There are times in my life when I develop an aversion to a book or project that I've been really looking forward to getting started on. I'm not talking about books that I was never going to read--ever (ie anything by Dan Brown or Nicholas Sparks)--but books that I've ordered from the library and have waited a long time for. And when they finally arrive, they're off-putting for some reason.
Last week I wrote a little bit about how Lizann convinced me to read The Twilight Saga (even though up to that point I was not really interested). What's strange to me is that I can sit down and read four books that I'm completely ambivalent about without a second thought, but something I'm really interested in can sit around for weeks without even being cracked.
Case in point--Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. It's been sitting in the To Be Read pile for five weeks and I've been putting off reading it. Well, I finally did and I feel completely irrational.
It is a great book. Great characters, great setting--the circus--what's not to love? Although there was one positive outcome from my procrastination. The day I finished the book was the day Ringling pulled in to town. How fortuitous was that?
Friday, September 18, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Twilight, Sleepovers, Alpacas and More!
Over Labor day weekend I had the good fortune to have 5 days in a row off. Five full days of knitting and reading and boy did I put them to good use.
I want to start out by saying that I've never really had any desire to read the Twilight novels. At all. But, Lizann recently got them off of paperback swap and she encouraged me to read them. I want to give her some credit. Eventhough she feels strongly that her sisters and I should read these books, she really went to a lot of effort not to put undue pressure on us.
Unlike Lizann, I already read quite a bit of vampire fiction (Charlaine Harris, JR Ward, Lara Adrian, Maryjanice Davidson, etc...), so what stopped me from reading Twilight all these years was really the moody teenager aspect of it. That and the fact that Robert Patinson (sp?) is weird.
So, did I like it? The answer is yes. While I don't think that Stephanie Meyer is a great writer, she is a pretty good storyteller and that goes a long way with me. I know I've ranted about this before, but writers that overemphasize setting or characterization at the expense of plot make me crazy. It doesn't do me any good to be "transported to 1940s Hong Kong" if all there is to do when I get there is hang out with boring, self-absorbed people (The Piano Teacher by Janice YK Lee).
I read the whole series that weekend and it truly wasn't a waste of time.
This weekend we trekked to scenic Manhattan, KS for an Alpaca fair. Many thanks to Lisa for hosting a sleepover. And for the Chocolate Fondue, which was truly delicious. The fair itself was kind of a bust. It was really small and didn't have a huge variety of yarn to choose from. We bailed after about 15 minutes.
After that we headed over to Wildflower knits and browsed. I didn't find anything I truly loved but part of that is that I'm really into laceweight right now and I'm finding that a lot of LYSs just don't carry a huge selection. Let us all give thanks for the interwebz.
Then we headed over to Wamego and stopped at the yarn store there. I can't remember it's new name (it used to be called Settler's Farm), but it's right down the street from the OZ Museum. I found some lovely Wisdom Yarns Poems Sock. Its a single ply sock yarn with really long subtle color changes. It hasn't decided what it wants to be yet, but I'm guessing it will be something out of Cookie A's Sock Innovations book.
And now for a project update:
I've reached the halfway point on Cold Mountain, and it's measuring 28in unblocked. I don't think that I'll have any trouble blocking it to 6 ft when it's done. Width is another matter, the pattern calls for blocking to 26" and I think the best I'm going to do is 24". Oh well, not the end of the world and I'm not exactly long in the torso.
The Fern Lace Scarf is coming along nicely. I'm just over 60% done. The hard part here is going to be finding a stopping place. I think I have enough yarn in this skein to make a 7 or 8 ft unblocked scarf, but that might be a little excessive even for people who like long scarves. This is going to be a Christmas present for Loralei, so I might just have to ask her what she prefers.
I'm in the home stretch on the Whisper Cardigan. Unfortunately, this is the most boring part: eight inches of stockinette that increases two stitches every other row. I'm having to bribe myself to work on it. I will get it done though, I promise.
I want to start out by saying that I've never really had any desire to read the Twilight novels. At all. But, Lizann recently got them off of paperback swap and she encouraged me to read them. I want to give her some credit. Eventhough she feels strongly that her sisters and I should read these books, she really went to a lot of effort not to put undue pressure on us.
Unlike Lizann, I already read quite a bit of vampire fiction (Charlaine Harris, JR Ward, Lara Adrian, Maryjanice Davidson, etc...), so what stopped me from reading Twilight all these years was really the moody teenager aspect of it. That and the fact that Robert Patinson (sp?) is weird.
So, did I like it? The answer is yes. While I don't think that Stephanie Meyer is a great writer, she is a pretty good storyteller and that goes a long way with me. I know I've ranted about this before, but writers that overemphasize setting or characterization at the expense of plot make me crazy. It doesn't do me any good to be "transported to 1940s Hong Kong" if all there is to do when I get there is hang out with boring, self-absorbed people (The Piano Teacher by Janice YK Lee).
I read the whole series that weekend and it truly wasn't a waste of time.
This weekend we trekked to scenic Manhattan, KS for an Alpaca fair. Many thanks to Lisa for hosting a sleepover. And for the Chocolate Fondue, which was truly delicious. The fair itself was kind of a bust. It was really small and didn't have a huge variety of yarn to choose from. We bailed after about 15 minutes.
After that we headed over to Wildflower knits and browsed. I didn't find anything I truly loved but part of that is that I'm really into laceweight right now and I'm finding that a lot of LYSs just don't carry a huge selection. Let us all give thanks for the interwebz.
Then we headed over to Wamego and stopped at the yarn store there. I can't remember it's new name (it used to be called Settler's Farm), but it's right down the street from the OZ Museum. I found some lovely Wisdom Yarns Poems Sock. Its a single ply sock yarn with really long subtle color changes. It hasn't decided what it wants to be yet, but I'm guessing it will be something out of Cookie A's Sock Innovations book.
And now for a project update:
I've reached the halfway point on Cold Mountain, and it's measuring 28in unblocked. I don't think that I'll have any trouble blocking it to 6 ft when it's done. Width is another matter, the pattern calls for blocking to 26" and I think the best I'm going to do is 24". Oh well, not the end of the world and I'm not exactly long in the torso.
The Fern Lace Scarf is coming along nicely. I'm just over 60% done. The hard part here is going to be finding a stopping place. I think I have enough yarn in this skein to make a 7 or 8 ft unblocked scarf, but that might be a little excessive even for people who like long scarves. This is going to be a Christmas present for Loralei, so I might just have to ask her what she prefers.
I'm in the home stretch on the Whisper Cardigan. Unfortunately, this is the most boring part: eight inches of stockinette that increases two stitches every other row. I'm having to bribe myself to work on it. I will get it done though, I promise.
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