May

07

Book Reading Update

Reading
Books

Whew, last week flew by, and after the Knitting and Crochet Blog week, I needed a break!

So, I thought I’d do a “books I’m reading” post.

I’ve been reading a lot of little books, and most of them aren’t even worth mentioning. But, I did finish Origins: Spinward Fringe that I mentioned in my last books post. It was pretty good. Not happy that it’s the first book of a long series, because, well, I don’t have enough of an attention span anymore to do those.

The one book I am reading on my Kindle is Winnie and Gurley: The Best-Kept Family Secret by Robert G. Hewitt.

It’s pretty good. I really like it. The author has a great way of telling the story about his family and how he came about writing the book. There’s a lot of family photos, which show up remarkably well on the Kindle, and it helps to get the reader rooted in the story.

Here’s the description: When they met in 1906, Winnie Griffith was the headstrong fifteen-year-old daughter of a wealthy small-town merchant and Gurley Hewitt the hardworking twenty-year-old orphaned son of a Methodist circuit rider. When they fell madly in love, nobody approved. It took them two years to overcome the opposition, and then they married. It was a romantic beginning. This is the story of its tragic end.

Award-winning artist Robert Hewitt is the youngest grandchild of Winnie and Gurley. Throughout much of his life the family conspired to keep him ignorant of his grandparents’ story even as they were hanging onto a large horde of memorabilia and materials that, all together, told the tale. All of it ended up in Winnie’s gargantuan black trunk, the same trunk in which she’d carried her schoolgirl wardrobe back and forth on the train to Rollins College. After Winnie’s death, at her specific instruction, the family gave the trunk to Robert.

So far, it’s proving to be a very interesting read. Even more so due to the fact that my own grandmother lived near Rollins College (so we drove by it all the time) and it was one of the schools I really wanted to go to after high school. So there is that bit of connection there.

 

Saturday was Free Comic Book day, so we went out to our two favorite comic and game stores. We mainly went in to look for a specific role playing game book for me. We couldn’t find it, but we did find another one. See, not all gaming is Dungeons and Dragons. :) I tend to prefer games that are a little different than the typical d20 based rule system. It’s just too many rules and numbers and what dice go with what for me.

We stumbled upon H.P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands: Roleplaying Beyond the Wall of Sleep (Call of Cthulhu roleplaying) and decided that was the one for me.

This is what’s known as a “source book” and contains extra characters, scenarios and the like for playing within the Call of Cthulhu system. I loved reading H.P. Lovecraft in college, so this seemed like a great plan. Little did I know that it contains a reading list, or as I called it in the car, “homework”, to help put the game master in the mood. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as like I said, I really like reading Lovecraft’s work.

 

Saturday afternoon when we got home, G handed me the Call Of Cthulhu: Horror Roleplaying In the Worlds Of H.P. Lovecraft (5.6.1 Edition / Version 5.6.1) core rule book. Now, there is a newer edition out, so if you’re interested in doing this as well, you may want to go with the newer book. We have this one, though.

Which, of course, means I have even more reading to do. This book is the one that contains the rules, how to run the game, how to create the characters, so on and so forth.

This, however, led to us picking up another book while we were in the book store on Sunday. Gotta read the background material. So, we picked up The Dreams in the Witch House: And Other Weird Stories.

I’m already about a third of a way through it. I forgot how creepy Lovecraft can be. I love that! However, that led to needing something a little lighter to read last night. We were hanging out at the church while G was in a men’s group meeting, so Mr. B and I sat in another room and read (he’s reading one of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid stories and loves it). G brought me from the church library a copy of Philosophy For Beginners by Richard Osborne.

Now, the edition we have in our library is from 1974, so it doesn’t look exactly like that, but it’s close. I read a few pages and really enjoyed it. It’s written in a comic book style, and that made it easier to read and understand. If you’re looking to learn about philosophy, but don’t want to have to read a lot of dry, dusty tomes to do it, pick this one up. I’m looking forward to continuing it.

 

That’s all for what I’m reading this week. As you can see, I’m kinda all over the place with my reading. That’s actually somewhat normal for me, though. You’re just finally getting a peek into the madness. :)

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Apr

29

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2012: Crafting Balance

blogging
KCBW 2012 2

Day Seven of the Knitting and Crochet Blog Week! Today’s code, if you wish to follow along the other blogs also participating, is 3KCBWDAY7. You’ll need to enter that into the search engine of your choice and if everyone tagged their posts correctly, you’ll find other bloggers talking about the same subject! Fun, right?

 

Today’s post is Crafting Balance

 

Eskimimi says:

Are you a knitter or a crocheter, or are you a bit of both? If you are monogamous in your yarn-based crafting, is it because you do not enjoy the other craft or have you simply never given yourself the push to learn it? Is it because the items that you best enjoy crafting are more suited to the needles or the hook? Do you plan on ever trying to take up and fully learn the other craft? If you are equally comfortable knitting as you are crocheting, how do you balance both crafts? Do you always have projects of each on the go, or do you go through periods of favouring one over the other? How did you come to learn and love your craft(s)?

I am very much a crocheter. I have only knitted one thing in my entire life and it took me three weeks to make.

 

My only knitted project

 

Yes, that simple dishcloth took me three weeks. Why? Because while I had learned how to knit and purl, I had not learned how to undo mistakes. So, if I made one, I ripped the whole thing out and started over. Multiple times.

 

At that point I realized that knitting was just not for me. Not at that time. I had deadlines, I had things to do, and I could whip out a ton of crocheted dishcloths in the time it took me to knit one. In fact, I have…see:

 

2 sets of crocheted dishcloths for gifts

 

So yeah, crocheting has always been faster for me.

But, recently, while working my way out of this very deep rut I dug for myself, I’ve realized faster isn’t always better. As I revel in taking a long time to make a lace shawl, I realize how much I’m enjoying taking my time and enjoying each stitch. That’s something I lost when I was producing under deadline. For the last couple of years especially, it’s been all about how quickly I could get an item done so I could move on to the next one. And in that I lost the joy of the fiber.

I’m not saying I’m ready to pick up knitting needles right away, or that I’ll ever be as prolific with them as I am with the hook. But, I think the time is coming that I may start working on a few simple things. I’ll have to buy new needles since I did learn that I liked the bamboo ones best and I gave those to my mom. The only ones I have still are the old metal ones my grandmother used. And those moved too fast for me. :)

I don’t think it’ll be an issue getting new needles. I have a wonderful yarn shop within walking distance that has a great selection, including some new ones I’ve never seen before. Not to fear, they also have a really great selection of nice crochet hooks, too. :)

So while I’m not a balanced crafter yet, I’m hoping to be soon.

I hope you enjoyed this Knitting and Crochet Blog Week! You can find other posts on this topic by using the code 3KCBWDAY7 in your search engine. Enjoy!

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Apr

28

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2012: Improving Your Skillset

blogging
KCBW 2012 2

Day Six of the Knitting and Crochet Blog Week! Today’s code, if you wish to follow along the other blogs also participating, is 3KCBWDAY6. You’ll need to enter that into the search engine of your choice and if everyone tagged their posts correctly, you’ll find other bloggers talking about the same subject! Fun, right?

Today’s post is: Improving Your Skillset

Eskimimi says:

How far down the road to learning your craft do you believe yourself to be? Are you comfortable with what you know or are you always striving to learn new skills and add to your knowledge base? Take a look at a few knitting or crochet books and have a look at some of the skills mentioned in the patterns. Can you start your amigurumi pieces with a magic circle, have you ever tried double knitting, how’s your intarsia? If you are feeling brave, make a list of some of the skills which you have not yet tried but would like to have a go at, and perhaps even set yourself a deadline of when you’d like to have tried them by.

I feel pretty confident in the skills I have. Usually on the surveys you find on yarn sites and such I label myself as an expert. That’s not to say I don’t still have things to learn. I think true experts recognize that there are always things to learn in their chosen field.

I still struggle with pattern grading. That’s the fancy term for taking a pattern you’ve designed for one size and doing the math to be able to write the directions for other sizes. Without then working the sample to make sure. Don’t get me wrong, I know how to do it. I just don’t trust myself with it yet. My numbers feel off and it makes me nervous. I have done it, and it’s worked, but it still feels weird. If I ever get back into designing, I will likely give this another go.

I also really want to learn how to do hairpin lace. There are some amazing designs coming out lately with hairpin lace. I know the mechanics of how to do it, I just haven’t worked with it enough to be able to really give it a go.

One of the other skills I really want to pick up is to spin. I have used the drop spindle, and did really well at it. I also own a spinning wheel. But, I’ve never really given it a go. Mainly because when I did have time it was 95 degrees outside (which meant it was 85 in the house) and it was just too hot to play with wool. When it was cold, I was swamped with deadlines. So, hoping to get the spinning wheel moved over here soon (gotta get the room ready for it first) and then give it a spin (ha!).

This may be the year I also give knitting a go again. I did learn how to knit continental a while back and that was passable. I also really like using the Knook to knit with, so maybe I can use that to knit with while I build the muscle memory.

That’s pretty much it for this post. I know, compared to the others it’s kinda short, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes.

Please join me tomorrow for the last post in the Knitting and Crochet Blog week. You can find other posts on this topic by using the code 3KCBWDAY6 in your search engine. See you tomorrow!

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