We interrupt this regularly scheduled knit-talk for a post about
BOOKS.
Every summer and winter break, I reenter the real world, look around, see a book, and remember how much I love reading. Fiction, nonfiction, mystery, sci-fi, history, language--*gasp*. I love them all.
The beauty of working in a library is that I can pick through a completely random assortment of books at will, but the downside is that I am terrible at giving patrons suggestions--unless they happen to be fantasy addicts, anglophiles, or nonfiction fans.
On the off chance that any of you fit into any of the above categories, here are a few suggestions, recommended on the strength that I have torn through them all in the past couple weeks and loved them all:
The books in the Artemis Fowl series are technically children's books, but Eoin Colfer has a brilliantly wicked sense of humor that appeals to older readers as much as ten-year-olds.
The Anglo Files is American journalist Sarah Lyall's attempt to get her head around some of the quirkier aspects of her adopted country's culture. Crazy as some of these things are, her observations are as affectionate as they are pointedly funny.
The Ghost Map is among that best new breed of nonfiction book, the interesting, readable breed. Ostensibly about the 1854 London Cholera Epidemic, it's also about epidemiology, the history of London, and the evolution of the modern city, and made my inner anthropologist very happy.
So tell me--what have you been reading?!
Showing posts with label Pattern Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pattern Books. Show all posts
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Thursday, July 3, 2008
It's the Heat
The other night, just as it was beginning to get dusky, Monita came in from taking out the garbage and remarked that it was pretty nice out. Our thermometer, parked deep in the shade of the back patio, read 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
That might explain why I chose now to do that scarf I wanted in February.
Specs--
Yarn: Mysterious, gray, from Quito. Light worsted, two ply, fiber content unknown (suspected synthetic)
Needles: Size 7
Pattern: Large Eyelet Diamond (#110) from the Vogue Stitchionary, slightly modified
Paired with a black tank, the diamonds take on an edgy, snakeskin vibe. I was going for classic, and am hoping the snakiness goes away when the scarf is paired with a nice, conservative pea coat. We'll have to wait to find out, though; I'm not so far gone that I'm actually going to put on a lined wool coat and a scarf just to see how they look together.
That might explain why I chose now to do that scarf I wanted in February.
Specs--
Yarn: Mysterious, gray, from Quito. Light worsted, two ply, fiber content unknown (suspected synthetic)
Needles: Size 7
Pattern: Large Eyelet Diamond (#110) from the Vogue Stitchionary, slightly modified
Paired with a black tank, the diamonds take on an edgy, snakeskin vibe. I was going for classic, and am hoping the snakiness goes away when the scarf is paired with a nice, conservative pea coat. We'll have to wait to find out, though; I'm not so far gone that I'm actually going to put on a lined wool coat and a scarf just to see how they look together.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Seeing Red
This weekend was a somewhat rocky one in project-dom. I attribute the trouble to my setting out to complete things. Why else would not one but two projects--in as many days--conspire against me?
First there was a recycled t-shirt project that I've been working on, literally, for months. It began as a little seam-sewing exercise and almost immediately transformed into a battle of wills between the sewing machine and me. The thread got stuck. I unstuck it and rethreaded the needle. The feeder ate the fabric. I tugged that out. The thread contrived to jam itself under the bobbin housing. I pulled everything out and started over.
And then the machine began to work a stretch stitch. Spontaneously. I don't know how it did that--I didn't even know this machine had a stretch stitch on it--but I couldn't get it to stop. End t-shirt project.
(Adding insult to injury is the fact that I was not outwitted by a professional-grade machine, or one with a redoubtable name like Husqvarna. It was an Elna Funstyler.)
Moving on, I thought I could make progress on some spinning.
This post on Brooklyntweed's blog had inspired me to give spinning another try. I had some red wool fiber from a Christmas felting project (note the unusual hue of red) in my stash, and so I started drafting.
That was the easy part. Spinning was something akin to pulling teeth. The yarn came out thicker than I've ever been able to spin, which is something, but it was completely unbalanced and flagrantly thick and thin. I'm sure there are myriad things that I did wrong, but I would like to note that the fiber was very low-grade fiber.
The project I had the most success with was the one I didn't actually start.
I received Clara Parkes' Book of Yarn for my birthday, and decided that snail mittens in gray and red (with black accents) were a must, particularly because it won't be cold enough to wear them for another 6 months at least, giving me plenty of time to circumnavigate the impediments that seem to be inherent in all my recent projects.
First there was a recycled t-shirt project that I've been working on, literally, for months. It began as a little seam-sewing exercise and almost immediately transformed into a battle of wills between the sewing machine and me. The thread got stuck. I unstuck it and rethreaded the needle. The feeder ate the fabric. I tugged that out. The thread contrived to jam itself under the bobbin housing. I pulled everything out and started over.
And then the machine began to work a stretch stitch. Spontaneously. I don't know how it did that--I didn't even know this machine had a stretch stitch on it--but I couldn't get it to stop. End t-shirt project.
(Adding insult to injury is the fact that I was not outwitted by a professional-grade machine, or one with a redoubtable name like Husqvarna. It was an Elna Funstyler.)
Moving on, I thought I could make progress on some spinning.
This post on Brooklyntweed's blog had inspired me to give spinning another try. I had some red wool fiber from a Christmas felting project (note the unusual hue of red) in my stash, and so I started drafting.
That was the easy part. Spinning was something akin to pulling teeth. The yarn came out thicker than I've ever been able to spin, which is something, but it was completely unbalanced and flagrantly thick and thin. I'm sure there are myriad things that I did wrong, but I would like to note that the fiber was very low-grade fiber.
The project I had the most success with was the one I didn't actually start.
I received Clara Parkes' Book of Yarn for my birthday, and decided that snail mittens in gray and red (with black accents) were a must, particularly because it won't be cold enough to wear them for another 6 months at least, giving me plenty of time to circumnavigate the impediments that seem to be inherent in all my recent projects.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
UFO Invasion!
Aaaaaahhhh!
AAAAaaaahhhhh!
AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
My UFOs are closing in on me.
#1, Suss's Fitted Ribbed Turtleneck--the cover project from Hollywood Knits --has been in progress for at least a year now.
#2 is a very sad little hat waiting to be finished. This project has a long story attached. My original plan was to make a hat that looked like an acorn with some greeny-brown handspun and a brown alpaca brim. The Wizard Hat, from Melanie Falick's Kids Knitting, already was quite acorny, so I thought I could easily modify that with a brim using the bramble pattern out of Stitchionary . Au contraire. The Wizard Hat pattern was a) sized for a child with a bubble head, and b) written in rows, not inches or millimeters, for a discontinued yarn of unknown row gauge. And I found these two things out at different times. Isn't that fun? Irate rant to follow. But for now, the sad little hat is sitting on the needles, looking like a turnip.
#3 is hogging all the attention from the ribbed turtleneck and the acorn hat. Behold: the Icarus Shawl. Mine is in the fabled Malabrigo, laceweight of course. I began this the first week of school and flew through the body, but now I am dragging oh...so...slowly through the fancy border. By all accounts, the lacy border is the fun part, the exciting part, the part knitters speed through the body to reach. Under normal circumstances, I'm sure I'd agree. HOWEVER, my current knitting time is also a class period, which means I knit some stitches, take notes, knit some more, then drop the knitting in my lap to work a problem. At most, I can get a row done, and it's sending me to despair.
Time to cut down on other recreational activities: some sleep is going to have to go. Keep your fingers crossed for a FO next post, and happy Knitting : )
AAAAaaaahhhhh!
AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
My UFOs are closing in on me.
#1, Suss's Fitted Ribbed Turtleneck--the cover project from Hollywood Knits --has been in progress for at least a year now.
#2 is a very sad little hat waiting to be finished. This project has a long story attached. My original plan was to make a hat that looked like an acorn with some greeny-brown handspun and a brown alpaca brim. The Wizard Hat, from Melanie Falick's Kids Knitting, already was quite acorny, so I thought I could easily modify that with a brim using the bramble pattern out of Stitchionary . Au contraire. The Wizard Hat pattern was a) sized for a child with a bubble head, and b) written in rows, not inches or millimeters, for a discontinued yarn of unknown row gauge. And I found these two things out at different times. Isn't that fun? Irate rant to follow. But for now, the sad little hat is sitting on the needles, looking like a turnip.
#3 is hogging all the attention from the ribbed turtleneck and the acorn hat. Behold: the Icarus Shawl. Mine is in the fabled Malabrigo, laceweight of course. I began this the first week of school and flew through the body, but now I am dragging oh...so...slowly through the fancy border. By all accounts, the lacy border is the fun part, the exciting part, the part knitters speed through the body to reach. Under normal circumstances, I'm sure I'd agree. HOWEVER, my current knitting time is also a class period, which means I knit some stitches, take notes, knit some more, then drop the knitting in my lap to work a problem. At most, I can get a row done, and it's sending me to despair.
Time to cut down on other recreational activities: some sleep is going to have to go. Keep your fingers crossed for a FO next post, and happy Knitting : )
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