I’m still not knitting very much. I decided to tear out the felted bag I showed you last week and start over using double strands of worsted yarn. The pattern calls for single, but I’ve always used double in the past and I can just tell that it’s going to be too flimsy if I knit it with only one strand (as in: it probably won’t be sturdy enough to hold more than 3-4 books, and who needs a bag like that??). I’ve also ripped out this beige and tan sweater more times than I can count – most recently because I accidentally twisted the stitches when knitting the neckband in the round. The neckband calls for 221 stitches in fingering-weight yarn on size 3 circular needles. Is it possible not to twist them? This time I think I’ve managed to get it right – but we’ll see.

I’m reading many books at once, of course. Pictured here is To Kill a Mockingbird, which I’m reading with a student I’m tutoring. Every time I reread this book, I discover all over again how funny it is. The plot (with its somewhat-tiresome moralistic overtones) has stayed the same since I first read it when I was twelve. The language is fresh and new each time; its evocations grow as I grow.

I hope you don’t mind a little bit of boasting: I’m kind of in love with this photograph. I love the way the book is half in and half out of the sunbeam, which reveals the individual fibers sticking out from each stitch on the needles, and I love how clearly the photo shows the color and texture of the yarn. The interplay of foreground and background is nice too.

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