reading

I'm still being my crafty self, but I haven't uploaded photos so therefore I haven't blogged about any of it. I can tell you what I'm reading instead. It's this book Cradle to Cradle (I highly recommend reading the 1 star reviews). I borrowed it from my father-in-law, and don't tell him, but I hate it. I'm determined to finish it because I want to form an opinion based on the whole book and I'm pretty sure he'll try to talk to me about it because he LOVED it. Here's what I think of it so far though:

• it reads like a textbook
• it asks questions but never answers them
• on that same line, it has some really great ideas but gives no plan on how to get there
• they brag about everything they've done that's good for the environment but without backing it up with any kind of numbers (and yes I realize numbers can be manipulated to go almost any way, but at least some cost analysis would have been nice)
  
• it completely bashes everything that we're trying to do to help the planet out now

On that last point, I recognize that what we're doing isn't the best. Recycling uses a lot of chemicals and typically you can only use what it makes with the recycled materials for one more thing, but then why did they make the book recyclable when they don't like recycling? Maybe because that's what's available right now. Maybe the last 80 pages or so will be full of a plan to get us off recycling and make companies more eco friendly, but I'm having my doubts.

Remember the February Lady Sweater? The one that I finished on bed rest (which was one of my only goals while on bed rest)? Turns out it was too big for me. Bad for me, but good for my mom who it fit almost perfectly. It was a little too short for her, so now I've ripped out the garter stitch border on the bottom and I'm adding to the lace pattern. The ripping out could have gone better, but it's done. It was actually done in the van on the way to Arkansas. The same van that broke down on the way home from Arkansas. There's a story in there, but I don't feel like telling it. It's exhausting even to tell.

I finished something!

Pattern: Baby Topper
Yarn: Lion Brand Baby Soft in white
Hook: size H

Now that Husband is back at work and we're kind of getting into a routine I've had more time to craft. I finished a sweater for Daughter to go with all her "Cinderella dresses." There was a snag in the plan when she told me she didn't want it. Too bad is what I say. It's a little big, but I'm hoping by fall it will fit well.

I had to go down from a K hook to an H hook and I still didn't get gauge. I just didn't want to go smaller than that. I made a size 4 with some changes from the pattern. I made both sides even (the pattern calls for one side being made wider) and used 4 buttons evenly spaced instead of just 1. I wanted a sweater that could be buttoned or left open and I thought it would look weird with two different width sides.

Son is doing well. Growing, getting too big too fast and just kind of doing his thing.