My first visit with Ginny at Small Things and her Yarn Along Wednesday friends.
Tap, tap, tap...may I come in? I've been outside, peeking through the window at all the fun the Yarn Along crew has been having with Ginny and I'm hoping there's room for one more? I don't take up much space...a corner in the back is fine with me. I'm just happy to be here :).
(hi, Tracey & Karen & Andee & Leanne & Liesl ~ I already know so many of you ~ hehe!)
Since it's my first visit, I guess I should share a little about why I'm here. I love books. Old books. I love to imagine who has read this story I hold and wonder did they love it as much as I do? I love their smell and feel in my hands as I turn the yellowed pages. I could spend an entire day in a used book store. I dislike dust jackets ~ my newer book purchases are quickly stripped of their paper covers ~ books are meant to be handled and loved and a cover that's frayed around the edges is testament to the goodness inside.
I also love to knit. For a few years after I cast on my first stitch, reading took a back seat ~ there was so much to learn and so many new and exciting things at every turn. I knit to make up for lost time, I think, since I didn't start until my late thirties. Lately I've been trying to find a better balance between yarn and books and a few other things that I used to enjoy doing that I haven't done in so long.
Yarn Along seems like a good start! I already read Ginny's blog ~ I get lost in her stories and pictures and the adventures her family has. I'm so happy to be here and hope to add to my 'must read' list from the book loves you all share. Maybe someone will find a new treasured story from my list of favorites as well. This should be fun! Here we go ~
I'm off to start a new book ~ it's a classic and one I haven't read yet:
A Passage to India by E. M. Forster. Between chapters I'll be working on Coda ( from Wool People 7 ~ Ravelry link here ) and my anniversary shawl ( Ravelry link here ).
I hope to have progress to share on all three next week! Until then, happy knitting and reading and thanks for letting me share & visit for a spell.
~ Melissa
Oh how exciting that you are joining in the festivities :) I read rebecca twice and it was good both times, once as a teen and a few years ago. Haven't read the other two. Never say never though. You know I always love your knitting .
ReplyDeleteHi, Karen!! I'm excited to be here with everyone. I'm going to try really hard to do this every week so I get back on track with my reading. You all will be great incentive :)
Deletethanks for the nice words about my knitting...right back at ya!
Yarn Along is a lovely way to 'meet' other knitters, isn't it? I love "Rebecca" -- seeing it here makes me want to read it again. And your two projects are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI've met so many other knitters through ravelry but I love the idea of knitters AND readers together ~ I'm happy to be here!
Delete'Rebecca' and 'The Return of the Native' were my last two reads. Both really good and very different. I'd watched the movie 'Rebecca' many times before reading the book and hadn't realized that Joan Fontaine's character is never mentioned by her first name until I started reading the story. I started calling her Joan in my head once I noticed....poor girl of no consequence ~ she must have a name!
As for my knitting projects, they're both hard to put down!
What a delight. I too am a lover of old books, I also love vintage patterns, knitting, crochet and sewing patterns. I often wonder who has made the articles before I had the pattern and why it was abandoned.
ReplyDeleteooo ~ I love this! I discovered ebay right about the same time I learned to knit. I gathered a small collection of vintage knitting patterns and ephemera before I put myself on lockdown and stopped looking every day for new finds.
Deletea kindred spirit :) ~ nice to meet you, mamasmercantile
Yay!!! I'm so glad to see you on the Yarn Along!!! You can have a seat right up in the front :)
ReplyDeleteeek ~ no front row for me ~ I always sit in the back :) ~ can I sit by you?
Deletehappy to be here with you, Andee!!!!
Of course you can sit next to me. I'm right here with my Jenny the Potter coffee mug. Yeah I'm extra cool.
DeleteI know someone named Jenny Potter ~ maybe I could get her to give me a mug and I might pretend to be as cool as you :)
DeleteIt's so wonderful to see you here Melissa. You already know how much I love your knitting, but I didn't know you were also a lover of old books, me too. My prize? A first copy of Gone With The Wind.
ReplyDeleteThat gives me goosebumps, Tracey ~ I'm so proud of the books that I own that were printed in the early and mid-1900's
DeleteI'd love to see a photo of it someday (have you read it? I've never read it...not yet anyway...time to add it to the list!)
(ps ~ thanks so much for your help with the logo trouble I was having!)
my sentiments exactly about old books,sounds like a fun group, enjoy your Passage To India!
ReplyDeleteI knew you'd know what I mean ~ why cover up that beautiful gold foil binding and lovely printing on the spine?
Deleteyou could join us sometime :)
'a passage to india' is one of my favorite books, ever. i got chills when i saw you've picked it up.
ReplyDeletealso, agree 100% about dust jackets.
xoxo mimi
hiya, mimi :)
Deletemakes me happy it's one of your favorites ~ we may have to swap books or start a book club when we're neighbors!
I read "Rebecca" years ago -- what great characterization. And I recently watched the movie with Jeremy Brett as Maxime--in a word--fabulous!
ReplyDeleteThey are all wonderful books that truly make reading a feast for the senses.
Sounds like a wonderful group! Enjoy...
Hi, Dixie :) ~ I'll read 'Rebecca' again for sure. It was wonderful ~ it really did stir up some powerful images and feelings. It is so well written!
DeleteHmmm... I am tempted. I actually took a reading/knitting photo yesterday!
ReplyDeleteoh. my. goodness. do me proud ~ please please please do it (represent! you bring so much to the table!!)
Deleteps. you can sit by me :)
:) I'm so glad you saved me a spot.
DeleteI added a photo to the Flickr group, but I'm a bit uncertain about the "initiation process"... what do I need to do to join in the fun? I definitely can use the motivation to keep up with my reading.
I don't know how to do the flicker group but the blog post thing ~ use the link at the top of my post ~ it will take you to the yarn along page (she posts every Wed ~ you do a post on your blog with a photo of what you're reading and knitting ~ put a link in your post to her blog post for that day and at the bottom of her post there's a button to share your post ~ click on it and enter the fields and you'll pop up on her page as an icon...you'll see ~ it's super easy)
Deletelet me know if you need more guidance than that! she leaves the post open all week to link up with and then closes it the next week when she puts the new Wed post up
I'm glad you're going to give it a try as well ~ I'm going to try to be really regular with it...best intentions, you know how that goes
So glad you are joining us, Melissa. I have been browsing your blog and it is quite fun. I love having a book in my hands, old or new. I was gifted a Kindle and it is not the same. Although it is great for traveling as you can store many books at once.
ReplyDeleteevery year someone drops hints about whether I would like a Kindle (or an iphone) for a gift ~ no and no :)
Deleteso far I haven't decided that it's a hassle to carry an actual book around with me (or that I am missing something monumental by not texting or being able to access the internet every minute of every day ~ heh!)
Welcome to YA!
ReplyDeleteBest of luck with the progress! :)
thanks, Liesl :)
Deletehey sweet melissa :) ooh, LOVE your stack of vintage books, my favorite thing in the world, next to wool (and cameras, and travel, my kids, hee hee, lot's of things actually). ginny's is a lovely place to be, yay for yarn along! beautiful knitting always.
ReplyDeletehi to you, lori ~ you are lucky to work where you do...for me, it would be a 'negative income job' since I'm sure my entire paycheck (and more) would go to things I just can't live without, especially since they're all one of a kind! how do you resist??
Delete