I finished my boyfriend's mother's scarf which is like the scarves that I made my mother and aunts but wider and knit in a hand-dyed alpaca from Uruguay which I bought on ebay. I like this yarn cause in some light it looks bright purple and golden yellow but in other light it looks dark purple and kind of green-yellow. Everyone agrees that it will be loved by the recipient.
I finished this one off a few days ago and my sister loves it. It is from Knitty a couple of years ago I think. Its called the Marly's Ghost Chain. It is super simple to knit and comes out looking like an iron chain. I knit it in knitpicks Wool of the Andes onyx heather which makes it look rather like old iron. It is supposed to be felted but I don't have access to a washing machine in which I can felt or full if you are fanatic about that kind of thing. It goes perfectly with my sister cause she kinda dresses like a punk/goth/anime character.
Next is a pair of kind of gloves for my boyfriend's brother. He does a lot of photography and stuff where he needs access to his fingers so I decided to knit a pair of cigar gloves from Knitty summer 2005. They are really neat cause they have the thumb and first two fingers as fingerless and the last two fingers covered. I knit these in knitpicks swish superwash since machine washable is a big plus for any hand knit gift for a guy. The colour might look a bit off but that is cause I wanted to order the colour merlot heather which is a heathered red wine colour but they were sold out, on the website this colour looked more blue/silver but he likes the colour anyway. I have one glove finished and one with one finger done and another nearly done which means I will probably finish it tonight.
I am also knitting a giant pirate toy for some friends and it is terrifying when it is done I will post pictures so everyone can see how creepy it is. I am also knitting a bunny toy from the webcomic Bunny which I am excited about since I have wanted a bunny toy since I first saw the comic. A friend knows the artist who does bunny so I have permission to knit a bunny toy. Once I have a basic pattern I will modify it for different sizes and different bunny characters. That is about it for knitting news. I have other projects barely started which when they are more done it will post about.
I got much happy loot from christmas.
These are cookie cutters my 9 year old brother got me. I like the idea of sad looking partially decapitated cookies. I am so making gingerbread men soon. I was also thinking that I now need a Cthulhu cookie cutter to make the best set of ginger bread men ever.
My two aunts got together and got me a full se of knitting needles and crochet hooks since I am learning to crochet. This is good since I appear to have lost some needles in the last move and my boyfriend also knits so he happens to be using some of my needles.
These books also came with my sets of needles. I like the crochet stitches one. It is super hardcore. I have a lot to learn apparently. I am thinking that I might learn the motifs and stuff by making a bunch of granny squares and circles and then crocheting them together to make blankets or something. There are also a few circle motifs which I might try to make in wire to sell as pendents or earrings. But I am not sure how that will work.
My boyfriend's nunna got my this thrummed mitten knit and I am soooo excited for it. The colours are so loud and me it is crazy. The yarn is also so soft. As soon as I have time those mittens will get started.
My mum got me this louet yarn. Two skeins in each colour. I am thinking maybe a striped tunic or something in these colours would be nice but I am not sure yet.
My younger sister gave me this book with I recommend. Knitting Little Luxuries has a lot of cute, girly, pretty patterns. I have plans to knit the Emma Hat which looks kind of like a jester hat with tassels in lavender and teal
These colours. I think it will be super cute and warm.
Christmas was busy like it is for most people. I had to divide my time between my family and my boyfriend's family which made for things being very busy. Now my new classes have begun. Once I know what they are going to be like I will probably be venting slightly about how busy I have gotten. In the meantime I have finished many books over my christmas break.
Ophelia by Lisa Klein. This book was about the character of Ophelia from Hamlet. I thought I was a good book which kept close to the plot of the play while telling her story. I think some adults would like it while many girls would like it as well for its good story and romance which was not overly dramatic and sweet.
Viking Warrior: The Strogbow Saga book 1 by Judson Roberts. I did not particularly find this to be a good book. I know a lot about the Vikings as I should being a history major. I found that there were lots of misconceptions about Vikings used and I writing I found could have been better. I think though that some teenage/young adult boys would like it since that is probably the audience that this book is aimed for. Be aware that this book is about the Vikings. This means that is necessarily violent. So don't say I did not warn you.
Esther by Sharon E. Mckay. This book is about the first Jewish girl to make it to the New France when it was illegal to be a Jewish in New France. It is another decent book which teenage girls would probably like. I was kind of ambivalent to it since I read many books like this when I was young but it was still a decent book.
Piratica by Tanith Lee. I was not sure what I thought of this book for most of the book. It is about a girl who eventually remembers that she was raised a pirate and escapes the finishing school she was put in by her father. She finds her mothers crew only to discover that they were really actors and not pirates. But she gets them to go pirate with her and go off on adventures. I found it hard to read until I got used to the book. It seemed like it was supposed to be an old book so the language used reflected that but I found it stilted and kind of painful to read until I got used to it. It ended up being an alright book which I think would go over well with the young adult/teenage crowd.
Piratica 2: Return to Parrot Island by Tanith Lee is the continuation to the first book. I found it was better then the first but still really only a book that the young adults and teenagers would like. In this book Piratica gets drafted to be a privateer for the Brits in their war against the french. Again it was alright but nothing fantastic.
Stravaganza: City of Stars by Mary Hoffman. It is the second in the series with a girl who loves horses and who is tormented by her brother gets to go to the alternate universe and helps the characters from the previous book keep everything the way it should be. I like this series. It is a neat idea and well written for a kid/young adult book.
Stravaganza: City of Flowers by Mary Hoffman. It is the last in the series with a boy who has to care for his sick mother getting to go now. I would say the same things again but I don't really want to. Good book, decent series. Just make sure not to read them too close together or they get kind of annoying.
The Burning Crown by J Fitzgerald McCurdy. I like the idea of this series but I don't really like this book as much as I liked the first one. The kids from the first book have to go back and help find the crown which has been stolen by the forces of evil in order to save the universe as they know it. In this book the kids have gotten kind of annoying but maybe kids/young adults would like it better. You never know.
The White Mare by Jules Waton. This is a book about the Picts whom no one really knows anything about how they lived or their religion ect. This book centers around a Pict princess who has to marry a Gael (Irishman) in order to save her land from the Romans. I would say more but there is a lot going on in this book and I would not want to ruin it for anyone. It is a very good book and plausible as to what the picts were really like. Read it if you like a good book, historical fiction or adventure book.
Well that is it for now. I need to go make supper then do more knitting. In a few days I will be back with news of classes at Carleton, knitting and books. Maybe patterns if I have time. TTFN
No comments:
Post a Comment