I'm feeling much better tonight now that the suitcase of books and the suitcase of knitting are both organized! Of course you want to see inside the knitting suitcase, right?
I settled on a crochet project of Christmas ornaments. I'm excited about them and can't wait to see what our tree will look like this year. I've chosen four shawl patterns to bring:
Cloud Illusions which I will knit in an amazing Madelinetosh whose colorway I must have lost. It's a beautiful light blackberry/heather color.
Juneberry Triangle which will be knit up in some beautiful alpaca I was given (large skein below).
Maline which will be knit using the gorgeous Scotland colored Ella Rae skein. Interesting that this shawl's design was inspired after Belgian bobbin lace, a craft that I have pursued in the past and need to bring out of the closet again sometime soon!
I Want You which will be knit in the beautiful blue green skein my sister brought me from Maine a few years ago.
And I will take along my "purse knitting" which is the very basic of all shawl patterns and good if I have just a minute or two.
And here are things ready to be carefully stowed away for travel:
I also got James' stitching organized for him. He loves cross stitch and this is what we found for him to work on during the trip:
Rachel is eagerly waiting to be surprised by the kits I have put together for her enjoyment. I used to make kits for Christina when we were children and then she made me a bunch of kits when Laura was hospitalized for surgery. Now it is time to make Rachel kits: an easy neckerchief, plenty of yarn to make doll blankets, bunny blankets, patterns and yarn to knit bunny cardigans and capes and fabric to sew miniature quilts and bunny clothes. There is also a stitchery kit from Auntie C and sewing supplies. I hope she is happy!
I took a few minutes to whip up these draw string bags to pack things in inside suitcase. So nice for keeping things in order and not spilling out everywhere!
In the past few weeks I've managed to sew everyone a cape for playing in Scotland. Not picture is Laura in her pink corduroy cape!!
As for books, I neglected to take a photo of the book suitcase but maybe you can hear about my reading when I get back. For now I'll tell you what we've enjoyed in the past week:
A History of Scotland by the BBC and hosted by Neil Oliver. WOW!!!! This was an amazing ten hour, ten part series on the history of Scotland. It was so much better than I expected it to be and the scenery they captured is absolutely amazing. I was especially impressed that Oliver took an entire hour to deal with the Scottish Reformation and the Covenanters and also surprised that he treated them with as much respect as he did (only a very few sarcastic comments). Of course they play an integral part in the story of the nation and in the story of freedom around the world. There is also a good portion of time devoted to showing the Scottish influence on the American Revolution. Those of you in Indy can order this from the library.
A History of Scotland: Look Behind the Mist and Myth of Scottish History by Neil Oliver is the book version of the videos mentioned above.
The Picts & the Martyrs (Swallows & Amazons) by Arthur Ransome is number 11 in the series. We have just about 30 minutes left! This book made me laugh and smile and I enjoyed it more than some of the others. I've ordered the final book in the series to take with us on our trip.
Bread & Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes by Shauna Neiquest was perfect reading and inspiration for me this past week. I think I've made at least three of her recipes and will be making another tomorrow night. Always good to have a shot in the arm where cooking inspiration is concerned!!!
A Fine Romance: Falling in Love With the English Countryside by Susan Branch. I am waiting for this brand new book to arrive in my mailbox. Amazon says any day by Saturday!!! I want to look through this before we leave. I think it will give me a lot of inspiration.And now its time to get back to work on preparations.....
For more inspiration, visit Ginny's Yarn Along.
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4 comments:
You must be so excited now. I love that one of your shawls is to be knit in a "blackberry/heather" colour! I shall look forward to following your trip, I have only made a handful of trips to mainland Scotland but the scenery is so wonderful.
By the way, perhaps you should leave room in that wool suitcase for any yarn you want to buy over here and take back or you will end up like me, not having enough room and having to post myself a parcel a couple of days before I leave!
Love the kits and all the wool stashed away for fun knitting in Scotland! Love the little animals too! And the capes! So fun!
Wow, How long are you going to be in Scotland? You've got so many projects lined up. It must be nice to know your children will be so excited about doing stuff like that - I mean even James!
I have seen that History of Scotland series on You Tube. I agree, it is very good. My only gripe would be the beginning where it's full of evolution garbage. I skipped most of that. I also got the book out of the library. "A Fine Romance "is on my wish list!
I must say, O how I wish we could be going to Scotland - Ireland first -all in God's time.
The gifts you made for the kids are all so sweet, you're a special Momma.
Will you blogging along the way? If not, will I be patient to hear all about it when you get home?
Go stroll amongst the heather, "Heather", for me.
Enjoy your visit to Scotland!! I have never been, but hopefully one of these days I'll be able to take that trip.
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