Nicole's Books of '09

Just in case you're thinking of giving the gift of reading this season, here is my list of five star books I've read in 2009. This is based on my opinion and I've omitted those which I prefer solely based on entertainment value (the vampire ones and the smut ones). I rarely give those my elusive five star rating anyway with the exception of the first Sookie Stackhouse. Ok ok, no more vampire romance novels, I promise. Unless you really want them?

For me to give a book four or five stars it has to grab me from the beginning until it becomes an obsession and I need to finish reading it and nothing can come between me and it. What pushes it over the edge is when I finish, I either still want to see what happens to the characters or I close it with a sigh, upset that the adventure is over already. It's a personal thing not a sophisticated literary thing. I am neither sophisticated nor literary. I'm a reader.

Here they are in the order of preference, one being the highest.

1. Book - Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Plot Summary - Sexy new husband, gorgeous old estate, mysterious murder ::eyebrow raise::
Recommended to - Jane Austin, Agatha Christie and Hitchcock fans
2. Book - The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams
Plot Summary - Young girl on a polygamist compound gets 'chosen' to be the next wife of her uncle
Recommended to - Nieces in middle school everywhere, just make sure she lives nearby so you can borrow it
3. Book - The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Plot Summary - 1962 a look at the lives of Black women in Mississippi and their relationships with the white children they raised
Recommended to - Fans of Rebecca Wells who feel cheated that she doesn't develop her Black characters as much as her White ones (which really is not a whole lot when you think about it). Not that that I'm criticizing ::ahem::
4. Book - Genesis by Bernard Beckett
Plot Summary - Post-apocalyptic look at the human race
Recommended to - Philosopher wannabes (be prepared to read this one twice)
5. Book - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Plot Summary - Teenagers fight to the death to the entertainment of the public and the tyrannical government
Recommended to - High schoolers everywhere, and/or Twilight fans who really need more substance in their reading (I'm including myself in this description if it makes you feel any better).

Out of the 72 books I've read this year, these are the stand-outs. That sounds like an impressive number, but really, it didn't feel like a lot. Here's how I break it down: 22 were smutty, 9 were young adult novels, 37 were adult fiction and 4 I abandoned. I'm actually surprised that the number of smutty ones does not exceed the adult fiction ones. Interesting.

Into the Mind of A Chef Pt. 2

Our neighbors stopped by to 'borrow' a can of tomatoes.

"This is so great! I always dreamed that we'd have neighbors to borrow food from! I wanna dump out a whole bag of sugar just so we can go next door and borrow some!"

Holidays

Hello dear blog. It's been a while. Holidays are around the corner and I should have a good start on handmade gifts for everyone I know!

::snort::

Sorry people, not this year. I've been doing a pile of selfish crafting and it's been delicious. It's not that I don't love you and want to wrap you up in woolen-y goodness, it's just that... I'm effing cold. If I don't make myself the patterns that have been burning a hole in my queue I'm going to die a cold cold shivery death. And then who will bring you your gifts? Hmm? That's what I thought.

My favorite project for me so far is definitely my Rose Red. I knitted it using Sublime, a merino wool angora blend chosen because I needed my hat to be fuzzy. NEEDED. This thing shed all over my pants while I made it, but now it seems to have settled. It keeps my head and ears warm so effectively that sometimes I have issues hearing people. Actually, that might just be me and not the hat so much.

Curious....

I've also been diving into socks. These are pretty satisfying projects. My brother Ross requested some so I made him some Masonic Lodge socks in a whopping size 12 with Cascade Heritage. Mmmmmmmmcascadeheritaaaaage. This yarn is gorgeous, comes in a bajillion colors (yes, a bajillion, I counted) and feels like butta. In fact, in blind yarn tests, 9 out of 10 people preferred Cascade Heritage to butter. It's true.

Joe let me take pictures of his feet for a full 5 minutes before cracking.

Ross just started college clear across the country and when I asked him for his address he responded with, "1223 something apartment something." I'd like to point out that he told me this in writing. Joe's feeling pretty sure that these socks are going to wind up his. I don't know why.

BONUS KITTY PIC!
Portrait of a Mew - He's a very serious Mew cat and he cannot be bothered with your nonsense... oh... oh.. you say you want to scratch the side of my chin? Very well. But directly afterwards I will need to get down to serious Mew cat business. Something about a gnat in the bedroom.

k2tog Revisited

In the battle of me vs. k2tog, there will only be one victor. And that victor shall be ME!

MWAHAHAHHA!

k2tog

Really briefly:

I started a Lavalette, because they're fabulous and it's a good cause, plus I get to use some Malabrigo lace that I've had in my stash forever. And it's been in a ::GASP:: yarn cake! I know BAD KNITTER BAD! for quite some time.

Although I love patterns that start with only 2 stitches to cast on, I have come to a revelation: k2tog. is. The. Devil.

Maybe you disagree? Maybe k2tog is your favorite stitch, you love grappling to get those two stupid stitches to stay together as your other needle attempts to grab your yarn. Maybe that's fun for you. If so, I hate to be the one to have to tell you, but you. are. insane. There is something wrong with you, my friend. And that something is in your BRAAAAAAAAIN.

You must be one of those people who takes joy in removing all wire hangers from their closet, throwing them on the ground, mixing them up a bit and then trying to separate them again. You! Yes YOU! Put all of your necklaces in a lump in a bowl just so one morning you can take extra time getting ready.

Well, I may also keep all of my jewelry in a lump right where I know to find it out of sheer laziness, but I will not stand for this k2tog nonsense. I will do some internet searching; I seem to remember some back loopy higgily piggily or something I dunno. But k2tog must go. Suggestions are welcome.

UPDATE: So I tried the lace Addis, and I even tried Signature needles, and I've come to the conclusion that the problem lies with me. Sucking it up...

New Favorite?

The project I was guilted into making

Everyone at knit night was making Ishbels. I was really not sure if this was a project that I would like or use or was my style. But everyone was making one... and everyone was gushing about them... and Malabrigo sock yarn is just. so. preeeeeeetty.

I caved. I caved like a fat kid in front of delicious delicious cupcakes. Not just delicious. Delicious delicious. And that's just what my Ishbel is.

Lacey goodness.

I still haven't exactly figured out what it goes well with, but I wear it anyway. I give the pattern a 5 out 5 on clarity. I'd say it's a great beginner's lace project. And it's just enough purling that I don't get sick of purling. I might make another one with the same yarn because I think I have enough leftover. For this project I bought blocking wires. I'm kind of excited about them.

Next month is the month of the Apres Surf Hoodie. I'm all geared. It's going to happen. I'm going to finish this thing. Or I'll just do as much as I can until the end of June when I call it quits. Sounds like a plan.

Smitten with Squirrel Mittens

Pattern Review: Squirrel Mittens using modifications by Hello Yarn

Look! Our armpits are stripey and fun! Don't you wish yours were like this?

After a frustrating few weeks of starting a sweater, deciding it was too bulky, finishing a hat, that turned out too big, I decided to go back to the squirrel mittens. Ah wee mittens. I started you back in April of '08. I put them down for a short hiatus back then and when I picked them up, oops my gauge was noticeably smaller. This made for a really wonky mitten. It was sad.

I put them away in frustration. Finally, I got the courage to rip them back down to the second braid and start over. Then I didn't like which hand I was holding the pink in, so I ripped them again. My mittens look different depending on which color is held in which hand. Fourth time's the charm??

SMOOCHES

The verdict? The final result is snuggable squirrel adorableness. The mechanics of the pattern I'm not such a big fan of. I don't like doing fair isle where there are more than four stitches between colors. It makes it harder to control the gauge, and things tend to get wonky. This wasn't such an issue on the snowflakes, but down at the squirrels, on each side by the trees, which were also by the ends of my needles, it was too easy for my yarn to get pulled too tight on one color versus the other. This results in a lot of pulling, and a smaller mitten in that area! Not good. I would recommend, if you use DPNs or magic loop, to put those trees in the middle of your needles, or at least a few stitches off the ends, to help prevent this from happening.

I also recommend not putting your thumb hole stitches on waste yarn and instead, at the time where you're about to take those stitches off the needle, knit them with some waste yarn. Then, put the waste yarn stitches back on your left-hand needle and continue knitting the pattern with your regular yarn. It really kept the fair isle under control and helped my side stitches from stretching out. When you're ready to do the thumb, just pick up your mitten stitches on either side and carefully remove the waste yarn stitches. Ta daa! Also, Definitely use smaller needles for the ribbing. I totally forgot to for the second mitten, but decided I couldn't handle any more ripping out.

These cuties are going to be going to be a birthday gift. They were a gift that was planned to be given last year, but let's not get too hung up in the logistics shall we? Life is too good.

And I pat my cheekses with lub

BONUS KITTY PICS!

Bear and Mew decided to make themselves disaster suits in case of... disaster... so that they wouldn't be neurotic about every sudden noise. Unfortunately, the material they chose for their plan ultimately backfired.

Who's laughing now vacuum?!