Reading reading reading reading....

I know I've been rather silent but it's mostly because I haven't done a whole lot of knitting lately. It's quite hot as I'm sure you can imagine so I've been hiding inside and reading. Reading reading reading. In the past 2.5 weeks I've read 5 books, mostly the Black Jewels trilogy by Anne Bishop. These are not short books, they're around 500 pages each. So like I said I've just been hibernating and reading. Also, these books are addicting. It's like I can't stop reading them. I keep thinking "Okay I'll stop at the next break" "Okay I'll stop at the next chapter" but it just keeps going. Addicting! Like reading crack or something. Anyway, feast your eyes on my reading prowess (haha)...



Despite how it may look, none of them are trashy romance-y novels. They're all really good, although Daughter of the Blood, Heir to the Shadows, and The Queen of Darkness have some very dark aspects in them, they're not really for the faint of heart.

Sebastian is the first book of the Ephemera series and I read it right after Daughter of the Blood. Actually I didn't even realize at first that it was by the same author because they'd both been in my Amazon wish list so long. It's funny how you can see an author write almost the same main characters in different series. It's good as well and I have the second one, Belladonna sitting at home for me. But for now I think I need to read something different, so I'm working on Santa Olivia by Jaqueline Carey, one of my favorite authors. I also purchased Naamah's Kiss finally, now that it's out on paperback. That will be a good read, although I'm not sure how long it will take since it's around 900 pages. (Much like the debut of the Kushiel Series, Kushiel's Dart)

I have been knitting a bit and if I get around to photographing I'll be posting it here, but we'll see.

TTFN. =)

Is it summer yet?

I actually am not overly fond of summer, at least not in Ohio. It's terribly humid here and I hate sweating. My car used to not have any air conditioner so I would take a shower, get ready for work, and by the time I got to work I would almost need another shower. Humidity makes warm weather so heavy. It's miserable.

But, in the spring time, it is a welcome change. Today it was 80* F here. It was lovely. And after reading this post by Emily, I was inspire to have some quiet time of my own. I did some laundry today and hung it out on the line, and while it was drying I sat in the sun and finished another book in the lilac perfumed air. In books often times there is air that is "thick with the perfume of" such and such a flower. I don't know that I really have experienced that until today. There was a lilac bush behind the deck and a few yards away near the drive way, as well as a gorgeous and heady scented blooming tree in the yard. It was very pleasant. Very relaxing.

Yes, another book. The past week or two I've been on another reading kick and I haven't been knitting nearly as much. I tend to go through phases, spinning, reading, knitting... crocheting they can last a month or a week or maybe just a few days, but in that phase there is little else that I'd like to do.

Since I graduated I've been reading "trashy" books. Not necessarily romance novels, but novels that would definitely not be considered literature. I'm hooked on the Anita Blake vampire hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton. I was thinking, while reading the last book, that while I like reading her books, they are a little tiring. They are non-stop action. There is very little down time, time for the reader, or even the main character, to catch their breath. Not only within the single book, but within the series. It is a lot of action and events that happen in a relatively short amount of time. I do feel a little guilty about that so I started reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. It's actually quite enjoyable, though it promises to be a long read.

What books are your favorites?

It's Snowing

I just looked out the window to see tiny snow flakes fluttering on down. they're being caught in the sun so they seem to be small reflections of light. Lovely.

Anyhow, I've come to report. I finished Where The Heart Is. It was really a wonderful read. The characters are really interesting. Forney is probably my favorite character and I think Novalee (the Heroine) is well done. They're both interesting in their own ways and equally determined. The only complaint that I had was that I knew what was going to happen the whole way. Which is, obviously, due to no fault of the author. If I hadn't known what was going to happen then I would have ripped through the book even faster. Anyhow I highly reccomend this book, especially if you haven't seen the movie.

I also read And The Earth Did Not Devour Him, which was also a good read. It's a short little thing, maybe 80 pages. But it's very interesting. It gives a glimpse into migrant worker life in the 1950s/60s (I'm fairly sure that's the time frame) in Texas, mostly. It's not so much a cohesive story as it is a series of vignettes about the same group of people, although there is a single narrator. I'd reccomend picking it up from the library and reading it. It can be easily read in an evening.

I've also watched several movies (The BF got me a Netflix subscription for Christmas and I'm loving it so far!). I watched P.S. I Love You, which was amazing. It's seriously one of the best chick flicks I've seen, and that's saying something. Even the BF liked it. I also watched Rumor Has It, which was pretty good, and The Other Boleyn Girl, which I saw in theaters. Both of the latter were available instantly online so I just watched them last night. No mailing or anything. =)


As far as knitting goes, I've made some good progress on that as well. I finished the 1st sleeve of My Windowpane Coat (Ravlink). I was planning on starting the second sleeve yesterday, but instead I cast on a hat for the BF. The Ranger Hat (ravlink) which is only available in English through Ravelry, otherwise you can have it in Finnish. The BF picked out this pattern, and I cast it on with the Moda Dea bamboo wool I bought a few weeks ago at Jo-Ann's. It's a lovely charcoal gray and the hat will turn out very nicely.

Sorry no pictures, the weather has been pretty crappy. But, it's nice out so I may get some today, if I feel like going in the 25 degree weather long enough to pose my knitting.



Ciao.


P.S. I lost 5 pounds!

Musings

Last night I had trouble sleeping, so I was thinking about what I might do if I *really* couldn't sleep and I remembered that reading makes me sleepy. Then I was thinking about books that I had at home that I hadn't read yet. I have The Girl with the Pearl Earring that I bought for $.50 at Half Price Books. So I think I'll start that tonight.

Anyhow the point of telling you that is really just to say that I miss reading. I love to read (for pleasure, not for school, although sometimes it coincides). I miss the smell and feel of a good book that I'm reading for no other reason than I want to. What would be optimal would be if I could read and knit at the same time. I can, when It's on a computer monitor and I don't have to worry about holding a book open. I think that a nice sized hardback would work better than a paperback, but you'd still need something to weigh the ends down.

You'd also need pretty mindless knitting and I don't have a ton of that right now. I will once I get to the foot part of my mom's socks, but I still have a few rows of intarsia to go/weaving in 10,000 ends/seaming the cuff. Hum. I'm really hoping I can just crank those out with 2 or 3 nights of knitting on them. A little longer wouldn't be too bad.



I'm actually almost finished with my Christmas knitting (sort of... if you don't count the ornaments I may or may not make...). Maybe I'm just telling myself that because Christmas is 10 days away. Yeah.. 10. >.>

Ravelry is a time-suck. Sometimes I feel like I'll miss something if I don't check it every few hours. I'm addicted, srsly.



So... I have a few FOs to share.



Inga's Bunny (Ravlink):

Specs:
Yarn: Encore Plymouth Worsted Colorspun recycled from my first hat attempt
Pattern: This bunny tutorial, with pom-pom tutorial here
Mods: I didn't pay attention to how the body was sewn up so I ended up mattress stitching it, and at the bum I made it round by stitching 1 row out at a time, so I was originally jus stitching the 1st row, then the 2nd, and then the 3rd, I think that's as wide as I went. Then I stuffed and kind of fudged the bottom in another mattress stitch.
Thoughts: Super easy, it would have been sooo much quicker if I hadn't decided that an 8" square was a really good idea.

Bubby (Ravlink):

Specs:
Yarn: Plymouth Encore Worsted, and a bit of Cascade Fixation for the keyhole scarf
Pattern: Bubby by Vanessa Carter, published in Knitty
Mods: I only decreased to 9 stitches instead of 6 for the neck, but otherwise none.
Thoughts: I liked this pattern OK. It came out a little long and odd shaped, I think. It looked really weird until I gave him the scarf and sewed his little face on. Anyhow, I think it's good enough to give to a 3 year old.

I also finished the Jaques-Cousteau hat. I love the color and the density of the fabirc. It needs a good blocking, however before it gets FO pics because the top looks like a big ol' nipple.

I've also cast on a sideways garter stitch hat, and I'll be posting the pattern for my version when I'm finished. I'm almost finished with one Fuzzy Foot, and hopefully I won't have to purchase any more yarn to make the second one.

I plan on finishing the sideways garter hat (which is stripey) tonight and also Tiny Turtle, the poor guy who is going to take like 30 minutes to finish. He's just been waiting for his last 2 legs.

I told myself I have to finish the turtle before I can finish my mom's socks because they need the same size needles.

That's enough for now, I suppose.

TTFN

P.S. I started working at Heavenly Creations

P.P.S. I went to a party where they had hot chocolate and peppermint schnapps in big thermoses (thermosi?) it was delish.