Sleightholm Folk Art

hello, friends! It’s Friday, so you know what that means– another round of Good Things Gathered! This week’s Good Things are very much about books and yarn! Two of my favorite things…

1. The first book I’d like to share with you is “The Rosemary Tree” by Elizabeth Goudge. It is the March read in the Elizabeth Goudge Book Club on Instagram and I’ve just started reading it. It’s supposed to be one of Goudge’s most beloved books, and I haven’t read it yet. It takes place in the aftermath of WWII and deals with a family trying to find a way to live together and love each other after such upheaval. I feel like this will be a great read as we come upon the one year mark (and hopefully near the end) of the pandemic. I remember when the pandemic started, I was reading Goudge’s novel Castle on the Hill, which was about the beginning of WWII and ended up being the perfect book to be reading during that scary, uncertain time. I have a feeling this book will also be the perfect one to read at this time and I’m looking forward to losing myself in it. Although I STILL plan on rereading The Scent of Water (and am about half way through). So much Goudge, so little time! And if you havent followed the Elizabeth Goudge Book Club on Instagram, I highly suggest you do it! Julie, who organizes the book club, does a really outstanding job in guiding the conversation and also adding photos of the locations, bits of historical information and other interesting tid bits that really make the books a pleasure to explore.

2. Another book I’m very much enjoying is “Cottage Gardens” by Claire Masset. I got this book last year— I think for my birthday? I had wanted a pretty garden book to use as inspiration for my own garden and also ideas for paintings. This book went above and beyond this. It is an absolute treasure and so gorgeous, and explores a wide variety of aspects of the traditional English cottage garden.

The book explores the historical roots of English cottage gardens, traditions of gardening, and also features famous cottage gardens of England and also shows what cottage gardens look like in all four seasons, including winter. It has given me lots of inspiration lately, and I’ve got a plan for an English cottage garden inspired painting. And it is also making very eager to get gardening and see my own garden start to wake up.

3) Guys— stop the presses! THE MITTENS ARE DONE! I finished this pair of mittens, no matter that it is now too warm to need them. But I am NOT complaining. I think they turned out well (as can be inspected, being knit by me- ha!) and I really love how the irish wool knit up. Which leads me to—

4) A new skein of yarn and a new project. I actually bought this yarn of beautiful golden hues splashed with blues last summer at Fiber Christmas in July. It comes from one of my favorite yarn sellers, Apothofaery and it is a blend that I have never knit with before– linen, alpaca and silk! As you can imagine, it is luxuriously soft to the touch. It’s my plan to make a basic cowl with it. I think the colors will be gorgeous for the fall, and the lightness of it will also make it nice to wear when there’s just a bit of a chill in the air but not too cold. So it will be absolutely perfect come October— so if I start now, well, surely I can be finished by fall!? I’m also knitting it in a simple knit stitch so it will be a perfect project for watching movies or sitting in the school pick up line.

Anyhow….those are my good things for the week! I hope you enjoyed them! Do you have a favorite book you’re exploring these days, or a simple project that’s keeping you busy?

I will be back next week with more to share, and I’m hoping this weekend to work a bit in the garden and also start a new painting!

Thanks for coming by to visit, and of course–

take joy!
H