April 24, 2007

Yarn and books *do* make it better

I've been getting a little bit of knitting done. I finally finished the Shedir cap, but realized just now that I have not taken any pictures of it. Knit on size 3s per the pattern, I ended up dipping into the 2nd ball. Turns out it was a little big and it's taken a dunk in the wash. We'll see if the washing helped it to downsize a bit. Would I knit it again? Yes. On size 2s. With metal needles since I broke the wooden Addi's I was originally using.

What you see here to the left is the next project. The Bubbly curtain from Mason-Dixon Knitting. It's being knit on size 5s in JP Coats' Royale Fashion Crochet Thread in Sage. It's a mercerized cotton, cheap and in a color that will go in the kitchen. It's going to go in place of the icky blinds hanging in the window over the sink.

I've been doing a ton of reading. And when I say ton, I mean 8 books and a short story's worth in the last 7 days. I'm on a JD Robb kick that bumped the Cornwell kick I was on earlier. I started at the beginning of the Eve Dallas series and have read Naked in Death, Glory in Death, Immortal in Death, Rapture in Death, Ceremony in Death, Vengeance in Death, Holiday in Death, Conspiracy in Death and am now starting Loyalty in Death. The short story was after Holiday and before Conspiracy and appeared in the Silent Night anthology.

I'd grabbed the first one last Tuesday for an easy read while commuting. But I kicked it into high gear after a trip to Powell's for Rob's birthday. He got a few books, I found a couple (neither of which was the book I wanted - Born in Death) and when we got home I grabbed the book I was on and plowed through a few more. It helped that I had Monday off for vacation and stayed home today.

No, I didn't blow work off to read. I had an apheresis appointment yesterday morning and I was stupid enough to not get enough rest the night before or eat breakfast. I ended up getting nauseous and nearly threw up. Not my usual reaction at all. AND it briefly interfered with my viewing of Sense and Sensibility. All in all, the rest of the day was spent being extremely tired with a still upset stomach. I woke up this morning and could, I suppose, have gone to work, but I opted to call in sick and sleep a little longer. I'm glad I did since feel much better with just those few extra hours.

Well, enough of that. Nanny, here are pics of two of your grandkids when they were last here:



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April 13, 2007

Giving her a second chance

I was checking over my list of books and the actual entries I've managed to blog this year and noticed I'd forgotten a book to include in the sidebar (War Reporting for Cowards). I've also managed to read a couple of Patricia Cornwell books this week.

I read the Scarpetta series as they came out, but stopped shortly after beginning Unnatural Exposure. I'd lost interest in Kay and felt a little like the series had jumped the shark. But I'm re-reading since I do want to finish the series, or at least get caught up.

So I picked up Postmortem this week and have finished it and will have Body of Evidence completed tonight. I'll start All That Remains this weekend. I enjoy the science side, the mystery of who and why and the discovery of the who and the determination of the why. I'm looking forward to re-examining Kay's relationship with Lucy and what I think of Cornwell's handling of relationships. I do feel like there are some stereotypes going on, but I'm trying to just enjoy.

April 07, 2007

On hair, yarn and books

So, the hair has grown out since the last photo back on the 18th. It's growing fast, but definitely not lying down. It's still on the bottle brush side of spiky, but I have hopes!
Not as much scalp showing now

I have been knitting:
FBS in Tide Pool

This is the Flower Basket Shawl completed in Feb? March? Knit with size 3 needles with KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud in Tidewater. I knit it in just a couple of weeks and donated it to a silent auction at church to benefit women's ministries. It sold, but I refused to see how much it sold for - I didn't want to know what price someone had placed on my time.

I've also knitted a little sweater for a baby born to someone at church. Noelle is the 4th child and the first girl - definitely deserving of a sweet lilac sweater. I was a goob though and completely forgot to take a picture of the sweater. But Dayna has told me that Noelle has been wearing the sweater. Awww!

I knit the sweater on size 8s using a pattern from Style Your Own Kids' Knits with Sirdar Snuggle Baby Care in Shade 0219.

I've also finished a SuperHero Cape from Vickie Howell's New Knits on the Block. It's knit in Bernat for the Kruz man to go with the Superman jammies I bought him.

One thing that I was knitting was a pair of socks in TOFUtsies... but they are at a temporary standstill.
Invisible pain Can you see it?

How about now?
Hole in my heart

A hole chewed by the still living, but only by God's grace, Tribble. She's taken to going after the natural fibers - this yarn, the tiny cake of the Alpaca Cloud remaining from the shawl, and Peaches & Creme cotton.

The socks are on hold until I have the energy to rip past the hole to the ribbing and pick up the stitches to continue on. We'll see what year that happens in.

I have been getting some reading done as well. I re-read Amaryllis, the 2nd book in Jayne Castle's (aka Jayne Ann Krentz) futuristic/romance trilogy on St. Helens. It's a series I enjoy revisiting from time to time.

I also finished American Bee by James Maguire about the Scripps National Spelling Bee. I borrowed this from the local library and was fascinated by the history of the Bee and enjoyed reading of the backgrounds of the spellers. I had been looking for Word Freak, about competitive Scrabble, and found this instead. Borrow this book!

Just finished this week is Barry Hughart's Bridge of Birds. Love, love, loved it. Had heard it was good and had wanted to read Rob's copy of it, but he didn't care for it and had gotten rid of it. But bless him, he re-purchased the book when I expressed my dismay. There are two more books continuing the adventures of Master Li Kao and Number Ten Ox and those are going on my wishlist.

I just started Inkheart last night and am enjoying it so far. Kind of wish Meggie would quit the attitude, but hey, she's only a kid. And she and her father show their love of books the way Rob and I do - with piles of them around the house. (Have I shared that our personal library has over 600 books? And it's that low only because we ruthlessly culled it down to the ones we love)

Mom? How's this one?
Can I see your license and proof of insurance?