After all the complaining I did last week, the two child-sized sweaters I’ve been working on have come out quite nicely. The sweater in the picture above is the one I’ve been calling the Storm Cloud Sweater, but ever since I arranged it with the book I’m reading, I’ve wondered if I should call it the Shadowplay Sweater. That name fits too.

A good friend recommended this book to me about five years ago. It’s called Shadowplay: The Hidden Beliefs and Coded Politics of William Shakespeare, and essentially its purpose is to examine the textual and historical record to determine if and to what extent Shakespeare was a secret Catholic. I bought the book right away when she recommended it, and while I was intrigued by its premise I found it a bit too heavy for my taste at that time (“that time” being the spring of 2009, right before I began the mega-reading-challenge that eventually became this blog). Recently I picked it up again, and now I’m finding that it reads like a novel! Has my tolerance for nonfiction (which I’ll admit wasn’t much up until a few years ago) really grown that much in the last five years? I’m a little shocked – but mostly I’m just enjoying the book and mocking my wussy former self.

(Side note: in the background of the photo above is some evidence of the fact that my dad still sets the table for breakfast every night before he goes to bed – which he has done every night of his life since he married my mom in 1948. These days the breakfast setup makes for an exciting playground for my cat Emma, who particularly enjoys trying to fish his yellow prostate pill out of the bottom of his orange juice glass, which is where he has been putting it ever since he discovered her appetite for yellow prostate pills.)

Here’s a shot of just the sweater:

And here’s the one I finished this past weekend:

This sweater is currently for sale in my Etsy Shop, and the Storm Cloud/Shadowplay Sweater will be there soon. Both are made of a machine-washable wool/acrylic blend and will fit a child of about 3-4 years old. Exact dimensions are available on Etsy.

Yarn Along is hosted by Ginny on her blog, Small Things.

Happy Wednesday!