Yarn Along is a wonderful weekly link-up hosted by Ginny at the Small Things blog about two of the best things in life: books and knitting.
I'm working on the Gilmore Girls mystery knit-along pattern by Marinade Knits! The four clues were released Thanksgiving through Sunday; it's meant to be knitted while watching "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life," but I really wanted to finish my re-watch of the last couple seasons before diving into the new episodes, so I'm working on my cowl while watching season 7. (And this way I can really focus and savor when I'm watching "A Year in the Life.")
I really like how it's coming along! I tried to conceal the meat of the pattern in the photo in case anyone happens upon this post who's not done the first three clues yet, but you can see it'll be a long cowl with some colorwork segments (and it does have a unique construction for a cowl).
I'm so glad I splurged and bought the accompanying yarn kit from Knitted Wit on Etsy... it was way more than I would normally spend for yarn (especially for just a cowl! -- and especially for a cowl that I won't be able to wear for the next 2 1/2 years!) but it was my birthday present to myself.
Being from Colorado (and missing it!) I was totally drawn to the main color yarn, which is called aspen forest. The kit also came with four mini skeins of yarn in purple/fuscia, lime green, deep red and bright orange. I'm not really an orange person, and though I hate to stray from the kit and its gorgeous, soft, yummy yarn, I may substitute a teal for the orange. Teal is my favorite color, and it'll fit in great with the other jewel tones. (The yarn colors are so much richer than the photo shows, but we're having an uncharacteristic stretch of gray, rainy weather here in Hawaii and that was the best lighting I could muster.)
I really like how it's coming along! I tried to conceal the meat of the pattern in the photo in case anyone happens upon this post who's not done the first three clues yet, but you can see it'll be a long cowl with some colorwork segments (and it does have a unique construction for a cowl).
I'm so glad I splurged and bought the accompanying yarn kit from Knitted Wit on Etsy... it was way more than I would normally spend for yarn (especially for just a cowl! -- and especially for a cowl that I won't be able to wear for the next 2 1/2 years!) but it was my birthday present to myself.
Being from Colorado (and missing it!) I was totally drawn to the main color yarn, which is called aspen forest. The kit also came with four mini skeins of yarn in purple/fuscia, lime green, deep red and bright orange. I'm not really an orange person, and though I hate to stray from the kit and its gorgeous, soft, yummy yarn, I may substitute a teal for the orange. Teal is my favorite color, and it'll fit in great with the other jewel tones. (The yarn colors are so much richer than the photo shows, but we're having an uncharacteristic stretch of gray, rainy weather here in Hawaii and that was the best lighting I could muster.)
There's no book in my photo today -- gasp! I've definitely been reading up a storm (last week I read "Turbo Twenty-Three" by Janet Evanovich, "The Fifth Season" by N.K. Jemisin and "The Christmas Town" by Donna VanLiere) but I'm not too sure if I'm going to continue my current book, a YA fantasy novel called "Nevernight" by Jay Kristoff. (You can see my bookstagram photo here.)
I'm only about 25 pages in -- and I am intrigued by the plot -- but reading Kristoff's writing is like hiking up a mountain over boulders and through sucking mud -- so hard to plod through. It's ostentatious to begin with, there are about 100% too many similes and metaphors, and there are even verbose footnotes! It took me somewhere around 45 minutes just to read those 25 pages, and I'm typically a pretty speedy reader.
I'm not a big fan of YA books because the writing is often too simplistic and the stories lack depth, so I can hardly believe this is a young adult book. I've read my fair share of pretentious literary fiction and yet this YA fantasy novel might be too much for me!
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P.S. For the most part, I utterly despise my weekly trips to the military commissary (grocery store) but something I do like is that they stock a handful of products from other countries, especially during the holidays. They had a huge selection of German cookies and confections, and I couldn't resist a box of those butter cookies. They're like animal crackers for adults -- and taste so good dunked in a cup of coffee.
I guess I thought Nevernight was an adult book. I know that's where my local library housed their new copy. I still haven't read it but now that I've read your post, I'm a tad worried to pick it up. A lot of people love it so I'm surprised I haven't heard this before.
ReplyDeleteHmm, maybe it IS an adult book. I assumed it was YA because he's written other YA stuff, some people tagged it as YA on Goodreads and the main character is 16 when the book opens. But, like I said, the writing seems a bit much for teens. My library organizes stuff weird so I didn't pay it any mind that it didn't have a YA sticker.
DeleteIt seems like the readers who made it through rated it really highly, so maybe you sort of adjust to the writing after a while. I couldn't find the motivation to read at all yesterday, but I think I'll give it one more good try and then either decide to abandon it or power through.
Don't let my thoughts discourage you from at least trying it, though! The plot really does seem intriguing!
Oh, these colors are so perfect together! It will be a beautiful piece!
ReplyDeleteI know, the yarn dyer did a great job pairing colors! I did decide to go with teal over orange for the last section; that way it'll match my winter coat (whenever I get around to wearing that again) and it'll look slightly different from the gazillion other projects made from the kit.
DeleteBeautiful knit... and those cookies look so good! I am slowly watching Gilmore Girls. I don't want it to be over!
ReplyDeleteBelieve it or not, I think I'm getting a little "Gilmore"-ed out! I started my re-watch in October with season 5, so that'll be over 60 episodes in a little over two months! After I finish season 7, I'll probably take a short break before watching "A Year in the Life," and then do maybe one episode a week. I definitely want to savor the four new episodes!
Deletewhat a lovely item to knit while watching gilmore girls :) I started watching and I'm savoring the show which means I'm slowly watching.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a perfect TV-watching knit! And since I'm re-watching the original show, I don't feel too bad about not paying rapt attention to every second since I've seen it all before. But I am definitely going to focus and savor the four new episodes! I thought I'd probably watch one a week.
DeleteI´m from Germany and as soon as I saw the picture I wondered about the "Spekulatius" cookies and that they are also a Christmas thing in another part of the world, but then, okay, they are from Germany after all :-) Nice that you enjoyed them!
ReplyDeleteThose ones are direct from Germany (which is why I was willing to pay a little more for them -- to try the real thing!), but the Royal Dansk brand Danish butter cookies are pretty popular in the U.S. at Christmastime. They come in a round blue tin and I remember my parents getting one every holiday season!
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