Yarn Along: Rincleau Progress and other doings

~knitting~

I'm making good progress on my Rincleau pullover sweater!  I'm about half way through the second sleeve (give or take a few rows) and I'm hoping to get it blocking by next week.  The weather has been so extremely weird this winter, I really don't know if I'll be able to wear it or not.  Today it is 60 degrees and bright, but we are supposed to get 8" of snow tomorrow with a high of 34, so who knows.

I'm using Quince and Co. Lark yarn in Cypress--it photographed weirdly, so the color isn't true--it is more of a sprucy green, very pretty.  I did mess up slightly on the top pinecone, but I think it isn't too noticeable, and the cowl kind of covers most of it anyway.  There is one other little mistake in the stockinette near that pinecone, but I'm trying not to let it bug me because I'm not ripping it back to that point after powering through the pinecone chart three times (32 lines, lots of little dots to follow, using a ruler to mark each line, you get the idea).

I did try it on after the first sleeve was done, just to see how it fit, and I think the fit is good, so there's that.  I'm curious to see how it will block.

~reading~

Nothing new on the reading front.  I've put aside all my other reading and am just reading a silly novel I've read before on my kindle right now because that is where my head is at the moment.  I've come down with cold sores in my nose and mouth and they kind of make me feel a bit under the weather.  I'm also kind of bummed about the mouth one, since it is on my gum line and eating is very painful (as is talking).  It seems kind of unfair during one of the rare fast-free weeks of the year!  Oh well.

~watching~

I finally started The Night Manager this week, after saving it for a rainy day.  It got rave reviews, and I generally like John LeCarre (I've read several of his books, all good, but slow burners), so I figured this series would be a good one.  It doesn't disappoint!  Each episode is a full hour, so that is about right for my watching needs at the moment. 

I'm hoping to introduce Mary Poppins to the kids this weekend--I'm really excited that they are finally getting to an age that I can show them some of the great movies I grew up with.  They are just starting to get into the older Disney cartoons like Cinderella and the like, and I'm excited to share those with them (I'm not a fan of most of the newer stuff Disney has been putting out, for a variety of reasons).  

~family happenings~

Boo had his namesday on Friday and it was a nice day!  He seemed happy all day (sometimes he can be very moody and holidays are always iffy for him) and was really thrilled with his presents and his special meal.  I've realized that all my kids kind of prefer to know what gifts they are getting ahead of time--it just takes all the drama out of it.  I personally don't like to know ahead of time, and like surprising them, but I also want to meet their needs, and not have a ton of high drama every time we give them a gift, so I guess this is the way we have to do it for now.

Boo has a Jellycat teddy bear (that was actually Piglet's to begin with--that is a whole story in itself!) but he claimed it long since.  Piglet has his own lovies, so he doesn't care.  I found a Crusader costume for the bear on amazon that was sized to fit his bear (it is 17") and mentioned it to Boo, who immediately requested it for his namesday.  He also asked for two small lego sets which he was happy to receive as well.

~making~

I realized with a start last week that I'd better get cracking on my spring makes this month.  I had all the fabric, but none of it had been prewashed and I was generally unprepared to start sewing on the projects (four dresses and one skirt).  

I ordered the few supplies I needed (a couple of packages of bias tape) and started washing fabric.  I made the two rayon dresses last week over a couple of days, and started on one of the cotton ones today.   The navy rayon dress gave me fits, but the other one went together very smoothly.  I'll talk about details when I show those dresses during the spring rotation.

Sometimes you just need an orange dress--I decided last minute to add this dress into my spring rotation, but I'm glad I did.  It is so cheerful.  The fabric is a little stiff, so I'm hoping it will look okay once it is on me.

~household~

I received a wonderful icon of my patron saint, Juliana of Lazarevo, as a namesday gift from one of the other deacons in our church.  I love it so much--it has scenes from her life, and it is the only icon I've ever seen of her that is like this.  The deacon completely surprised me with it.  I put it on one of the shelves in my work room.

I also received a lovely Sleigholm Folk (previously Audrey Eclectic) print for Christmas from my parents, and I also love it.  It too went on a wall in my work room.  I want to live in that scene.  I have another of her prints hanging above the desk in the room as well.  

Linking with Ginny for Yarn Along!