Reading progress

Well, I finished The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It was a good book, took me some time to get through it though. I had planned on starting The Clan of the Cave Bear, but changed my mind and started The Count of Monte Cristo. So far it's really good, sorry that I hadn't picked it up sooner.

The sock is coming along. I basically get to work on it during my lunch hour at work. I'm coming into my final weeks of the semester and hopefully once I finish all that work I can get back to knitting more.

Procrastination (Somewhat)

So I have a baby shower to attend tomorrow. After buying gifts for the mother-to-be and baby last night I felt that I should give something handmade, since I do that sort of thing. So I started looking for a pattern, but of course it had to be something I could complete quickly. I lucked out I found a pattern that even says it's quick- Shower's in an Hour Baby Hat. I started as soon as I found it with a leftover yarn from my sister-in-laws scarf. It's beautiful colors, but a bit rough. I did finish it in an hour like the pattern stated. After that I decided to do another one this time with the soft white yarn I had used for my cabled hobo bag. It feels much better. So now I have two hats to give the mother-to-be tomorrow.

The other wonderful thing is that spring has finally arrived on Long Island. It's about time. Last weekend was so horrible with that nor'easter. Today we were up around 70. Notice the forsythia in the background, it only started blooming about a week ago.

The homework that somewhat got avoided is still waiting for me. I did finish one part, but definitely have a list of things I still need to do. At least I got some knitting in though, it just makes me feel better!

Ugh! Homework!

I haven't been able to knit at all this week. Last Saturday my husband took me out to celebrate my birthday with some of my friends, we had a fabulous time. The rest of the time was spent doing homework (not including Monday which was my actual birthday. I don't think anyone should have to do homework on their birthday!) So the homework has prevented knitting and as if I don't hate homework enough that just makes me hate it even more!

Slow Week

This was a slow week knitting wise. Homework and actual work took up all the time. I have gotten a few rows done on my first sock, all during my lunch at work. It had started as a solid brown sock, but after about 10 or more rows of straight knitting in the solid brown I got bored. So I ripped it all out and started over. At least now it's a little more interesting! Rupert got interested in the sock, actually more the needles (he loves to rub) and of course he had to chase some of the yarn.


On my way to PetSmart ( I was trying to find a filter for my mom's fish tank) I saw a big sign advertising the "Sheep to Shawl Festival"! It's being held on May 6th from 12 to 4, and I will definitely be attending. It will be my first time seeing sheep sheared and the wool being spun.

Going back a couple of posts to the booklist I found I am going to start reading the books that I have italized. Right now I'm working on The Alchemist which I had started, but never finished. I have now restarted it with every intention of finishing it. After that one I'm going to read The Clan of the Cave Bear which I have heard is a very good book and a quick read. We'll see after those two where my reading will take me, but I like having a list of possible reads.

Comments

Why is it that when you knit in public everyone has a comment? Not that all the comments are negative...I've a had few people tell me about projects they have made or how they knit (European vs. American?), but there are a few comments that come out that I don't appreciate.

The first comment I received was a few weeks after I got married, someone said to me, "Oh, you are like an old married woman already." Implying that only older women knit. I hate that stereotype. I knit before I got married. I know that there are many young knitters and not all are woman, so why is it that this stereotype persists?!

The second comment that really got to me was today, someone made a comment that because I was knitting I must be an expecting mother because that is what knitting means. Whatever...I don't have to be pregnant to be knitting.

These are only two comments that I received, I'm sure many people that knit have received similar comments and probably many more. I just wish that people didn't stereotype knitters. It's the same with librarians. They are thought of as old women with their hair in buns, making sure everyone is quiet. Again another stereotype that is not true!!!!

Cabled Hobo Bag continued...

Yesterday I went to my mother's friend's house. Elaine is very crafty and can make almost anything. She made the lining to the cabled hobo bag. I had about a half a yard of the fabric I had chosen. She was able to create the lining with a pocket from that half a yard. We put a piece of foam board in the bottom of the lining to give the bag a bit of stability. Elaine made it that I can remove the foam board if I bring the bag to get dry cleaned.

As you can see from the picture Elaine and my mom are working hard. I cut the foam board and that was my contribution to the lining. My mother made the pocket for the inside of the lining and she crocheted a loop for a button to hook onto (once I find a button). I was also given a type of fabric that is stiff to sew onto the lining. This is also to help give the bag some shape and help it stand up. We have not determined if it is iron-on or not, so I'll have to experiment with that. So now the lining has to be sewn into the bag. Elaine says it's a piece of cake, I am not as positive as she is.

The side of the lining that will be sewn to the inside of the hobo bag.

The side of the bag that will be visible when the bag is opened.

Socks!

I started my Anklet pattern. I'm using Lion Brand Micro Spun yarn in a coffe color. It's a little difficult working with four needles, but I'm getting use to it. They are small needles though, I feel as though if I sneeze too hard they might break.

The sock enjoyed an evening with friends, playing Guitar Hero.

The other night I found this online quiz to determine what kind of flower you are. Turns out...

I am a Petunia What Flower Are You?

You are a tried and trusted friend who will be there for your friends when they need you. But you have a tendency to be nervous about doing things that go against the norm.

Book List

I found this on Lick My Sticks:

"Found this through Dr. Girlfriend Knits:

In the list of books below, bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you want to read, cross out the ones you won’t touch with a ten-foot pole, put a cross (+) in front of the ones on your book shelf, and asterisk (*) the ones you’ve never heard of."

I've added the symbol # for ones that I'm indifferent about. If I have nothing else to read...maybe I'd pick them up, but they are not on my list of really want to read!

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. +Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L. M. Montgomery)
9. *Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. *A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. *A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling) - as Sorcerer's Stone
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J. D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel) - I've read half of it
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. #East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. *Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. +The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. *Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. *1984 (Orwell)
35. +The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. *The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. *The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho) - I've read half
41. #The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible - parts of it
46. +Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. #Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. #The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. # Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. *Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. #Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. *The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. *The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. *The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. *The Time Traveler’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. *The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview with the Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. *Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. *One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. *Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. *Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. *The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. #A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. *The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. *The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. *Not Wanted On the Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. *Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. *Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. *Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. *The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. *Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. *Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. *In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S. E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98.* A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. *The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. #Ulysses (James Joyce)

Almost There!

The Cabled Hobo Bag is almost finished. I completed knitting it on Monday night. Now it has to have fabric attached and be sewn together, two things I'm not sure how to do. Luckily, my mother has a good friend that is a very crafty person (She once took a dress apart, made a pattern, put the dress back together and was able to return it to the store. She then made her own dress from the pattern. Now that is crafty!) So I've enlisted her help along with my mother's and the three of us are going to get this bag together. I'm hoping that I will have it for Easter Sunday, so I can show it off.

So my mom's friend felt that I should put the bag together and then put the liner fabric in. So I learned how to do a slip stitch with the crochet hook to attach the strap to the bag. It took some getting use to, but I got the hang of it. I had to rip out the stiches on the last side I was attaching twice because the bag wasn't lining up, but I finally got it right. So tomorrow I'm going to find fabric that will line the bag and hopefully we can get it in. According to my mom's friend, "It's a piece of cake!"

In other news, now that I finished knitting the bag I for a brief time returned to my unfinished poncho, but have again put that aside and am back to my patch afghan. But tomorrow is another day and my mom and I are planning to go to a yarn store, so I have a feeling I'll be working on a new project. I'm trying to find a sock pattern to make, being that I've never made socks I want something fairly easy, but not boring. I got a pattern from my mom's friend from a book that was purchased for 10¢ and published in 1952. It's a very plain sock, but should be good since it's my first time knitting socks. Maybe someday I'll be able to make the Norwegian Stockings that I found on "See Eunny Knit", she's amazing...have you seen the stuff she's made!