Botched-Up Knitting

Remember the Little Kina I was knitting for my friend's little girl's doll? Well, I finished it only to discover that I messed up bad. After casting-off the sleeves, I remember thinking that the rows in the body seemed longer than the last time I knitted this project. But I pushed my doubts aside by assuring myself that it only felt that way because this was the second time working the project and I wasn't as driven to see the end result. Here's the finished product:

Do you see where I messed up? If you don't see it, the front does not meet. Grrr! When I made the increase in the neckline the second time I assumed that the second increase (k1, k1fb across) was the same as the first increase (k1fb across). So I doubled the increase both times, resulting in an unusable baby doll sweater. Doh! The good news is that I can unravel this sweater and will have plenty of yarn to redo the project correctly. First, though, I have to finish a throw I'm crocheting as a graduation present, and after that I have a layette blanket and booties to finish for an upcoming baby shower. Hopefully I'll have a post for those soon!

Library Loot {due back 6/17/2013}

 

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

We're still going strong with our once a month trip to the library! I didn't pick up anything this trip because I'm still in a reading slump, and am waaaay behind schedule with Les Misérables — my year-long read — and The Lord of the Rings, which I'm re-reading with my in real life book club.

MJ (11) – Mary Jane renewed Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson from last month, and didn't check out anything else. For some reason she is taking a really long time with this one, but she says she likes it and wants to finish it. I think it may be slightly above her reading level and more of a challenge than she wants to admit.



KADEN (9) – Kaden remains to be the brat most interested in visiting the library (followed closely by Eliza). He is still loving the non-fiction section. Our library has a kind of pitiful collection of non-fiction books for kids, so I fear that he will quickly get through the ones that interest him.

The Story of Werewolves by Thomas G. Aylesworth (not pictured)
               

ELIZA (3) – These are the books that I get to read over and over and over again. This week's loot isn't too bad. My favorite is The House in the Night — the illustrations are gorgeous! Neither Eliza or I cared at all for Dinosailors. She lost interest before we even finished reading it and hasn't picked it back up since.

               

THE COMRADE (old) – The Comrade always accompanies us to the library but usually doesn't check anything out. This time he picked out some world religion books he'd like us to read for homeschool. Here they are:

The Buddha by F.W. Rawding (not pictured)
   

Not in a Reading Kind of Mood

I'm in a reading funk, so I'm knitting instead! The pattern is called Little Kina and the Ravelry instructions (and more pictures) can be found here. This is my second time knitting this little pattern, and this time it is for a friend who saw the sweater on my daughter's doll and couldn't stop oohing and awing about it. It so, so easy — knit in one piece from the top down — and absolutely darling! And if you're really brave, you can buy the Baby Kina pattern and knit your toddler one to match her doll. I did this for my 3-year old and am glad to be done. The sweater for a large toddler took quite a bit longer than I had expected, and I was sorely tired of it by the end. Speaking of which, I have yet to take a picture of the brat and her bitty baby showing off my hard work! I need to get on that...

The worst part of the pattern for me was the neckline, but only because I hate, hate, hate knitting front and back. I wish there were another way to make an increase without leaving a hole...anyone? The baby doll neckline wasn't nearly as bad, of course, but the big girl neckline was complete torture. I had had ambitions of trying to knit one for myself (yes, there's a pattern for adult sizes, too!) but they are no more. I just keep hoping someone I know will fall pregnant with a girl so I can knit the newborn size. How cute would that be for a shower gift?! Even better would be if I fell pregnant with a girl. :)

Book Talk: Hush Now, Don't You Cry

Title: Hush Now, Don't You Cry

Author: Rhys Bowen

Genre: Mystery > Historical and Cozy

Length: 320 pages

My Rating: 5 – Meh, take it or leave it

From Goodreads.com: In the latest in Rhys Bowen's award-winning historical series, Molly Murphy is supposed to give up sleuthing now that she’s married, but the murder of an alderman puts her on the trail of a killer.

Molly Murphy, now Molly Sullivan, and her husband Daniel, a captain in the New York Police department, have been invited to spend their honeymoon on the Newport, RI, estate of Alderman Brian Hannan in the spring of 1904. Molly doesn’t entirely trust the offer. Hannan—an ambitious man—has his eye on a senate seat and intentions of taking Tammany Hall to get it. When Hannan is found dead at the base of the cliffs that overlook the Atlantic, Molly’s suspicions are quickly justified, and as much as she wants to keep her promise to Daniel that she won’t do any more sleuthing now, there isn’t much she can do once the chase is on. Rhys Bowen’s brilliant wit and charm are on full display in Hush Now, Don’t You Cry, another outstanding addition to her Agatha and Anthony award-winning historical series.

My Thoughts:

I picked this up at the library this week because I've been craving a mystery, was feeling like The Time In Between was dragging (I still plan to finish it, though!), and I needed a change of pace. I'm a big wuss when it comes to mystery/crime. My room is in the very back of our house, down a long, dark hallway, and I often get spooked by suspense in the non-suspense genre books I read. So when I saw on the jacket that this is considered a "cozy" mystery, I thought it might be just what I was looking for.

This is the 11th book in the Molly Murphy Mystery series, but the first one for me. I knew nothing about Molly or her husband, Daniel, going into the book, and I do not think this hindered the readability of this book at all. It was an easy, quick read, and the mystery/suspense was very mild.

I liked Molly okay as a heroine. She was bright and observant, and I never found her annoying or grating on my nerves. The men in the novel I could do without, but I think it would be unfair to judge the book by the men as it is set in the early 1900s when men, and society, were much less accepting of a woman participating in what was considered male roles. The Hannan family was completely unlikeable, and their numbers made it difficult to keep them all straight. I thought Miss Gallinger was a hoot and wish she had been a part of the novel much sooner.

SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT!

I can't really say that I liked this book, but I was interested to see who the killer was. And the reading was so easy and fast that I made the choice not to skim the book. The book didn't really pick up until about page 200, at which point it really went quickly. I thought the ending was a joke. The killer was confronted with no evidence and immediately confessed. The fact that he was able to grab Kathleen was absurd — at that point there would have been many adults stepping in front of and towards her. There is no way that she would have been that exposed in real life. And, then, him being pushed off the cliff to his death tied everything up way too neatly. The real kicker: all this happened in about two pages of the last ten pages of the book. At this point it all felt very contrived and anti-climactic. I very much doubt I will try another Molly Murphy Mystery.

Library Loot (due back May 20th)

 

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

In my attempt to slowly join the book blogging world, I have decided to "steal the button" this week. I still haven't mustered the courage to "link up," but hope that will come soon. Sorry to Claire and Marg for having participated in "Library Loot" without having given credit where credit was due.

The ladies who officially do "Library Loot" make a weekly post. I post when our books are due back and we check-out a new batch. Maybe someday we will get to a point where we frequent the library more often, but right now I'm happy that we are still going strong with our 2013 Resolution to at least go once a month. Yay for us! Here's what we picked up today:

ME

           

MJ (11)

      

KADEN (9)

       

         

ELIZA (3)

                     

Audiobook Review: The Kitchen House

Title:  The Kitchen House

Author:  Kathleen Grissom

Category:  Historical Fiction; American > Southern

Length:  369 pages

My Rating:  7 – Very good

From Goodreads.com: When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family. Orphaned while onboard ship from Ireland, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen house. Under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is set apart from them by her white skin.

Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself perilously straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, dangerous truths are laid bare, and lives are put at risk.

My Thoughts

I don't know how fair my review is going to be since I started listening to this book clear back in April 2011 when I had a 45-minute commute to work. Since then I have picked it up only when my exercise buddy has cancelled and I needed something else to keep my mind off the dragging minutes. It served very well for both purposes — commuting and exercising — and made both much more enjoyable than they would have otherwise been.

Now to remembering from the beginning... 

I remember being drawn into the story right away. The narrators, Orlagh Cassidy and Bahni Turpin, did an excellent job. I liked that there were two narrators rather than one doing all the voices. For me, two narrators gave a greater distinction between Lavinia and Belle, making them more real. I also felt that two different narrators helped me move between the points of view more easily.

The characters were all very well-drawn. I felt like I knew all of them, and had personal feelings (love, like, annoyed with, hate, etc.) for just about every character in the book. The storyline was absorbing, and every time I left the book I looked forward to going back. I feel like the plot was believable, and that Ms. Grissom had done her homework.

I have two complaints (which may be considered spoilers!): First, that Lavinia and Will were kept apart by nothing more than a miscommunication. This annoyed me to no end, and felt really contrived and cliche. I wish Ms. Grissom could have found a more interesting way for them to not wind up together. I would have been more content if Will had never shown up while she was living with her aunt and uncle, and she had simply fallen for Marshall (the creep) and married him. Second, I wasn't crazy about the way it ended. Everything went to shit (like we knew was going to happen) and then it just worked out for everyone still living. It went rather too quickly and too easily after all the sorrow and heartbreak that occurred throughout the rest of the book. I left the book today feeling disappointed with the ending.

The "Author's Note" at the end of the book was very interesting, and I almost wish it had been included at the beginning. It seems Ms. Grissom was truly inspired to write this story, and that the characters were living inside her for a time. I've heard other authors talk about characters taking them over like that and always feel envious. It would be lovely to write a book, but I just don't feel that calling.

Check-In: Les Misérables

My intention was to have done a check-in long before now. I was really hoping to have a regular check-in schedule but got caught up in over-analyzing it, like I often do with things. I really am amazed I ever got this blog up and started. I'm one of those people who have a hard time officially starting something until it suits me perfectly. Laura Ingalls Wilder said it best, "We'd never get anything fixed to suit us if we waited for things to suit us before we started." Seriously, this is the story of my life! I am working on it...

Anyway, I am reading the Norman Denny translation because, of the three I tried, I like the way it read the best. I do own a Kindle, but decided I wanted this for my home bookshelf. I bought the Penguin Classics version (pictured below) and am really pleased with it. My schedule is pretty easy: twenty-five pages a week, Wednesday to Wednesday (that's the day of the week I started it on and have just gone with it). If I continue being consistent with my schedule, I should finish in mid-December, giving me a couple of weeks until my 2014 year-long reading challenge. The only thing I regret is having made this a year-long challenge. I could have easily done it in six months, but had some Facebook friends who wanted to join me. We started the read-along with ten women participating and are already down to just three.

I've enjoyed the musical since junior high school and can't for the life of me figure out why I didn't pick up the book then. The release of the most recent movie got me to thinking about how I had yet to read the book. Normally I am the type of person to just pick up a book and read it until I'm done, with no other books on the side. I had several reading commitments for the months of January and February, so I thought I'd try my hand at reading a second book slowly on the side. I'm really enjoying this arrangement because I don't feel as guilty reading twaddle (mindless drivel) when I know I spend some part of my week with something more challenging.

I have completed Part One: Fantine, and am about 30 pages into Part Two. It is wordy and descriptive, but in a worthwhile way. The characters are slowly built up, with lots of background stories about each of them. I'll admit that this can be tedious at times, particularly where I am right now with the detailed background on the Battle of Waterloo, but I just keep reminding myself that this was how books were written before stories and images were thrown at us in quick succession via television and video games. Overall, though, I'm enjoying having all the cracks filled in and getting to know all of the characters better.