records public domain books. I've found this website helpful for searching, if you're interested in free audio books. 

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Do you listen to audio books? Are there any you'd recommend?


8 comments:

  1. Thanks for the links to those sites, my sister drives a long way each day to work, and has been keen to get some audio books for the drive, so I will check them out!!
    And I have never thought of crafting whilst listening to audio books, thats a great idea

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  2. I love the colors!
    Swatching is so not something I do - maybe my knitting would work better if I did! Lol
    I am listening to Gulliver's Travels - love the narrator. This is the first book outside Harry Potter that I listened to that wasn't a way to avoid reading aloud to my littles!
    Enjoy the listening and thanks for the website
    God Bless
    Karen
    (A Servants Memories - for some reason Blogger won't let me comment today!)

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  3. I love audio books and Librivox. I'm the same way - I like that knitting is my excuse to enjoy some tv in the evenings but I do feel more productive when I listen to audio books while sitting ay my sewing table!
    I love the colour of your sweater!

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  4. You've only been knitting for, like, a week and you put me to shame! Such beauty! And to answer your question...no, you never really have 'enough' needles. :)

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  5. On writing is one of the best books I read. Made me wish that SKing had written more memoir style, and less of his fiction (which is not to my taste at all).

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  6. The color of your sweater is wonderful....You have an eye for picking out great colored yarn.

    My husband has an hour-and-a-half commute each day. He's forever checking out audio books from our library, but I have never done so -- so no recommendations from me. Sorry.

    -- Jodi

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  7. I tried commenting yesterday, but to no avail (sigh from Jennifer at Lovely Snugglebug Stories)...I love Librivox, too! I always recommended it to my students, but I had forgotten that I can listen to it in my spare time, too! Silly me! And your sweater is gorgeous--can't wait to see the finished pics!

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  8. Thanks for sharing that link.

    I like to listen to audiobooks and podcasts while crafting. I think I, like you, find that I make more progress on what I'm working on because I can concentrate more on the project than the TV.

    As far as recommendations? Anything by Jane Austen, the Anne of Green Gables books

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