~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~


I have spent more time trying to decide exactly how I want to knit my February Lady Sweater than I have actually working on it this week. I am almost ready to start the lace repeats, but am obsessing over my increases just a bit. I know I am not the only one of us knitting an FLS right now, and it was mentioned to me that some of you might want to participate in an informal FLS knit along. I am not committing to finishing mine anytime soon, but if any of you knitting an FLS want to check in and cheer each other on, it would be great if you would add “FLS” next to your name when you link up. That way we can easily find each other.
I have been reading He Leadeth Me in the evenings. This is such a wonderful book, but it is reading that requires my full attention, and quiet time is hard to come by. Jonny and I are also both reading about beekeeping right now as I might be picking up a couple of hives later this week. We’ve been talking about bees for almost seven years now (based on the train ticket from 2005 that he found marking his page in The Backyard Beekeeper.) A friend pointed me toward Michael Bush, so I am reading his book The Practical Beekeeper and realizing that his ideas coincide well with the way Jonny and I like to do things in general.

Fingers crossed for the bees! That’s very exciting (and much needed in these days of declining bee populations).
I would have the perfect spring scarf for your green FLS sweater, and earrings too, I should really get myself some rich green clothings 🙂
You wonderful for you to start with bees hwo extra sweet that first honey will taste like…
I am into sheep this week, reading and knitting wise. So much fun and so simple to knit up a little flock.
Happy Knitting!
Thank you for the Yarn Along! This is one thing I know I can follow every week. I’ve started making Wednesdays my work from home days, partially due to Yarn Along.
Peace,
Nico
Contribution:
http://swansnest.etpgames.com/?p=744
How exciting! Bee hives! It will be fun to watch your adventures with bees in the safety of my home. LOL Seriously, do post pictures as I always appreciate your photography.
Love the color green you’re using…I’m working on my own Feb. Lady…
organic cotton – stressing..stressing…this is supposed to be a relaxing hobby but I fret…
I’ll knit along and as in all projects…hope for the best…enjoy your day..
happy knitting everyone:-)
I would love to read about your beekeeping experiences if you go ahead and buy them. That is one thing on our homestead to-do list.
Thank you for sharing here again.
Drat! Our library doesn’t have that book. I too have been thinking about beekeeping, especially since we have a small orchard. I even bought a beekeeper’s hat a few years ago at a yard sale. Our neighbor across the street kept bees for most of his life, but sold his equipment and then died before I could get to know him well. I’ve been on a “newbie farmer/back-to-the-land” read lately. I just finished “The Dirty Life” by Kristin Kimball. She and her husband have a very interesting story and she is an excellent writer. “This Life is in Your Hands” by Melissa Coleman (organic gardening pioneer Eliot Coleman’s daughter) gave a real honest look at hippie farm culture and her childhood, but it was such a sad book. Now I’m reading “Growing a Farmer” by Kurt Timmermeister. He’s a pretty prosaic writer, but his story is interesting.
Drat! Our library doesn’t have that book. I too have been thinking about beekeeping, especially since we have a small orchard. I even bought a beekeeper’s hat a few years ago at a yard sale. Our neighbor across the street kept bees for most of his life, but sold his equipment and then died before I could get to know him well. I’ve been on a “newbie farmer/back-to-the-land” read lately. I just finished “The Dirty Life” by Kristin Kimball. She and her husband have a very interesting story and she is an excellent writer. “This Life is in Your Hands” by Melissa Coleman (organic gardening pioneer Eliot Coleman’s daughter) gave a real honest look at hippie farm culture and her childhood, but it was such a sad book. Now I’m reading “Growing a Farmer” by Kurt Timmermeister. He’s a pretty prosaic writer, but his story is interesting.
Bees would be so cool! We just visited the “bee farm” as we called it and learned quite a bit! Fascinating!
i’m curious about the increases? what are the options in this sweater? i hope you decide
on the way you want to go with it soon! it’ll be a perfect spring knit.
your photos are so peaceful!
I’m always thinking about bees. Not this year, but maybe next?
Bees–what fun! Love the February lady, too!
Oh! Bees! Wonderful… I love that green as well. Can’t wait to see your progress next week!
i love that coffee mug!!
Lovely pictures!
Good luck with the bee venture, how exciting!
I find that I’m more a thinker than doer oftentimes. I’m trying to push myself to be a doer more and more rather than wait for ‘that perfect moment’ or ‘that perfect way’ of how I want something done. I guess it comes down to being a perfectionist – ONLY in certain areas of my life, mind you. Other areas? untamed would be a nice adjective!
That green color is so pretty, deep and natural – you’ll blend in well with nature. 🙂
Love Jonny’s handiwork with the masonry. It looks wonderful. Has he finished the other columns too? I’m sure that takes a lot of time.
I love your green color and I would love to knit the FLS. I’m afraid though! I’ve only knit one sweater ever and the shaping was so awful (mine, not the pattern), that I have stuck to smaller projects since then. Maybe a knit along is the way to go so I can get help as I go. At any rate, yours already looks lovely!
I’m doing a little quick and easy spring felting on my site. I’ll look at the FLS pattern again and see if I feel brave. 🙂
We keep bees. I recommend taking a beekeeping course (your local extension agent can help you find a class). It is fascinating and very rewarding work. We have the books you recommended plus a book shelf more. My favorite is A Book of Bees: And How to Keep Them by Sue Hubbell.
Your FLS looks so springy!!! Good luck with the bees!!! We’re lucky to have a woman at our local farmers market supply us with honey–some flavored—-so yummy!!!
I love the color of your FLS! I have my yarn chosen for one, but I just need to get it going. I’m actually working on the baby version right now so that has to be finished first.
At least once a week, my husband asks me if I have made any progress on getting the bees. We read the book “Fruitless Fall” a few years ago and cannot get the idea of bees out of our mind. I highly recommend the book btw. Im going to call the local bee guy now! thank you for the reminder.
Although I am not a knitter (maybe someday), I always appreciate your projects and current reads. Loved “He Leadeth Me”! Great Lenten read.
Enjoy the glorious weather!
Beautiful photographs. And bees!!!!! So very cool.
Wish I could sit back and knit in your space, it looks lovely. Going to pick up your bee books, we too have been talking bees and while it won’t happen this year, my fingers are crossed for next year.
Good luck with the bees! It’s something we often talk about too…one day! x
What a lovely little knitting scene. So full of peace and possibility.
A friend of mine keeps some bees, and I get some honey from him every year. This year he’s planning to let his bees visit my neighborhood for two weeks or so, since there are lots of linden trees around here. Linden honey, yum!
That looks such a peaceful setting! It looks like a fun place to knit/read!
I love the color of your FLS. One of these days, I know I’m going to knit one; I’m just the last to jump on the bandwagon!
Love the colour you’ve chosen for your FLS…it’s in my queue of things to knit; thinking mine will be blue. This year while I work part time, I’m using what’s in my stash, so it’s definitely on my list for when I have the funds to buy new yarn! Good luck with your beekeeping…how exciting!
We are hoping to buy a place with more land in the next year or two and would love to have bees when we do so! I look forward to reading about your experiences. And best of luck with your sweater. I have only ever knitted sweaters for babies, but one of these days, I’d love to knit one for me!
I would love to keep bees! Not quite enough room here & I’m pretty sure the neighbors would have a problem with it.
Can’t wait to see how you like your bees!
I want to hear more about your beekeeping! This is something we’ve been discussing as well. I don’t know how well it will work out in a more urban setting, but we’re doing our research, and I love hearing about it from people who are actually doing it. xo
Thanks for the book recommendation…beekeeping is something I also want to look into in the next couple of years (once I convince the neighbours).
The green is most beautiful, Ginny, and I think it will look stunning on you! Also beautiful is Jonny’s work on the porch supports. Where did he learn to do that? It is just what Bret hopes to do on our new house, but I may employ a friend who has more masonry experience…
I love bees…in 48 years I have never been stung. My Bavarian grandfather kept bees, and I still have a couple of jars of his Linden honey harvested, oh, before you were born (honey never goes bad, you know). I really wanted to attend a beekeeping class here that the guild has annually, but it fell the day before Adrian’s birthday, and I couldn’t make it. Maybe next year…
He Leadeth Me is a favorite with me. Read it years ago and have it on my shelf. What I took away from it is the paradox that willing slavery to Christ is actually freedom…one can chew on that for hours and days…
Oh wow bee keeping-so cool. I would like to join in one day. However, I am both terrified and fascinated by bees.
Good luck withe sweater and your bees. My father raised bees and I used to help him when I was a child. I had the big white suit and mask. I used to think it was so muxh fun helping my father. And make our own honey was such a reward. I spend hours yesterday trying to locate a honey bee hive. I can see them outside my window busy all day, but I can’t find where they are landing. I was hoping to set a trap yesterday and transfer them to one of our hives. The hunt begins again today 🙂
The green is lovely, and the idea of keeping bees very exciting! My husband has always harboured dreams of beekeeping!
That green is so beautiful! I can’t wait to see your FLS!
Oh, beekeeping! Sounds so fun. I’ve never quite been up to taking the bee plunge…yet…..but maybe someday! The FLS is coming along nicely.
Funny … we were going to do the Feb Lady’s Sweater as a KAL at the shop, but the designer prefers that it not be done in that setting. I like the design for it’s versatility … but it may be TOO versatile if you’re thinking rather than knitting? I love the green!
Oh, I am thinking about getting bees when we move to VA in a few months. Can’t wait to see how it turns out.
Looking forward to reading about your adventures in bee keeping. Love the green of your yarn. Thanks for hosting the yarn along every week.
I hope you get your bees! I also hope you blog about your bees when you get them. I love the green yarn of your FLS-nice color!! Good luck with the lacy bit, I think that’s the fun part!
I love that green x
One of the joys of living in Latvia is the natural honey – everywhere! There are even specialty products that I’ve never even seen in the States such as ‘flower honey’ which is the pollen mixed 1:2 with honey. It’s so wonderful! Another product is called ‘bee bread’ even though it’s not ‘bread’. I’m not sure what it is actually made of… It’s yummy though!
i love the outdoor pictures! i’ve already been admiring yesterday’s 🙂 the colour of your sweater looks very beautiful too.
I can’t wait to to read more about your beekeeper adventures. What will you do with the wax and the honey?
How wonderful that you might be getting bees! We have a few wild hives on the property , but none we manage, I’m allergic so I have to be careful.
The February sweater is next in line for my needles so maybe next week I can cast on. I think helping each other is a wonderful idea.
I love the yarn along button – thank you! The CSA farm where we go in the summer months has just added bee hives, and everyone is very excited about it. I love the color of your FLS…