sneak peek

Ahhhh. We are practically there - I've got very little painting left to do, we've taken off the floor protection and we've even moved down a piece of furniture. Oh, and the kids had an improv ballet session on the empty floor tonight. Basically we're super excited.

This moment hasn't come without some panic and craziness, but I'm prepared to blame that on too many hours spent painting. You see, when we first uncovered the floor in the hall (photo on left) my heart sunk. All I saw was red in the finish, a tone that I didn't expect to be there. Which then led me to question my wall colour choice. On a section of wall that was finished, and at that point finishing anything was a milestone (because after jinxing myself, I did paint the bathroom 3 times, just like my kitchen debacle, but this time in oil.) I have a bad habit of obsessing about colour and caring way too much about getting it just right. Luckily I have an amazing husband who knew exactly how to save my sanity. While I was at work he brought down a carpet, a bookcase and my favourite mushroom lamp so  the space looked lived in. The floor is just one part of the space, and truthfully it isn't red at all. I was just going bananas at the wrong time. And since that night (only two nights ago!) I have finished up the main room and done the one risky move - a black wall. Thankfully the unanimous vote in the house is that we all LOVE it.

Thanks to a quick March Break road trip to Montreal (aka, "escape painting") I managed to knit up another pair of socks for Sadie. I used the Two-Tone Socks pattern in Debbie Bliss Simply Baby but with larger needles and yarn. The yarn is Koigu Kersti which seems to be holding up really well in the other socks I've made for her, plus she loves the variegated palettes. I grabbed a Berroco variegated skein for another pair of socks while we were in Montreal, at a great yarn store called Espace Tricot. Highly recommended!

Also highly recommended is Eowyn Ivey's The Snow Child. Oh, wow. I loved this quiet, fairytale-esque novel - and not just because the cover is amazing or that the description of hand-sewing a snowflake embroidered wool coat had me swooning. It is just a charming story, wonderfully told.

For more knitting and reading stories visit today's Yarnalong.

of words and rows

Even when painting never ends and work bleeds into my home life, I rarely let a day pass without reading a few pages and knitting a few rows. Likely I would lose my marbles if I didn't - somehow a few moments of making and a paragraph or two of fiction ward off feelings of being overwhelmed. Restorative pastimes indeed.

Both The Kitchen Daughter and The Three Weissmans of Westport were light, enjoyable reads. Nothing too cerebral, but full of compelling characters. I took a small break from my Canadian Challenge for these two, but they were great books to end hectic days with.

I have hit that time of the year though when my knitting isn't really working out. It's bound to happen and this time it's because I was too determined to have a red sweater. Like Red Riding Hood, we should all have one red sweater, right? Wrong. Some people just can't wear the colour and no matter how hard I try, I'm one of them. So after knitting everything but the sleeves of a raglan cardigan, using Quince & Co's Peak's Ferry, I had to call it quits. I haven't had the heart to unravel it just yet, but I'm thinking Sadie would like an Annabel cardigan like this cute one. Perhaps red sweaters are more for 8 year olds anyway? And on the bright side, I found a new colour in my favourite Debbie Bliss yarn. It's more of a raspberry/coral mix, but hopefully it will turn into something more successful. And less RED.

For more stories of reading and knitting visit today's Yarnalong.