Yarn Along

Joining in with Ginny again over at Small Things for this week's yarn along. I haven't made as much knitting progress as I would have liked this week. I have actually been focused on sewing this week (I am trying to finish a few gifts) and during the past week our family has been very social and had plans almost every night. Completely not our style... I know it means that summer is on its way, because in Portland, the rain keeps everyone inside more. A sad fact of life. We don't let it get us down (usually), but we do let ourselves succumb to the weather and have more down time. Folks (myself included) become voluntary hermits, looking forward to quiet nights at home. Netflix is one of my best friends during the long and rainy winter. But, as soon as the weather gets nice and the rains slow down, people seem to want to hang out non-stop. Everyone is outside all of the time and enjoying every bit of the un-rain.I think we do the same amount of socializing per year as we would living anywhere else, but we just do 90% of it within the span of 4 months.
So, anyways, this week I didn't find much time for knitting and I am still still still working on Phoebe's small things sweater (are you all bored yet?). However, I have finished the body and I am partway done with the first sleeve. I am hoping next week I will have a finished sweater to show you (fingers crossed that I don't disappoint). .
I am still reading Paul Hawkens' book Blessed Unrest. Actually, I am still on Chapter 1. It is pretty heavy and intense, and honestly, once I started book 2 of the Hunger Games trilogy, I just set this one aside. I am trying to make some progress on it before I start the last book in the Hunger Games set.
I am also reading a book by a mama blogger called Confessions of a Scary Mommy. I am only a few chapters in, and so far I have both loved and hated this book. I love it because it is funny. Hilarious. It brings to life all sort of terrible mommy thoughts, many of which have crossed my mind, but that I have been too proud to admit. It's nice to know that other ladies have dealt with similar feelings of incompetence and regret when it comes to our child-rearing skills. But, at the same time, the author's viewpoint on parenting is a complete 180 from my own. I don't want to judge anyone for decisions they make during the course of their parenting (I know that job is hard enough without getting criticism), but she also seems to just rip on the parenting choices that I have proudly made (having a natural birth, bringing home our children's placentas to plant, using cloth diapers, etc.). I am trying to look past those annoying criticisms, forget my ego, and enjoy the humor. Because really, the book is damn funny.
I also picked up a stack of parenting books (yes, another set) from the library. They all focus on dealing with 'sensitive' children. I haven't actually started reading any of them yet, but I am hoping they will help me through a bit of phase (hopefully?) that we are in with Finn. I won't bore you now, as I plan to write a post devoted to this issue soon....hopefully next week.
In reality, I will probably read none of these books this week and will likely succumb to reading book 3 of the Hunger Games. Seriously people, it is calling my name. I am trying to hold off until i can make some progress on saving my son and the environment, but we'll see what happens.
Happy Yarn Along! What are you reading? What are you knitting?