A New Hampshire Knitter

I am a fan of historical fiction. All time periods, although I find that if it's a time period I know "too much" about, I have a hard time enjoying the book because of the inaccuracies. However, I greatly enjoyed Sarah's Key , written by Tatiana de Rosnay. It was two stories in one- the story of 10 year old Sarah, a Jew living in 1942 Paris, and the story of an American journalist named Julia, who is determined to bring Sarah's story back to life. I don't normally enjoy books written in this format. I find it distracting, for both the reader and the author. But this book was superbly done. There are so many things I want to say about this book, but I won't for risk of spoiling the ending.

The Catholics group on Ravelry held a mystery knitalong in January. I decided to participate, but as usual, the finishing took longer than expected. I used Dream in Color, colorway Into the Mystic that I've had in stash for a few years. (Originally destined to be a February Lady Sweater, it ended up becoming a Saroyan , a Bittersweet Cowl , an experiment in dyeing, and now this. I still have a skein and a half left. Don't know what I'll do with them yet.) I also selected buttons that came in a multipack bag I bought at a Big Box Store. The actual knitting took a night or two (or, would have had I had all the directions.) The finishing... not so much. It took over two weeks, probably closer to three to finally pin it out, then I left it on the blocking mat another week or so. It came off the blocking mat five days ago, and finally sewed the buttons on today. (I must confess, the only reason I took it off the mat was to block the shawl I discussed in my last post.) ...

I'm sorry for being quiet lately- life has gotten a bit crazy. I haven't given up knitting though- that's probably why I'm still mostly sane. I have gotten a lot done in the past several weeks. But right now, I can't remember much, except for the fact that I have completed my first quilt, and I am currently wearing a shawl. I never thought I would, thought it wasn't me, even though I find them quite gorgeous, especially the lacy ones. But I was in need of a hug one day and my best friend was busy dealing with a family crises (she gives the BEST hugs- the kind you still feel in your ribs three days later) so I cast on a shawl. I decided on the Simple Yet Effective Shawl , using scraps of Patons Classic Wool. My camera is on the fritz right now (maybe when Uncle Sam mails me my tax return I'll buy a new one. Yes, I have my tax return spent six ways to Sunday, how'd you guess?) so this is the best photo I can come up with: The colored yarn was dyed by ...

I know two little girls who are going to find surprises in the mail at some point soon... I have two cousins (actually, I have more than two cousins, but for the sake of this post, I have two cousins), Michelle and Jen. Each have one daughter. I knit each daughter a sock monkey in their favorite color. The pink one is going to Texas, while the purple one is staying here in New Hampshire. I just have to get their addresses from my aunt (their grandmother) and these two babies will be on their way!

I had hoped to be writing to announce that I had completed my mitred square afghan, or my slipper socks, or any of my pairs of mittens, but alas, I am writing not of knitting, but of a book I'm reading. A lot of us listen to audiobooks while knitting, and household chores,  and I am no different. (In fact, I fully admit to listening to audiobooks while at work.) Currently, I am reading Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America , which is actually quite good. I bought it using a credit from Audible , and I had thought it would be mostly of President Nixon and his presidency, and Vietnam. However, it's quite the opposite. The book starts off with Nixon's background, and rise to the White house, and then shifts to focus mostly of the chaos in American society. I am not quite done yet, I still have approximately 12 hours left, and I believe I will enjoy every minute of those 12 hours.

I'm not much into New Years Resolutions, but I saw a link on facebook which made me laugh out loud. (Which probably wouldn't have been so bad, if I wasn't at work at the time.)   20 New Years Resolutions for 20 somethings. Number 19 was particularly resonant with me. "Crap or get off the pot." It's something we say in my family a lot (although our version isn't quite so family friendly.) I finally scored a "grown up" job last September. It's only part time, but between my two jobs I have a full time job. I decided on March, because it would give me time to save up a bit. Well... March is coming up fast. And I'm a procrastinator.  But I'm not going to become the woman I want to be if I allow fear to take over. I can't grow, and convince myself, never mind anyone else that I'm an adult if I allow the unknown to paralyze me. Becoming more adult-like is one of my goals for 2012. So is losing 40 pounds... and having chocola...

... for he brings me goodies. I just want to start this off by saying- I had the cash in my hand, I was upset, and I had a little alcohol in me. What's a girl to do in that situation? Why, go yarn shopping, of course. I placed two orders, one for the Loopy Ewe, and one with Knitpicks. I got several yummies from the Loopy Ewe- most notably my first ever skein of Madelintosh and an absolutely scrumptious skein of Alpaca with a Twist Baby Twist. My Knitpicks order contained more "toys" than yarn- although I did throw in yarn for two shawls and a cowl. One of those toys was... A key chain sock blocker sock! I had received the yarn in a mini skein yarn swap, and I cast on only a few hours ago- definitely the quickest sock I've ever knit! Although I have some problems with the way the pattern is written, I am definitely happy with it- and can't wait to make some more.