June Read Along

One great thing about being your own boss is you can decide to do something a little different on your blog and no one will nix your idea because it's not "on brand." (Sometimes I feel that if I never heard the word "brand" again, I would be ecstatic.)

Anyway, I wanted to share that Vibeke of A Butterfly in My Hair is hosting a read along that starts a week from today. The book is Jean Giono's Joy of Man's Desiring. You can read all about it on her blog. It's going to be a fairly mellow read along, happening over four weeks.

She recently posted a photo on Instagram of the cover of a new edition of the book. Seeing it, I was suddenly transported pretty far back in my life—I first read this novel about 25 years ago, when I was living in Chicago and just a couple of years out of grad school. The book came into my possession by chance—a customer at the bar my ex-husband and I owned gave it to me, saying she thought I would like Giono's descriptions of nature.

I did like it, so much so that I embarked on a Giono odyssey, reading several of his other novels in quick succession. I've kept them all, carrying them faithfully with me every time I've moved, but I haven't ever read them a second time.

So I'm going to read Joy of Man's Desiring again and see what I think of it at this stage of my life, now that I live in the country rather than the city, and am no longer young. Will I still like it so much? 

As for other new beginnings: On Memorial Day, I gave myself a real holiday (no work knitting or pattern writing), and got started on a cardigan just for me, the Windsor Cardi by Amy Christoffers. I'm making it with Woolen Rabbit Grace in the Godiva colorway:

And early this morning—at 6 am, as I listened to the birds sing—I began the next wrinkle embroidery piece. Feels good to be starting a new stitching adventure. It also feels really good to be able to knit and embroider outdoors, on my balcony. What a treat, after the long winter!

The last wrinkle embroidery piece is done—I think—I need to leave it be for a little while to be sure:

Well, since I wrote a little about art and knitting, I guess this post wasn't so "off brand" after all. Hope to see you in the read along!