Sunday, November 15, 2009

Books & Yarn: Two of My Favorite Things

I started the month secretly joining in on NaBloPoMo but, obviously, it didn't work out so well for me this year.  When it's eleven o'clock at night and you're thinking, "What the hell am I going to write about?" and you're wondering if you have a picture you can post...it's time to give up.  It's about quality, not quantity.  Strangely, though, today I had all sorts of blog-worthy things pop up so now I have a week full of things to go on and on about. 

I was too preoccupied with Sookie Stackhouse books to post every day anyway.  What craziness that was.  I can't really explain why I tore through them with such speed - I think my brain needed a fun vacation.  For the first few books I made myself wait a day to start another but I soon gave up on that and just kept the next book beside me so I could dive right in.  What's really strange is that I don't think I even really like the main character.   It's the quick paced action and a few of the other characters that kept me going.  I've managed to keep my last one, Dead and Gone, unopened and am going to give myself a few weeks until I pick it up.  When I found myself thinking, as I was sorting something the other night, "If I were a vampire, I could do this really fast," I knew I need a little break.

I've also been listening to Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth.  I've been told by more than one person that this is a great book and someone even went so far as to say it was the best book they've ever read but the time period and, I have to admit, it's size put me off.  When Audible had it for less than five bucks, though, I bought it and I'm glad I did.  I mostly only listen to it while I'm cleaning the kitchen and it certainly makes me look forward to doing the dishes.  I'm also glad I'm having it read to me rather than reading it myself as I think I'm enjoying it more.  I'm not a fan at all of readers that try to act out the characters using different voices but this guy, John Lee, is subtle enough - even with his female characters - that it doesn't bother me at all.  

I also managed to finally finish my FLS.  Sadly, I’m not as happy with it as I thought I would be. Oh how I wish I'd only put in one button hole.  I’d
even be happy with two but that third button makes it a little less
flattering on my body type. I thought it would block better, too, and it still might. I’ve yet to unpack
all of my needles and the yoga mat I use for blocking so this was done
on towels with a limited amount of pins. A second blocking might make a
difference. I'm happy with it, though, it was a fun knit and I'm sure it'll get lots of wear.

Sweater Sitting Sweater Buttons

February Lady Sweater

Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Amber Heather

Size 8/5.00 mm needles

We also finally took a photo of the Just Enough Ruffles Scarf I knitted last February out of yarn from my mother-in-law's alpacas.  

Alpaca Scarf
Okay, I'll stop here before I start going into the mushrooms, chickpeas, flapjacks, more knitting and even a little crochet that I'm dying to write about!



3 comments:

  1. Whoa! I think the Feb lady sweater actually looks great on you!!

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  2. I have to agree with Bertha. I think the FLS looks great on you too. I made one and went a little crazy on the blocking so I need to re-block it and change the buttons. The buttons I have are great, but too heavy for the garter stitch so I can't really wear it unbuttoned because the top flops over.

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  3. Ok, audio book question for you - are you an Audible member? is that how you got Pillars of the Earth for $5? it sure isn't $5 when I look it up on their website, but then I thought maybe members got better deals. I'm kind of debating an ebook reader, or Kindle, but then I started wondering if audio books would be a better way to go - I know you're miss reader, so i figured I'd ask you!!

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