Reading for Pure Pleasure

Happy May, everyone!

Recently I found myself sucked into the world of literature.  I rediscovered my passion for young adult novels with thanks to the Hunger Games blockbuster that has taken over in the last month or two.  While the Hunger Games had been recommended to me a number of times since in was first published in 2009, I was shy to take it on.  A book about teens in a fight to the death?  Didn't sound like my kind of thing.  But finally I decided to read it just before the movie came out and I'm really glad I did.

Book image from: http://www.laurenoliverbooks.com

This post isn't about those particular books (though, really, read them instead of simply relying on the movies).  It's about the excitement that the books caused.  They reminded me, not only about my love of a really, really engrossing reading experience, but also my love of writing.  That's how good they are.  And I've been reading voraciously in the weeks since.  Which leaves less time for some of the other projects on this blog, but that's sometimes how these things go.  It's been a while since I dove head first into reading as much as I have, for which I'll go ahead and blame grad school and the require reading that comes with it.

Of the books I devoured over these last weeks, I just finished a truly phenomenal one - Before I Fall, by Lauren Oliver.  It's a real stand out and I needed to share. 

Duckies In A Row

 Continuing on my recent theme of knitting for babies. For my husband's best man's daughter (due in less than 2 weeks!), I made this duckie sweater.  I have to admit, I was looking for something that could, ahem, show off my talents on this one. 

Bring Out the Sun

Lemons!

Today is a gorgeous day in New England.  One of the first real days of spring, even if the official event is still a couples days off.  A couple weeks ago, however, it was the middle of the dullest part of February winter.  The doldrums when winter seems endless.  It's about this time of year that I like to play with lemons.  

Lemons are a great winter fruit that somehow banish the grey gloom of the season in every citrusy bite.  Today I will do a quick review of two truly fantastic lemon recipes for those of you who may still have a few more grey days ahead before spring and summer come back in force.

We'll start with a King Arthur Flour recipe that I made a couple weeks ago to make Braided Lemon Bread and then I'll discuss Eating Well's Lemon Pavlova.

The Baby Sophisticate

Sometimes this blog will be a place where I tell stories.  Sometimes I will try to teach you something to do at your home.  Sometimes, like today, I just want to share someone else's great idea. 

Our cousins started having babies this year.  For me, this means it's a great time to practice.  No, not on my mommy skills, but on smaller projects, baby-sized projects.  I made the above sweater a couple months ago for one of our cousin's new baby for Christmas. 

I've wanted to try knitting a sweater in one piece for a little while now, but wasn't ready to take on such a project on a me-sized scale.  The newest baby on my husband's side benefited from my learning on the Baby Sophisticate Pattern. 

I used Classic Elite's Sprout Yarn - which is soft, eco-friendly cotton and also machine washable - for this top down project.  After completing this short, but satisfying project, I think this may be my new favorite way to knit a sweater.