Saturday, August 25, 2007

Books distracted me this week

I've been plowing through books of late. While lots of reading isn't unusual for me, I've probably read half a dozen in the past week or so, which is a pretty quick pace considering I have two small kids and just started back to work part time. One of those kids is breastfeeding, which still affords me quite a bit of seated reading time, so that helps. Right now I have a couple of nonfiction books going, as usual, but I've been reading novels back to back. I've gotten into one of my husband's favorite authors, James Lee Burke, and have read several of his books, two books by his daughter, and several other mysteries and thrillers in recent weeks.

But it's a different kind of book that I just finished last night, and I think it's one that will stick with me for a while. It's called The Post-Birthday World, by Lionel Shriver. Irina McGovern is forty-two, happily all-but-married to her longtime partner, Lawrence, when she meets a dashing friend for a traditional birthday dinner. In years past they've been a foursome, but Ramsey is now divorced and Lawrence is abroad. When Irina is seized by the urge to kiss Ramsey, she must decide whether to resist temptation and stick with steady-but-sometimes-stodgy Lawrence, or go for broke with sexy snooker pro Ramsey.

In alternating chapters, the rest of the novel shows where each potential choice leads. As in real life, both choices have their good and bad consequences. Some parts are like watching a train wreck, but overall this book shows the results of decisions many people face at one time or another. I couldn't put it down, and I suspect it will be some time before I can get it out of my head. It would be great for book-club discussions; I just wish I were still in one.

No knitting to report.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Six rows or more!

Last night, I knitted! This is because I left the kids at home and met people at Barnes and Noble to knit. And unlike what often happens, I did not look at knitting books. I did not browse the latest knitting magazines. I knitted.

To be fair, I did have a cup of coffee and a slice of delectable Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake. I'm sure this did wonders for my postpartum weight loss plan, but since I'm relying on the Think System for that, it's not progressing too quickly anyway. As I said last time, it must have been the breastfeeding that helped me lose the baby weight, because it sure wasn't diet and exercise.

I knitted and chatted for nearly two hours, and lost count after six rows. Considering my progress of late, that's lightning speed.

In case anyone was wondering, the hats in the post below came out of Itty Bitty Hats. The one with the fleece topper is Simple Baby Cap 2, knitted with Mission Falls wool. The other two are Simple Baby Cap 3. The blue one is knitted with Manos del Uruguay, and the pink one is Mauch Chunky and Tahki Bunny Print. I have made several other hats out of this book -- among my favorite knitting books -- and they may turn up in future posts once I sort out pictures.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Finally, I blog

I've been meaning to start a knitting blog for quite some time. But I'm such a slow knitter, and I keep getting distracted by new books, my kids, new arrivals from NetFlix, and general laziness, that it seemed kind of weird to start a knitblog when I won't often have finished items to show.


I mean, Stephanie seems to have a new item to show every week. Lots of other bloggers seem to make progress. But, how many rows have I knitted in the past week? Three. And this on a sweater for my 3-year-old. And when did I start this sweater? Last summer. Luckily, the pattern seems to run big and she seems to run small.

Now, to be fair, I've made quite a few things in between, including warshcloths, hats, and -- oh yeah -- a baby brother for my sweaterless one. He got a hat:



Three hats, in fact, although one won't fit him for -- ahem -- a few years. Gauge was a bit off. Big Sister got a hat, too, in the flurry of pre-birth nesting/knitting:













And so did an Afghan baby, as part of the Mother's Day drive:

















But this sweater kept getting put off, and so did the blog. One of the blog problems was what to call it. Everything I thought of turned out to be taken. Finally, yesterday, I hit on the perfect name: Procrastiknitter. Cute, catchy, descriptive.

Taken. Twice, actually, although the latter is out of date. But I was thrilled to find an interesting new blog in the case of the former. Most of my knitting tools, though not much of my stash, I inherited from my grandmother, so her August 10 post resonated. But, I digress. It occurred to me that I am quite a Distracted Knitter, so I'm going with that.


Here's the sweater I've been procrastinating:


















It's Max's First Cardigan from The Yarn Girls' Guide to Kid Knits. This is the back. The first part to knit. Acres of double seed stitch, which might be why I keep procrastiknitting it. Before I get to do any shaping, it has to measure 15 inches from the cast-on row. It measures 8 1/2. Main color is Cleckheaton Country 8-Ply; trim colors are both Cascade 220 Superwash. I think.


Must keep knitting. But meanwhile, I've spent all this perfectly good knitting time figuring out how to use Blogger. Maybe tomorrow!