My first 'Yarn along'

I'm hopefully (technical issues notwithstanding) joining in with the Yarn Along over at Small Things today. An exciting and slightly nervous moment for this wet-behind-the-ears blogger.

My first realisation is that it's much more difficult than anticipated to photograph books and knitting together in a way that shows both clearly whilst being aesthetically pleasing, as evidenced by the radiator in the background. It's all a little frustrating.

The knitting in progress is a lace scarf - I expected lace to be too tricky for me but I've been pleasantly surprised by how easy it is as long as I give it my full attention. There are plenty of mistakes but fortunately the yarn, Rowan tweed, is fairly forgiving. It's a bit of a bear to work with but all that gnarly-ness is a good cover up for misplaced holes.

Book-wise I've just finished reading The Slap at the bottom of the pile, and I can report that in my opinion there is not much to commend it. I believe it's near the top of many best seller lists but I'm slightly bemused as to why. With no likeable characters, a flimsy story and little in the way of charm, it felt like a bit of a waste of time.
 In the middle is the wonderful Ken Robinson's book, The Element. As a home educator I often regale folk with with my very vocal admiration for Sir Ken. He's an influential thinker on education and creativity and his talks and writings are delivered with wit and charm. This book is a really interesting look at how various people from actors to olympians have succeeded by doing what they love and have a gift for. He believes that intelligence is not necessarily measured in IQ and we can all find our 'Element' by focussing on our gifts and passions. There's a fantastic animated talk about education by Ken Robinson here, - if you know me, you'll have seen this before!
Lastly, on the top, is a little book I stumbled across in the library - Earth Prayers. I am so glad I found this little gem, it's so uplifting. It contains verses which honour the earth and our connection to it, from modern day poets to the prayers of the Native Americans. I'm only into the first few pages but I'm already inspired, not least by the editors themselves. They say they wanted to feel empowered rather than helpless in the face of so much harm and destruction.  Prayer, in all its myriad forms, felt like a way to give voice to that need to heal. I am really looking forward to delving further in and sharing these little love-filled verses.