I just couldn't take anymore...

Of this book, that is. I have a hard time not finishing a book once I've started, and this one was intriguing in certain aspects but I started to feel that there was some stupid gimmick that would be revealed in the end. Hated the characters. I don't really know why I picked it out from the library because the other book I read by the author Jennifer Egan, Look at Me, was pretty awful as well. I think I gave myself permission to quit because I didn't want to haul the thing to Hawaii. I need to stop thinking I have to finish reading what I start (it's not like I'm that way in other aspects of my life, sadly). Anyway, I picked out Blowing My Cover, My Life as a C.I.A. Spy, by Lindsay Moran and started it on the bus this morning and it looks light and fluffy, just what I need right now.

I ripped out my work on Ariann - I did the first buttonhole too soon. I could have fixed it by just spacing the other buttons differently, but I really don't want to have to figure out how to do that. I love the pattern and I love the yarn. I'm a little unsure how the sleeves will attach but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I want to bring it with me on the plane - the TSA guidelines recommend bamboo circular needles, but it's still up to the screener. I hope I don't look too threatening with my little knitting project. I'm actually quite annoyed about it. I'll bring the envelope to mail the needles back if need be. Sheesh.

I cannot wait for Hawaii! Four more days... Not that I'm counting or anything.

Progress

I finished all the blocking for the Princess pulli - the fabric is so incredibly soft and wonderful. I'll definitely be using the yarn again. And I am almost finished with the zipper for Ribby. Now that it's spring I have two nice new winter sweaters. I did not plan this well at all. At least my Ariann will probably be finished in time for fall '08.

I broke down and got a subscription to Interweave Knits. I'm looking forward to it. I barely read the Self magazine that I subscribe to and I end up buying IK at the grocery store anyway.

I am loving the book that I'm reading, it's Baker Towers by Jennifer Haigh. She wrote Mrs. Kimble which I read a few years ago and really enjoyed. I could actually concentrate on it while I was on the train this morning, which is rare.

Tonight is the last Lizard Ridge class. I finished a square and it looks pretty good. It's weird how the colors come together. There are mistakes - a couple of wraps that I didn't hide, and the night before last when I was working on it I got off track when I was counting, but it isn't apparent. I don't think I'll re-knit it. Hopefully I'll get better at recognizing the wrapped stitches when I'm on a purl side. Julie re-wrote the pattern to show exactly where to hide the wrapped stitches - I got a little careless towards the end.

Woo hoo

Lizard Ridge was making me c.r.a.z.y this morning - the yarn was a snarled mess and I could not figure out how to hide the short rows. I checked my books (The Knitting Answer Book had a terrible explanation unfortunately, but is otherwise a terrific little book; KnittingHelp.com was useful) and was finally able to remember what the instructor had said to best do them. Anyway, once I figured it out I was able to cruise. I love it when I finally figure something out.

Went to the library and got a bunch of books on Hawaii, and One Mississippi by Mark Childress and A Whistling Woman by A.S. Byatt. Add those to the ever-expanding queue. Crazy in Alabama is one of my favorite books so I was happy to find a new book by Childress.

It was a nice and cool, end-of-winter, rainy day. Everything is greening up and the bulbs in our yard are popping up. I can't wait for spring to get here.

Book list

I clicked on a link to a blog that listed 100 books, with instructions to bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you want to read, cross out the ones you won’t touch with a ten-foot pole, put a cross (+) in front of the ones on your book shelf, and asterisk (*) the ones you’ve never heard of. I took a preliminary stab at it but I want to come back and add some commentary. Why so many Harry Potters?

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) - quick read, I enjoyed it.

2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) + Good!

3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee) + Love love love. Everything about this book is good.

4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell) Love love love. Haven't read it in a loooong time

5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)

6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)

7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)

8. Anne of Green Gables (L. M. Montgomery)

9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon). + Good, read three from the series before I got a little tired of it.

10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry) No likey.

11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling). + Eh. Can't remember which one this is - I read the first three before I got bored.

12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)

13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)

14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)

15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden). + Beautiful

16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)

17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald). Blech

18. The Stand (Stephen King). Read in high school. I think he's a really good writer. Don't know what that says about me.

19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)

20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte). + Just recently finished and loved it.

21. The Hobbit (Tolkien). I read it in high school and couldn't keep track of the characters or what they were doing. Obviously, I'm not cut out for fantasy/sci fi.

22. The Catcher in the Rye (J. D. Salinger). I read it a couple of times in high school.

23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott). Read to me in childhood. I should re-read it.

24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold). Blech. Totally stupid.

25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)

26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)

27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)

28. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis). + Eh.

29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck). Read in high school. Should re-read.

30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom).

31. Dune (Frank Herbert)

32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)

33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)

34. 1984 (Orwell)

35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley). Kind of Sci-Fi - but I still enjoyed it.

36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett). I read this right after I finished up a monumentally busy time at work and it was the perfect read to decompress. It was like a big drink of water when you're hiking in the desert.

37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)*

38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb). Everything was tidied up too nicely.

39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant). 'Eh. Someone well versed (no pun intended) in the Bible would enjoy this more.

40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho) +

41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel). Read in high school and liked. I don't think I would like it so much now.

42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini). Excellent! One of my favorites.

43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)

44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)

45. Bible

46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy) +

47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)

48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt). Good, too sad. The mother made me crazy. A character whom I absolutely loathed and hated and despised.

49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck). + One of my all time favorite novels.

50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb). Same criticism as the other book by the same author.

51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver). Blech. Don't like BK. Her characters are either all good or all bad - very little depth.

52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)

53. Ender’s Game * (Orson Scott Card)

54. Great Expectations (Dickens)

55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)

56. The Stone Angel * (Margaret Laurence)

57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)

58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough). High school. I just noticed a bunch of her books on the shelf at the library.

59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood). Read right out of college. Just thinking puts me back in the yard at 2029 Columbine St.

60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger) Loved! Yummy book love. Time travelling and all.

61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)

62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)

63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)

64. Interview with the Vampire (Anne Rice). I was maybe...compelled by this book. I read it a long time ago and remember feeling like she really made vampires seem real. I don't think I would have the patience for it now.

65. Fifth Business * (Robertson Davis)

66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)

67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)

68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)

69. Les Miserables (Hugo)

70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery) Should re-read

71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding). Cute at the time. I have no desire to read any more of this kind of book.

72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez

73. Shogun (James Clavell)

74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)

75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett). Need to re-read.

76. The Summer Tree * (Guy Gavriel Kay)

77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith). Loved.

78. The World According To Garp (John Irving) Good. I wish the Cider House Rules was on this list - excellent book. A fave.

79. The Diviners * (Margaret Laurence)

80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)

81. Not Wanted On the Voyage *(Timothy Findley)

82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)

83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)

84. Wizard’s First Rule * (Terry Goodkind)

85. Emma (Jane Austen) +

86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)

87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)

88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields). + Was just not all that impressed

89. Blindness * (Jose Saramago)

90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer). Read in high school and it prompted a big Jeffrey Archer kick.

91. In The Skin Of A Lion * (Ondaatje) Creepy title

92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)

93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck) +

94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd) (yeesh. Hated this book.)

95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum) I liked RL very much for a while.

96. The Outsiders (S. E. Hinton) (oh, yeah, baby. About a thousand times in high school)

97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch). Good.

98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford). Read in high school and enjoyed. Don't think it's my cup of tea anymore, though.

99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)

100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

I think I'm getting it...

Ariann, that is. I worked on her last night and I tell you, she is addictive. I'm at the eyelet rounds and the thing is just spectacular. I can't wait to get a little further. How can I be so tired at the end of the work day but when I get home and start knitting or reading I have this burst of energy and can't even think of sleeping. Okay, well, burst of energy doesn't describe it accurately. I get in a zone. Or something.

I think I finished the Princess sleeve on the bus this morning. I say "I think" because I started the last bindoff row on a purl side, and then realized that I should be on the knit side, but when I tinked back, I ended up with an extra stitch. So I ended up compensating, but unfortunately it looks like it. I really don't want to rip it back, but I will if I have to. The sleeves are making me a little nervous - I think they may be way too long. Good thing I have long arms, but they're loose sleeves, not the kind that you can push up. When I get home I'll set the sleeves out on top of each other and see how they match up. (I have so learned my lesson and will forevermore count stupid rows.) Then hopefully it'll be on to blocking and seaming.

I purchased The Knitters Book of Finishing Techniques from an Amazon affiliate - it hasn't come yet, though. There's a lot more to finishing than what was covered in the finishing class, so I think it will be useful. I need to train myself to finish my projects before I start new ones and I'm hopeful that if I'm more confident about my finishing abilities this will happen.

It's Friday and I'm so very happy about that. The bus ride was nice and quick, and I listened to Lucy Kaplansky's Every Single Day, since I finished the Lemon Tree. I do love her music, and am pleased to see that she has a new album coming out. I'll have to add it to my IPod (how did I survive without it, anyway? People don't talk to you when you've got earphones in, thankfully).

It's nice and springy outside and my people are all in a good mood.

More Lizard Ridge

I had to rip back the little bit of Lizard Ridge I had knitted. Waaah. I'm just not seeing how I have to knit the wrapped stitches and it's making me crazy. I might work on it tonight or I might do a little bit of Ariann. I took A to the mall last night so I didn't get much knitting in - just enough to screw up my LR.

On the Princess front, I ran out of yarn on the bus and my sleeve is so close to being finished. I think I'll use one of the gauge swatches I knit up to finish and return the extra ball of Classic Elite Princess, which was a pure delight to knit with, soft and knit up into such a lovely fabric. I wonder why I've never heard anyone rave about this yarn. Hopefully the Recycled Lamb will let me exchange it for some more Kureyon for my Lizard Ridge, which I am determined to get off the ground.

Speaking of Kureyon, I must be the only person in the knit world who does not love this yarn. I'll freely admit that I'm making the LR because I'm a follower, not because I like the yarn. I think the colors are garish and it's scratchy. I am intrigued with it, though, and I like the Noro Shrug that I saw at the Lamb Shoppe and I would most definitely put that in the knitting queue.

I have not started a new book, but I'm finishing up the Lemon Tree audio book and it is completely knocking my socks off. Love love love it. It's making me think in a whole new way. I think I should have a new This American Life podcast to listen to. I loves me some Ira Glass and TAL.

I bought four tops at Ann Taylor - I need new shirts in a big way! Very cute, if I do say so myself. And on sale, too. I will add some pics later.

It is a lovely spring-like day, I can just barely see the ground starting to green up. I didn't even wear a coat today. Yay! Maybe spring is going to come after all...

Lizard Ridge

I started Lizard Ridge last night - I'm taking another class at Lamb Shoppe on Tuesday nights. I found that after taking the sweater finishing class that I wanted to have a standing date with my knitting. I like the social aspects of it. And I would never attempt this pattern on my own. It doesn't seem to be too clearly written.

Anyhow, I thought the project might be good bus knitting, but I think I'll have to become very familiar with the pattern first. Lots of short rows and counting. I'll learn a lot. I might attempt a cute little stuffed bear with Blue Sky Alpacas.

I also clarified with Julie, the instructor, the meaning of Ariann's instructions to SSK in the front of the stitch. I think I've always been doing it that way (wrong? Hopefully not). I'm starting to feel like maybe I should not have chosen a fall/winter project. Oh well. I prefer to knit with wool anyway. I will probably bring the linen Louet Sales handtowel to Hawaii. Yay! Hawaii!

I also got a chunk of Princess sleeve finished on the bus. I want to have it blocked by Saturday morning then maybe I can seam it on Sunday if it's dry. It looks good.