I won stuff!

As part of the Help Decorate the Fibre Space Holiday Window, I made a Rocket Ship (which then got featured in a story, which then got featured as a photo on Ravelry!). For helping out I got a prize - two, really!! A gift certificate (thus ensuring I'll be back to Fibre Space... as if there was any doubt!), and a copy of "Pure Knits" by Yahaira Ferreira (Lark Books). It's full of lovely patterns (Rav link)! I think the first one I'll do is Ice Queen, I just have to decide on the yarn. Orange would be very "me", but would it work with the pattern?


Then, I also adore the cover look, "Chains of Love". That's getting done in two colors, at least - and the cables and chains are TOTALLY getting done in silver. Hello, soft, cuddly steampunk!


There are a *lot* of lovely patterns in the book. Aran sweaters. Light, lofty lace things. Even lighter, loftier lace things. Hats. Scarves. Cute things for tykes. I really think Ice Queen will be my first thing knit up, though!

Extreme Double Knitting!!

I also got obligatory knitting magazines. (Seriously. I haven't gone on a magazine binge for months, you expected me to stop at two?)


Interweave Knits kinda suckered me; while I do read most of the articles, I was most interested in this, which I caught out of the corner of my eye during a cursory flip-through:


Turns out neither it - nor the techniques involved - are actually in the magazine. They're from Extreme Double Knitting: New Adventures in Reversible Colorwork by Alasdair Post-Quinn, which is now available for preorder from CooperativePress.com. I'm getting this book, since it's one of the techniques hinted at during Melissa Leapman's double knitting class at the TKGA conference in Greensboro (she had the COOLEST hat done this way). And you can get a digital edition, or a digital edition AND a book! So, the magazine is forgiven for having a lead on a really, really cool book.

I also swiped my copy of the Vogue Knitopedia, finally:


It's a great resource for All About Knitting - and it really does try to cover EVERYTHING. To wit:





I'm going to have a lot of fun curling up on a cold winter weekend morning and reading it front to back!

Whups!

There was knitting - I've got about half of the second Pineapple Dishcloth done. There was crochet - I've almost finished my "perfect" American Flag Potholder for Charms.

Mostly, however, there was this:


It's the third book in the series, and I will be tracking down the first two. Sigh. Clearly, I need to get more audiobooks...!

There should be lots of crochet pics next week, I promise. I have to get a LOT of work done on my tablecloth!!

Uniquities!

After hitting Aylin's Wool Gatherer, I hit the "Main Street" area of Vienna.

When & Where: Monday, April 11 - Uniquities

I first found Uniquities because the old Scarlet Thread (cross-stitch & needlepoint) used to be just up the street, and since I was there fairly often, it made sense to hit the nearby yarn store as well. (Not financial sense, mind you, but a logical sort of "well, I'm buying things anyway, might as well go!") If you click through to their webpage, there's a lovely bowl of Claudia Hand Paints Silk Lace just sitting there. Yes, this is where a lot of my Silk Lace stash comes from. And a lot of my knitting needles. There's a whole WALL of knitting needles. And patterns. And a whole room of yarn. And another whole room of yarn. And a hallway with more yarn. And buttons. (Not in the hallway, sorry.) Since I'd already bought some yarn and patterns earlier at Aylin's, I was Being Good and Just Looking For Stuff I Needed/Had Been Looking For.

Stop giggling. It could've happened.

Anyway, what I got was, in fact, a book I'd been looking for:


I took one of Margaret Fisher's classes at TKGAcon, and it was really, really helpful. I meant to get the book at the market then, but I think I opted for a sheep umbrella with the last of my cash instead. I also got one pattern - for the Southwest Shawl. One guess what my Russet Miss Babs laceweight yarn is gonna be...


I think I would've been okay with just that, except I looked at the yarn. Hence, the lovely little ball of silk on the left in the photo below. It's going to be a Wisp. Yes, I know, Wisp is supposed to be all about the mohair, but after the hell (lovely hell, yes, but hell) that was the Forget-Me-Knot shawl for my sister, I'm off mohair for a while. This lovely Kelly-green yarn will do just fine.


Even that would've been okay, except... next to the register... they had something I'd *almost* ordered from Lantern Moon, a something I actually needed. So, meet my new inside-the-door-really-get-that-mud-OFF-your-feet door mat. Her name is Gretchen. No, I don't know why, that's just her name.


I like her. She makes me smile every time I step into the house!

A book cover is sort of like a book, right?

I had a pretty busy weekend. To keep the Tuesday post somewhat book-related, here's the Illusion Book Cover I made for History of Magic. Here's where it was early Sunday morning (on the way to Mother's Day brunch):


... and here's the turn-in post:

I made some protective gauntlets for another class, so I headed to the Chamber of Secrets to explore, straightaway. It's like most other catacombs, with fewer skulls, and about the same amount of damp. I poked around for a bit, and didn't find anything really unexpected until I was on my way out, when, near the main entrance to the Chamber, I found (pushed behind a rock), a second-hand copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transformation.

Well, I might need it next year, but it's awfully scruffy-looking. So, I decided to make it a cover. (No one, really, wants to be caught out with scruffy-looking books if they can help it.) It's striped in my House Colors, and, for the most part, looks like a perfectly normal book cover, if a little loud.


But, hold it at an angle, and something appears... (Please note: doing a color-shifted illusion ANYTHING in one solid piece is a half-price fare to St. Mungo's. I think there may be a HoM O.W.L. in it somewhere!)


It's a "S", of course… or is it a Snake?


Either way, no one will notice my scruffy book inside!

(And, just for people actually reading the blog, eventually there will be a pattern!)

I am a Regency Romance Addict.

What I read last week: Double Deceit, Emily Hendrickson, December 1990, (ISBN: 0451168534)

First off, let me just say that I love Regency romances. The entire point of Regency romance, as a genre, is The Good Guys Win, Love Conquers All, and there is ALWAYS a Happy Ending. Since they're all set within a thirty-year time frame, there's limited need for set-up: it's entering a familiar world, every time. The stories usually follow the (frequently rocky) road to love and romance of a heroine (or hero, once in a while) as she forges her way through the haute ton, at least one impulsive act leading to trouble, and at least one horrid misunderstanding that Threatens to Ruin All. In the purest form of the genre, the payoff at the end of the story is the couple's first kiss - or maybe the wedding. While Georgette Heyer is the acknowledged grande dame of the genre, and granted, Julia Quinn, Cathy Maxwell and Stephanie Laurens certainly sell a lot of books (by expanding the genre to include sex - and frequently lots of it), my favorite of them all is Emily Hendrickson. Double Deceit is one of the spicier of Ms. Hendrickson's offerings (There's a kiss! Well before the last chapter! There's flirting! With a Married Man!!!), but again, one of my favorites. (I should add at this point that I'm quite certain I own every Signet romance she published, and still keep an eye out at book sales "just in case" - although I know I have them all.

The Back of the Jacket: Miss Caroline Beauchamp had accepted a very tricky task. She had to seduce Lord Hugh Stanhope, the handsome husband of her dearest friend, Mary Stanhope, to break the hold that an infamous beauty had on the vulnerable Viscount. But she also faced an even greater challenge. She had to bedazzle the most renowned rake in the realm, Lord Giles Rutledge, to keep him from making Mary his latest conquest.

Caroline knew as she began her juggling act of deception that letting down her guard would mean disaster...and falling in love would be even worse...

Genre(s): Regency Romance (Yes, it is it's own genre. So there.)
Audience: Pretty much anyone. I, personally, think many of them would make delightful bedtime stories (although mum/dad should do a read-through first, just in case there are slightly spicy scenes. Rare, but they happen.)
Online Extras: Yay, she has a website!!! I didn't know that!
Reading Time: Usually half a day, if that. But delightfully spent.
Recommend: Absolutely, positively.

I read a lot. Given how much I knit, I really shouldn't have time for eating - but I tend to eat at least two meals a day at work (by myself), and I don't want food on my knitting, so - I read. I'm not reading as much as I usually do, since the Monster Yarn Pattern Project thing is taking over chunks of my evenings (it's going to be a while before there's little enough yarn left for it to be a "portable project"), so I'll share what I've been reading. It's pretty eclectic, and I'm not a critic. Pretty much anything I pick up, I read; I don't tend to pick up things I don't think I'll finish. Don't expect anything in-depth, but you may find something you hadn't heard of that you might want to track down to read yourself.

I'm on a Sherlock Holmes jag...

What I read last week: Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson


Okay, this one was fun. (Well, as much fun as anything chronicling the days of the Ripper killings can be. It's not a story for the squeamish, certainly.) More important - it has the enthusiastic support of the Conan Doyle Estate! Caleb Carr, author of The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness (both of which I also thoroughly enjoyed & recommend), sums it up best: "At long last, an author of rare talent combines a thorough, enthusiastic knowledge of the Sherlock Holmes canon with truly rigorous research into, and respect for, what remains one of the greatest and most horrifying unsolved murder cases in modern history: the Jack the Ripper killings. Where others have failed, Lyndsay Faye's extremely impressive debut novel succeeds, on every level, providing thrilling entertainment without blatant exploitation. It will instantly take a place of distinction among the best attempts of contemporary authors to continue the work of Arthur Conan Doyle, and is, quite simply, a must for Holmes fans and Ripperologists alike."

The Back of the Jacket: "As England's greatest specialist in criminal detection, Sherlock Holmes is unwavering in his quest to capture the killer responsible for terrifying London's East End. He hires an "unfortunate" known as Mary Ann Monk, the friend of a fellow street-walker who was one of the Ripper's earliest victims; and he relies heavily on the steadfast and devoted Dr. John H. Watson. When Holmes himself is wounded in Whitechapel during an attempt to catch the savage monster, the popular press launches an investigation of its own, questioning the great detective's role in the very crimes he is so fervently struggling to prevent. Stripped of his credibility, Holmes is left with no choice but to break every rule in his desperate race to find the madman known as "the Knife" - before it is too late."

Genre(s): Mystery
Audience: Adult
Online Extras: LyndsayFaye.com; Amazon.com lets you read the first few pages
Reading Time: 2 days
Recommend: I'm a Sherlock Holmes fan, and Ms. Faye really caught the voice of Sir Arthur. While I can't picture Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock (it's always Jeremy Brett in my mind), Jude Law will forever be Dr. Watson.) Anyway, I really enjoyed it, and I'm a Holmes nitpicker.

I read a lot. Given how much I knit, I really shouldn't have time for eating - but I tend to eat at least two meals a day at work (by myself), and I don't want food on my knitting, so - I read. I'm not reading as much as I usually do, since the Monster Yarn Pattern Project thing is taking over chunks of my evenings (it's going to be a while before there's little enough yarn left for it to be a "portable project"), so I'll share what I've been reading. It's pretty eclectic, and I'm not a critic. Pretty much anything I pick up, I read; I don't tend to pick up things I don't think I'll finish. Don't expect anything in-depth, but you may find something you hadn't heard of that you might want to track down to read yourself.

Well, I read a bit more than these, but it's a start...

What I read last week:

The Back of the Jacket:
   I have sworn upon the River Styx that the events in this book are purely fictional.
   There is no such twelve-year-old boy as Perseus "Percy" Jackson. The Greek gos are nothing more than old myths. They certainly never have children with mortals in the twenty-first century, nor is there any such place as Camp Half-Blood, a summer camp for demigods on eastern Long Island where I train young heroes to survive against their monstrous enemies. Percy never met a satyr or a daughter of Athena. They most emphatically did not embark upon a quest together across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.
   Having said this, I must warn you to think carefully before starting this book. If you feel anything stirring within you as you read - if you being to suspect that this story may be describing something about your own life - STOP READING IMMEDIATELY. I cannot be held responsible for the consequences.
   May the gos of Olympus (who of curse do not exist) watch over you.

Yours sincerely, CHIRON KENTAVROS
Immortal Trainer of Heroes
Activities Director, Camp Half-Blood
Bearer of Laurels, Olympian Council.

Okay, I was a Latin jock (specifically, Mythology Expert) in High School. These books are a blast and - might I add - about ten times more fun than the movie. (Which wasn't a bad little popcorn flick, I caught it yesterday. The books are much, much better, with all the backstory, and the plot actually makes sense. Also: the movie is actually aimed at an older audience than the books; there's a lot of innuendo & such that just isn't in the original.) And read the books first, if you can; the movie gives stuff away that's more fun to be surprised by (if you didn't see it coming). I was able to finish a book a day, easily, and will probably be picking up the other three over the weekend. (Not tough, since I own them all - I had a pretty good idea I was going to like them!)

Genre(s): Fantasy
Audience: Kids, allegedly, but anyone with a sense of adventure, really
Online Extras: www.rickriordan.com, and, well, there's a movie....
Reading Time: 4h apiece
Recommend: Yep! And I'll slap folks who say "It's just like Harry Potter" or "It's just like Lord of the Rings" or even "It's just like Star Wars!" They're all mythic cycles; there's a formula for those, and they follow it. Deal.

I read a lot. Given how much I knit, I really shouldn't have time for eating - but I tend to eat at least two meals a day at work (by myself), and I don't want food on my knitting, so - I read. I'm not reading as much as I usually do, since the Monster Yarn Pattern Project thing is taking over chunks of my evenings (it's going to be a while before there's little enough yarn left for it to be a "portable project"), so I'll share what I've been reading. It's pretty eclectic, and I'm not a critic. Pretty much anything I pick up, I read; I don't tend to pick up things I don't think I'll finish. Don't expect anything in-depth, but you may find something you hadn't heard of that you might want to track down to read yourself.

Soap Opera Mysteries!

What I read last week: Death in Daytime, the first of Eileen Davidson's Soap Opera Mysteries. Actually, I re-read it.... Now, if the name "Eileen Davidson" looks familiar to you, then you, like me, probably watched The Young and the Restless or The Bold and the Beautiful at some point in the past, oh, dozen years or so. (Or maybe Days of Our Lives before that.) Yep, it's she-who-plays "Ashley Abbott"! After working on several of The Big Soaps, Ms. Davidson certainly knows her way around the soap-opera world, so writing a mystery set it it? Cake - if she can write.

Luckily, she can (with co-author Robert J. Randisi). Now, I actually found Book #2 in the series, Dial Emmy for Murder, first, and read it. I've since found (and bought) both books, and I'm looking forward to the third, Diva Las Vegas, due out this October (or June?). The books follow the adventures of Alexis Peterson, an actress who has, more or less, grown up and older in the soap-opera world, yet manages to stay incredibly centered. (Something about a wonderful little girl to come home to, contrasted with a lying, theiving ex-husband, will do that.) Alex is likeable, and has one little character flaw: she's always wanted to be a private detective. When she's accused of murder... well, you can guess what happens. But not exactly - which makes reading the first book a lot of fun!

The Back of the Jacket: Alexis Peterson is proud of the work she does on The Yearning Tide, one of the most successful shows in the history of daytime drama. But the new head writer, Marcy Blanchard, blames Alex for stealing the love of her life and is sabotaging her at every turn.
Afraid that her character will end up in an eternalcoma, Alexis cofronts Marcy with an offscreen, off-the-handle catfight. So when her nemesis is found blugeoned to death, Alexis becomes the prime suspect. Now she'll have to act the part of detective, because Alexis knows she only has one life to live... and she's not going to spend it behind bars.

Genre(s): Mystery
Audience: Adult, Young Adult
Online Extras: EileenDavidsonBooks.com!!
Reading Time: 1 day
Recommend: Oh, of course. These are fun!


Coming Soon!

I read a lot. Given how much I knit, I really shouldn't have time for eating - but I tend to eat at least two meals a day at work (by myself), and I don't want food on my knitting, so - I read. I'm not reading as much as I usually do, since the Monster Yarn Pattern Project thing is taking over chunks of my evenings (it's going to be a while before there's little enough yarn left for it to be a "portable project"), so I'll share what I've been reading. It's pretty eclectic, and I'm not a critic. Pretty much anything I pick up, I read; I don't tend to pick up things I don't think I'll finish. Don't expect anything in-depth, but you may find something you hadn't heard of that you might want to track down to read yourself.

Austen Sequel - Not Too Shabby, Actually!

A Match for Mary Bennet, An Inspirational Pride and Prejudice Sequel., by [Sister] Eucharista Ward.

I have to admit that I was so charmed by the text on the back of the book that I forgot "Inspirational" is publishing shorthand for "Appropriate Reading for Christian Persons, Especially Young Ladies". I do not, as a habit, read Inspirational Books, although I don't avoid them if they look interesting. This book did, and while it placed a much heavier emphasis on religion than the original Austen material (and it was there), it was *completely* appropriate, and in keeping with the character of Miss Mary Bennet. The prose is lighter than Miss Austen's, making the book more accessible to younger readers, but Miss Austen's spirit is present, indeed.

The story takes place a few years after P&P, and follows Mary as, basically, she grows up and learns to understand love and compassion. There are new characters, including Mr. Stilton, a rakish young man determined to secure his fortune by marrying a Proper Young Lady; Mr. Oliver, the companionable young cleric granted a living by Mr. Darcy; the frequently rambunctious girls that make up the choir led by Mary, who - much to her surprise and pleasure - becomes Independent and the organist at Mr. Oliver's church; and the wonderful library at Pemberly). The story deals with the questions of love, the role of marriage in one's life (Mary spends most of the story feeling it really isn't for her), forgiveness, and discovering what is truly important to one. Although one or two of the paragraphs dealing with the role of religion in life read like the author is trying to get a point across, rather than letting the characters converse naturally, in the main, the book feels very much like a continuation of P&P, which is all one really wishes in a sequel.

The Back of the Jacket: Caveat: The blurb on the back of the book is actually much more heavy-handed about the religious theme of the book than is warranted (and yes, the book is fairly classed as "Inspirational" - but really!), and is actually incorrect in the first sentence - and in the rest of its plot description, so I'm not reproducing it here. Whoever wrote it - and it wasn't the author, I'm quite certain - did the book a disservice.

Genre(s): Literature, Historical
Audience: Adults, Young Adults
Online Extras: None
Reading Time: Four days
Recommend: If the idea of Austen sequels usually makes you squirm, try this book. The familiar characters are lovingly and respectfully handled, and ring truer than in other sequels I've read (and I'm an Austenphile; I've read lots of P&P sequels many listed here, and some are barely worthy of the name).

I read a lot. Given how much I knit, I really shouldn't have time for eating - but I tend to eat at least two meals a day at work (by myself), and I don't want food on my knitting, so - I read. I'm not reading as much as I usually do, since the Monster Yarn Pattern Project thing is taking over chunks of my evenings (it's going to be a while before there's little enough yarn left for it to be a "portable project"), so I'll share what I've been reading. It's pretty eclectic, and I'm not a critic. Pretty much anything I pick up, I read; I don't tend to pick up things I don't think I'll finish. Don't expect anything in-depth, but you may find something you hadn't heard of that you might want to track down to read yourself.

Haapsalu Shawl!!

I just have to share the pretty! When I took the Overture to Estonian Lace workshop with Nancy Bush, she showed us what's possibly the Prettiest Lace Pattern Book Ever, Haapsalu Sall. It's Estonian Lace, all the traditional patterns, photos, and history. Glorious, glorious photos. I managed to track down a copy (hobipunkt is now offering the English version, and lots of yarn to go with it):


However, lovely as it is - and I can still read all the charts - it's in Estonian, a language I don't speak. Or read, although I know at least one useful word. ("Sall" - Shawl.)


So, when Fibre Space announced that copies of the English-translated version were in, I hopped right on over and got one:



And yes, it's pretty much the same inside.


... but all the words are in English, so I can actually read them, instead of looking at the pretty pictures. (Keeping the in-Estonian copy too, though. One can never have too many photos of pretty Estonian lace!)

Vamipire Lite(tm)

What I read last week: Molly Harper's Jane Jameson trilogy, Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs, Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men, and Nice Girls Don't Live Forever.

Tired of overly-emo vampires and too-sculpted werewolves, but still fond of the little critters of the night? This is the series for you.

Srsly! These books are fun - as in giggling-out-loud fun. When was the last time a book made you giggle? (Please comment with title/author. I'm always looking for new books.)

Jane, the main character, is like that friend everyone has who always has the perfect snarky-but-not-mean thing to say that makes everyone laugh, and has no idea she does it. And she adjusts to her sudden onset of vampirism about as well as that friend of yours would - with plenty of flailing around and, of course, snarky-but-not-mean things to say. (Well, maybe one or two mean things. She'd be entitled, right?) There's always an element of mystery to each story - they could be classified as mysteries, but the "comic mystery" genre is really just starting to find its legs. So, "funny mystery with lots of romance" or "funny romance with lots of mystery" - either works as a label. There are some great reviews out there, and you can judge for yourself via the links under "Recommend", below. But I recommend these, I really do!

The Back of the Jacket (from the second book):

Once a devoted children's librarian, Jane Jameson now works at a run-down occult bookstore. Once a regular gal, she's now a vampire. And instead of a bride, she's an eternal bridesmade - which leads her to question where exactly her relationsihp with her irresistably sexy sire, Gabriel, is headed. mercurial, enigmatic, apparently commitment-phobic vampires are nothing if not hard to read. While Jane is trying to master undead dating, she is also donning the ungliest bridesmand's dressin history at her best friend Zeb's Titanic-themed wedding.

Between a freaked-out groom-to-be, his hostile werewolf in-laws and Zeb's mother, hell-bent on seeing Jane walk the aisle with Zeb, Janes got the feeling she's just rearranging the proverbial deck chairs.

Meanwhile, Half Moon Hollow's own Black Widow, Jane's Gradma Ruthie, has met her match in her latest fiance. he smells like bad cheese and has a suspicious history of dead spouses. But Jane's biting her tounge. After all, would a nice girl really think she has a future with a vampire?

This set of books works nicely as a trilogy - but I'm really hoping there will be more Jane Jameson books in the future. It's such a fun take on the whole vampire/werewolf thing, and refuses to take itself too seriously.

Genre(s):Romance, Comedy, Mystery, Vampires/Werewolves
Audience: Adult, Young Adult (some sex scenes)
Online Extras: Mollly Harper's Author Page at her publisher - My life in 8 words: "One woman, too much snark for one soul." And the companion blog, SingleUndeadFemale.blogspot.com, and, of course, her author site, MollyHarper.com.
Reading Time: About a day each, they're fun & quick!
Recommend: Checked out the first two from the library, then hunted down all three & bought them. The Molly Harper Site, lets you read an excerpt from each of the three books, which will give you a good idea of Ms. Harper's style.

I read a lot. Given how much I knit, I really shouldn't have time for eating - but I tend to eat at least two meals a day at work (by myself), and I don't want food on my knitting, so - I read. I'm not reading as much as I usually do, since the Monster Yarn Pattern Project thing is taking over chunks of my evenings (it's going to be a while before there's little enough yarn left for it to be a "portable project"), so I'll share what I've been reading. It's pretty eclectic, and I'm not a critic. Pretty much anything I pick up, I read; I don't tend to pick up things I don't think I'll finish. Don't expect anything in-depth, but you may find something you hadn't heard of that you might want to track down to read yourself.

Is this one book - or three?

What I read last week:

"Crime de Cocoa" anthology, JoAnna Carl (aka Eve K. Sandstrom) - includes "The Chocolate Cat Caper", "The Chocolate Bear Burglary", "The Chocolate Frog Frame-Up" and a bonus short shorty, "The Chocolate Kidnapping Clue." New to the Lee McKinney mysteries, I read the book in order, starting with the short story, Lee's first appearance (and first mystery solved). In each of the tales, the reader is given the clues along with the heroine (although one or two pieces of the puzzle are revealed before Lee notices them), and everything is tied up tidily at the end of each story. (I have to admit that about halfway through "The Chocolate Bear Burglary", I was letting my mind drift while I knitted, and figured it out early. Miss Marple knew what she was doing with all that innocent-looking knitting!) There's a breath of romance from time to time, and Lee's "malapropisms" - which seem to upset her more than anyone else - are an interesting character quirk. The characters are broadly drawn, with more detail going into (a) regular characters (Aunt Nettie; the local police) and (b) the ones who turn out to be crucial to solving (and possibly who have committed) the murder. Filled with fascinating minutae about the chocolatiers' business (which is different from making candy!) and set in a lovely just-off-the-Lakes Michigan town, this is a light, bubbly read with an engaging heroine.

The Back of the Jacket:
The Chocolate Kidnapping Clue - The first appearance ever of Lee McKinney! With her parents going through a messy divorce, a mopey teenage Lee is spending the summer working in her aunt and uncle's chocolate shop. When a wealthy customer is kidnapped, she quickly discovers an unsuspected talent for seluthing.
The Chocolate Cat Caper - When a high-profile defense lawyer dies after eating a cat-shaped candy laced with cyanide, it's up to Lee to find out who tampered with the recipe - before she ends up behind not-so-chocolate bars.
The Chocolate Bear Burglary - After a burglary at the shop, antique dealer Gail Hess turns up dead - and the main suspect in the murder is Lee's troubled teenage stepson. Lee sets out to clear his name, but awakening long-hibernating family secrets might be more than this daring crime solver can bear.
The Chocolate Frog Frame-Up - The first customer to buy one of the store's new chocolate croakers is the town crank, Hershel Perkins - just after getting into an altercation with Lee's boyfriend, Joe. When Hershel goes missing, the police suspect foul play. Joe seems the most likely suspect, and Lee must find the chocolate clue that will lead to the real killer.

Genre(s): Mystery
Audience: teens, adults
Online Extras: Fun bits of Chocolate Lore at JoAnnaCarl.com!
Reading Time: Four days (hey, it's three books, that's not bad)
Recommend: Oh, go ahead and buy it. It's three books for the price of one!

I read a lot. Given how much I knit, I really shouldn't have time for eating - but I tend to eat at least two meals a day at work (by myself), and I don't want food on my knitting, so - I read. I'm not reading as much as I usually do, since the Monster Yarn Pattern Project thing is taking over chunks of my evenings (it's going to be a while before there's little enough yarn left for it to be a "portable project"), so I'll share what I've been reading. It's pretty eclectic, and I'm not a critic. Pretty much anything I pick up, I read; I don't tend to pick up things I don't think I'll finish. Don't expect anything in-depth, but you may find something you hadn't heard of that you might want to track down to read yourself.

Books, books, books...

What I read last week:

"Where Serpents Sleep", C.S. Harris (aka Candice Proctor and C.S. Graham) - fourth of the Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries. In publication (and story chronology), the order of these books is: "What Angels Fear", "When Gods Die", "Why Mermaids Sing," "Where Serpents Sleep" and the just-released-in-hardcover "What Remains of Heaven". (I was really hoping for a title starting with "Who"...) I originally read the second book, and was pleasantly surprised to be reading about a Regency England with a more realistic approach than many modern romances take - and yet, there was still romance and, of course, mystery - so tracked down the rest.

"Where Serpents Sleep" is set in England at the time of the Napoleonic wars, in the days leading up to the assassination of Prime Minister Spencer Percival by John Bellingham, a disgruntled merchant with a chip against the Government (which was likely justified). The story contains the series regulars: Dr. Paul Gibson, Kat Boleyn and Miss Hero Jarvis. The tale moves quickly, and the only historical inaccuracies I spotted are the ones pointed out by the author herself in the afterword. There is a nice balance between "clues I spotted" and "clues the characters had to give me", which makes it an entertaining read.

The back of the jacket: Troubled but compelling anti-hero Sebastian St. Cyr returns in a thrilling new mystery as he joins the daughter of his most bitter enemy in a murder investigation that uncovers rich layers of hypocrisy and depravity in the highest echelons of power in Regency England.
London, 1812. The brutal slaughter of eight young prostitutes in a house of refuge near Covent Garden leaves only one survivor - and one witness: Hero Jarvis, reform-minded daughter of the Prince Regent's cousin, Lord Jarvis. When the Machiavellian power broker quashes any official inquiry that might reveal his daughter's unorthodox presence, Hero launches an investigation of her own and turns to Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, for help. Still struggling to come to terms with the loss of his lover, Kat Boleyn, and the resultant estrangement from his father, Sebastian is at first reluctant to agree. But the callous violence of the murders - combined with the opportunity to provoke his archenemy, Jarvis - prompts him to act. Working in uneasy alliance, Hero and Sebastian focus their efforts on one particular victim of the carnage: Rose Jones, the terrified nineteen-year-old-girl, with the unmistakable accent of a gentlewoman, who died in Hero's arms. As they unravel a dangerous thread of lies and deceptions, Hero and Sebastian follow a trail of clues leading from the seedy brothels and docksides of London's East End to the Mayfair mansions of a noble family with dark secrets of its own to hide. Risking both their lives and their reputations, the two must race against time to stop a killer whose ominous plot threatens to shake the nation to its very core.

Genre(s): Mystery/Thriller (Historical)
Audience: non-squeamish adults
Online Extras: read the author's "Fun Bio!"
Reading Time: Two days
Recommend: Obtaining the first book, What Angels Fear, from your local library, to see if the series is to your taste.

I read a lot. Given how much I knit, I really shouldn't have time for eating - but I tend to eat at least two meals a day at work (by myself), and I don't want food on my knitting, so - I read. I'm not reading as much as I usually do, since the Monster Yarn Pattern Project thing is taking over chunks of my evenings (it's going to be a while before there's little enough yarn left for it to be a "portable project"), so I'll share what I've been reading. It's pretty eclectic, and I'm not a critic. Pretty much anything I pick up, I read; I don't tend to pick up things I don't think I'll finish. Don't expect anything in-depth, but you may find something you hadn't heard of that you might want to track down to read yourself.

Things tangentially related to knitting

Drawing your attention to Erika's post, which is my favorite Finished Sock Post ever.

Now, drawing your attention to, well, drawing. Not mine (oh, how I wish I could draw this consistently!), but to the Hugo Award-winning Gaslamp Fantasy Comic of Phil & Kaja Foglio, Girl Genius. Adventure, Romance, Mad Science! High school libraries stock it locally, since it portrays smart, strong women in science; it wins awards because it's just that gosh-darned good.

It all starts HERE.
Pay attention to the backgrounds, because frequently, there are little gems in there... and the dialogue, oh the dialogue. I mean, isn't this the best excuse a Mad Scientist could use to avoid going into the Pit of Certain Doom?


A Wee Tiny Taste of the Comic
Enjoy!!

ETA: The Girl Genius site is having problems this morning (as of 9am Eastern, 10/28), at least from my end. Please try going there again tomorrow if the link doesn't work for you today; it's TOTALLY worth it!!

Masters Monday: Week 10 (with nothing done weeks 6-9)

Thanks for the good wishes to the family, folks.

Getting back on track with my work on the Masters, finally. Tuesday before last, I had to hit the allergist (I had a mild, but odd, reaction to an Unknown Trigger), and afterward I went to the library between the allergists' office and home as a treat. I found the following bonanza of knitting-related research materials:


This is June Hemmons Hiatt's much sought-after book. As in goes for INSANE amounts on eBay. (I should note that rare knitting books don't tend to disappear from the library system, because a "lost" book means you pay the library whatever it costs THEM to replace the book. Usually, it's much cheaper to get it yourself!) The library copy is much-loved, annotated (NOT officially), dogeared, and clearly much-used. I pored through it that afternoon, marking page after page with Post-It notes, so I'd have yet more reference sources for my Answers. This book says things others don't - like what, exactly, the ratio of rows to stitches for various patterns are likely to be!

I also got my paws on this:
Vogue Knitting can be a trip to find. I have the Quick Reference Guide, and was planning on using it as a reference, but I'll be looking through this book as well. Since I have both for a limited time - two more weeks - I decided I'd best get hopping so I'd have time to double-check my references while I still had the books at hand! (Since I've been on the list to get Principles for a whole lotta months now, I'm not counting on being able to get it back before I'm ready to turn everything in!)

It was hot, hot, HOT in DC this weekend, but we had to make up some time/chores from being in Ohio, so the plan for this week is to stay indoors at lunch & after work, and drag out all my swatches. Time to read the instructions for each One Last Time, and weave in all the tails, and commence blocking. I mean, really. It's been a MONTH now since I've done anything (although the last three weeks, kinda understandable, what with a bad allergy reaction, funeral out of state, and recovery from it all). So, today, I brought my Bag of Finished Swatches with me:


Sixteen swatches and a pom-pom-less Hat
Now, to print out ANOTHER set of instructions, and figure out what I need for my reference cards (aka 'what I need to make sure I did correctly on the swatch')...!

I'm All About the Shiny

So, yesterday, I bought something off the internet. I'll show you when it arrives. It's not exactly yarn-related - but it could be, and if I ever make it to any of the big Sheep & Wool festivals, it's totally what I'm wearing!!

Having discovered I had my credit card on me (I'm not supposed to - really, I have no idea how it got in my wallet), I was a bit startled. Could I get the Midnight Sun Tam & Pacific Northwest Shawl kits? Had I saved up enough in the Magic Change-Counting Bank?

Turns out I had, and I could, so I did. From Nestucca Bay Yarns (http://www.nbyarn.com/). They have a Pay With Money Order option, and were sweet to check that was really how I wanted to pay. (It totally was.) I got my money order at lunch, and, having some cash left over, I treated myself to a yummy lunch at Johnny Rockets.


I huddled up at the counter and read my new Knitting Mystery, "While My Pretty One Knits", by Ann Canadeo:


Then, I wandered into the mall. There's a Very Dangerous Store there, called Fire & Ice, which has all sorts of shiny. But I still had cash left after mailing my money order and getting lunch (quite unexpectedly) - and I knew I had some coupons left on my account at the store, so I got something. See here? Notice anything missing?


That's because I got it! For cash, and not much at that, since all my coupons applied. It's Dichroic Glass, and looks like it has nordic runes on it (which, if it did, spell "R-NG"). I really like it, yay!


Since I was already on the correct floor of the mall, I dropped by the bead store and got more beads for the Peacock Feather Scarf I'm making, which will likely be the next UFO up for UFO Fridays.


Pay no attention to the spangly coin-things with them. I have no idea what I'm going to do with them, but since I still had cash left, and they were shiny, I got them. I'm all about the shiny, as you can probably tell!

The Knitter - a pretty new mag!

I recently stumbled across The Knitter, a new UK knitting magazine, and I have to say: I really like it! It's big, it's glossy, it shines in the sun. I love the fact that it's England's First Collectible Knitting Magazine - it's certainly more durable than most of my poor little magazines! I also like the fact that the patterns are printed across as many pages as it takes, in a font size that won't kill your eyes. (There should be more of that in the US magazines, IMHO.) It just started recently - sadly, I missed the first issue, which I would've LOVED to have - I mean, look at the cover sweater!!


I have issues 2 and 3, and want to make almost everything out of each of them. Whatever the editor's knitwear aesthetic is, I seem to share it thus far.


Issue four is out soon overseas, so it should be here early June.


Looking forward to it!!

I like books wherein the characters knit.

Fun Find of the Weekend: Elizabeth Lenhard's Chicks with Sticks books, a trilogy of Young Adult books about high school, growing up, and, of course, knitting. They're fun (I'm halfway through the second; I read the first yesterday)! Ms. Lenhard manages to capture teenage angst well (a bit of a trick with older authors sometimes), which gives me hope for my own books (set in that nowhere-time of The Summer After College Graduation). Side note - I think books should be read. I read books - young adult, old adult, whatever. I'm still amazed at the librarian that told me I "couldn't read" young adult books, because I was an adult. I'm wondering how the heck she became a librarian with an attitude like that!! Anyway, I found a set at my local library: you should see if yours has them, too!


Also, there's progress on the Star Tam. It's just not quite as fast now that I'm hitting 200 stitches per round!


Tomorrow: a fun new magazine!!