Yarn Along

Joining with Ginny today for Yarn Along.

Remember Peppa Pig from a while ago? Cuddlepie's birthday finally arrived! This must be the very first knitting gift that was ready ahead of time - no frantic 3 o'clock in the morning knitting to finish!

Now on to a Minecraft pickaxe for Whirlwind!

So how are all the projects from last week, I hear you ask?! Dare I say that I have added another one?! In my defence, I have to finish this one as it is for our annual wool festival - I have not just randomly decided to start another project. No, not me, ever; I'd never do that!

Baby jersey (in green and yellow), Girl On Fire shawl and blue Shoulders jumper

Girl On Fire Shawl

I have just started the second contrast colour in the Girl On Fire shawl. I am having a great time knitting it; it is SO simple, yet interesting with the colour and pattern changes.Fantastic TV knitting! I am up to the second series now of River Cottage Australia, so cannot wait to sit down after everyone has finally trotted off to bed. But there is a bit of competition for the TV at the moment as the Tour de France is shown here late at night!
I am really enjoying my reading this week. This type of collection of facts is just what I love. A while ago, I read Odd Type Writers by the same author, so had to read this as well. 
The book (Dancing With Mrs Dalloway) features the inspiration behind great works of literature. I also liked the fact that it gave you a reading list for all the books you probably should read. I seem to have read a large percentage of them - there are many old favourites in the list. 

Some examples: 

• Charles Dickens had a talking raven who was the inspiration for Edgar Allen Poe's 'The Raven'.

Grip the raven was stuffed after death and was later purchased by an American collector. He is now living at the Parkway Central Library in Philadelphia.

• William Golding (author of Lord of the Flies) was a schoolteacher at a boys' school and used to pit the boys against each other as 'research' for his book.

• J.R.R. Tolkien was strongly against the publication of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. He told C.S. Lewis that 'it really won't do.'

• E.B. White had a spider named Charlotte in his barn that was having babies. Rather than miss out, the spider was taken on a trip to New York and the babies hatched in New York. Here is an article about E.B. White and the real Charlotte.

E.B. White on his farm in Maine.

And so many more fascinating facts. Easy to read as each book entry is about four pages long, so I can just pick it up whenever I have a few spare minutes. Well worth reading if you love literature.

This is so true. Books often keep me going when my days are not so great. I'm sure we've all had those days, where getting lost in a book really helps us cope. Nerdy as it sounds, my books are truly my friends.