Books and Yarn, Two of My Favorite Things

I've been reading a bit lately. I just finished the last of the Jacqueline Winspear series, which I really enjoyed, and I zipped through This Side of Married, which I bought at the booksale (or was it the thrift store?). It was a really enjoyable read, funny, poignant, and real. I also just finished Louise Erdrich's Shadow Tag, and like all her books, it was fabulous, even if the topic was a little unsettling.


I'm going to reference this list as I read this summer. And this one. Or better yet, the mother lode list. There's something about reading lists that I just love. They're like a treasure map, always leading to more and more books, a never ending discovery, if that makes sense.

I've also put together most of the handwarmer project bags. I have ten patterns printed out, each in its own ziplock bag, and I've matched up yarn for seven of them so far. I actually started the first one at school today during testing! It's Susie's Reading Mitts, by Dancing Ewe Yarns, and I'm using some fuzzy Baby Alpaca Brush, in red no less, that I had in my stash. That's the real point of this idea, to use some stash yarn. As I said the other day, I'm planning to take these to the beach house vacation next month and get a head start on Christmas gifts!! Here's hoping, anyway.


Speaking of summer, just saw this recipe, courtesy of a link from At Upper Pond. Hope I can mix up a batch this weekend! Reading blogs can lead to so many good things!