Knitting in The Loop

In an effort to feel cooler (!!!!!!),

my sista and I decided to visit Knitting In The Loop 

at their new location.

Lots of yarn to make something yummy for cool days 

(someday ... in December maybe????!!!!!).

Their new place is right next door to their old place,

but bigger and that means more yarn!

Lots of gorgeous yarn, places to sit, knit and chat.

I just had to include the photo of the knit tea cozy.

Thank you to our hostesses:

Mary for Mosaic Monday

and 

The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday.

Wishing YOU well and a joy filled week!

This and That

I feel like a This and That Day!

I thought I'd start with a knitting project that I've almost finished.

Pretty colorway -- Bernat Mosaic Ambrosia.

I needed to knit 12 fans.

I put them together to make the scarf.

I enjoyed this pattern. 

Knit one fan a day and two weeks later .. a scarf!

(I still need to weave the ends.)

Teddy had to help me photograph the finished project.

It takes 3 skeins of the Bernat Mosaic.

I ordered the kit (from Mary Maxim I think) and received the 

Bernat Mosaic booklet with 10 knit and crochet patterns.

This is an acrylic yarn that feels much like cotton!

***

Sappy and homespun, Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani was my perfect summer read. Set in the real place of Big Stone Gap, Virginia we meet Ave Maria Mulligan. She is 35 years old, a pharmacist, a member of the rescue squad, and calls herself a spinster. The highlight of her week is the arrival of the bookmobile. (Remember bookmobiles? I do and just knew I'd like this book because Ave likes bookmobiles, too!). Ave's favorite book is about the ancient art of Chinese face reading.  A surprise, family secret sends Ave Maria on a quest. There are the requisite Southern quirky characters: "sexpert" Iva Lou who runs the bookmobile and crusty, chain-smoking Fleeta. I was delighted when I found out there are three more in the series! 

***

I started ICAD (Index Card A Day) on July 1 ... one month behind everyone else.

Here are my three newest ICAD's.

It's been fun to see my work pop up on Tammy's blog as she reviews the latest ICAD's of the group. 

Wishing YOU well and a  joy filled week! 

Yarn Along!

It's been awhile since I've joined Ginny at Small Things for her Yarn Along.

She believes folks who knit and crochet love to read and I agree!

This is the Bear Blanket Buddy I finished yesterday.

The little blanket and all the bear pieces are knit.

Mary Maxim has a kit for several different Blanket Buddies.  

He even has a tail!

My Grand God Son is due any day.

This little bear and a crochet blanket will be on their way soon. 

I finished HEARTSTONE the fifth book in the Matthew Shardlake Tudor Mystery series by C. J. Sansom. I love historical mysteries and this has to be one of the best series I've read. The detail in each book is amazing. You are in Tudor England while you are reading.

In HEARTSTONE it is the summer of 1545 and England is at war. Henry VIII's invasion of France has gone wrong and a massive French fleet is preparing to sail across the Channel. Matthew is given a case by an old servant of Queen Catherine Parr which deals with the corrupt Court of Wards. Matthew and his assistant, Barak, travel to Portsmouth (where the French and English fleets are massing) to look into the case. While they are there, Matthew plans on looking into the mysterious background of Ellen Fettiplace, a young woman incarcerated in the Bedlam hospital for the insane that he has befriended. Somehow, someway, Sansom weaves all of this together (in 600+ pages).

The other book I finished is THIS IS GETTING OLD: Zen Thoughts on Aging with Humor and Dignity by Susan Moon. Susan is a writer and longtime Zen Buddhist who teaches popular writing workshops. This book is a collection of essays on the "sometimes confusing, sometimes poignant, sometimes hilarious condition of being a woman over sixty." With chapter titles like "Where Did I Put My Begging Bowl" (those senior moments), "Leaving the Lotus Position" (joints that refuse to work), "The Tomboy Returns" (return to childhood), "Tea with God", "Alone with Everyone" (something I'm going through now after the death of Mr. Dragon), I really did think this would be the book for me. I was disappointed. I'm not sure what I expected, but I didn't get it ... then again ... maybe I did and I just haven't realized it yet!!!!! (I tried to upload a picture of the cover of the book and Poor Blogger ... it wouldn't let me.)

To see what fellow *yarners* are reading and working on,

visit Ginny at Small Things.

Wishing YOU well and a lovely day. 

They Keep Me Company ....

They all keep me company. They've been especially helpful during the last few months, when Mr. Dragon was first diagnosed, through his chemotherapy and radiation, through his surgery. All the long days of sitting and waiting.

Some were old friends like Miss Julia (Ann B. Ross author). Miss Julia on a motorcycle is something I'll not soon forget! Bookplate Special by Lorna Barrett -- the street of my dreams -- a street devoted to books and (wait for it) .... FOOD! Or going on an adventure with Lyn Hamilton to find the Orkney Scroll (one of the last mysteries she wrote before her death). Knitting and crocheting with the gang at Lambspun in beautiful Colorado - thank you Maggie Sefton.

I made a few new friends like C. J. Samson and his historical mysteries with Matthew Shardlake. I'm in the middle of the third in the series and am still entranced by the time period (Henry VIII) and the wonderful writing. (Do any of you watch the Tudors on television? The new season is about to start. But that's a whole other post!)

Another new friend, Henning Mankell. I really like Inspector Wallendar. Thanks to a blogging buddy for the introduction. Mr. Dragon and I are both hooked! And, along came a baseball friend delivering some odds and ends like Brian Haig and Secret Sanction. Mr. Dragon is the military/spy guy, but we both enjoyed Secret Sanction so much, we will put Mr. Haig on our list.

That's a very short introduction to some of my friends -- old and new. I have my ever present cup or glass of tea and the pink scarf in the background is knitted. No pattern ... just fun yarns ... an experiment. I'll add some beads to the tail when it is done.

There's a Mystery for Every Interest

(From fotosearch.com)

There are mysteries of all kinds, covering all sorts of interests, for all different readers. There are hard-boiled mysteries, Noir, urban fantasy, cozy mysteries and all sorts of combinations. There are mysteries for readers who like to cook, who like to read, who like scrap booking, tea drinking, falconry, needlepoint, collecting antiques. You get the idea. How about for collectors of teddy bears and knitters? You bet!

DIED IN THE WOOL: A Knitting Mystery by Mary Kruger is the first in a series of cozy myteries. Ariadne Evans is the proud owner of her very own knitting shop. She enters her store one day to find longtime customer Edith Perry strangled to death with homespun yarn. Now Edith wasn’t the easiest person to get along with so there is a long list of suspects. Detective Joshua Pierce, may or may not have designs on Ariadne (a little romance never hurts in a cozy mystery). Ariadne decides to do some sleuthing of her own. Hopefully, the killer isn’t as crafty as she.

I’m behind the times as this book was first published as a paperback in 2007. I thought it was well done and I like the characters -- something that is very important in cozy mysteries -- and I’d like to visit Ariadne in her shop. I do love yarn and the description of the purple heather hand spun, hand dyed yarn used to kill Edith really sounds lovely! There are several more books in this series and I’m looking forward to getting to know Ariadne and her friends better.

THE CRAFTY TEDDY: A Bear Collector’s Mystery by John J. Lamb is the third book in this “sort of cozy” police procedural. I say sort of because Mr. Lamb is a retired homicide detective and hostage negotiator. He has all the police procedural part of the books down to a science. He and his wife collect teddy bears (at last count had over 600), so he also knows the teddy bear business. Definitely an interesting combination and one I have really enjoyed.

From the back of the book:

“Retired San Francisco cop Brad Lyon is settling into a quieter life with his wife, Ashleigh, in Virginia’s mountain country, where they collect and create teddy bears. But even here, stuff happens...

The peace of the Shenandoah Valley is shattered when an intruder breaks into the Lyon home and makes off with the antique Farnell Alpha teddy bear -- one of the most celebrated stuffed animals in history, and also Brad’s gift to Ash on their twentieth wedding anniversary.

Afterward, life seems to be getting back to normal -- until a trio of Japanese gangsters inexplicably shows up in town, and then the local museum director is found dead. Even though it all seems a bit fur-fetched, Brad knows he’s got a 187 on his hands -- that’s California penal code for murder ...”

These are fun books. Well written and fast paced. Not too cozy or too hard-boiled. Brad and Ash, Tina Barron the County Sheriff and Sergei Zubatov (Brad’s best friend and the owner of Pinckney’s Brick Pit barbecue restaurant and former Soviet military attache -- or, in other words, spy) are all wonderful characters. Add the great information about bears (there are always ideas about where to buy bears and usually a bear artist or two are featured in the books) and a well written mystery -- well -- it’s the perfect brain candy for a rainy afternoon. I’m glad I have two more in my stack!

Even a rainy day brings JOY!

Unfinished Knitting

Now that all the holiday crochet projects are done and sent on their way (dolls and pot holders), I reached into the closet to see what knitting projects were left unfinished. I started this one last spring. I wanted a light wrap to wear inside. Houston always has the air conditioning running and it gets cold in buildings. I liked this pattern immediately. It is a free pattern from Lion Brand Yarn: Lion Brand Lion Cotton Lacy Stole (Pattern Number: 70337AD). I went searching for the Lion Brand Cotton in town and when I couldn't find any I decided I would use Bernat Satin Sport. I love the light weight, snuggly feel of this yarn and the Jade color.



One of the reasons I picked this pattern is that is was marked Easy+. I should have known the secret was in the + ! I can't tell you how many times I frogged the first eight rows. Enough that I finally said *to heck* with it and decided to just keep going. So what if I made a mistake. The first try at a pattern is always mine, and I didn't care if I could see the mistakes! I also remembered a story about Navajo weavers -- they always make an error in the weaving so that the evil spirits have a way out of the rug. I must have really built up some bad karma -- there are lots of ways for evil spirits to get out of this stole! When the stole is finished and blocked, I'll show it to you again.

Here's a project I'm finishing up. The other two pieces are done. Can you guess what this is? You'll have to come back in the New Year to find out. I can tell you all about it on January 19!