Yarn Along

We took a little vacation to visit my husband's family last week, so I had a bit more time for reading and knitting than usual. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to join in with all the folks sharing knitting and books over at Small Things.

On the needles is the 5 hour Baby Sweater (pattern here). I've been wanting to try it for a while now, and recently found out that I have three friends and several neighbors expecting babies this winter. Hooray for wooly baby knits! Do you have a favorite winter baby knit pattern you'd like to suggest?

And the book, oh the book. This Life is in Your Hands, by Melissa Coleman. Melissa is the daughter of Eliot Coleman, of The New Organic Grower fame. The book is a memoir of her childhood growing up on a homestead next door to Helen and Scott Nearing (who popularized the back-to-the-land movement with their book Living the Good Life.) Coleman's writing is filled with beauty and compassion as she relates the ideals, the harsh realities, and the tragedies of the lifestyle chosen by her parents. Her story inspired me, broke my heart, and resonated deeply with so many of my own hopes and longings and memories. It brought up a topic of conversation revisited frequently by my husband and I--the question of how to balance passion for a vocation or lifestyle with the work of caring for a family. And I think we will return to the themes in this book frequently as we dream and plan for our own future. Highly recommended!