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I do actually work on things

I don’t just buy yarn, I actually use it, too:

Berry Nice Sock

I am still really enjoying how the Felici is working out. AND if you look at the sock carefully, you’ll notice that through the grace of the gods, the heel worked itself out so that it used an entire color repeat – so the repeat on the leg/foot wasn’t broken. AMEN. The fabric is very nice as well – but I think you might run into some problems if you used larger needles than US 1.

I finished one Spey Valley for the March Sock Project Sock:

Spey Valley

I like the pattern, and I like the Plymouth Happy Feet yarn, but the two don’t go together very well – only because you can’t see the pretty texture pattern on the leg. I’ll certainly make a second one because I like how the first sock turned out, ultimately. And the Happy Feet is a cheap sock yarn to experiment with.

For the April Sock: Waving Lace Socks from Interweave Knits’ Favorite Socks!

I will fully admit to cheating when I picked this pattern for the April sock. Also I will fully admit to being completely arbitrary in regards to my Sock Project – I am just picking sock patterns on a whim at this point. Heh.

I picked the Waving Lace Sock for a very good reason:

Waving Lace Socks

I have less than one sock to knit, as I made the other sock and the cuff of the second late last year. I need to finish these in two weeks. I forgot how quick a pattern it is once you get going. I knit half a repeat last night while watching NUMB3RS. I also plan on making another pair of these out of the nice dark turquoise Shibui Sock I have. This is a great pattern, and I think along with the Monkey pattern is the pattern I’ve used multiple times (well and my now standard 3×1 rib sock, but whatever).

I have managed to go a week without buying any yarn. Partly because my car is in the shop having some scheduled maintenance and an oil change and I didn’t know how much that would cost (less than I thought!). Also dudes, I have a lot of sock yarn. Like, enough for years worth of socks. (And yet: I’d still like to get my hands on some Wollmeise! And more blue and yellow yarn in general! Maybe some purple! *slaps self*)

Anyway, today I am wearing my old Regia Crazy Color socks and may I just say that they have worn quite well. They are a couple years old at this point, and have held up beautifully through many washings and dryings.

***

I just finished reading the new Dresden Files book, Small Favor. I really like Jim Butcher’s writing, and I pretty much love the Dresden Files, so I was quite pleased with this latest installment. (My favorite is still the first one I ever read, Dead Beat, simply because Harry necromances a dinosaur in the grand finale. Heh.)

I’ve had okay luck at the library lately – discovered Shirlee Busbee’s historical romances, which are well written and interesting (a feat unto themselves, god.), read a bit of Tanith Lee’s Paradys cycle, though it was a little too gothic for me. Now that I’ve read ten billion books, I’ve come to discover that I do, in fact, have discerning taste in stuff. Imagine!

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Spey Valley, Bird Boy

New sock on the needles (for my Sock Project):

Spey Valley - WIP

Spey Valley from Knitting on the Road, knit in Plymouth’s Happy Feet. I got this yarn at Rumplestiltskin in Sacramento. The Yarn Boutique has a ton of it right now (and they JUST got a huge shipment of Dream in Color Smooshy, y’all – if I wasn’t all sock yarned up the wazoo post-Stitches, I’d be all over that!). I don’t know that the pattern + yarn = perfect fit, but I like it so I’m going to roll with it. I think the pattern needs a non-variegated yarn, but whatever.

I also drew a picture:

Birdboy

It’s a bird boy. (Um, duh?) It was in the news this last week or so, that some poor kid in Russia was pretty much raised with birds by his mother, who never spoke to him or anything. These kids are generally known as “feral” or “wild” children. You know, like kids raised by wolves or bears or whatever. They almost never grow up and have normal lives, and are lucky if they even learn to speak. I was thinking about what a literal bird boy might look like and this is what popped out.

It’s funny because just before this news story came out, I finished a book called “Magic Hour” by Kristin Hannah that was about a feral child found up in Washington. A stupid name for a good book – not really a subject that you read about too often (or even come across), and there was romance and a minor murder mystery. A smidge contrived towards the end, but easily overlooked by the quality of the writing and story.

In conclusion: I drew a bird boy. I’m going to try to draw at least something once a week. Can’t let the ole degree wither, now can we?

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Twilight, et al

Last week I read the Twilight books by Stephanie Meyer.

Yes, all three.

I’m not a huge fan of vampire books. I suspect I overdosed on the Anne Rice vampire books in high school, and ever since then have not been particularly interested. Also, I’m sorry, but a happily ever after does not, to me, usually entail the hero having to kill the heroine in order to be with her forever. I don’t find vampires to be particularly romantic or inspiring.

Give me a post-apocalypse any day.

So when I tell you that I LOVED the Twilight books, you know where I am coming from.

They don’t strike me as traditional vampires – in fact, Edward and his family only drink the blood of animals, and can go outside in sunlight. They don’t sleep in coffins – they don’t sleep at all.

So, hey, I like some vampires. Mark your calendars.

I really like the haunting writing – it sucks you in and before you know it, you’ve read three five hundred page books in two days. And most importantly, Stephanie Meyer has written, for her first adult novel (the Twilight books are YA), a sci-fi story based on the alien body-snatcher idea.

That kind of falls into a perfect category for me – kinda post-apocalyptic with zombies, kinda. I’ll be there.

Also, for the Twilight movie, they totally cast the guy who played Cedric Diggory in the Harry Potter movies as Edward, and that is pretty perfect casting, if you ask me.

ANYWAY, they were good books, and you should read them, even if you have a serious case of vampire ennui like I do.