FO Friday: And this was supposed to be a quiet week!

DH’s Birthday, Maplefest (annual local event), Chapters book browsing, seeing Iron Man 3 (which was awesome!) watching Leafs tear your heart out, Craft group, lunch with the girls, Knittin club and Physio followed by lunch out with MiL (who has completely recovered, yay)  and through all this I am beavering away on my Dawn till Dusk Lace shawl, this has indeed been a humdinger of a week…

I’m in the middle of a pile of projects, embarrassed to say nothing done this week. Well started weeding the garden, we dug out 2 dead bushes and filled the planters with fresh soil… and making plans for the big event for my DS (more to come on this next month).

I adopted a couple of new books this week :0)

The Knitting Stitch Bible by Maria Parry-Jones

you can never have too many stitch dictionaries!

and Take-Along Knitting

Found on ravelry: Damask by Kitman Figueroa I liked this so much I bought the pattern one day I will knit it.

I have been enjoying reading other people’s blogs, I’m going to start linking to some you might enjoy too :0)

Blog visiting:  Peacefully knitting with Tina

Inspiration to add to my large collection of what happened next in the Austen novels.

What am I reading? Mr Darcy’s Diary by Maya Slater

Picked it up as a discard from the local library. Very entertaining so far.

Another useful tutorial:

Toe-up socks 2 at a time by Tii Casa (part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

This weeks musical interlude:

The Last Saskatchewan Pirate by the Arrogant Worms another great Canadian band! :0)

Current WIP List (15)

1. Mile a minute afghan 1st crochet project 20% done 
2. Sassy Summer Satchel  MayKal 
3. Piles of Smiles socks a new pattern I am working on 30%
4. Sssydney and friends two more to do
5. From Dawn Till Dusk shawlette / scarf 45% Done
6. Camellia shawlette - A wedding gift (due May 25) 5%
7. Sea of Dreams Blanket 60%
8. Top Down Swing Pullover – Both sleeves done 80%
9. Beryl Blanket – Long term project  (60 hexs)
10. Box of Boxes Blanket – Long term project  (17 squares)
11. Easy Peazy Shawl – almost 90%
12. Ruffle Scarf – for the fall Bazaar so no hurry 80%
13. SPROUT – Growing Roots vest 60%
14. Cozy Winter Shawl 85%
15. Pine Forest Baby Blanket 75%

FO’s 2013 = 36

WIPS 2013 = 15

Used of 37 purchased patterns from Rav = 8 (29 to go)

Stash Used 2013 = 34

Books 2013 = 15 + 1 = 16

Thanks again for visiting,

cya next week :0)

I’m off to visit Tami’s, then on to my blogwalk

come join me in the blogpond :0)

FO Friday: A really useful thing!

Good Morning all!

Hey, 25,000 views! whoohoo!

I’ve had visitors from all over, from Australia to the Ukraine and even a visitor from Cyprus! The list of followers is growing too. Thanks for your support and validation! I will endeavour to inprove improve both my spelling and my content. My Blogs anniversary is coming up on January 22, watch for a treat!

Meanwhile I continue to stashbust the little balls of leftover sock yarn in my stash tin!

I made 3 of these Yarn Ball Cosies. I tried the plastic mash ones, these are so much better!

Yarn Ball Cosy

I like to pull my yarn from the centre of the ball, needless to say this becomes a mess when the centre finally collapses. The Large one takes about 14gms, Small one about 12gms of fingering or sock yarn. I made mine 4″ long. The red one is a small ball the others are the large size.

Can you tell I really like these handy little cosies?

Did you see this on Ravelry: I am going to start linking things I see on Rav that appeal to me and that you might have missed. This week A Better Bucket by Amy Swenson. Tina at Soper Creek yarns made this. It was so much nicer than the picture!

Book of the week: The Complete World of Jane Austen by Lauren Nixon

DH gifted this to me at Christmas. What an interesting little book, full of details, and snipets on Austens live and times, pictures of places that informed her work. The tidbits on fashion, her family and overviews of her works though brief, were interesting.

I would recommend it if you are a Regency fan and particularly of Jane Austen

Music Link: Watkins Ale – Music of the English Renaissance

FO’s 2013 = 0 + 3 = 3

WIPS 2013 = 9

Stash Used 2013 = 0 + 1 = 1

Books 2013 = 3 + 1 = 4

Thanks again for visiting,

cya Friday

I’m off to visit Tami’s, then on to my blogwalk

come join me in the blogpond :0)

FO Friday: Finally, the finish line! Almost!

Hello all, yet another busy week.

It began with the a visitors on Saturday, out of town Christening on Sunday, trips to the vet, craft group, physio, Advent study, and knitting lots of knitting.

The Ladies knitting and crocheting, I need to get a picture of the quilters too. This is the only photo I have, sorry girls.

The plans for the Craft sale are well on the way. The signs are up and ads are in the papers. The ladies are making last minute items, and arranging for baked goods. We are still raising funds for a wheelchair ramp into our 157 yr old church hall.

Saturday December 8th, from 10 – 2:00 at St Georges Church, Newcastle Ontario Cda. Please come if you can.

Fabulous Fake Fingerless Mitts

Made from stash with leftover buttons. The little straps don’t show very well.

This pattern was designed by and available at Soper Creek Yarns.

Frill Seeker scarves

 1, 2, 3 I have 3 more to do :0(

“Bombur’s Travelling Socks”.

This weeks Audio book: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4,

Part 5, (1 of 5)

FO’s 2012 =  69 + 4 = 73

Patterns from my own Library = 6

WIP’s 2012 = 4 – 4 + 1 = 1

Stash used 2012 =  77 + 4 = 81

Beryl Blanket Hexes =  48

Books = 40

Thanks again for visiting,

cya next week.

WIP Weds and Friday’s at Tami’s

For links to my blogwalk come join me in the blogpond :0)

FO Friday: Simple Ridges, Hugs and Kisses and North and South.

Well this has been a busy week! I am amazed that anything got finished. Doctors, and tests. Every day this week had something. DH, myself and MiL have all had appointments. It is friday and as we speak I am at the Oshawa General Hospital helping my MiL through a CT scan. Her gallbladder has been stable since christmas. She has decided that this is all a nonsense, she doesn’t need surgery, leave me alone! Seeing the surgeon again next we to decide on a plan of action.

Simple Ridge Shawl: project 2-2012 / shawl 1-2012

In amongst all this activity I finally finished the Simple Ridges Shawl. For pattern details see my Ravelry page. As I stated on Wednesday, I don’t crochet (not for lack of trying) so I had to come up with a solution for the finished border.
Notes

This pattern actually calls for dk, however I wanted a heavier shawlette so used worsted. Easy to knit, my only complaint is I find it a bit webby, this problem would be even worse in dk which was recommended.

Edge CO 5 st Row1: k4, k2tog. Row2: k3, yo, k2 Row3: k5, k2tog (continue knitting alt rows with k2tog at shawl edge) Row4: k4, yo, k2 Row6: k5, yo, k2 Row8: k6, yo, k2 (9st) Row9: k8, k2tog Row10: k9 Row11: cast off 4 st, k4, k2tog

I am satisfied with the results, however I don’t think I would knit this pattern again, it is a little to simple for my tastes.

Sue’s Hugs and Kisses Socks

This pattern has been on the back burner for a while, hope you like it!

A FFO (Finally finished Object)

Book: North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

( On ebook)

This is an old favourite, I have read it more times than I can count. Published in 1855, it is the story of Miss Margaret Hale the daughter of a Clergyman turned Private Tutor, her experiences and change of attitude.

She has been raised in London by her Aunt, and received an excellent education (not common at that time), polish and elegance that society brings and with her own good judgement, she returns home to her family. Her idyllic life in the New Forest (the south) is lost by her father’s disaffection with the church.

They remove to Milton, an Industrial town (the north).  She meets both the labourer and the manufacturer, leading to a broader understanding of both.

This book straddles the style of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens writings, as gentle, but more socially aware than the former, but less gritty than the later. There is romance and misunderstandings ala “Pride and Prejudice”, I have to admit I find Mr.Thornton a much more human character than Darcy!

 13 days and counting without stash enhancement!

That’s all for this week, thanks for visiting!

For more inspiring Finished Objects visit Tami’s Blog

Books: Mr & Mrs Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two shall become one by Sharon Lathan

Mr & Mrs Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two shall become one

By Sharon Lathan

Just finished this novel, I am very disappointed! To be kind I would recommend that the author actually read the original “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen rather than rely on the film version presented by Deborah Moggach and Joe Wright.

This novel has all the depth of a Harlequin romance.  The storyline is stagnant and the characters lack eloquence and personality. The dialogue is stilted and repetitive lacking imagination. The book meanders with no development or direction from one meaningless event to another. There is an effort to engage the reader in puerile titillation which could be described as soft porn, and totally unworthy of the majestic intentions of Jane Austen and an insult to the period depicted in her novel. More research might have assisted the author in developing a feeling for the society in which she set her story, in this respect the editor of this book has as much to answer for as the author!

I have endeavored to find one redeeming feature to this novel that might induce me to recommend anyone to read it, sadly, I can find nothing.

If I could return this book, I would!

Dear reader, I have never given as poor a review as this before,

and hope never to again!

 Sequels are never as good as the original you may think: Yes and No, Yes because, lets face it Jane Austen was a wiz with dialogue. No, because I think that novels like Linda Berdoll’s (sequel to “Pride and Prejudice”) “Mr Darcy takes a Wife” and “Darcy and Elizabeth” and Alexandra Ripley’s “Scarlett” and Donald McCaig’s “Rhett Butler’s People”(sequels to “Gone with the Wind”) or “Mrs DeWinter” (sequel to “Rebecca”) by Susan Hill, are excellent.

Make no mistake however, it is a bit hit and miss reading a sequel of a well loved classic. We all have ideas where our favourite characters should go, and how their relationships should unfold, so disappointment is a risk. I for one, feel a loss when I get to the end of an old favourite and wish there was more… I cheer for those authors that go out on the edge and try to find more story behind these great works. If they write them I will continue to read them with hopeful anticipation knowing there will likely be duds in the bunch, and totally enjoying those that are sucessful. Let me know if you find anything good out there:0)

NonFiction: Georgette Heyer’s Regency World

“Georgette Heyer’s Regency World: A definitive guide for all fans of Georgette Heyer, Jane Austen, and the glittering regency period”

 By Jennifer Kloester

This is a really interesting  and entertaining book, full of information on society during this period right down to the real address for “Gunter’s confectioner’s shop” (which opened by an Italian pastry Chef  in 1757 at 7 Berkeley Square in London ) pertinent to Jane Austen’s novels, however this book references more closely the novels of Georgette Heyer.

I particularly liked the real history of the various institutions and individuals mentioned in most regency novels, this background information is not usually mentioned in either novels published in the past and or current novels. I find these details illuminating and gives a deeper perspective on the times.

This is a well researched and interesting reference.