{Yarn Along} Boat Girl

I stumbled across this UFO this spring I was looking for yarn and sock needles for the pooling sock yarn challenge. I can't remember when I started it, or why I abandoned it, but there are needles in that sock, and the stitch pattern was tucked in with it, and I've got both balls of yarn.

There's hope that  I might get back to it someday! 

I enjoy reading memoirs and getting a glimpse of someone else's life. Boat Girl: A Memoir of Youth, Love, & Fiberglass is the story of  Melanie Neale who spent her childhood sailing the Bahamas on the Chez Nous, a 47 foot sailboat, with her parents and younger sister.  Her father wrote articles for boating magazines while her mother homeschooled the two girls and baked whole wheat bread. The whole family stripped naked to do their laundry in abandoned cisterns.  Melanie grows to adulthood on the Chez Nous, going on to study boat design and get her commercial captain's license. Her description of weathering a hurricane is truly frightening. I wanted to cry for the occupants of the marina.

When I was younger, I dreamed of someday living in a cabin cruiser like the one my parents had. I've outgrown that wish (not enough room for fabric or yarn or four kids!), but this book gave me a fascinating glimpse of what life on a boat would be like.

For more pretty knitting projects to drool over, check out On the Needles at Patchwork Times and Work in Progress Wednesdays at Tami's Amis. 

Disclosure -- the publisher provided me with an electronic ARC of Boat Girl