It’s Wednesday and Ginny’s Yarn Along already. Phew! Where did the week go. I have almost finished the second sleeve of the castle jumper. There are times when I wish I had opted for stocking or garter stitch, just for speed. I’d like to say that I’m close to finishing this jumper, but I still have half the back to go.
Not sure where my reading time has gone, but I have read very little of On The Black Hill this week. Instead I thought I’d share my charity shop (thrift/op) children book finds. I can’t resist a quick look at a charity shop book section, especially one I have not seen for a while. They can be hit and miss, but this time, I hit a good seam.
AJ is pouring over bird books at the moment and will reel out interesting facts about our feathered friends. She loves the details, so I knew that she would get a kick from reading Care and Feeding of Sprites. First rule seems to be if you can’t see sprites, then don’t buy. People have been sold empty cages before now! The pictures are fantastic!
BL has got the reading bug. She is reading everything as if books have only just been invented. I bought her Which Came First? The pictures are beautiful and the subject of nature is just right for her. We spend a lot of time searching for wildlife in the garden and discussing their life cycles. The other aspect of this book that I like is that each word is a different colour and some descriptive words, such as wobbly and big, are drawn like their meaning.
TF has the Why Is The Sky Blue ? I think this is a clever book. It explores the concepts of how best to listen, beautiful imagination and just enough science for my 4-year-old to grow into. The story is based around a learned donkey and a young energetic rabbit. The drawings are captivating. We had to spend time looking for the foxes in the clouds!
All three books are here to stay. For the moment at least.
On the yarn front, I have started to spin the merino rovings from last week. It is a different experience and faster to spin than the fleece I have spun up to now. I love this blue colour.
My wonderful fibre-loving Mother-in-Law (not that I have a non-fibre loving Mother-in-Law), visited last week and brought a bag of alpaca wool. The most beautiful coloured chocolate brown and white fleece. It is soft. I keep catching sight of it and it looks a bit like a bunch of untamed wigs, but I’m sure it will be transformed by spinning. Also she brought….
…a Jacob’s sheep fleece. When it arrived, it looked like an up ended sheep in a bag. (I have checked and it isn’t.) It is full of lanolin and twiggy bits. I’m told it will make my wheel greasy and the floor twiggy, so I’ll be trying this one outside. She also told me to wash it once it is a hank. I have much to learn, but I am so enjoying this journey. Some of this I will use for felting. In fact I have done some more felting, but I’ll leave that for another time.
Moving up day at school tomorrow. First time all three children will be involved. They will be spending time in their new classrooms, with their new teachers and with all their fellow classmates. They are so excited!
your jumper is beautiful!! And I envy you spinning that beautiful roving! I so want to learn how to spin!! I also love finding books at the thrift! (hopped over from the yarn along!)
I wish I had longer in the day, to do all these things for longer. More time knitting and spinning. Oh and more time to browse.
Thanks for stopping by my Yarn Along.
Wow! I’d love to learn to spin. What fun!
Have a great week!
Spinning is fun. I’m still learning. Using so many different fibres is fascinating. Thanks for stopping by!
We have two of those books (Spiderwick and Which came first?) and love them here too! Your knitting is looking great – I am not sure I would have the patience…love seeing your spinning too! Hope yours all have a good move-up day, my little one is in such a small school now – he stays with the same teacher until he goes to high school (whole of Juniors=11 children!) and the big one seems relaxed with his move to year 9 (much more so than I am!) so it will be a fairly quiet transition day for us here. We are all looking forward to the start of the holidays though, our list of things to try is growing every day! 🙂
I was so pleased to find the Spiderwick book, because I thought it was part of the series she is reading. Turns out she isn’t, but now wants to! I think that is a win for me. They are so excited by the move up. Its only an hour, but it sure takes the edge off the summer. Only just over two more weeks till they break up for the holidays!
Oooo The Spiderwick Chronicles! I saw the children’s movie and really enjoyed it.
There’s a movie! Wow. I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like.
I am fascinated by the fleece. I only just learned to spin and hadn’t thought that you could just spin first and wash later.
Thanks for the encouragement yesterday. I hadn’t even thought of consulting the great philosopher Pooh. His words of wisdom were exactly what I needed to hear. But instead of looking to the river, I looked to the reservoir. It gets where it’s going even more slowly! Today is a bit better.
Blessings, Debbie
My Mother-in-Law has recently taught me how to spin. I’m still a beginner. I’m not sure what the technical reason for spinning and then washing could be. It works!
I’m glad you enjoyed the Winnie the Pooh quote. For a bear with little brains, he shows amazing understanding. So glad you feeling better.
Hi Cheryl
I am very impressed with your castle jumper. And I am also impressed with your fibre loving mother in law. I would enjoy a fibre loving mother in law! Your spinning looks lovely. The blue is so vibrant. Lucky you to be given that wonderful alpaca and the jacob too. I look forward seeing how you get on with those two. How I love spinning and fibres too! Enjoy your weekend. Hope it won’t be too rainy in your area.
It is pretty good having someone that I can beseige with all those little fleecy fibre questions! She has an amazing knowledge of all sorts of crafts that I didn’t even know existed. I love to learn! I’m really looking forward to trying out all the new fibre. Just as long as I stop digging into the bag for my latest wet felting projects! Rain stopped, so I should be able to take the wheel outside soon.