I have finished "The Devil's Queen" by Jeanne Kalogridis and boy was it a fast read. Over four hundred pages of history, court intrigue, astrology, I couldn't put it down. For me not to know anything about Catherine De Medici I think I have a pretty good understanding of her after reading the book. What a powerful woman. What a determined woman. Wow! I highly recommend this book if you like historical fiction. If you haven't tried historical fiction....well your missing out.
Done reading, "Sweater Quest". Let the party begin. I was so happy to finish the book....I jumped for joy. It was just that hard to finish. Now, I stand by my previous post....this book was boring for me. Others may find it enjoyable, but not I. There are a lot of technical things about knitting, about the knitting community, and about "SHE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED". I guess that is what made it boring. The process wasn't all that bad. If she just wrote about that I'd probably would have enjoyed it. But, I guess the technical stuff was necessary though.
I did learn some things. That is a bright side.
Now, on to a historical fiction book, "The Devil's Queen" by Jeanne Kalogridis. So, far I am enjoying it immensely. There is something about historical fiction that is so soothing to me. The book is about Catherine De Medici. I have never really read about her. I have stayed with the Tudors up unitl now. I look forward to reading it every time I pick it up. So, I already know I am going to write a positive review on it. (Hopefully!)
Let me explain the headline....I have been reading "Sweater Quest" by Adrienne Martini and it is about her quest to finish "Mary Tudor". For me this is another slow read. I am only in July/August and I feel like its going to take the rest of this year for me to finish. For others this may be a great book...especially if you are into "She Who Must Not Be Named" designs. But, one look at that sweater made me want to vomit. I thought, "why would she want to knit that". The challenge. Cool, I'm all for a challenge. I took on socks and am now addicted after swearing they were too hard. I've knitted lace and made shawls....challenge is a good thing. But not this. It's not for me. I've told people it looked like someone drunk a faygo orange, grape, and red pop an threw up on the thing. Now, "She Who Must Not Be Named" has some other designs that I liked, but will not attempt even if SHE paid me because of her.
Seeing that I am still reading it (yes, I will not just put this down and concede defeat) I will put off actually giving a review. There are some good things in the book, but my picture of "She Who Must Not Be Named" makes it unlikely for me to put her in the class of EZ, Meg Swanson, Sally Melville, and the Yarn Harlot.
This is the third book in Sally Goldenbaum's "Seaside Mystery" collection. The crew is back to solve a murder of one of their neighbor's. It's nothing like being back on the Endicott's deck enjoying one of Ben's famous drinks. Or being in Izzy's shop sampling the delicious collection of yarns and Purl's meowing. Okay....I wasn't there, but with the imagery Ms. Goldenbaum provides it sure feels like I was. Like her past books, I have enjoyed reading this and couldn't believe how it ended. When I thought I had the culprit pegged......bang......it was someone I least expected. I highly recommend this for anyone who enjoys a good mystery. (Whether you knit or not.) Now, on to Maggie Sefton and her eighth book, "Skein of the Crime". Look for that review soon.
R.I.P MS. LENA HORNE
I just finished reading "Casting Off" by Nicole R. Dickson. At first I could not get into it. It wasn't the book.....I was just in a reading funk. After putting it down and getting back in the groove of things I pick it back up and boy am I happy I did. This is a very heart warming book. The way she describes Ireland and the people is beautiful. The storyline really teaches you about people and yourself. I cried towards the end. I am putting this on my favorites list and probably will re-read it soon. This is a must read f
or knitters who love to read and learn.
After you read the book you may want to make your own "gansey". I found the above "Inishturk" sweater patter at Lionbrand. It will be a challenge because I do not like seed stitch and this is double seed stitch, but I want an Irish gansey so I will bite the bullet and do it. I more than likely will use Vanna's Choice in Sapphire. I so love that color. The sweater would look gorgeous in that color.
About a week ago Mr. Patterson made the first 26 chapter of "The 9th Judgment" available to download on his website. This was a first I have ever heard of an author doing this. I immediately downloaded it and finally got a chance to read them Monday. After finishing the first 26 chapters I got my fix and decided to pre-order the book. The book finally came yesterday on its release date and I finished it late last night. I only put it down once. I really missed Lindsay, Yuki, Cindy, and Claire. I enjoyed the tv series before it was canceled after 1 season.
This book did not disappoint. It was definitely a page turner. Also a roller coaster ride of emotion. So if you are into the "Woman's Murder Club" or just into James Patterson....go get this book.
Yeah....I spent Saturday with the "Yarn Harlot" Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. Well, sort of...I attended her book signing at the Detroit Main Library. It was very fun and soothing. You heard me right....soothing. I say that because this was the first event I ever went to where everyone in the audience was knitting. There is something to be said about a bunch of people gathered together to listen to an author talk about knitting while you knit.
At one point I looked over at the guard who escorted her into the auditorium and I thought, "gee, he must be bored". Then I thought, "he must think we're all nuts". What did they think we all were going to do....attack her when she made her appearance. Is that why they gave her protection? LOL! She even joked about it. Like she was some "real" celebrity. Well, in the knitting world she is. Its funny how non-crocheters and non-knitters don't get it when you talk about "our celebrities". Also, how we can't go past a yarn shop or a yarn isle without entering. Then we get in there and molest the yarn. With no intention to buy, but must touch the yarny goodness. The addiction is bad and we all refuse to go to rehab!
A plus of the signing was her showing off her sweater she finished during the Ravelympics. It was beautiful. It was amazing. She got it done in 2 wks. That's insane considering that it's some fair isle involved. She so rocks!
People came from all over. I sat with two ladies from NY, Kathy and Sandi. They both were working on socks. There was even a marketplace before the signing. I bought two skeins of sock yarn and one clipboard with legal pad. No regrets. Boy did I have fun.
After anxiously waiting for the Olympics to start and feverishly trolling Ravelry for projects to finish and start....the withdrawal has begun. I only finished 3 out of 4 planned projects. I decided late that it would be better for me to rip down the top of Justina and redo it to fit a bigger bust size. Also, I made a simpler pair of socks for mom than "Mermaid's Lagoon". It just wasn't possible for me to finish it in time. I rather play safe than be sorry. (She's gonna get them this Friday for her b-day!)
Below are the"Ragg Hiker's" I did for mom. They're from the 2 socks at a time book. I hope she likes them. I like mine. They were finished on the 28th of Feb. before the closing ceremonies started. I was so happy to be done with them.
Below is Mara....not a real good pic, but hey I had to get it posted on the Finish line thread. The ribbing is at least 2 inches short, but it works for me because I am short. I am very pleased with how it turned out though. Making another would involve a great deal of thought.
Above is Mara that I plan on finishing during the Winter Olympics. I'm basically at the end just have to finish one more skein and move on to the ruffle part. At least I will get some use out of it before the weather officially breaks. (Seeing that the damn groundhog predicted 6 more weeks of winter.)
Here are the socks I want to challenge myself with. The challenge is to do 2 socks on one circ. I have never done it before. I just finished my 1st pair of socks doing the magic loop. Above is "Mermaid's Lagoon" from Knitty.com. These will be for my mom. I have 1 skein of Cherry Tree Hill superwash hand dyed in a lovely purple. Purple is my mom's fav color. Must please mom. Below is just a simple sock I will be doing out of Maxime Print by Filatura Di Crosa. Gotta love self patterning yarn.
All in all I should be a very happy Olympian when I cross the finishline. At least I hope so.
For the Ravelympics!!!!! I am so excited. The Winter Olympics start February 12th and I can't wait. I am participating in two events, WIP Dancing and Sock Hockey. I plan on finishing Mara and Justina by the end of the Olympics. My challenge is to do two socks on one circ. I have two socks I want to finish.....1 is for my mom and the other is just a simple sock pattern. I didn't want to overload myself.
Also, I am back in school. Luckily my classes aren't that involved where I will lose knitting/crochet time. This will allow my to get through the Olympics. I can't say that for this coming summer. I plan on taking math this summer and that is going to kill me. I hate math. I really suck at it. (Damn Algebra!)
My fiance gave me the great idea of planning a day cruise on the Detroit Princess this summer for the knit group I go to at City Knits and anyone else who would be interested. I've discussed it with some of the girls there and July would be a good month. Its still in the planning stages and I hope to give them the schedule and price list the lady provided me with from the ship. Hopefully, this thing gets up and rolling. It would be so much fun.
I so need to get some pics up of my recent projects. I hope to do this by next month. (I said "hope"....don't hold your breathe.)
With Lorna's Laces "Shepard's Worsted". I've worked with the chunky before, but never noticed the softness it has. At the time I was more focused on learning to do a cable than appreciating the yarn. The color is "Flames" and I chose this because it reminds me of my fraternity "Phi Delta Psi, Inc". The pattern is "Winter in Canada" and can be found here. I love how the colors are going. I just hope it looks nice when I finish it. I am doing the small version on sz. 8 needles. That is the only mod I have made. We will see how this plays out.
Seeing that winter is coming I have just been making new hats for myself. This is the "Valentin Cable" hat and can be found in the Fall 2009 Knitscene magazine. I loved it when I first saw it and had to have it. I used Cascade 220 in a light blue. This was a real easy pattern and can be done in a couple of hours.
Last but not least is my version of the "Vivonne Bay" hat. The pattern can be found here. I used what was left of the Cascade 220 light blue and added Shepard's Worsted in white for the decreasing of the crown and finished with the light blue for the last couple of rows. I think it worked out well. 
Now, if I can only finish up some UFO's before the end of the year I'd be in business.
