Ooops.
12 Dec 2011 5 Comments
in A Book is a Woman's Best Friend
I used to be an excellent blogger. Loquacious even. These days I’m lucky if I think about it once a week. Sometimes I have nothing to say. Sometimes I have everything to say, but I can’t talk about it here. And sometimes I wonder if anyone is still reading.
Regardless, I’ve had a few posts bouncing around in my head for the last few weeks.
What are you reading?
This year I have gotten back into reading in a big way. Part of it has been the influence of my knitting group which has become a book group of sorts. I’ve also started using Goodreads and reading more books electronically. And now my local library has e-books so I can borrow books without having to go anywhere! I’ve spent the better part of the last year devouring the following series:
* A Song of Fire and Ice by George R.R. Martin: Earlier this year I noticed everyone talking about this series. I later learned it was because HBO had started a series called Game of Thrones. So I followed the crowd and picked up the first book and was immediately sucked in. The setting is in a medieval world with touches of magic. The story line follows various characters in several different families as they play the “game of thrones” to determine who the new king of the seven kingdoms will be. I’m currently devouring book #4 and eagerly anticipating book #5 which was just released recently.
* The Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward: My knitting group affectionately calls these “vampire porn.” The Black Dagger Brotherhood is a group of warriors fighting to save the world from the evil Lessers. Each book in the series (we’re up to 9 and eagerly awaiting #10) chronicles one of the brothers; his life story and how he meets his mate. The stories are a bit formulaic sometimes, but the books have the right mix of danger, vampires and romance.
* Outlander by Diana Gabaldon: Under the category of “I can’t quit you” is Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. Outlander (the first book) features Claire, a young nurse, who visits Scotland with her husband on a post-war honeymoon shortly after World War II. Near Beltane she finds a circle of rocks, and is strangely drawn to them. When she gets close, however, she is sucked through the rocks and deposited 200 years into the past. For the remainder of the book Claire is torn between returning home to her husband, Frank, in the 1940′s and staying in the 1700′s with Jamie, a Scotsman who protects her.
Other books I read this year and enjoyed:
* The Help by Kathryn Stockett: I didn’t expect to enjoy this one as much as I did, but I truly think it might be the best book I read all year. Beautifully written, poignant and at times terribly hard to read, this book tells the story of what it is like to be a black housemaid in the south in the 60′s.
* A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness: The first book in the series, A Discovery of Witches is about a young woman, Diana Bishop, who has spent all her life denying what she is, a witch. But she can deny it no longer, as she is one of the most powerful witches that exists and all the other races are seeking her out. As she comes into her own, she meets vampire Matthew Clairmont, and the two travel through time and space to keep her safe.
* The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman: A collection of vignettes about a group of eccentric and flawed individuals working for a newspaper in Rome. The chapters volley back and forth between historical snippets of how the paper has evolved and the lives of each of the individuals working there now. The stories are amusing, poignant and at the same time claustrophobic. It is compelling to read, and also leaves me feeling melancholy, which I suspect was precisely the author’s intent.
I’ve lost my March.
28 Mar 2011 2 Comments
in A Book is a Woman's Best Friend, Knitting Content Ahead, Spinning a Yarn
I can’t believe I last posted on March 1. I don’t even know what I’ve been doing with myself.
I fear that March’s sweater was a disaster. I returned it to yarn form tonight. It’s always a little sad and depressing to me to come to the conclusion that what I’m knitting just isn’t going to be what I hoped it would be. It’s a combination of the time, and effort, and seeing something not become what I saw in my mind’s eye.
But I’ll move on. I’m already planning to start two sweaters in April to make up for it.
I’ve been spinning this month. Spinning a lot. There’s more to talk about there, but I’m not quite ready to share yet. For now I’ll just show you something I recently got off the wheel:
And there’s been knitting. But I can’t really talk about that yet either. Oh ok, maybe a little peek:
There’s also been a lot of reading. I’ve recently been using the Kindle app on my phone and enjoying reading a variety of books. So far, in the last month I’ve devoured: The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde, The Friday Night Knitting Club and Knit Too by Kate Jacobs, Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.
So that’s what I’ve been up to. More in a few days when I can talk more about the secret projects.
In which I admit something.
16 Nov 2010 2 Comments
in A Book is a Woman's Best Friend
It is time for me to reveal something about myself.
I have recently come to believe that I am a squee-ing fangirl for Jon Krakauer. I can read anything that man writes and love it.
I first heard of Jon Krakauer after my dad read Into Thin Air, a book he continually recommends today. I read it and was simultaneously enraptured and horrified by it. The book details the 1996 expeditions to Mt. Everest, and the disastrously deadly results. The book exhibits quite a few things I find compelling: meticulous research, an unwavering desire to find the truth of the matter, and an uncompromising look at both the heroic and wicked sides of man that are exposed in his darkest hours.
A few years later, I picked up a copy of Into the Wild. Again, I was captivated by the story Krakauer told.
Which brings me to my current revelation. Last week I picked up a copy of Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman. I will preface this by saying I am neither a football fan, nor a military history buff. To be honest, I never knew who Pat Tillman was until he was killed, and I only vaguely knew the circumstances prior to reading this book. As far as the current wars are concerned, I knew bits and pieces, but most of what I knew was from media sources. Again I am astounded at Krakauer’s research. He has left no stone unturned, and unwaveringly searches for the truth behind the death of Pat Tillman and the subsequent coverup. As horrified as I am by what I have read, I greatly appreciate the way Krakauer deftly weaves together the stories of Tillman’s life before and during the military simultaneously with the stories of the developing conflict in the middle east and the US government’s reactions to it. I find it surprising that a story comprised of elements that I don’t find gripping in and of themselves completely occupied my attention for the past week and opened my eyes to things I hadn’t previously known.
So yes, just call me fangirl. Now I’m off to get the rest of Krakauer’s books!
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
22 Mar 2010 Leave a Comment
in A Book is a Woman's Best Friend, A Picture's Worth 1000 Words, Knitting Content Ahead
Well despite the fact that March is for WIPS, I did cast on something new this weekend.
In the past I have challenged myself to learn new techniques with some hand-dyed skeins of yarn. Of late, I have been very inspired by Wenat and her pooling stoles. You can see that I experimented with pooling colors around Christmas. Well I decided it was time to try again.
This stole is going to be a for a friend on Ravelry who sent me a skein of yarn she wanted knit up using the pooling technique. This particular skein of Wollmeise is in the colorway Raupe Nimmersatt, which is the German name for The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Yesterday I dove in and with only a little tinking I had the first pattern repeat done:
Do you notice anything special about this?
How about now?
Why hello there!
19 Jul 2009 1 Comment
in A Book is a Woman's Best Friend, Off the Needles, The Boob Tube, Weekend Update
Thanks to my six die hard followers who keep up with me even when I’m less than faithful about posting. You’d think nothing noteworthy was happening, but well, that’s just not true!
Summer is in full swing here and (shhh don’t tell anyone I said it) the last few days have been GORGEOUS. Warm but not hot, breezy, not too humid… almost like an LA summer! We’ve been enjoying time both indoors and out.
This weekend has been a quiet one. Wes was gone all day with friends, which gave me the time to wash and block quite a bit of what I’ve been up to lately. It also gave me time to tend to our garden, clean the house in anticipation of a houseguest next weekend, and of course, catch up on more t.v. and knitting.
So here are the projects:
The Pattern: Transition Hat, my adaptation of the Transition Gloves
The Yarn: Dale Baby Ulli in Black, Collinette Jitterbug in Salty Dog
The Needles: US 3′s
The Verdict: Love it! This was a work in progress forever, and this month I finally just sat down and did it. It goes with the Twilight Mittens I posted here.
The Pattern: Clapotis
The Yarn: Collinette Jitterbug in Salty Dog
The Needles: US 6′s
The Verdict: Another from the Work in Progress pile that sat forever, but was done in just a little over a week. Now I have a matched set with the two projects mentioned above.
The Pattern: Pooling Scarf, mine with a little help from Barbara Walker
The Yarn: Socks that Rock, Mediumweight, Colorway: Chapman Springs
The Needles: US 4′s
The Verdict: This one took a little finesse. The scarf is knit width-wise so the first trick was figuring how many stitches to cast on (and in what pattern, on what needle size) so that I could get the colors to stack. I had some great help/guidance from the Ravelry community and I’m happy with this for my first try. Next up… a pooling stole!
I also had a 4th project, but leave it to me to ruin it in the washing. (It wasn’t pretty… I don’t want to talk about it).
What’s next? Oh yes: the garden!
We have a variety of green peppers:
Several Jalapenos:
And we harvested our carrots! (They’re kind of small but tasted great!)
Otherwise we’ve seen Transformers (Punk ass decepticons!) and I’ve caught up and finished Harry Potter Book 7. I’ve got a new shawl and a new sweater on the needles, as well as a second sock and a wrap in the works. And I’ve re-vamped what I’m doing for our wedding afghan (which apparently won’t make our first anniversary either!). Otherwise we’re loving summer and the extra daylight.
More soon!
Kiri
28 Jun 2009 1 Comment
in A Book is a Woman's Best Friend, Farm Fresh Foods, Off the Needles, The Boob Tube, Weekend Update
I realize that as of late I haven’t really been updating. I don’t know whether it’s the summer heat (for the past week we’ve been in the 110+ range with heat index) or that I’m just spending so much time engrossed in my knitting and Ravelry, that I don’t feel I have much of interest to say.
I am, however, knitting quite a bit. And I have a new project to show for it. It only took me two weeks which AMAZES me. I present to you, Kiri:
The Pattern: Kiri
The Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Sock, 2 skeins
The Needles: US 6′s
The Verdict: In this pattern the yarn did all the work. Noro is delightfully dyed and the colors are fantastic. I was a bit apprehensive about the bright orange in this skein, but as it turns out I love the finished product. I love that this photo shows that I didn’t make any errors in the pattern, and how clear the lace looks. I’m definitely on a lace kick – you’ll be seeing more shawls this summer!
Let’s see… what else have I been up to? Yesterday Wes spent the day with friends so I spent my afternoon beating the heat and catching up on Season 1 of True Blood. I only just recently read Book 1 of the Sookie Stackhouse series. The book and the TV show are a bit different, but I have to say that I quite like both. Who thought I would be into vampire series?
We’re also still growing the garden. At this point we harvested our big cucumber (it tasted great!), but had to forfeit the rest of the plant. Unfortunately it had succumbed to some kind of root rot or fungus and wasn’t growing well. We’ve cleaned out the container and started with fresh dirt and are putting together another crop! Our peppers are growing great – we’ve got half a dozen in various sizes and our jalapeno plant is boasting one perfect looking spicy pepper. Remind me not to eat that! Our carrots are harvesting sweet and crunchy. Our tomato plants look full and green and leafy and smell great, but so far we have no tomatoes. We’re going to look into fertilizing soon. All told, not a terrible crop for our first foray into gardening!
Hope you’re enjoying your summer!
That’s Entertainment!
01 May 2009 4 Comments
in A Book is a Woman's Best Friend, Groovin' to Tunes, Knitting Content Ahead
So I actually have finished not one, but TWO projects this week. The gloomy skies and occasional torrential rain have made photographs impossible, however, so you’ll have to content yourself with your imaginations today. Instead I’ll write about a few entertaining things I’ve been into lately.
First off, I’m VERY VERY late to the podcast-listening party, but I have arrived. In the last few weeks I’ve discovered podcasts with a vengeance. Consequently I’ve spent most of my days listening to the following podcasts:
1. Cast On by Brenda Dane – The quirky and fun knitting tales of an American living in Wales. This podcast features some of the most interesting tidbits of music I’ve heard and some wonderful stories of knitting mishaps. All of her podcasts are accessible from her website.
2. Lime n Violet – I wasn’t sure what to expect out of this podcast. It’s a little less polished than Cast On but I think it might actually be my favorite knitting podcast so far. From listening to the show, and following the show notes and links I’ve found some great fiber artists! And I love hearing about what the girls are knitting. You can find this podcast on iTunes and subscribe!
3. Stash and Burn – This is the podcast of two girls desperately fighting to conquer and knit from their stashes. I aspire to knit from my stash… I think I could learn a few things listening to them. You can listen to this podcast on the site linked above!
4. Sticks & String by David Reidy – David is an “Australian bloke” who chats about what it’s like to be a male knitter in Australia. His charming accent is a boon to his amusing anecdotes and discussions of knitting.
Now I know the ones I listed above were a little knitting centric (who me?). However, I’ve also found that I can follow my favorite NPR shows on iTunes as well. Never more do I have to miss Car Talk and Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me again.
Finally I’ve been trying to get back into reading. Currently in progress: The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley and The Know it All by A.J. Jacobs, gifted to me by the l’il sis’ man this past Christmas. Stay tuned for book reports!
Back in the swing.
17 Jan 2009 3 Comments
in A Book is a Woman's Best Friend, Let's All Go to the Movies, Off the Needles
So I had been delaying posting because I wanted to post some great pictures of my newest finished object. However, the weather hasn’t been cooperating (it’s the Midwest, who’s surprised?) so I’m back with projects and all sorts of reviews (books, movies, etc.)
First things first. This past weekend I finished my first big lace project and I’m absolutely in love with it!
The Pattern: Shoalwater Shawl
The Yarn: Malabrigo Laceweight, 3 skeins, Pagoda
The Needles: US 6′s
The Verdict: I LOVE this shawl. This was a pleasure to knit, even though it took me over a year. The Malabrigo laceweight yarn is light and soft and creates the warmest, softest fabric I’ve felt in a long time. And using my new lace blocking wires (courtesy of my wonderful husband!) blocking was a snap. Stay tuned for more pictures of this one!
***
I haven’t been posting much of late. I think it’s a combination of lack of funny tales to tell, lack of time to knit, and lots of time spent at the department store job. I’m still looking for full time employment, but so far I haven’t had much luck so I’ve been staying on. I seem to have made it through a variety of books and movies though.
* Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – I ripped right through this one and enjoy it as much, if not more than the previous books. I don’t know why I couldn’t get into the series the first time, but I’m really enjoying it now. I’m looking forward to reading the sixth installment soon. It will be the first book of the series that I read without having seen the movie first and I think it will be great to experience the book with no clue about what will happen next.
* New Moon – Yes, I’m hooked on Stephenie Meyer’s series. I don’t know what’s more bizarre for me – that I’m reading vampire books and loving them, or that I’m reading teeny-bopper fiction and ripping right through it. Again, I think the most interesting part of the books to me is how the author takes all the common legends and stereotypes about vampires (and in this book werewolves) and turns them on their heads. I still haven’t seen the movie and part of me doesn’t want to, because I love the way I imagine the characters. I’m sure I will though.
* The God Delusion – The third book I’m still working on is Richard Dawkins’. I borrowed this from Dad when I was home for Christmas. Though the theory is sometimes a bit much for me, I’m enjoying reading his arguments against the existence of god. The book is humorous too – I find myself laughing aloud fairly often. I suppose if I’m going to be damned to hell I might as well have a good time getting there.
* Death at a Funeral – I Netflix’d this one after hearing great things about it and we weren’t disappointed. This was truly a zany British farce and if you’re up for some insanity I’d definitely recommend it!
* No Country for Old Men – Despite the fact that this movie won so many Oscars, and I’d been anxious to see it, neither Wes nor I enjoyed it very much. I found it hard to watch with all it’s scenes shot in low light that were barely visible. We both found the dialogue kind of forced, and at the end we kind of wondered what the point was. Overall, I can’t recommend this one.
* Burn After Reading – I laughed out loud at this movie. The cast was excellent, the material crafted very well, and the end result a winner. If you’re up for some inappropriate situations and whole movie about the stupidity of people, you have to see this movie!
Some Assembly Required
05 Dec 2008 3 Comments
in A Book is a Woman's Best Friend, Let's All Go to the Movies
I’m keeping busy crafting for the holidays over here and absolutely NONE of it is bloggable since it’s all gifty goodness. So instead I’ll talk about what I’ve been reading and watching.
On the way out to Los Angeles, Wes suggested that I pick up a copy of Twilight. (It turns out some airport shops will let you return it when you’re done reading and give you half your money back!) I had been wanting to read the book for a while, especially before I take in the movie. I’m not lovestruck. And I didn’t rip through the book because the writing was so good, although it wasn’t bad. The reason I enjoyed this book so incredibly much is because of Stefanie Meyer’s creative take on vampires. She essentially took every myth about vampires and spun it on it’s head. And THAT’s what kept me reading from cover to cover within the span of a 3-hour flight. Now I can just hope I get the rest of the set for Christmas.
Before I left Los Angeles, my father recommended a bevy of books to me. Turns out that top of the stack was another foray into vampire mania, Christopher Moore’s Bloodsucking Fiends. So far it’s gritty, bizarre, a little violent and NOTHING like Twilight or the Anne Rice novels. I also have a few more Christopher Moore books that should keep me company during my breaks at the job.
I was overjoyed this morning to receive an email from Netflix that instant watching is now available on Macs. I took advantage of this immediately, and enjoyed a quirky little French film this evening, Seducing Doctor Lewis. The movie is set in a tiny little town in the middle of nowhere that is struggling to become the site of a new factory. But the factory will only open if the town has a permanent doctor. The rest of the movie is about how the town seduces one Dr. Lewis. It was quirky and hilarious. As long as you’re up for subtitles, I’d totally recommend this one!
Tomorrow I give up my crafting and reading to work a full shift in the home department of the department store. Wish me luck!
And here comes round 3.
27 Oct 2008 1 Comment
in A Book is a Woman's Best Friend, Learning to be a Midwestern Gal, Let's All Go to the Movies, Off the Needles
The big news of this weekend (well Thursday and Friday) is that I have now progressed to Round 3 of job interviewing. That means that on Thursday of this coming week I will be meeting with a whole new set of potential colleagues and bosses, including the president and CEO of the company. Let’s hope this goes well so that I’m happily employed soon!
Things haven’t been too exciting around here. I’ve used my copious free time to crank out a few projects. I’ve done a second cowl for another local shop in another scrumptious yarn, I’ve progressed on several other projects I’ve got going and I finished another commission – an Elizabeth Zimmerman February Baby Sweater and hat. The yarn is VERY VERY pink, but the client brought it to me to make something cute for her granddaughter.
I’ve also managed to catch up a bit on reading. I’d had The Other Boleyn Girl on my must-read list for a while now, especially since I wanted to read it before I rent the movie. I tore right through the book and it was a pleasant read. I find myself sort of engrossed in the Tudors now having just watched Season 1 of The Tudors on Showtime and having pored over the internet today trying to learn more about the Boelyns and Henry VIII.
I’ve also gotten sucked into Mad Men. I’m now mid-Season 1 via my old friend Netflix, and I’m loving it so far. My only complaint is that I can’t get the DVDs here fast enough to devour them!
The weather here has really turned to fall. The leaves are changing, and it’s crisp and cold out. We’ve been down in the 40′s at night, so the first frost can’t be far off. All of this makes me want to knit up tons of warm sweaters and get myself ready for fall. Today was sunny, although a bit cold, and Wes and I managed to take a couple-mile walk through the parks and trails behind our house. It’s been interesting living here over 9 months now and watching the area change with the seasons. Today I noticed how bare the trees are becoming and how the colorful leaves are burying the paths. I love the change in the seasons and I love fall, so I hope it sticks around for a while. No need for snow just yet!
