52 books - Week 7

This week I have read Mariana by Monica Dickens. This is my last of the books I ordered from Persephone just after Christmas and I think probably my favourite of the three.

The story moves quite quickly through the life of Mary, going from her childhood through to getting married and beyond. Its basically a love story although she makes some wrong turns along the way.

Mary is easy to engage with, the book is sufficiently fast paced to keep my attention and yet you don't feel like its missed any of the important facts out.

I really enjoyed reading this book and would happily read it again. In fact I liked it enough to go and have a look if I could find any more by the same author.

I can't say much about parts of the book without giving too much of the story away but it is a satisfying read with a fitting ending.

Book Title: Mariana

Author: Monica Dickens


Enjoyment: 9/10

Would read again: 10/10


Comments: I really enjoyed this book and would happily pick it up and read it again. The main character is very life like and its an easy story to lose yourself in.

Persephone Books

Small skein society No 2

Today I should really be writing about my book of the week. I also want to share some links to blogs I love to read, including this lovely lady here. I've got an update on my stripy blanket and some house pictures.

However I'm not going to write about any of that today because my second parcel for the Small Skein Society has come through from the Yarn Yard:

I love the colours on this one, purples are always a favourite with me. I do feel a bit guilty that I haven't even looked at the first instalment recently never mind done anything with it. I'm in too much of a big blanket mood at the moment.

I did have a passing thought that if I saved up my instalments for a year I could do something with them on a larger scale. Something colourful and fancy.

I've been looking at pictures of stained glass recently, I love the ones with big blocks of colour which gradually changes over the piece.

I might try sketching something out at some point. It may be something which would work better in fabric, in fact I first envisaged it in fabric. Now though, I am wondering whether it would work knitted, or even crocheted. If I do make it I know exactly where in the house I would hang it as well.

WIP - Stripy crochet blanket

I thought it was about time I showed an update on the Stripy crochet blanket, it feels like I've been talking about it forever.

I actually checked though and I started it on the 25th of January, so its not being going on for as long as I thought.

I've worked out that I need to crochet 60 of the wide stripes before I put on a border. I'm working out the size off a grey throw that is in constant use in our living room and is a nice size.

Each wide stripe is 5 rows of crochet so that should work out at 300 actual crochet rows altogether, which doesn't really sound that much. I am on the 29th stripe (technically the 30th one I crocheted as I had to undo one, but I'm trying to forget that).

So I really am nearly half way through. Of course I have to do the border as well and I know that is going to take longer to do than a stripe or two but hopefully by that point the fact that I am so near the end will spur me on. This isn't necessarily always the case, I have had far too many projects lingering in my WIP basket waiting for a sleeve to be sewn up or some buttons sewn on. I always enjoy starting a project far more than finishing one off.

So here is is so far:

Not bad I think for 18 days work, it averages out at more than a stripe a day, and as some days I haven't actually picked it up I think actually I am closer to two stripes a day.

Although I do keep getting tempted to start one in my colourful Stylecraft special DK. I am trying to be good and only do one at once but I['m not sure how long my resolve will hold out for.

This year is definitely going to be the year of the blanket though if my current project plans are anything to go by.

FO - High speed knitting

My shawlette I started in London is finally finished. Here is is in all its unblocked glory:

Blocking will have to take place another day, It doesn't need much, just a little to make the garter stitch section lie flat.

This was an extremely easy pattern, the main part was garter stitch and the ruffle was a 2 x 2 rib. Its a perfect project for if you are sitting around talking and need something you don't have to concentrate on.

I can see myself making more of these as its such a quick pattern. If I hadn't hurt my shoulder I think it would have taken me about 3-4 days at most to knit which is pretty good for me.

So my first FO of the month is done. It'll probably be the only one as I'm not even half way through my blanket so I can't imagine finishing that in the next couple of weeks. Still with no interruptions I can see the main bit being finished by the end of March, although I think the border will take awhile longer.

52 Books - Week 6

The book I chose for this week was "William - An Englishman" by Cicely Hamilton.

I didn't really enjoy this weeks book. I didn't like William as a character and so I found it really hard to engage with the book. I kept putting it down and reading something else instead. I persevered with it and the story itself was interesting and well written in some ways, but not really a book for me.

Its maybe worth reading for the history, the account of the times and as an interesting view of some of the people involved in the suffragette movement at the start of the book. Its an everyday view of the war from a normal couple rather than a high ranking officer etc, and as such interesting, but I believe there are more readable books out there set around the same idea.


Book Title: William - An Englishman

Author: Cicely Hamilton

Enjoyment: 5/10

Would read again: 2/10


Comments: In some ways this is a very good book with an interesting take on modern history. However because I found the main character difficult to like or engage with this was a hard read for me and not something I would pick up again in a hurry.

Persephone Books

ChiaoGoo needles

I've knitted on cheap knitting needles since I started in 2009. I've admired, coveted and researched interchangeable needles several times over the last few years but never actually done anything about it.

95% of my knitting is done on circular knitting needles, straight ones hurt my shoulders and DPN's hurt my brain! So if I got a set of interchangeables it would do for pretty much all my knitting except for small circumference stuff like socks for which I use Hiya Hiya needles:

Tall Yarns

I've put off buying interchangeables because of the price though. Not that they are that expensive for so many needle and cable combinations in one go, its more that paying a few pounds each time for new needles doesn't seem as bad as paying the equivalent of several skeins of yarn in one go.

I've always preferred to spend my spare money on yarn instead of needles. Right up until a couple of weeks ago I got out fixed circular I hadn't knit with for ages and I couldn't get the cable to unkink. It was locked into a tight spiral that got in the way every time I tried to knit and I got fed up.

I'd heard people on Ravelry raving about ChiaoGoo Twist interchangeables and I am so glad I bought some.

The cables don't kink as they have no memory. The tips are pointy without me needing a blood transfusion every time I use them. The needles and joins are smooth, these have actually made my knitting speed increase. I'm in love...

Best of all they come in the prettiest little case:

Loop

WIP - Stripy Blanket

My shoulder is nearly better. We have friends coming round tonight and I intend on getting back to my shawlette that I started last weekend.

In the meantime I have been lucky enough to be able to crochet and so my stripy crochet blanket has been growing:

It’s growing surprisingly fast and I'm enjoying making it. It’s got awhile to go yet (probably several months) but it’s very easy to pick up and put down in-between other projects.

In the meantime I have some exciting house news. When we bought our first house my mother very kindly donated a lot of furniture to us, most of which was my Grandmother's.

Most of it was a little old fashioned, but it was free and so we were able to spend our money on fixing our house rather than buying furniture. It needed a lot of fixing.

I've made changed to various bits of furniture (painting etc) but the one bit I've never really liked is the sofa and chairs in the living room. I'm not much of a green person and these are very old fashioned:

Can you see my knitting tucked down in the corner there?

I'm not going for a matching suite this time. I want a sofa and then two separate arm chairs which match each other. Probably grey or black for the chairs, but I have other ideas for the sofa.

I finally managed to track down what I wanted and it turned up on Wednesday. So I spend part of Wednesday wrestling with furniture with my bad shoulder which was probably a bad idea.

In the next couple of days I'll put some photos up and you can see what I've chosen. I should say what we've chosen, but when decorating the house I tend to make a lot of the decisions although the Husbeast does get a say, especially in the colour scheme.