Light reading

Jane Austen did needlework - just sayin'. I was thinking about this while deciding what to write about today, when all I've been doing lately is writing, and rereading Emma. 

Also, simultaneously, reading Little Dorrit! If you're only going to read one Dickens in your life, I recommend it, or otherwise Bleak House which is much greater in literary riches than one might guess from the title.

Things are very lush and green around here, as one might expect in June (how is it already June??), both indoors, in the form of the plant I've kept alive the longest, and its cutting, from when it got too big for its original pot...

and outdoors, in the form of a weed tree in our neighbour's yard that will probably knock our fence over if we let it get any more weight onto our side. 

I hate to trim this guy every year, because the birds and squirrels love running around on the branches in there, but I remind myself they also love running across the top of the fence.

Meanwhile, I'm writing a new manuscript while letting the last one cool its heels before another revision.

And not knitting, because I have only so much arm capacity still and am trying to focus my energies on typing and building some muscle, as one keeps hearing is essential for anybody over, like, twenty. 

I comfort myself with the thought that Jane Austen managed to write and do needlework too, though it wouldn't surprise me if her needleworkings were most energetic in the realm of Cool-Lookin Clothes which isn't such a pressure for me now as it was when I was, like, twenty. I must also temper the comfort with the knowledge that I am not Jane Austen.

Nonetheless, I'm confident I will get back there some day! Not to twenty, but to needleworkings and maybe even Cool-Lookin Clothes too. For now I hope you're here for my and whatever nonsense I decide is worth sharing, because if you're here for the crafty bits you may be disappointed and that would make me very sad. I do hate to disappoint!

In the absence of visually creative work I've been leaning into healthy breakfast tray art, using one of the Emma Bridgewater tray-shaped plates I picked up when we vacationed in England a few years ago. 

The trays are still sold, but in tin, if you want one too - mine are melamine, and my fave breakfast one is covered in images of chickens, slowly revealed as I work my way through greens, nuts, and fruit, in that order. Apparently dates are quite good for you and as it's Saturday, I included some today... normally I have them with tea in the mid-afternoon, paired with pecans, in lieu of cookies. I can recommend this treat as highly as I did the two Dickens titles above.  

I hope you've got a lovely weekend lined up? and that you get to do all the creative things you'd like to, over the course of the week. With luck we'll be having those things in tandem till I see you here again next Saturday. Thanks so much for spending this scrap of time with me!

 

 

 

Enjoying Elizabeth Zimmermann

Lately I've been reorganizing my bookshelves and enjoying the opportunity to browse through my copy of Elizabeth's Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac. 

Also, making a tiny amount of progress on the Halloween Christmas Socks. There's no way these'll make it to be my April Knit. Also, they don't really count because I started them so recently - the point of finishing a knit every month is to clear out all my lingering unfinished projects. On the other hand, I'm not really excited about them, which does take them well into 'lingering' territory doesn't it.

I don't know whether you've read Knitter's Almanac but it strikes me as a year's worth of blog posts from an expert in her field. It's so chatty and practical, without condescension. Just an assumption that anyone reading it is perfectly capable of the work required. And of course, she's right.

The other thing I admire is that there's no assumption that a sweater must be flattering on a human body that features a few bulges. The patterns are pure math, for the sole purpose of keeping the wearer warm. And to me, they look so cool! This one's my favourite, for the pattern:

But I'm also intrigued by the shoulders on the so-called Last Minute Sweater, which she pitches as possible to complete in December, for Christmas:

And I do love an Aran pattern:

I'm not likely to knit any of these sweaters anytime soon as my personal goals for this year are to finish two more manuscripts and read Bleak House, but they've been on my radar for a while and I'm going to give in someday. Maybe I should knit one for fun as a mathematical project, and not worry about how long it takes?

Now there's a slippery slope. I couldn't do any of them without adding to my yarn stash. It's probably best if I stick to my (sock) knitting and don't go getting ideas.

Hope you've got a lovely weekend lined up with or without Elizabeth Zimmermann. Thanks for spending some of it with me - hope to see you here next week!

Books and a birdbath

Even though I haven't designed a new pattern in ages, I still keep my beautiful collection of reference books on a shelf beside my favourite armchair. Let's look at some! And then I will tell you about our recent birdbath adventures.

The Field Guide to Knitting by Jackie Pawlowski is tops because it is compact enough to take to Knit Night, for instant perusal when somebody in the group is struggling to identify a stitch or come up with an alternative. I've never been called upon to do this, but it's nice to know it's possible. I used it a ton when I was looking up interesting patterns to fit into a set stitch count and pair nicely with something else.

I am frequently indebted to the hard work of Clara Parkes, both for The Knitter's Book of Yarn and The Knitter's Book of Wool. You don't always need to know how particular fibers behave, but it is useful if you are substituting something new for what a pattern recommends, or if you are designing something you want to function in a certain way. For example, acrylic yarn is essentially plastic and will have a tiny amount of give if you do ribbing, but otherwise, Not. Cotton has no elasticity so in theory it will behave like acrylic, but in practice, it will sag out. Neither is an ideal substitute for wool, unless you're very attentive to pattern size. (but don't get me started, heh)

Cast On, Bind Off by Leslie Ann Bestor is the only thing I ever received free in exchange for a promotion here at Hugs, and if I am never offered another, I would be well content. It is a must-have, in my opinion, and so thoughtfully produced with excellent photography and a spiral binding. 

One more book I especially enjoy is The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook, by Carol Ekarius and Deborah Robson.

This chunky book makes a great weight for straightening out bent pages or pressing flowers! But obviously its main value is as an excellent reference to everything one might use to knit or spin. For me, it was always a companion to Clara Parkes' books - the three are equally valuable - but it definitely stands alone, too.

Books have been on my mind lately, as I've finally sorted out a kind of life on Instagram - click through if you want to see how I'm curating photos between jaunts to other people's feeds. I'm settling into it as a place for my non-knitting interests, and have discovered soooo many great books to read, even as I am faintly astonished by the bookcases of people who read a lot. I mean, I feel like I read a lot, but it turns out I have nothing on true fans. If I was pressed to take a photo of a stack of hard copy novels with coordinating spines, I'm not sure I could come up with it, especially since I volunteered to switch to e-books so the other readers in my family would have shelf space. Meanwhile, there are reading people who have entire (full) bookshelves organized by colours that shift gradually to the next shade in the rainbow. 

(for the record: that would drive me crazy, because I want all my Jane Austens in one place and I my collection is not exclusively from Penguin. also, what happens when you buy a new book and it doesn't fit in its colour spread?)

Okay, let's talk bird baths! As in, we bought one. I had read a news article about how important it is to provide birds with water during heatwaves, which of course sent me down the rabbit hole of what was available and practical for our local bird community. We ended up with a glass bowl we can bring inside in winter, perched on a folding stand we can tuck away neatly when not in use. The fact that they're not attached makes it easy to dump out the water at the end of the day, so there's less risk of mosquitoes. 

 

But on this point, Pete and I have had some Discussion. He felt we could dump the water in the mornings, right before we refilled. I felt if we left a water bath out overnight, we'd attract the raccoons to our yard again after a few years without any denning in our garage. But Pete had a point about the birds getting up a lot earlier than we do, so we went with his preference.

We also put a couple of stones into the water. I'd read that smaller birds appreciate a perch, and also that cordoning off the solar-powered fountain accessory Pete really wanted to include would keep it from drifting to the side and spraying all the water out of the bowl. 

Well, it's been a couple of weeks now, and we haven't seen one single bird in our birdbath, whether we put in the fountain accessory or take it out. No squirrels either, and no insects lingering. It's like having a party and having nobody show up. Then one morning we came out to find one of the two stones hurled out onto the ground (you can see both of them there in the back, against one of our big grey planters). 

 

And that is why we dump the water at night. Because Pete doesn't want raccoons any more than I do. 

We have them now anyway, though. These three cubs were following their mom around the perimeter one evening last week. It's a terrible picture because I've been writing instead of washing the glass at our side door, but they're still pretty cute.

Especially when they're on top of, rather than inside, the sheds we bought to keep garbage secure from them.

Anyway, we may not have birds in our birdbath, but we do have a cute water feature in our garden, so that is something. And now I am heading out to enjoy it, because it's a lovely day and I am ready for a little break.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you next Saturday!

Time for a good book

This morning I had meetings scheduled with perfect-sized gaps in between for getting very specific things done.  So naturally, instead of doing any of them, I filled the gaps with book shopping.

In spite of all the other things going on, I am still trying to read endless books on my phone via Kindle, and still finding that endless boring tasks like checking newly-purchased light fixtures or sorting through a closet are bearable with an audiobook.  However, I've slowed down on those two things, because I found my stack of still-unread New Yorkers recently and have been working through those during mealtime.  You know that old saw, the family that eats together?  Well, in my house, there is no bonding over food.  You have to read during a meal because you're not going to get any conversation.... we converse all of the rest of the time here, news and observations pouring out of us and overlapping in countless interruptions I have given up trying to correct.  Meals have become a time for quiet repose.

As recently as a year ago I used to do this job on Sundays - hunting through Amazon and Audible looking for new books to consume with meals.  I'd spend maybe an hour, usually two, trying to find things that would prop me up or distract me or help me see things in a new way.  That's a pretty broad range of genres and writing styles but it's still hard work to find compelling stories that are well told.

Anyway, as I did it today, I considered the fact that many of my friends would be using this time to upgrade a manicure.  It was exactly that kind of maintenance event - personal upkeep, as I think of it.  I had a friend during my university years who dedicated one or two Friday nights a month to what she dubbed a P.U. night - manicure, facial, sewing buttons back on clothes, stuff like that.  I'd never considered this concept before, actually setting aside time for this sort of task and, in a way, celebrating it.  I've lost touch with this friend but she really had a gift for enjoying the smallest things in life, and I've carried that learning with me ever since, asking myself, What would Anne do?  So when I was looking for books today, naturally I thought of Anne.  What would Anne choose?

Anne would probably have chosen a few more cheery, uplifting books than I seem to have done, but that's kind of the point.  We can aspire to Anne-ness, but we can't all be Anne.  There is just one, and she got the job.

Anne had another lasting impact on me:  once, on my birthday, she gave me a box of cookies and a copy of The New Yorker and said it was time I started reading it regularly.  It was new to me but I saw immediately what she meant and as soon as I could afford it, I set up a regular subscription.  I thank Anne for my New Yorker supply every time I read one, especially when there's a piece on medical breakthroughs or neurology.  Good writing about health is one of my favourite things in life.  NOT something I would have predicted about myself, but true.

Lately I've been using my New Yorkers to gauge how busy I am.  If things are good, I'm finished the current copy within a couple of days of its arrival.  If things are bad, I've got a few issues piled up waiting, and I know I need to scale back on my schedule.  Right now I am starting into a new one with four in the wings.  Things are bad.  I definitely need to scale back.

At the end of my shopping adventures I realized I have now banked over 150 hours of audiobooks.  That's more than seven pairs of socks.  Or 19 days' worth of packing and unpacking.  Or 40 days of cleaning.

Probably I don't need to buy any more audiobooks for a while.

But that's also good news, isn't it?  Because the less time I spend shopping for books, the more time I have to knit!

New yarn, new book

First up: the pretty!

I do so love getting new yarn in the mail... I don't even care that I'm swimming in yarn that came in the mail.  Sock yarn is therapy and very necessary and it would be bad if I ran out - so this is one area where keeping Stuff is totally permissible.  Also, yummy colours!

This one is called 'Friends and Family', which makes an appropriate segue to my telling you about Omigosh, the book you have to listen to if you can.

I am late to the party for Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple - it seems to be pretty popular and widely read.  I've had my eye on it for a while and thought Eh, can I really handle a story about a mother with emotional problems and a teen daughter who is affected by them?  (answer: no.)

But eventually it came up as an audiobook, and I kind of liked the voice of the narrator who recorded it, so I decided to buy it in that form.  Even then, it lingered in my Audible app until I became desperate during the whole Throw Everything Out project we took on last week.  Then, when it was either that, or the terribly dated vintage murder mystery, or the story about the potato famine, or silence while I worked through all that dreck, I finally pressed play.

And - WOW.  I don't often love a book enough that I can't keep it in, and this is a biggie. I totally loved this book.

There are so many long monologues in it that could have been incredibly boring and instead made me laugh.  There are so many plot point setups that could have been obvious and were just so entertaining in the moment that they didn't look like setups, at all.  The main character is completely flawed, even potentially unlikable, and I absolutely loved her.  I learned so much about Antarctica.  I couldn't stand it when I realized the story was nearly over.

But the best surprise was the narrator, Kathleen Wilhoite.  She voices so many different characters so charmingly - a rare feat - and made dramatically funny scenes both dramatic and hilarious.  Any writer would be blessed to have her interpreting his or her words.  I couldn't get enough!  I might actually listen to the whole book again, this week, just to relive it.

Seriously, if you're looking for something to read, take a look at this one.

And either way - have a great day!

Giftable nonfiction even non-knitters will like

If you knit, then audiobooks are your friend.  But they, as well as the print books on which they are based, are friendly for everybody else too.  Especially those people you love, and suddenly realized you don't have time to knit for after all.  Ahem.

Tim Conway wrote an entertaining look at how a guy could break into comedy in the 1960s

It's not news that books make great gifts at this time of year but I noticed that the memoirs and historical nonfiction I've queued up into my audiobook wish list (or listened to recently) would suit an awful lot of people.  So today I'm sharing... just in case you're looking for good ideas or panicking generally about contingency plans.  Back to knitting tomorrow.

(note: all links to Amazon, but if you have access to a smaller bookstore and plan to pick up any of these titles, please do consider supporting it!)

As You Wish, by Cary Elwes: as one of the hordes who loved the film version of The Princess Bride, I could not wait to download the audiobook of the behind-the-scenes memoir.  But I'm sure the hardcover version is good too... even though it doesn't have the voices of so many other people involved in the production.  And after you've finished this book, you are totally going to watch the movie again, if only to see just how successfully Mr. Elwes pulled off a broken toe the day he didn't have time to see a doctor before filming.

I Must Say, by Martin Short: I can't see any reason not to buy the audio version of this book because MARTIN SHORT.  He is so much more than Ed Grimley. Though Ed Grimley is pretty good too.

If You Ask Me, by Betty White:  Again with the audio link because who doesn't want to listen to Betty White's voice?

I Remember Nothing, by Nora Ephron:  I haven't read any of Nora Ephron's books so I have nothing about her life to remember, but I loved her movies and know I'll really enjoy this book.


And on a more serious note:

Uncle Tungsten, by Oliver Sacks: it's hard not to be enthralled by the stories Oliver Sacks tells about neurological conditions and their treatment, and yes, I do realizie how implausible that sentence sounds!  He's a really good writer and makes all of these journeys very approachable and interesting.  And loving his other books as I do, I can't wait to hear about his own life.

Ghengis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, by Jack Weatherford: this book gets great reviews and covers a part of history that, speaking for myself, isn't one I come across too often.  I'm excited to learn more!

Citizens of London, by Lynne Olsen: this book also gets great reviews and looks at the birth of the partnership between Britain and the United States during WWII.  Perfect for anybody interested in that period, or in statesmanship, or war generally don't you think?


Oh!  And let's not forget today's cover book - Tim Conway's What's So Funny?  I read it as an e-book and it was a fun look at his life, what the comedy business was like in the 60s and 70s, and behind the scenes stuff from The Carol Burnett Show.  So enjoyable.

(if you think you'd like What's So Funny, don't miss Carol Burnett's own memoir This Time Together - she reads the audio version herself and if you grew up watching her show it's like visiting an old friend.)


Okay, go have a good day whether you spend it book shopping or not, and I'll see you tomorrow!

Crochet envy, and Binnie's new book

I don't remember whether I mentioned my friend Binnie, who lucky for me signed up for two of the same writing courses I did or we'd never have met, has a new book out this fall.  It's a novel inspired by the early vaudeville years of Buster Keaton, and to celebrate, a friend of hers who crochets decided to make her a Buster mascot.

Can you stand it?  You can see the full shot of him over at Binnie's blog, complete with bright red tie.  He's got a handkerchief sticking out of his back pocket, people.  And his hat and vest come off.  I seriously would not be able to write the next book, I'd be so distracted playing with Buster.

Meanwhile, a new book means a book launch, so I got to see Binnie again last week - she lives quite far from me so that doesn't happen much - first for coffee and then in a more populous setting for a reading and book shopping.

At the launch, before reading passages from the book, Binnie gave a talk about vaudeville in general and Buster Keaton specifically.  I've studied vaudeville and early Hollywood quite a bit myself but I hadn't heard the stories she shared, including one about The Cherry Sisters, billed more or less as the most terrible act EVER.  They sang... behind a mesh screen, the better to protect themselves from the rotten fruit and vegetables thrown at them by their adoring audience.  And they kept it up for ten years! The sisters, I mean.  Probably very few of the audience went following them around from one performance to another.

That's ironic knitting placement up there, by the way: you need two hands to read a trade paperback - but it's well worth it.

Obviously I'm biased, but I'm far from alone in saying I absolutely love Binnie's writing style.  Plus: you have got to love the cover.  A good cover means so much to a writer, to say nothing of a reader.  And though I wouldn't in general go on and on about the packaging, I have to tell you that this particular cover is not just hand printed on hand made paper using a custom-made woodblock.  For every single book that's sold.  (I'm not kidding.  Amazing printing is what Gaspereau Press is famous for.)  Nope, the paper that was chosen is tinted ever so slightly lilac, with deep purple/almost black print.  The inside pages are even more luxurious - cream coloured, lightly textured, substantial in your hand.

I mean, if you're going to read a real book, this is the way to go!

I can't think of a more delicious gift than a copy of this baby and some reading chocolates, can you?  Unless maybe there was a Buster doll thrown in, but I don't suppose Binnie's friend is likely to make me one, and I suspect it will be a very long time before I can crochet well enough to make one for myself.  Oh well: I can always give myself a pretty pair of handwarmers - gotta stay warm and cosy while you're curled up with a good book and a box of reading chocs, after all.

That's me for today - hope you're having a wonderful one and I will see you again tomorrow!

A fall reading list, for multitaskers

I always think of myself as quite a lazy person so it's taken me until recently to notice that in fact, my default mode is 'frantically productive'.  It's sort of like when you write a test and think OH NO, I've failed, and you find out later you got near-perfect marks. (or, horribly, when you think you've done very well and find out later: Not.)  Are you ever surprised by yourself?

Oh yay, another mix of solids and barberpole

The reason I've noticed is because of knitting.  And spinning and weaving and all that other stuff.  Machine sewing is complicated enough to hold my attention, but other yarn and fiber things - I just can't do them on their own.  I am absolutely driven to multitask, even with knitting needles in my hands.

Lately, I've been multitasking with books.  Aren't you lucky?  Because for today's post I've put together a whole long list of the books I enjoyed the most during all the projects I did over the summer, in both audio and print form.  Of course when I say 'print', I mean e-book, because I love how a book lies flat on my knee without the pages blowing over when I read it on my phone.

All links are to Amazon for convenience but please, (please!) do support your local bookstores if you can.  Scroll down for the non audio books, won't you?

Still can't quite believe I can spin my own yarn

Audiobooks

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett
This one is so famous - it's about a group of black housekeepers in the south who give interviews to a young white journalist about their jobs - that you didn't need me to give that summary just now.  The voice work is amazing and it is SO worth it to have the audiobook version.

The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green
In my house, the alternative title to this book is: The Cancer Kids.  (what are you listening to now, The Cancer Kids?)  Says it all really, all the pain and heartbreak and hope in one easy phrase.  Again: excellent voice performances, and no paper to weep over and turn to pulp.

American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
I got the anniversary edition of this book, which is voiced by a number of different performers, plus of course: Neil Gaiman.  As one says, he could read a cereal box and I would hang on every word, but this story is more complex and engaging than cereal box copy.  I hesitate a bit to include it in today's list as there were some scenes I found disturbing and that have stayed with me a bit unpleasantly (probably in part because I did have the audiobook and it's harder to skip neatly over disturbing bits with those) but use your judgement.

Bloodsucking Fiends, by Christopher Moore
I loved this book.  There is a lot of swearing and some sex and drugs so if that puts you off, be warned, but omigosh, the beauty of a really funny entry in the Vampire Book industry!  Also: the voice work is completely wonderful.  I can't get over what Susan Bennett pulls off for every character. 

You Suck, by Christopher Moore
The sequel to Bloodsucking Fiends.  In this new book, Moore apparently shifted his affections to a character who turned up halfway through the first, which happens to writers and is not something I would complain about except... I really, really loved the 'voice' of the original main character, and although she is present in this book, she is much less so, and her 'voice' changed.  Character-appropriate, but sad.  Still: I also loved the newer character, so Yay!

Bite Me, by Christopher Moore
The last in this Vampire trilogy, narrated by the same reader and equally entertaining.  These three books are my very favourite Christopher Moores, and I liked them much, much more even than the other ones I'd liked, and it may be hard to top them. (in fact it was impossible, when I tried his Shakespeare retellings after Bite Me ended.  I had to give up on those when I still wasn't hooked in after an hour's listening.)

Bird By Bird, by Anne Lamott
This is technically a book of writing advice and encouragement, but it is also wonderful, and read so beautifully, and quite funny where it's not just plain moving or relate-able.  I think it's a terrific companionship read for anyone.

About a Boy, by Nick Hornby (sorry the link doesn't work as I press publish, but you can Search it)
This book is, as you will know if you are a movie-goer, about a boy who attaches himself to a confirmed bachelor and more or less turns both their lives in unexpected directions.  The book's ending is a lot less cleanly Hollywood than in the film, in a good way, and I liked all the stuff leading up to it too.  It's very well read and, I thought, just a good story... I was sorry when it ended.

The Girl You Left Behind, by JoJo Moyes
This one is set half in WWI, and half in present day England, and relates to a painting of the main character from the earlier story which comes to be called The Girl You Left Behind.  It's extremely well read and I was completely engaged in the story throughout.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, by Fannie Flagg
You may also have seen the movie version of this book, which is essentially about the residents of a very small whistle-stop town in the South established near a train line and set in the earlier half of the 20th century, as revealed in parts by other characters in the 1980s.  Again: so well read, and so well written.

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax, by Dorothy Gilman
Okay, this is the first of a series of books that were written from the 1960s onward, about a widowed housewife with grown children who is bored with her life and decides to realize a long-ago dream of offering her services to the FBI as a spy.  It is, obviously, quite funny.  And Mrs. Pollifax is incredibly resourceful.  I don't know why I never came across these books in print form but I am so glad to have found the audio versions because they are, again - so well read.

The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax, by Dorothy Gilman
The second in the series.  I won't even tell you the plots because they're all the same basic idea, and all interesting.

The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax, by Dorothy Gilman
The third book.  I am trying hard to pace this series out with other books in between, but they are just so fantastic to spin or weave or tidy up by - completely easy to listen to, no messy emotional surges or bits producing helpless laughter.  Just a good solid story you can enjoy for the duration.

This Time Together, by Carol Burnett
Even if you didn't watch the Carol Burnett Show (and if you didn't, you should check out some of the skits on YouTube) you can enjoy Carol's memoir about her comedy career.  For my part, I found it so, so pleasant to hear this woman, whose show brought my whole family together for a truly enjoyable hour every week, telling me behind-the-scenes stories of that time.  Some of them are really cripplingly funny, just so you're warned.

It would probably disappoint me to take a bite out of this yarn, but it looks so delicious...

Books that may be available in Audiobook form, but which I chose to read by myself

Bellweather Rhapsody, by Kate Racculia
Sort of a murder mystery, but not at all gory or dour, set amongst young music students at a festival in a big old resort hotel with an ominous swimming pool on an upper floor.  (read it, you'll see what I mean.)

All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr
A tale of WWII, told from the perspective of three different players, one of them rather nasty and single minded but still relate-to-able.  FABulous writing.

A Girl Named Zippy, by Haven Kimmel
A super entertaining, often very funny memoir about a little girl growing up in unusual circumstances, from the mid to late 60s and into the 70s.

She Got Up Off The Couch, by Haven Kimmel
The sequel to A Girl Named Zippy, telling what happened to Zippy's perpetually reading and knitting mother when, at long last... she got up off the couch.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, by Mary Anne Shaffer and Annie Barrows
A story of how the German occupation during WWII affected the residents of Guernsey, as told through letters to and from a fictional journalist in London.  The characters are very likeable and it's often funny, but doesn't entirely skirt the bad stuff, so you do feel you're getting history as well as companionship. (incidentally, the backstory to this book breaks my heart... like me, Mary Ann had wanted so much, and for much of her life, to publish a novel - but she got sick after this one was accepted, needed help from her niece to complete the edits, and died before it was a huge success.  Can. You. Imagine.)

What Alice Forgot, by Liane Moriarty
I suppose one might write this off as Chick Lit or even a Beach Read, but honestly I am in awe of the writing here.  In hindsight, I can tick off every box of the How To Hook A Reader checklist, but in the moment, I couldn't stop turning the pages.   And really, the checklist is so very well concealed in fluid, vibrant writing. Oh, and the plot is interesting: a woman gets amnesia and is very surprised to learn she's no longer expecting one but in fact has three children and is in the process of divorcing the husband she adores.  (if you get a copy, don't start this book at bedtime.  trust me.)

The Husband's Secret, by Liane Moriarty
All the same stuff I said about What Alice Forgot, plus plot: different mothers with children at the same primary school are affected by one husband's secret.  Which is a terrible secret, obviously, but not held off on for so long that you're rolling your eyes waiting for the big reveal.

Call The Midwife, by Jennifer Worth
This is the memoir that led to the TV series, about postwar midwifery in a poor section of London.  It is fantastically well-written, and so eye-opening, and in some parts quite heartbreaking while absolutely hilarious in others.  I am a bit afraid to read the other two follow-ups because they apparently have some very sad bits, but I did love this one so I will probably get the others to fill in between other reads.


Whew.

Think this is enough for you to get on with and fuel your gift knitting in the next few months?  Hope so!  and don't hesitate to recommend your own favourites in the Comments - I'm always looking for the next good book.  Have a great weekend and I'll see you again on Monday!

Christmas is for reading (or, Kindle vs. paper)

Boxing Day is a huge day for me, much more splendid than my birthday or any other nice day in the year, because it is
my day off.

On Boxing Day, I don't do anything I don't feel like doing, no matter how hard it is to resist taking care of a few little chores so as to make the next day a little less full of them.  Nope: this one day of the year is for me, to spend curled up with a blanket, some sweets, and a book or, if necessary, some crafty thing that is 123% fun and not a bit for getting done by any particular deadline.

Okay, I did break down to wash some dishes and pay some bills and do some urgent spinning - more on the spinning part tomorrow - but this year was mostly about the books:

and as you can see, I had to face down a tough comparison between electronic reading versus the traditional and cosy paper-based version I've known and loved all these years.

Here is my feeling about e-readers: they are not books.

But they do take up rather a lot less space than books, and I live in a very small house with bookshelves already overfull.  Plus: I am not likely to stop reading or wanting books anytime soon, if I haven't done so by this time.  So e-readers are a logical thing to get excited about, even though as I say: they are not books.

It wasn't easy for me to choose to buy an e-reader at all, let alone to choose which, but in the end I decided the significant cost savings associated with a locally-available Kobo reader were, for me, nothing compared to the very long battery life associated with a more expensive, less Canadian public library-friendly Kindle.  So that's what I went with.

I was getting over the fact that it is weird to read a book without page numbers or a title up in the corner of the 'page'... and then Christmas came and I could let myself open a present from my genius cousin who always finds the very best books for me:

which reminded me why a paper book is just so much better in every way but real estate (and tree) consumption.  The cover of this book - well, you can see the painting.  But you can't feel the softness of the finish, the weight of the paper, the tactile delight it brings to the gorgeousness of the writing itself.

(Good Evening, Mrs. Craven, by Mollie Panter-Downes, is an anthology of short stories written in England during World War II on the quiet but powerful stresses in civilian life.)

Of course there are some things you would never want to peruse on a Kindle (though a tablet is another story) if you could have them on paper, regardless of the shelf-space they might command.  Things like a spiral-bound instruction manual for interesting weaving techniques:

I haven't tried any of the ideas yet, of course, but it's very satisfying just to look through the pictures and read the directions, all so approachable and inspiring.  (The Weaver's Idea Book: Creative Cloth on a Rigid Heddle Loom, by Jane Patrick.)

Or a heavily-illustrated book like Wildwood, by Colin Meloy with lovely drawings by Carson Ellis:

(I've wanted to read this book for a long time and am feeling a child-like delight in being on page 410 of 538, in spite of all the other things I did yesterday too.)

And really the whole point of a book like Russian Textiles is to drool over the sleek, thick pages printed with breathtaking colour and designs in between long passages on the history of it all.

Still: I do see the point of a Kindle too, now that I have one.  It means I can read a novel anywhere I remember to bring it along with me, without much extra bulk or weight in my bag.  And if the one I'm reading proves too much for the moment, I can switch to something else.

On my Kindle, ready for whenever I might need them:
John McPhee's Annals of the Former World
Neil Gaiman's Coraline
Neil Gaiman's The Anansi Boys
Mark Helprin's Winter's Tale
Mark Helprin's A Soldier of the Great War

(and soon to be added: Kathleen Taylor's The Nut Hut.  So excited for Kathi to have this available after so long!)

Yep: Christmas is definitely for reading, and in that respect, the magazine Lannie gave me got it absolutely right:

It's a perfect Christmas.

Hope you're having a good week too and I'll see you again tomorrow!

On the porch

Sunday had a few hours of perfection in it, most of them spent on the front porch.  Sitting in a comfy chair at the far corner and looking up, I get to look at this:

and if I crane my neck out further, I see this:

I love my tree.  Especially on a day like that - sunny sometimes, cloudy others, the temperature just cool enough to need sleeves, a gentle breeze, tons of blossoms sending their scent along the air currents. Reminds me so much of the good things about camping out sans bugs, sunburn, and soaked clothes.

I decided to park myself there for as long as possible to enjoy it, leaving only to get another cup of tea.  There was some knitting of the sleep cap for my friend who's about to do chemo, and also some reading of a book my aunt loaned me.

Have you heard about Nella Last's War and/or this book, Nella Last's Peace?  They are nonfiction - diary excerpts written by an English woman for a government initiative to record what life was actually like for its citizens.  Essentially the books capture the social history of small-town England during WWII and afterward, since she not only recorded her own days but the moods of the people around her.

They're also about Nella, though, and that alone is fascinating.  The first diary was dramatized for television - depressing at first as she begins her observations as a nervous, timid person, then uplifting as she finds her footing as (ultimately) a huge local contributor to the war effort.  She is an excellent home manager too and I feel, reading her notes about what food she could find amid the rations and coupons and how she prepared it to be as comforting as possible, that I wish I could take a class from her on the subject.

At one point yesterday as I was about to put the book down for my own knitting, I came across a mention of her young friend and neighbour Margaret trying unsuccessfully to source some scraps of grey yarn to use in a Fair Isle sweater; Nella had none, but kindly dug out one of her own old sweaters, a green one, for Margaret to unravel and reknit. She noted that she felt sorry for these young people with busy fingers, not being able to find materials to work with.  I think I would have loved having Nella Last for a friend, don't you?

I see there is a further book of her thoughts during the 1950s... must hunt that up for some summer reading.

In spite of the distraction I finished the sleep cap before supper.  Yay! And it's gorgeous.  It's just not a good sleep cap; the super easy yet effective brim is too bumpy to be comfortable in lying down.  So... it seems I've designed a new chemo cloche to share once I've gone over the pattern again, and also that I've got to get to work on something more suitable for sleeping in.

Happy Monday to you!

New books

As if by magic (magic not at all related to flipping through Interweave Knits' Spring 2011 issue with friends and saying 'ooo, I like the look of this book, or that one') I received two knitting books for my birthday last week.

I mentioned A Knitting Wrapsody a while back so I won't talk more about it here except to say that on further inspection I have switched my allegiance to the project on the cover.  I suspect it would be decidedly unflattering on me, but fun to knit, and a very good gift for somebody else at some point.

The second book is by Debbie Bliss, about her design process. 

I wouldn't go so far as to call it a design instruction book, though there is a lot of hard material about what sleeve shapes to choose when and why and so on, plus some patterns that illustrate the point.  It's mostly just a very interesting read about how she approaches a new idea and how she feels about her work.  Love it. 

Also love: a bobbly cabled super shapely pullover whose pattern is included.  This is not a project I have time for in my current life, but I love looking at it and remembering the earlier life in which I was in shape for this style and also had scads of time to knit whatever I liked.

(We'll just leave aside the fact that I somehow manage to knit even more now than I did then, since it involves ignoring things like cleaning.  Which, now that I think of it, was also true at that time.)

Reliving the 80s

The 80s were cheesy in many ways, but you had to appreciate the simplicity of the fashion. Pretty much clear through that decade you could do Big Everything, or you could do Vintage Everything (with big hair.)

I personally preferred vintage - this was a time when older people were shedding 50s party dresses and giant twirly skirts to charity shops that sold them for a buck or two apiece, which even the teenaged me could afford - and when I wasn't taking in the seams on a dress I was sewing up vintage patterns I found in the same shops. I have particularly vivid memories of the way dart construction set a 60s blouse apart from the 50s equivalent.

(incidentally, both versions were seriously high in the armpits. I honestly don't know how people moved around back in the day - what price long-waistedness, to the max.)

It was in the 80s that I learned to knit, too, and while I eyed vintage knitting patterns I'd learned my lesson from the armpit experience and focused on the other end of the current fashion spectrum. By which I mean big shapeless sweaters you didn't need to knit a gauge swatch for. Yay!

So you can imagine how intrigued I was when Vogue started putting out books like this one...

...books that promised to take those vintage patterns and update them for contemporary use. Made for me. Except, you know, for being priced out of the reach of a girl working two jobs to pay off her student loans, which is why it was particularly fun to have this very book come into my possession along with the destashed yarn I mentioned last week.

After all these years, I still love love love the vintage look:

and was therefore bewildered by the 80s update of same:

Shall we have that again? Before:


... and after:

Yes. I am shaking my head. The updated versions lost all the punch, which is not so much what I remember about 10 years that produced giant pants and giant shoulder pads and giant hair all designed to allow a girl (and also, Joan Collins) to dominate the visual landscape. I guess there was a season or two of a more relaxed, natural look that I either missed entirely or found forgettable.

There was a punch moment, though. Look!

Yep, that's Andie McDowell, who I'd forgotten modeled for Vogue before she started into movies. It was pleasantly nostalgic to keep running into Four Weddings And A Funeral-esque pictures of her throughout the book, though I don't know why it surprised me to see her. Her picture is, after all, on the back cover.

Think this sort of thing is what started me off on the hat obsession?