Books on the Nightstand Bingo

One of my favourite podcasts is Books on the Nightstand. I really enjoy the style of the podcast, and find the two presenters both intelligent and entertaining. Then there's the part where I have had any number of excellent book recommendations from them. I think the biggest success has been The Martian by Andy Weir  (episode 267, back in February) recommendations for which have cascaded from me to friends and family, and their friends and family. Seriously, go and read it. Even if you normally would not read science fiction.

A couple of episodes ago (I am horribly behind, and only heard it last week), they announced Beach Blanket Book Bingo as a way of doing some interesting summer reading. Well, I have no beach holidays planned (sadly no holiday of any kind, actually!), but I do have some time off work coming my way, and some reading would be an excellent thing.

As a child I read. Always. Except when I was writing. Somewhere in the midst of educating myself and working to pay the bills, the time and inclination I have for reading has diminished. I still love it though, and am always keen to read when a good opportunity arises. So I was rather enthusiastic about this book bingo idea, and I have decided to follow it on my blog. Apparently the plan is that this bingo game should end on Labor Day. When is that, you may ask? I had no idea, but the all-knowing Google tells me it is the first of September this year. Which is a reasonable time, but not adequate for being too ambitious.

So, I acquired myself a bingo card from here. They change each time you hit refresh, so I hit refresh, and then print. In line with not being too ambitious, I have decided to go for one of two rows. Either a vertical row featuring

1. By an author of a different gender
2. Translation
3. A novella
4. Published before 1970
5. A play

or a diagonal linewith a free square featuring:

1. Currently on the bestseller list
2. Translation
3. Historical Fiction
4. With only words on the cover

As you can see, the common theme is translation. I have two books on the shelf I have been meaning to read for ages which are both translations: Penguin Lost by Andrey Kurkov and The Dinner by Herman Koch. The latter was something I heard about on a podcast somewhere and Penguin Lost is a sequel to Death and the Penguin, which is a book I absolutely loved.

Given that, I think Penguin Lost will be my translation book, and then I will take the rest of the bingo card from there.

Knitting Photos

A couple of posts ago, I promised photos. Well, due to the extreme busy-ness of life, I do not have all the photos, but I can show you some.

First, here is my lovely Ebbtide-ish shawl. As I mentioned, the edging and I had some issues, and I am afraid to say that I abandoned the edging in a fit of pique. However, the resulting shawl is beautiful, and I am very happy with it! The yarn in this case, was received from a very kind swap partner. It is Yarn Hollow Elemental in "Winter Lake", and I really love it! It appears to be discontinued, but if it was not, I would suggest giving it a look wherever you came across it.

I also have finished the most beautiful bright pink shawl. It is the third time I have knitted Ysolda Teague's Ishbel shawl, and I love it. I have to say that I found myself doing some stitch-count fudging along the way, and I assume that is me rather than the pattern as the pattern has been out so long I'm sure any initial kinks have been resolved. The fudging was frustrating, but on the whole the knit was really enjoyable, and the resulting shawl is a feat of deliciousness, and I have no idea where I can possibly wear it! Once the "new car syndrome" has worn off, perhaps I can just wear it on an ordinary day.

 The yarn, as I think I mentioned in a previous post is Yarn Yard Comiston. I would definitely use this yarn again. It is a lovely wool/silk blend and stands up well to frogging. Ask me how I know... Sadly there is none in the online shop right now, but I hope that there will be in due course, so that I can buy some more!

On Being Human

Despite the increasing warmth of the weather, I have been knitting a hat. A woolly hat. I have good reasons for this, I promise! Mainly that I needed a small and quick project that was not socks. My sock to foot ratio has reached the realms of the ridiculous and so I am trying to knit other things. Granted I will have no immediate need for a woolly hat, but it is unlikely to go off, and should still be usable by winter.

This particular hat is one that I knitted a while ago in its infant version, and I loved it so much that I have wanted to knit one for myself ever since. The hat is called "Gather" and it is a Tin Can Knits pattern. It has a kind of faux-cable honeycomb thing going on, and is incredibly cute.

So far, so good. I hunted down some yarn - some 100% merino yarn from Katia in lilac that I had left over from a jumper I knitted a few years ago. I cast on, and promptly fell at the first hurdle. There was a needle size change that I completely missed. Never mind, I thought, it is a stretchy yarn, it will be fine.

Remember those words. "It will be fine".

On I knitted.

Last evening, I reached the crown decreases and was feeling very pleased with my speedy knitting skills. Then, that moment. The one with the sinking heart; rising frustration; and sense of desperation. That moment where you realise that it will not be fine. That moment where you have to choose. You can fling the project across the room to find six months later in a dusty heap under the sofa; you can be a mature grown up about it; or you can laugh. This time I chose to laugh. Then I decided to be a mature grown up and frogged it then and there.

You see, I did not have a cute honeycomb hat at all. I had a weird columned hat. I had completely ignored the directions for one of the rows and simply replicated one of the previous rows. It was spectacularly done, in its way.

However! Onwards and upwards I knit, hoping eventually to have a hat that is cute, honeycomb-y, and ready before winter comes...

Let's Talk About Knitting

I have not talked about knitting in a while, but I assure you, it is still happening. There is rather less intensity around it, so projects are moving much more slowly, but they are there.

I have a number of projects finished, I just need to sort blocking and photography:

1. My handbag knitting, a pair if bright blue and pink socks. The yarn is from the Regia Fluormania range, which I am basically collecting. The socks are in a six by two rib and feature my first attempts at the fish lips kiss heel. Which I like and will try to talk about more another time.

2. A brightly pink Ishbel shawl. The yarn is Yarn Yard Comiston and it is, well, pink. Very pink. It is currently soaking prior to blocking.

3. A lovely watery green Ebbtide shawl that is not an Ebbtide shawl because I quarrelled with the edging pattern and abandoned it.

4. A multicoloured Shinkan-zen shawl that is currently blocking on the spare bed.

I will do a photo post later once everything is blocked and photographed, and in the meantime I am plotting future knitting! I will talk about that later too...

Further Adventures in Sewing

Today I have put on an early morning load of washing. Why? The fabric for my t-shirt has arrived, and before I can start cutting and sewing, I need to pre-wash the fabric.

I do this in the vain hope that today will be sunny, as promised, and then tomorrow, when we expect rain, I can get on with the project.

I am very hopeful about the effect of pre-washing. So many times I buy clothes that then shrink, usually in length and so no longer have the fit I chose in the shop. I assume those fabrics are pre-washed, but sometimes I cannot help but wonder! In this case, however, I know the fabric has been pre-washed, and hopefully, therefore, my t-shirt will fit!

I really am excited!

Gardeny Goodness

In autumn last year, we moved house, and now we have a garden. A nice one. In the past we had either no garden or 75 acres of lawn (possibly a slight exaggeration...) that was a nightmare to mow and led to extreme garden avoidance. Our current home came with a small and manageable mature garden.

As this is our first summer with this garden there is a lot that is mysterious. Plants and flowers keep popping up that we did not know we had. Many of which we have no idea what they are. We decided just to let the garden be this summer, to find out what we have and then think about changes. One thing the garden includes is a lavender bush. This bush is terribly overgrown and has no scent, but it is lovely and purple and attracts all the neighbourhood bees. I love this!

Actually, one of my favourite things to do on a weekend morning is to take to dog outside (who is a sun-dog and likes to lie on warm flagstones enjoying the sunshine), sit on the patio with a cup of tea or my breakfast and watch the bees do their nectar gathering thing; ants run about; spiders on the hunt; birds and butterflies flapping about... It is just so peaceful and lovely, and not something I ever really had the opportunity to do before. It is terribly grown up, but I think enjoying your own garden is one of he nicer sides of being a grow up.

Weaving

Last autumn I bought myself a rigid heddle loom. It is a 15" Schacht Flip loom. I am still very much a weaving beginner, and my progress is slow and wobbly edged. So far I have made a scarf with very different fabric densities at each end and a set of facecloths.

The facecloths are my most recent project, and what I am here to talk about today. They are made from some of the cotton yarns I bought at various points, thinking I would knit such-and-such or crochet this thingamajig (after I learn how to crochet, of course!), but never did.

They are quite small, but large enough, and I have left them fringed because I have not yet learned how to finish them any other way. Give me time!

The yarns are some Debbie Bliss Cathay I bought because it was on sale, which I used for the warp. The weft yarns are some natural coloured mystery cotton, and some orange Rico Creative Cotton Aran. One of the cloths is plain weave and the other two both use a pick-up stick pattern.

I am so proud of them, and I really love them!