Knitting Sandwich

yarn along 12.16.15

joining with ginny at small things for this week's yarn along:

 reading: lily and i are on to book two of the redwall series, mossflower by brian jacques.   they're still sweet books, fun little adventures...  i think i like this one better than the first, but i'll wait until we're finished to render final judgement.  we're close... just a few more chapters.  we read a little bit each night before lily goes to bed.

crocheting: i'm making a zen circle blanket for bundles of joy.  i love this pattern for when i'm just wanting to enjoy crocheting and not have to think very hard, just zone out and crochet.  all it is is a giant flat circle from the tutorial by lucy of attic24.  

as you can see i'm not really challenging myself in either category right now.  but with a four month old baby somedays all the challenge i can handle is getting us both dressed in time to pick lily up from school!  so we're taking things nice and easy for now.  

now it's your turn - what are y'all reading and knitting/crocheting right now?

-melissa

yarn along 10.01.15

 joining up (just one day late) with ginnie at small things for this week's yarn along:

reading: lily and i are currently reading redwall by brian jacques outloud together.  it started when thora was first born as an "excuse" for lily and i to snuggle while i was nursing thora, but now that school's back in session and  schedules are busier it's mostly a read-at-bedtime-while-nursing-thora story.  it's a sweet little story, where the good guys are very good, and the bad guys are very bad.  a little too sweet for my personal taste, but lily is enjoying it which is really all that matters.

knitting: still more of a not-knitting going on around here.  i did manage to finish the august squares of the weather blanket, but have yet to get all the ends woven in.  i'm slowly working on that.  mostly though i'm still just snuggling and staring at thora while she sleeps...

 but tell me - what are y'all reading and/or knitting these days?

-melissa

yarn along 06.10.15

 

joining ginny at small things for this week's yarn along:

 knitting: with all my tip top secret deadline knitting finished (except for one project, whose deadline got pushed way back) i felt it time to start knitting for baby lemon.  and what to knit for a little sister but a little sister dress (rav link)?  it seemed the most obvious place to start!  (plus i love this pattern, and paired with this yarn, neota designs zephyr in colorway western sunset, it's like knitting a little tiny baby sister dream come true.)

reading: since i posted a little under a month ago i've been on a bit of a reading bender.  i've read 5 books (one is for children, but still...) and enjoyed them all!  

first up is inversions by iain m banks.  i read this right on the heels of excession, which as i stated last time, i didn't really enjoy due to it's lackluster ending.  i have to say that mr. m banks redeemed himself thoroughly.  inversions takes his usual approach to culture novels and flips it (perhaps a play on words with the title?), telling the story from the point of view of the alien species the culture is studying.  it's a slower pace, feeling at times more like reading historical fiction than science fiction, but with all of banks' deep character development and twists and turns.  and if you're keeping tabs - the ending?  it was spot on.

then i took a break from the scifi (mostly because i had to wait for my amazon order with more banks books to arrive since they don't carry them at our local barnes & nobles - don't let me get started about our mankato barnes & nobles...) and read the completely charming the unlikely pilgrimage of harold fry by rachel joyce.  it's sort of a coming of age story where the protagonist is in his upper 60's.  i was worried that it would tend towards the sappy and overly sentimental, but ms joyce did a wonderful job of keeping things grounded and genuine, even when the plot was veering towards sentimentality.  and again, the absolute perfect ending made this book one that i wouldn't hesitate to recommend to anyone looking for an easy, enjoyable, sometimes emotional, read this summer.

up next was unclean jobs for women and girls by alissa nutting.  i first discovered ms nutting's work back when i read my mother she killed me, my father her ate me and i was so taken by her story in that collection that i looked her up to see what else she had written.  i have an aversion to short story collections in general, so it should show how impressed i was that when i found a book of her short stories i ordered it without second thought.  (this was back in august of last year, the fact that it took until now to read it is a testament to my wariness regarding the genre.)  i should not have worried.  this book is an absolute treasure.  each story is quirky and offbeat in it's own strange yet charming way.  i think i tore through this book in two sittings.  

then, since i was still awaiting my aforementioned amazon order with my next banks books in it (also don't get me started on my theory that amazon is trying to bully everyone into paying for prime by making all other shipping options so slow you want to gouge out your eyes in frustration...) i read one of my favorite books of all time, little house in the big woods by laura ingalls wilder.  really is there anything to say about these books that hasn't already been said?  i have loved all the books in the little house series since i've known how to read.  growing up in nebraska with long brown hair i always felt a special affinity with laura, and honestly, melissa gilbert from the television show.  we long-haired brunettes need to stick together.

 

finally my amazon package arrived and i read look to windward by iain m banks - i stayed up waaaay too late last night to finish it actually.  i know i've said a million times how much i love iain m banks, and this book just continues to confirm why.  i feel i've rambled on here for more than long enough and will just say that if you like intelligent well-written science fiction you really can not go wrong with mr. m banks.  look to windward is no exception.  (and again, since we seem to be keeping score in this post - the ending was worthy of praise.  i didn't have a clue how he was going to bring things to a conclusion right up to the end... and was quite content when he went in a direction i had not anticipated but was the absolute perfect place to go.)

phew!  i'm a blabber mouth today!  tell me - what have y'all been reading?!?  someone else please, talk for a while!

-melissa

yarn along 05.13.15

 

joining up with ginny at small things for this week's yarn along:

knitting: believe it or not, i'm still working on projects i can't yet talk about publicly.   so instead you get a picture of a baby bib o'love (rav link) that i knit for the new baby sister of one of the girls in my girl scout troop.  i promise i'm working as diligently as possible to finish up this last secret project (it's a bit of a doozie) and then will get back to things that i can speak openly about.  

reading: i actually just finished reading excession by iaian m. banks this morning and i have to say, in my humble opinion ,this is his weakest book that i have read.  the set up was his usual fantastic twisting of different worlds and storylines, but it all fell apart at the end in a pile of weakly manufactured plot twists and sentimentality.  i will of course continue to read his books, because the man is a genius, but this book is definitely at the bottom of my ranking of works so far.

how do the rest of you feel?  can you excuse a poor ending if the rest of the book is well written, or are you just left with a bad taste in your mouth that ruins the whole experience of reading the book?

-melissa

yarn along 02.11.15

joining with ginny at small things for this week's yarn along:

 

 reading: oh neil gaiman... i love him.  so i jumped when i heard he had a new book of short stories out.  trigger warnings is gaiman doing what gaiman does best, writing insanely clever, always offbeat, slightly disturbing stories that keep you hanging on his every single word.  

knitting: i don't think i've mentioned that i know six (yes *six*!!) wonderful women having babies before the end of may!  true story.  i could hardly believe it when i sat down and counted.  that's a lot of babies!!  and 5 out of the 6 are boys (and the 6th is a surprise).  three of the mothers are aware, in some form or another ,of the blog, but that still leaves us three others we can openly discuss... i just finished up knitting two baby bibs o' love (rav link) and am slowly working away on a baby kicking bag (rav link).  

so friends, what are y'all knitting and reading these days?

-melissa

yarn along 11.05.14

 

joing up with ginny at small things for this week's yarn along:

 reading: i'm still enjoying reading the books i bought "for lily."  i'm only a few chapters in but so far, wild wings by gill lewis has me wanting to drop everything and just sit and read... 

knitting: well i'm only 3" away from finishing my red scarf project scarf (the 3x3 slip stitch scarf - rav link) so the sensible knitter would go ahead and finish those 3", right?  in theory, yes, but instead i cast on for a new project.  a pair of fetching (rav link) for a friend.  my thinking was that they're a super quick knit and i needed a break from all that scarfing.  i've got one mitt finished, so i figure it's time to go and finish the scarf... it's what the sensible knitter would do.

so friends, what are you reading and/or knitting at the moment?

-melissa

yarn along 10.29.14

 

joining ginny at small things for this week's yarn along:

 knitting: it's that time of year again... red scarf project time!  (click here for the ravelry group or here for the official page for more information.)  this is my 8th year knitting a scarf for this project, this one's a 3x3 slip stitch scarf (rav link), i've knit this pattern before and love what a squishy scarf it creates.  foster care to success is accepting scarves until december 15th, so if you want to do some good and help young adults who have come up through the foster system and are now in college go knit a red scarf!

reading: i've been in a bit of a reading slump the past month and haven't been interested in reading anything... when that happens it's usually some well chosen young adult fiction that gets me back on track, and this time is no exception.  i bought these books "for lily," but really if i'm honest i bought them because i enjoy reading ya fiction myself and i thought they looked interesting.

both an elephant in the garden by michael morpurgo and lara's gift by annemarie o'brien are quick reads, with strong young women as the narrators, and compelling story lines.  (as a bonus they both have animals in the stories as well, which i always enjoy.)

so tell me, do you ever get in a reading slump?   if you do, what gets you out?

-melissa

yarn along 09.24.14

 

joining up with ginny at small things for this week's yarn along:

reading: i've started a new book!  and i'm so so so so excited about it i can not even begin to tell you!  i have been in love with hildegard von bingen for practically ever... we sang a number of her compositions in women's chorus in college, her life story is so amazing... i just get all goo goo eyed when i talk about her!

when i saw that there was a novel of her life i didn't even think twice, i just bought it!  i'm only one chapter in, but so far illuminations by mary sharratt gets my full thumbs up.  simply for its subject matter.  all i want to do today is put in my favorite hildegard cd (11,00 virgins by anonymous4), sit by the fire, and read all day long!

knitting: i'm back to the pair of hedgerow mitts (pattern rav link) i began making for my friend last winter to keep her hands warm in her cold office.  when it became clear that i wasn't going to finish them before the weather warmed up i just set them aside until fall.  well fall is here, so it is time to finish the mitts before the cold weather really sets in!

tell me friends, what are you reading and working on at the moment?

-melissa

yarn along 08.28.14

 

joining ginny at small things for this week's yarn along (i'm a day late - but let's just roll with it, shall we?):

 reading: i haven't been a big reader this summer... since june i've read 1 1/2 books, which is odd for me, but sometimes i get in a "need a break from voracious reading" mood, and i guess this is one of those times.  

my books this summer have been fairy tale-themed, which has been really quite lovely.  at least i'm enjoying the little bit of reading i've been doing.  my mother she killed me, my father he ate me was just as magical and mysterious as it sounds.  new spins on old tales by some pretty big names - how could i resist?  out of the 40 stories there were only 2 that i chose not to finish, at least a half dozen that made my heart absolutely soar, and the rest were varying shades of completely charming.  i would not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone with a fondness for fairy tales.

i'm currently reading from the forest: a search for the hidden roots of our fairy tales.  it purports to look at how fairy tales grew from the forests and how they are intrinsically tied to those forests, in the modern day, as well as in the past.  i thought this sounded interesting and the perfect book to read after my mother.  

i *am* enjoying this book, but i don't know how well the author is achieving her goal.  that said, the book is a wealth of information on the history of trees, forests (the author is british, so all the forests she visits are in england, i've been doing a lot of googling of maps and photos of the places so i know where she's writing about), forestry, and the changing landscape of england.  these are topics i knew very little about and and am finding it all terribly interesting.  it is when she tries to tie the forest history to fairy tales that the book is at its weakest... which is somewhat disappointing because this was supposed to be what the book was about.  each chapter ends with an updated take on a fairy tale that she has mentioned in that chapter.  those have all been well-written and fun to read, so it's like a little treat at the end of each chapter.

crocheting: i feel like i've talked enough for one post already, so i'll be brief: i'm working on my latest ripple (pattern from lucy at attic24).  i love the ripple.  

what are y'all reading and/or knitting right now?!?

-melissa

yarn along 06.11.14

 joining up with ginnie at small things for this week's yarn along:

 crocheting: i warned you this would be the summer of crochet afghans and i wasn't kidding!  here's my latest, a neat ripple (pattern by lucy of attic24 (rav link)) worked up in my most favorite of all the acrylic yarns... vanna!  it's making me endlessly happy!

reading: i learned about the macken charm from kate, who posted a review of it a year or so ago on her blog.  kate lives on vancouver island, where the book is set,  i went on my honeymoon on vancouver island and have such fond memories of it that i wanted to read this book solely because of that.  

the macken charm is a light and easy read due mainly to mr. hodgin's mastery of prose.  this man can write, the words just roll off the page, you flow along his word choices as easily as floating down a river.  the characters are all just enough over the top to make them lovable, and surprisingly believable.   the enjoyment i'm finding in his writing style has made some other literary areas he struggles with (his less than subtle foreshadowing, and the over the top symbolism with the crows) more bearable.  i'm not quite finished with the book, but have enjoyed it thus far and would definitely recommend it for a summer reading list!

now my friends, what are y'all reading and knitting?!?

-melissa