Moving Day

After some consideration, I've decided to move! My new blog is here: Slightly Off Topic

Hope to see you there... my first new post is about a certain special delivery that arrived last Friday - pictures included. ;)

YES!!

Let me preface this post by saying that this has nothing to do with knitting or reading, but TV. Ignore me if you aren't interested. ;)

I was so excited tonight to see that Terry Fator won the America's Got Talent competition! I almost never watch shows like this, but I got sucked in one night while flipping channels when I saw this guy performing. He's amazing - as were the other finalists, but he was my favorite to win. If you weren't watching, here's one of his performances (I love this one - makes me smile every time):

BTT X2 and a day late

In the time it took me to sit here and post last night, all the water in my body seemed to have gone to my feet. By the time I got up, I was wondering if they might act as sponges and leave a squishy wet trail wherever I walked. I count myself lucky in that this has only been a problem recently and even then not as bad as my first pregnancy, in which I had water-logged cankles for three months and my friends called me "Flipper"... but still, it kind of sucks and I'm to the point now where I won't miss being pregnant! Today I'm going to try posting with my feet propped on an adjacent chair... of course, the way I have to sit to do this just makes my back hurt...

Back to business: Booking Through Thursday! I didn't post last week but had actually taken pictures for that one, so rather than let them go to waste, I'll just do a two-fer here.

This week's question is about Monogamy:

One book at a time? Or more than one? If more, are they different types/genres? Or similar?
(We’re talking recreational reading, here—books for work or school don’t really count since they’re not optional.)

I remember when I was caught by my mother reading two books at once as a child. Her reaction has made it difficult for me to do so ever since. She was adamant, saying that it's bad to read more than one book at a time; how would I ever keep the characters or the plots straight? No, she insisted, it must be just one; you aren't supposed to read two books simultaneously.

I suppose that I could read two fictional works at once - well, in fact, I have, when I've needed to read one for work and one for me. I did okay with it and the sky didn't fall, but to this day, given the choice, I will only read one at a time. However, I have no problem reading a novel and something nonfiction at the same time, provided the nonfiction isn't something with a plot, like an autobiography or anything else that might have people and events to keep straight. I know that I could keep them straight between two books since I've done it for work; it's just hard for me to do so guiltlessly after growing up with the notion that it's "wrong," even though I don't agree as an adult. This is why, recently, I started reading The World According to Garp, but then put it down unfinished because my book group started reading A Trip to the Stars, which in turn was put down when I didn't finish in time so that I could read A Thousand Splendid Suns with them. I finished that one, and then everything else fell by the wayside because I had to read the last Harry Potter. After that, I went back and finished Garp, and am now drawing near the end of Stars. Backwards and crazy, I know!


Last week's question: Multiples

Do you have multiple copies of any of your books? If so, why? Absent-mindedness? You love them that much? First Editions for the shelf, but paperbacks to read? If not, why not? Not enough space? Not enough money? Too sensible to do something so foolish?

Yes, I do have multiple copies of some books, for all the reasons listed above. I have

• Lonesome Dove, Pride and Prejudice, and A Prayer for Owen Meany in both paperback and hardcover: I read the paperbacks and liked them so much that I wanted to have the nicer copies as well
• Cold Mountain in paperback and hardcover; I read the hardcover, loved it and recommended it to a friend... who then forgot that I was the one who had recommended it to her and bought me a paperback copy for my birthday

The reason for two copies of these books is usually that I find mass market paperbacks to be of an inadequate quality for books that I really loved. I don't like the flimsy, cheap paper or the way I end up with ink all over my fingers if I'm not careful about how I hold the book. I like trade paperbacks just fine, though, and find them more convenient than lugging around a hardcover, so I have to really, really love a book to want to buy a hardcover copy if I already have it as a trade paperback.

• Collectible / antique editions of Jane Austen books, bought on ebay: I loved the period drawings inside and wanted a few for that reason, so mostly they sit on display
• Two trade paperback copies of A Place Where the Sea Remembers; one is an autographed copy, and I wanted to keep that one clean
  
• Hardcover and paperback editions of all the Harry Potter books, but this is actually my husband's fault. I already had the hardcovers, but when he decided to read them, he found the hardcovers too cumbersome to carry back and forth to work every day (he would read them during the dead hours at night while waiting for calls for X-rays from the ER), so he bought the paperbacks.

(one is missing from the paperback picture; he loaned it out)

• This last one is just my absent-mindedness, and I didn't even realize I had done it until I was looking for multiple copies of books for this post:
  

I bought the one on the left from a Friends of the Library location, but someone had gone crazy with a highlighter (but no written notes) inside. I remember thinking that I would like to pick up a clean copy, which must have resulted in the second one, even though I (still) don't remember doing it. Recently, I decided to pick up a clean copy while taking advantage of the Buy 2, Get 1 Free table at Borders, not realizing that I'd already done so. The most embarrassing part? I haven't even read it!

This is the first and hopefully, last time I buy three copies of anything just from pure absent-mindedness, although I have caught myself out at almost buying two, again because I am forgetful. I have too many books, and sometimes I will pick one up that I've already bought and then have a sneaking suspicion that I have it at home... sometimes I am right.

Yarn in a Teacup Swap!

I received my Yarn in a Teacup Swap package from Tammy on Saturday! I wanted to post immediately to say thank you and show off my goodies, but in my last days of pregnancy, things have been incredibly hectic and I have had hardly any time to relax, to the point that yesterday I had to have bed rest for most of the day, and my husband had to stay home from work to watch our son. When I got up in the morning, I felt the baby seeming to exert such intense pressure with every little step I took that I thought there was no way I would make it to next Friday, which is when my C-section is scheduled to take place. Thankfully, resting did the trick. You would think that sitting on your butt and doing nothing would be easy, but with all the things left to do, errands to run, and a three-year-old constantly asking for attention, it's actually difficult to find any time for that.

Anyhow... now that I have a decent amount of time tonight to devote to a blog post, here is my eagerly anticipated package, which came in a pretty Maxwell & Williams box:


And inside (drumroll)....

• Maxwell & Williams cup, saucer and plate set in the Peony pattern - such pretty pink blooms! It said on the box that the largest plate is a "cake plate," which made me laugh - I've never heard that before, and now I have official permission to eat a whole plateful of cake (or cookies) with my tea. After all, that's what it's for, right? Yesssss!
  
• Pretty kettle-shaped teabag holder - I had actually been looking for something like this last time I was at World Market, but didn't find one. This one is very cute.
  
• Three skeins of Garnstudio Paris cotton yarn in color #20 - a sweet pink perfect for something for baby! I haven't decided yet, but I have a few ideas about what it wants to be. It's a really great color - not too pale or too bright.
  
• Rooibos Chai Massai tea from Blue Teapot. When I opened the package, I immediately smelled the tea, which was strong enough even in its sealed bag that I now have spicy Chai-scented yarn! This is definitely not a complaint - I love the smell, and so does my husband. We had gotten home late from my (surprise) baby shower and had planned on going straight to bed - until, that is, I opened the box and we both decided that staying up a little while longer and having tea wouldn't kill us - that's how good this stuff smells. It tastes just as good as it smells, and it's decaf, so if anything, it just made me all the more relaxed and ready for bed. I think I will have to buy more once I run out.
  
• A lovely handwritten note on cute knitting stationery - I've always thought that handwritten notes and letters are so much nicer than email, so I enjoyed getting one with my package.
  

I feel very, very spoiled, and I'll quit gushing because I'm sure it's quite obvious that I love all of it! Opening my box was the perfect end to a long, happy day. Thank you, Tammy! ;)

Summer Breakfast

I rarely post about food, but I've been enjoying this very simple breakfast for the last couple of days and thought I'd share. I've been trying to clean up my eating habits a little more lately (less junk), and one of the foods I'd forgotten about liking so much is plain nonfat yogurt. I used to hate the stuff when younger, but then again, my mom would try to give it to me without sweetener of any kind. In the last few years, I've found that I like it better than the very sugary fruit flavors available in the grocery store, if I can blend it up with some frozen fruit, usually berries, or if I can can mix in a bit of honey. I've had this for the last two mornings:


Plain yogurt, honey, and slices of the sweetest nectarines I've ever had - which, lucky me, came from our tree. I'll miss this breakfast when the nectarines are gone.

BTT: Letters! We Get Letters...

Today's Booking Through Thursday question:

Have you ever written an author a fan letter? Did you get an answer? Did it spark a conversation? A meeting? (And, sure, I suppose that e-mails DO count . . . but I’d say no to something like a message board on which the author happens to participate.)

Um, no, no, and no. I did once, however, write what I felt was a scathing letter to Larry McMurtry about Dead Man's Walk (which I never finished before throwing it at my bedroom wall), accusing him of inconsistencies resulting from lazy editing on his part and a general disregard for the English language. I had read and loved Lonesome Dove in my late teens and found Streets of Laredo at least very good, and so I was highly annoyed that McMurtry had, in my opinion, written such an atrocious excuse for a prequel. I never mailed the letter and was just venting, but I thought my little rant so clever that I kept it in my book journal (yes, I have one - reason #88,634 why I am a dork). My thirty-one-year-old self is embarrassed every time she sees what her early twenties self wrote - because I, of course, have written so many books that I've lost count and have room to insult well-regarded, published authors.

Moving on... I have been doing less and less blogging and knitting as my pregnancy and subsequent misery have progressed. I have done some reading and a lot of sitting around and trying to be comfortable; everything else has kind of fallen by the wayside. I haven't knit since I got the last Harry Potter book; I finished it a week ago, but I haven't picked up the sticks or even another book yet. I feel guilty about all of it - all these UFOs and yarn staring me in the face, the joined-but-not-knit-for KALs, the neglected and therefore boring blog, not to mention piles of books - but at the same time, I really can't help it. It's just that bad right now.

So. My C-section is scheduled for the 24th. Three more weeks and counting!

Hogwarts Coffee Cup Sweater

Have your coffee Harry Potter style!

(I didn't have an actual Starbucks cup handy, so I improvised with a glass - I'll post a better picture when I can.)

I made this as a little surprise for my husband for the midnight HP7 book party at B&N tonight - shhhhhhh! It's too hot in our parts, even at night, for him to wear the huge Azkaban scarf I made him, so this is my quick and dirty version of a little knitted HP goodie to commemorate the occasion (well, quick and dirty would be because the idea didn't occur to me until late last night). There are 3,000 people signed up at our location with reserved copies of the book, so it's looking like it will definitely be a Starbucks night. I can hardly call it a pattern since it's just k2p2 rib in a circle, but for those who may want all the little details, here they are:

Notes:

• You can add more stripes, widen or narrow them, or change their placement on the cup sweater; just remember to knit every stitch on the first row of every color change.
• Finished size is 3 inches in length. Gauge: 6 st/1" and 8 rows/1" in 2x2 rib pattern. I wouldn't think that exact gauge is terribly important since the finished product should be stretchy.
  
• Knit in the round with a set of 5 dpns.
• I used the long-tail cast-on method; if you use another one, make sure it's stretchy.
  
• I carried the main color up the inside of the sweater - less ends to weave in.
  
• I would suggest a wool or other animal fiber yarn for warmth, despite my use of Plymouth Encore, which is 75% acrylic. I only used it because I happened to have it handy and yarn stores aren't open at 9 P.M., which is when I thought to do this. Stolen from atypically.net's Azkaban scarf pattern, here are the various House colors you would need if you were to do this in Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted, which is 100% wool:
• Gryffindor - brick road (#225) and sunburst gold (#308)
  Slytherin - tornado teal (#121) and silver sage (#107)
  Film Ravenclaw - blue knight (#004) and silver sage (#107)
  Book Ravenclaw - blue knight (#004) and Bev's bear (#094)
  Hufflepuff - pepper black (#601) and impasse yellow (#305)

Supplies:

• Size US6 /4.0mm dpns
  
• Plymouth Encore Worsted (25% wool/75% acrylic) in a main color (MC) and contrasting color (CC). I used scraps from the Azkaban scarf in (MC) burnt sienna (#0999) and (CC) butternut (#1014).

Directions:

Using MC, cast on 48 stitches and divide them onto four dpns - 12 stitches on each dpn.

Being careful not to twist the cast-on row, join for working in the round and work 5 rounds of k2, p2 rib.

Change to CC and knit one row. Work two more rows in k2, p2 rib.

Change to MC and knit one row. Work four more rows in k2, p2 rib.

Change to CC and knit one row. Work two more rows in k2, p2 rib.

Change to MC and knit one row. Work five more rows in k2, p2 rib (to make it even at the top and bottom of the cup sweater, I added an additional row here to compensate for the extra row created by the long-tail cast-on; if you use a different cast-on, you may only need four additional rows. Clear as mud?).

Bind off in k2, p2 pattern. Weave in ends.