A Quick Knit

My thoughts are with those of you in the Northeast who are dealing with another major snow storm. I hope you have heat, someone with strong arms (or a snowblower) to shovel, and lots of knitting.

Here in Madison, we have not had even one snow day this year, though I did enjoy our ice day. It's a long stretch from winter break to spring break.

I have made quite a bit of progress this week on my Underscore Cowl from Making magazine. This would make a great last-minute gift as it knits up quickly and is quite lovely.

I work on my appliqued jeans a little at a time because it's awkward reaching into pants legs. I've decided that my birds are going to talk.

As it's Thursday evening, I'm looking forward to a weekend of sketching and painting. 

And decluttering. I really need to get serious about this. I got The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying-Up from the library. The first 20% of the book is sort of a sales job about how great her method is. I'm hoping to get into the how-to part of the book soon. I certainly need both advice and inspiration!

On Magazines

Where did this past week go? Work, mostly. I have three weeks left in my treatment, which continues to make me tired -- and that interferes with most fun things I do, like keeping up with all of you!

Magazines are one of my vices. I love pouring over an art or craft magazine with a cup of tea. But I am trying to cut back, both to save money and reduce clutter. I have a hard time getting rid of these magazines; they are just so beautiful and inspiring. However, at this point, I am drowning in inspiration!

I'm also trying to actually use them, thus I am going to knit this cowl from Issue 4 of Making magazine. This is a gorgeous knitting and craft magazine available only by subscription.  

My friend Tsela saw a pair of appliqued jeans on line and emailed me the link, wondering if we could make our own. Of course we can! Here's part of my mine:

And finally, a glimpse of kitty fun. Kola is about a year old now, just about done with kittenhood. She is still very playful and loves to attack this kitty carrot toy.

Now I'm off to catch up with you!

Knocking off WIPs

Yes, this is the same sock from last week, but I am now nearing the toe! It does feel good to finish old projects -- though, it lacks the kick we knitters get from casting on! I also finished the Garland Shawlette started in 2013 and will try to get it blocked and photographed soon!

I found these two books at the library! Both are relatively new books that I've been wanting to read. Among the Ten Thousand Things by Julia Pierpont is a novel about the fallout in a family after the husband's affair is revealed. I'll read pretty much anything by Francine Prose, and art collector Peggy Guggenheim has always interested me. She lead quite the bohemian life in the mid-20th century.

I'm also reading the first issue of the making zine, thanks to Rose.

I think the only way to get your hands on this beauty is to order it from Carrie Bostick Hoge's web site. It is totally worth it. The sweater patterns are to die for! I've only perused it so far, but I'll report back when I've had the chance to soak it in.

I'll be joining Ginny for Yarn Along. Can you believe she's pulling this off with a brand new baby? That woman is amazing!