Yarn Along: "Lincoln in the Bardo" and Hufflepuff Scarf

Yarn Along is a weekly link-up hosted by Ginny at the Small Things blog about two of the best things in life: books and knitting.

I finally picked up the Newt Scamander Hufflepuff scarf again! I've got quite a long way to go, but it's nice to have TV knitting again. I still haven't had time to block my teal heart hat or make the pompom for the top, but I hope to soon. And then I'll post some pictures!

I'm just a little ways into the much-hyped "Lincoln in the Bardo" and I'm not too sure about it. The format is reeeally different and I'm having a tough time getting into the story. I'm intrigued by the plot (to do with Abe Lincoln's son Willie, dying and Abe visiting him at his crypt with several ghosts for company) and I'm hoping the unique, experimental style will grow on me. (Here's an example: entire chapters are told in short couple-sentence excepts taken from non-fiction books. And this is a novel.) People generally seem to love it, though, and I'm going to persevere!

Yarn Along: "A Monster Calls" and Je T'aime Hat

Yarn Along is a weekly link-up hosted by Ginny at the Small Things blog about two of the best things in life: books and knitting.

I made some progress on my Je T'aime Hat this weekend! The puppy and I had a girls' night in on Saturday evening and I got caught up on some episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" while working on my hat. I really like the way it's coming out! I think the flecked white yarn goes really well with the deep, rich Malabrigo teal. All that's left are the decreases (and most likely a white pompom) and it'll be done! (The pattern is From Norway With Love, here; there's a link to access it on the Wayback Machine in the comments section.)

My main read at the moment is Veronica Roth's new book, "Carve the Mark," which I'm really enjoying so far. It has much more of a sci-fi/fantasy bent than the Divergent series did, but that's right up my alley these days.

Today, though, I'll be reading "A Monster Calls," an illustrated novel by Patrick Ness, the March selection for the adult book club I facilitate at work. Much to my chagrin, all the upcoming books for the adult book club I inherited are young adult books -- not my cup of tea (yes, yes, I know "Carve the Mark" is YA, but that's a rarity for me). I wasn't too psyched about it until I saw the artwork is by Jim Kay, the illustrator of the gorgeous new Harry Potter books, and I thought maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. And I'm actually (gasp!) enjoying it! It's a very quick read -- definitely one you could get done in a day. I read the first half yesterday and I'll finish it today.

Yarn Along: "The Hating Game" and Je T'aime Hat

Yarn Along is a weekly link-up hosted by Ginny at the Small Things blog about two of the best things in life: books and knitting.

I really should be working on the Hufflepuff Scarf on request from a friend, but I was craving something different and I decided to whip up a (totally unnecessary) hat, which I'll probably give away when it's done. The pattern is From Norway With Love, and it'll feature four rows of colorwork hearts, which will be done in the white yarn against a teal background. The teal Malabrigo (which is so, so much prettier in person) was a gift from my Broke and Bookish Secret Santa, and the white speckled yarn is left over from my Gilmore Girls MKAL cowl.

I'm still reading an advance copy of "Dead Letters" by Caite Dolan-Leach (which came out yesterday), but next up will be "The Hating Game" by Sally Thorne. I don't normally go for chick-lit/romance these days, but so many other bloggers were raving about it that I figured I'd better check it out. (If you're curious, I'm finding "Dead Letters" to be just-ok. I feel like thrillers almost never live up to my expectations.)

Yarn Along: "Lab Girl" and a Wizard Scarf

Yarn Along is a weekly link-up hosted by Ginny at the Small Things blog about two of the best things in life -- books and knitting.

This week I made a little more progress on the Newt Scamander Hufflepuff scarf a friend commissioned me to knit. I've got a loooong way to go (I haven't had much time for knitting lately) but I think it's working up well, and I'm really glad I decided to go the route of knitting it as a tube in the round. I'm not a huge fan of the yarn (Lion Brand Heartland) -- it's irritatingly splitty -- but it is definitely the best color match to the movie for a reasonable price. And it's soft, which is always good for a scarf.

I'm doing something I seldom do (not very well, I must admit) -- I'm a polygamous book reader this week! I almost never read more than one book at a time, but my main read (an advance copy of "The Lonely Hearts Hotel" by Heather O'Neill) is in a format I can only read on my laptop (ugh!). So I'm reading "Lab Girl" in teeny tiny bits and pieces on my lunch breaks at work. I'm enjoying what I have read, and I'm extra-interested in this memoir because the author works and lives here in Hawaii! I don't feel I've read enough yet to adequately explain what it's about in my own words, so here's the Goodreads blurb:

Acclaimed scientist Hope Jahren has built three laboratories in which she’s studied trees, flowers, seeds, and soil. Her first book is a revelatory treatise on plant life -- but it is also so much more. 

Lab Girl is a book about work, love, and the mountains that can be moved when those two things come together. It is told through Jahren’s stories: about her childhood in rural Minnesota with an uncompromising mother and a father who encouraged hours of play in his classroom’s labs; about how she found a sanctuary in science, and learned to perform lab work done “with both the heart and the hands”; and about the inevitable disappointments, but also the triumphs and exhilarating discoveries, of scientific work. 

Yet at the core of this book is the story of a relationship Jahren forged with a brilliant, wounded man named Bill, who becomes her lab partner and best friend. Their sometimes rogue adventures in science take them from the Midwest across the United States and back again, over the Atlantic to the ever-light skies of the North Pole and to tropical Hawaii, where she and her lab currently make their home.

Yarn Along: Newt Scamander Scarf and Library Haul

Yarn Along is a weekly link-up hosted by Ginny at the Small Things blog about two of the best things in life: books and knitting.

I finally started the Newt Scamander Hufflepuff scarf my friend requested, and I love how it's coming along! I was originally planning to knit it straight, but after scrutinizing a photo of Newt from the movie it looks like his scarf is a tube, so I'm knitting it in the round with magic loop. An added benefit to knitting it in the round is I don't have to weave in all the ends from the color changes! (In case you're curious, the yarn is Lion Brand Heartland in Great Smoky Mountains and Bryce Canyon. I'm not a big fan of acrylic for wearable projects, but it was by far the best color match to the scarf in the movie.)

I'm about to start reading an advance copy of "The Young Widower's Handbook" by Tom McAllister but for now I thought I'd share a picture of my library haul. I have to read "Looking for Alaska" for the adult book club I facilitate at the library where I work and I'm a bit ambivalent about that one (YA isn't really my thing) but I'm really looking forward to the other three! I'll also be reading "Puppies for Dummies" since we'll be bringing home the furry new addition to our family in about 10 days. (She's an absolutely adorable boxer puppy; you can see her in my Monday Musings post.)

Yarn Along: Newt's Hufflepuff Scarf and "All Our Wrong Todays"

Yarn Along is a weekly link-up hosted by Ginny at the Small Things blog about two of the best things in life: books and knitting.

I'm finally about to cast on for a Newt Scamander Hufflepuff scarf, a request from a friend. I couldn't find any yarn in the right gray marled colorway here in Hawaii and it's really hard to tell something like that online (trust me, I spent hours looking), so my wonderful mom went on a shopping trip to Joann for me and mailed the yarn out. I think the colors she picked out are perfect! (She also gave me the adorable little niffler Funko for Christmas.)

I just started an advance-read copy of "All Our Wrong Todays" by Elan Mastai (out February 7). I'm about halfway in and I'm totally enjoying it! Here's a snippet from the book blurb:

"You know the future that people in the 1950s imagined we'd have? Well, it happened. In Tom Barren's 2016, humanity thrives in a techno-utopian paradise of flying cars, moving sidewalks, and moon bases, where avocados never go bad and punk rock never existed . . . because it wasn't necessary. Except Tom just can't seem to find his place in this dazzling, idealistic world, and that's before his life gets turned upside down. Utterly blindsided by an accident of fate, Tom makes a rash decision that drastically changes not only his own life but the very fabric of the universe itself. In a time-travel mishap, Tom finds himself stranded in our 2016, what we think of as the real world. For Tom, our normal reality seems like a dystopian wasteland."

Yarn Along: A Cheerful Baby Hat and "The Fire by Night"

Jarrod and I are about to become an aunt and uncle for the first time, and yesterday I finished up the wee baby hat I was knitting for our new niece. The yarn is from a little shop on Kauai and it makes me think of plumeria flowers and sunsets. I'm not a huge fan of variegated yarn (though the colors in this one are irresistible), so I thought I'd try to break it up a bit with the purl ridges. In retrospect, I wish I'd have just stuck with stockinette stitch, and I also should've started the decreases a row later so they didn't pull on that purl section. But I don't think you'll really see that when it's stretched out on the baby's head. That is one benefit to the purl rows -- they made the hat stretchier so hopefully it'll fit on the baby's head for a little longer.

Next up on my needles: finally Kitchenering together my "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life" MKAL cowl, and then casting on for a Newt Scamander Hufflepuff scarf for a friend.

I'm about 100 pages into "The Fire by Night" by Teresa Messineo (out next Tuesday) and I'm really enjoying it. It's a novel about two best friends, both WWII nurses. One is stationed in Europe and the other in Hawaii and then on Corregidor in the Phillipines (and then on to a Japanese POW camp). Both woman are complex characters who admirably face horrific events, and I like that the book is set both in Europe and the Pacific. So far, I'd say it's definitely worth checking out if you like historical fiction!

*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.

Yarn Along: An Owl Puff and "The Second Mrs. Hockaday"

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 just started an advance copy of "The Second Mrs. Hockaday" by Susan Rivers (out January 10), a novel about a young woman left alone to manage her new husband's farm and raise their baby while he heads off to fight in the Civil War. Things apparently don't go well, though. When Major Hockaday returns, it's to find his bride accused of a heinous crime. I'm hoping this might turn out to be a Civil War-era version of "Burial Rites" by Hannah Kent, one of my favorite reads of 2016. Both are historical fiction novels inspired by true events and feature women accused of crimes they may or may not have committed.

I knitted another Owl Puff, this one to send as a thank-you to my awesome Broke and Bookish Secret Santa. It looks quite a bit like the previous one I made, with blue on the bottom and gray on the top, but the recipient's favorite color is blue and the color scheme seemed to work the first time around. This blue is some leftover Malabrigo in the azul profundo colorway, which looks so much more rich dynamic in person than in the photo. The owl will head off in the mail this week and I hope my Secret Santa likes it!

Next up I'll be knitting a little newborn hat for our first niece, Gracie, who's due to greet the world in a couple of weeks.

Yarn Along: Christmas Balls and "The Bear and the Nightingale"

Yarn Along is a wonderful weekly link-up hosted by Ginny at the Small Things blog about two of the best things in life: reading and knitting.

Over the weekend I checked out the "55 Christmas Balls to Knit" book from the library and I've thoroughly enjoyed working on these satisfying little projects! My first ball was a reindeer-themed one (with an added red nose -- you can see it here) and I'm almost done with the above poinsettia ball. I started it on Sunday but didn't have any time to knit the past few days. I'll be finishing it up today though -- I just want to duplicate stitch over two small errors that have been bugging me as well as the wonky unaligned spot at the beginning/end of the row. I've already picked out which pattern I'm going to knit next -- a snowman design!

I'm about a third of the way through "The Bear and the Nightingale" by Katherine Arden (out January 10), a novel inspired by Russian folk tales. So far I'd give it my recommendation! It's got tinges of "Uprooted" by Naomi Novik, one of my favorite reads of 2016, in that it's got a magical feel and the main character has a strong connection to nature.

I just found out I'll be running the adult book club at work in 2017 so I've got to hurry up and read the first selection, a YA novel called "Vassa in the Night" by Sarah Porter (not my choice, but I'll give it a shot). It's also based on a Russian fairytale, which is kind of ironic. At this rate, I'll be an expert soon! ;)

Yarn Along: A Cozy Owl Ornament and "The Couple Next Door"

Yarn Along is a weekly link-up about books and knitting hosted by Ginny at the Small Things blog.

I whipped up an Owl Puff last night -- isn't she adorable?! My first full day at my new job (the library at the Air Force base where we're stationed) was on Monday and a Secret Santa pal totally got sprung on me -- at the last minute, since the gift exchange was today! Luckily my partner's likes were pretty easy and included owls, so last night I dug through my yarn stash, put on a Hallmark Christmas movie, and knitted up this cozy little scarf-wearing owl. I think she needs a name, but I can't put my finger on one. Maybe something peppermint-related? (Or maybe I'm just saying that because I had a peppermint candle lit last night!) I also got an owl mug, a Bath and Body Works candle and some Ghirardelli chocolates for my Secret Santa partner. Hope she likes everything!

I'm almost done with the new thriller "The Couple Next Door" by Shari Lapena, and I'm so ready to be done with it. I've read a few thrillers this year and I haven't liked any of them, so maybe I just need to avoid the genre until the next "Gone Girl" or "The Girl on the Train" comes along. This one is about a kidnapped child (like, seemingly, all the other thrillers I've read this year) and I'm so bored. I'm finding the writing to be dull and repetitive, the plot to be soooo slow to develop and the characters utterly hateable. I don't understand why so many people gave this one a rave review. I'm excited to move onto my next book, an advance-read copy of "The Bear and the Nightingale" by Katherine Arden, a novel inspired by Russian fairy tales which comes out January 10. I actually tried to include it in my Yarn Along photo but the glare on my iPad was too bad. So "The Couple Next Door" it is!

Yarn Along: Gilmore Girls A Year in the Life MKAL and "Maybe in Another Life"

I'm linking up with Ginny at the Small Things blog for Yarn Along, about two of the best things in life: books and knitting.

At the moment I'm still reading "The Masked City" by Genevieve Cogman, book two in the Invisible Library series about a group of alternate universe-traversing "librarians." (You can see a Christmassy photo of "The Masked City" here.) But my next read will be "Maybe in Another Life" by Taylor Jenkins Reid, a book that's pretty well-loved and which I'm expecting to enjoy. I've read a lot of fantasy and historical fiction lately, and I'm in the mood for a fun contemporary novel.

So... I should be done with my Gilmore Girls A Year in the Life MKAL cowl by now, but partway through the final clue I decided to rip the whole thing out and start over. I cheated and looked at a some photos of completed projects, and I decided that the triangular shawl-like shape was just not for me. I'm not sure it's quite my style anyway (part of the reason I seldom wear the gorgeous shawls I've knitted) and for another, we'll be in Hawaii for two and a half more years, and while that shape is on trend now, it may not be when I finally get a chance to wear the cowl. The yarn is so scrumptious (and expensive!) that I didn't want to waste it on a cowl I'd never wear.

Here's a picture of the cowl as written, from the designer:

(source -- Marinade Designs)

There was no easy way to get rid of the triangle (apparently it's nearly impossible to pick out ribbing from the cast-on edge and I'd have had to undo several inches) without whipping out scissors, and I needed to re-do clue #3 anyway because of a mistake in the pattern (argh!), so I decided to start over and knit it as a regular double-loop cowl. It was a bit tough to rip out all that work, but the cowl was great TV knitting and I figured a couple nights of watching "Gilmore Girls" season 7 would have me caught up again -- and indeed, I'm already nearly through the final clue. I think I'm going to need to add some length before Kitchener-ing my loop together, but I have an idea for that -- I'm going to do a section of contrast color garter stripes, like the ones that frame each lace panel, one of each color with the established six rows of MC ribbing in between.

Along those same lines of wanting to make sure it's a project I'll actually wear, I also made a change to the yarn colors, which I got in a kit specifically made for the pattern from the Knitted Wit Etsy shop. I completely adore the main color, aspen forest, and the first three contrast colors. As you can see in the designer's photo above, the final color was a bright orange, but I decided to sub in some leftover Malabrigo teal. Orange is one of the few colors that I almost never wear, whereas teal is my favorite color, and it'll match my winter coat (whenever I get around to wearing that again).

Here's a very poorly-lit photo I snapped right before ripping out attempt #1. You can get an idea here what the end result will look like. I do really like the colorfulness, the texture of the main color, and the lace panels.

Yarn Along: Gilmore Girls MKAL Cowl

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.)

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!

*

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.

Yarn Along: "Sweetbitter" and a Tweed Hat (Still) in Progresss

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 about halfway done with "Sweetbitter" by Stephanie Danler, a coming-of-age story set against the restaurant scene in New York City. I'm not in love with the narrator, the food talk is a bit pretentious and the plot is kind of depressing, but at the same time I'm finding it addicting.

I really didn't make much progress from last week on my hat design. I guess after the flurry of activity the past couple weeks, my knitting mojo has decided to take a break. I did finish knitting the tube with the lovely branch cable motif that'll serve as the ear band part of the hat, then got the ends Kitchenered up. Today I'll pick up stitches and start knitting the body of the hat. I'm envisioning it somewhat slouchy with a different cable panel that'll compliment the band.

I honestly don't know why I'm still working on the hat -- the plan was to design some patterns I could use if I decided to start an Esty shop, and this one is waaaay too time consuming -- other than that I just want to see where my imagination takes it! (Plus I love the yarn; it's KnitPicks City Tweed, by the way.)

What book is your nose buried in this week? What project do you have on your knitting needles?