In addition to that pile is the pile on my night stand, the pile that fell off my night stand, and the bookcase. Yes. a bookcase full of to-be-read books. it’s not the largest or smallest of bookcases, but it’s this size, with an extra shelf. That doesn’t count all the reading I have electronically either.

But I also have some progress. The shawl I’m knitting for myself since it’s January and ignoring that I did not knit anyone a gift in December, I’m being selfish anyway. I’m now halfway done with a very delightful shawl, I’m pleased with my yarn selection, I’m loving knitting the design, I’m thankful to be busy but I just want to knit it all day long.

A plan. I’m tired of tossing up posts because it’s a Tuesday (I mostly gave up on two posts a week). I’m saddened that because I felt compelled to post on certain days and didn’t schedule enough time for other writing, I thus missed out on explaining really important topics and potentially giving the impression I’m silent when I’m definitely not. I will try to post on Tuesdays and Thursdays and maybe other days of the week, but I am not going to promise. It’s not going to be every week, or maybe it will be. I want to publish content that is polished and (I hope) useful and hopefully educational in some way. This post not withstanding.

Kitten photos. I will try to post these weekly but ever since he lost his collar (somewhere in the house) he’s been even more interested in the camera when it’s turned on and I’m less able to get clear photos. I’ll try.

If you miss following weekly-ish progress reports and want to follow what I’m reading, I keep GoodReads pretty current. If you want to see some of what I’m knitting follow flickr or click on the names on the right to my Ravelry projects, I try to make sure project pages are public. (Note, as of this post’s date, I hadn’t cleaned up the theme so you only see the sidebar of Ravelry projects from the main page). If you want to see what is inspiring me in some way, is making my mouth water, or is a random reference I want to keep for later, I’m using Pinterest more. I’m also posting some of the odds-and-ends websites and things I find to my tumblr page. There is also twitter, google plus, and facebook, but I don’t often follow those streams rivers in a timely fashion.

Don’t forget, you can buy a small little something for your heart or home from the shop!

Yes, a topic I want to write about is my view of the changing role of the personal blog and custom websites in today’s diverse social media and profile driven landscape.

It’s been one of those crazy busy weeks, which isn’t bad, but I’d like the intensity to mellow a little.

Tootsie Rolls make it all better.

What changes will there be in the pretty month of May here at the Penguin Girl’s Nest?

I plan to post with words twice a week and with a photo every Friday — it may or may not be of Shadow.

What does that mean? Here’s my current plan:

I will write about books or fibre-related things once a week. Meaning this week I’ll post about books I’ve read and next week will most likely be about something I’ve knitted. It will be on Tuesdays. Maybe I’ll post about books two weeks in a row, maybe I’ll write about knitting this week and weaving adventures the following week. Time will tell.

The second word-filled post of the week, on Thursdays, will be something that’s been in the to-post queue for eons or something of interest I feel the extreme need to share. It could be about gluten-free vegetarian adventures, gardening, travel tips, or anything else that strikes my fancy.

I hope this relaxed schedule keeps me writing (a goal of this site) and gives me the additional time to write posts I am proud of, instead of tossing up whatever my fingers type as soon as they stop.

I hope you had a pleasant spring holiday season and that May sun shines warmly on you.

I pulled out the brightest greenest skein from my stash and cast on. It’s a very beautiful yarn, dyed by Yvonne of Lavendersheep, but it was too bright for me (the colour is kiwi).

I sent a certain teabird a sample and she fell in love with it.

So I finished them off, wove in the ends, and posted the envelope. If I had known it would arrive to her the very next day I might have bothered to take another day to block them. The cuff motif is from BWT, book 2, medallion. It looked less wheel-like and more flower-like in the book. Again, maybe I should block. ;)

I thought they went quite quickly, no toes or heels to change stitch counts for. I knitted them on 2.5mm needles. Ravelry Project Page

I have a commission to knit a long pair of fingerless mitts for a good friend. She can’t wear wool, so I special ordered some Comfy Fingering to knit these for her. Since I had not worked with this yarn base before, I picked up two balls of Comfy Sport in Jalapeno green so I could get an idea how this yarn behaved. I started these Saturday night and finished them today, on my afternoon commute. I really should work in this super bulky sport weight more often.

These used only 36 grams of yarn, or about 98 yards and are knitted on 2.75mm (US 2) needles. They fit perfectly. Ravelry Project Page

Both pairs are my own recipe, and are top down. Can you spot what isn’t quite right about either pair? On Melanie’s, I completely forgot to do any decreasing for the cuff. My pair has some, three to four rounds after I should have done it but not enough to decrease to a snugger cuff. That’s what I get for knitting on the train before coffee. It’s ok. Both pairs are wearable and I know my pair is very comfortable — I have them on right now.

I also can state that even with a tripod and timer it is impossible for me to figure out the right angle to take decent photos of my hands and what I’ve knit for them.

What are you making to welcome spring? I’m craving green in everything, especially since March is ending with another attempt at a wintry mix, at least here on the Sound Shore.

Happy International Women’s Day. How are you supporting empowerment, economic stability, education, equality and leadership, health, safety and security of all women?

After returning home, it took longer to defrost than I planned. But there was one part of me that was perfectly warm.

I would just like to take a short moment to thank my Rose Red in Grey hat. It kept me nice and toasty without over heating and through magic also blocked wind into my ears. If you want to knit one, you can buy the Rose Red pattern from Ysolda here.

The yarn I used is (Remember, no official affiliation between the company and me) Lion Brand, LB Collection Baby Alpaca. I only used one ball! The LB collection is available only at the Lion Brand Yarn Studio or online (see link above).

I finished this about a year ago and wear it outside whenever the temperature drops. I wear hats hard; while it is fulling a little bit, I’m still really happy and in love with it.

The running joke at the studio is I want to make myself an alpaca ball pit to play in. I love this stuff. I’m probably going to knit myself a nose warmer out of my scraps. I loves me some alpaca.

Rav project page with more knitterly details.

No, I still haven’t gotten better pictures.