Yarn Along: "The Forgotten Garden" and a Cabled Hat

Yarn Along is a wonderful weekly link-up hosted by Ginny at the Small Things blog about two of the best things in life: books and knitting.

I'm reading and loving Kate Morton's "The Forgotten Garden." I've been meaning to get to it for ages (ever since I read "The Secret Keeper" almost three years ago!) and I'm so glad I'm finally immersed in it. The writing is a little different from the other Kate Morton books I've read and -- while I loved both of those -- this one might be my new favorite! It's set in Australia and Cornwall, England, both past and present.

I really love the book itself -- just look at that gorgeous illustration on the flyleaf! It also has a map of Blackhurst Estate, one of the story's settings, something I adore in books! (I've actually read several books with maps lately -- you can see a picture of them in all their glory here on Instagram!)

I'm working on a hat of my own design (!!!) featuring both a reverse staghorn cable and mock cables, and I love the combination. (The more cables the better, in my opinion!) This is actually my second attempt... the first hat wasn't coming out as slouchy as I wanted it to, so I ripped out my progress and started over with bigger needles for the body of the hat. I also decided to try a contrasting cast-on, which will match the gray pompom I'm going to top the hat with. (P.S. Can I just reiterate how much I love knitting with Malabrigo?)

What are you reading and/or knitting this week?