WSK - the uber-what-she's-been-knitting-while-she-knits-post

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

so this knitted tree cozy was spotted in the greater Cleveland area:


    


             

*sigh*

(or le sigh, as jade would say)

well, now that THAT is done, the new book should move along rapidly

:-D

What have YOU been knitting?  and when you're not knitting, what have you been reading?  The holidays are coming up - any suggestions for vacation/travel time reading?

Comments

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

*waves hand*

I'll start!

I just finished The Ogre Downstairs, by Diana WynneJones, which was very clever and fun. Sadly, however, I will never look at those cute cow creamer pitchers in quite the same way again.

Currently I am reading Ursula LeGuin's Lavinia. Lavinia is the girl Vergil's story of The Aeneid swirls around. Set in ancient Italy, and per the dust jacket flap, "Lavinia is a book of passion and war and the cost of war, generous and austerely beautiful..." It was recommended in an earlier sounis post - I'll post the link to previous discussions if I can find it.

[emmaco.livejournal.com]

I love the dustballs from The ogre downstairs :)

One book I was impressed by recently was Francis Hardinge's Verdigris Deep. It's a YA fantasy that has a well goddess, some great family interactions and tiny eyeballs that grow on a character's hands.

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

Golly, it's a DR. WHO tree cozy!

[traboule.livejournal.com]

You know, that almost makes it make more sense...

[willow-41z.livejournal.com]

so this knitted tree cozy was spotted in the greater Cleveland area:

!!! Bwuh? What? How?!

...

I would immediately assume Photoshop, except I think it would be nearly as hard to Photoshop individual yarn ravels onto a tree as to knit the cozy on to the tree...

Northerners are weird. ;-)

[willow-41z.livejournal.com]

I mean, I get that Ms. Turner didn't actually knit that. But someone did, and so all the above questions still apply!

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

That is just...no, never mind. I have no words. I don't knit, and these days I barely have time to read, but I'm currently enjoying David Anthony Dunham's Acacia.

[beatlelove927.livejournal.com]

I wish I had that much time on my hands.....

[dawnbluewings.livejournal.com]

Well someone had a lot of time on their hands...

I wonder if that was city-sanctioned, or Guerrilla-knitted...

I mean what the hell?

... Anyway.

I haven't been reading anything much of late, except for my books for school, so if you want to hear how Melville's Billy Budd is an example of homoerotic violence in literature, I'm your gal.

But other than that, no...

[tearoha.livejournal.com]

Guerilla-knitted??
*Fends of visions of balaclava'd, needle-brandishing figures, furtively surrounding trees in the dead of night*
LOL! *dies laughing*

[jesusphreaq.livejournal.com]

Whoa, I thought you misspelled tea cozy and I was all set to make fun of you for it, and then... and then... 0_0

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

lol!

Whoa!!

[deirdrea.wordpress.com (from livejournal.com)]

That's completely amazing! But has to be photoshopped.....doesn't it?

So.. I'm reading: 1. A Curse Dark as Gold, by Elizabeth C. Bunce. Fascinating premise, not bad book.
2. Rapunzel's Revenge. Shannon and Dean Hale. Brillig!!
3. Bog Child, by Siobhan Dowd. Also brillig, though very different.
4. Dreams from my Father, by Barack Obama. Looks really good, so far.
5. Earth: The Sequel. By Fred Kruppp and Mriam Horn.

Also (re)reading the new Tolkien book, Tales from the Perilous Realm. Brilliant, of course! (Though most, if not all, have been published before).

And the Ikea catalog -- I need bookshelves! Badly!!

As for knitting -- a scarf for my mom ;-D

~Deirdre (who is a northerner. And not in the least bit weird!! (though your mileage may vary))

Re: Whoa!!

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

But has to be photoshopped.....doesn't it?

nope. it's for real.

it's Art.

enhancing the beauty of nature?

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Gosh, does anyone else think the tree looks as if it represents masculinity and strength with an emphatically handmade blanket representing femininity and comfort? Or is it just me? :P

I am reading Nation by Terry Pratchett and it is incredible. I don't ever want it to end.

I've also been listening to Stargirl (Spinelli) on audiobook. I'm liking it a lot, too, though I wonder if it's a book that's better when you listen to it. John Ritter did a good job reading.

edited to add: And I've been knitting the same scarf for the past...um...year.

Re: enhancing the beauty of nature?

[deirdrea.wordpress.com (from livejournal.com)]

Wow! You are very thoughtful. (Are you perhaps working on that same scarf because you have been clothing trees? That would take time!)

I finished Nation a while ago, and yes, it is extraordinary! I hope that Terry Pratchett stays well. I know he's terribly afflicted just now, but we can pray!

(I guess you see why I prolly couldn't be a writer. All those exclamation points!!!)

~D.

[pigrescuer.livejournal.com]

TREE COZY!

That is the single coolest thing I have seen this year. Possibly.

It must be shaped like a scarf, otherwise how else would you manage to get it roudn the branches? It can't be tube shaped...

Um. Anyway, I'm reading What Do Martians Look Like? and The Selfish Gene in intervals, because both are scientific and one is heavy going and OLD.

[hapaxnym.livejournal.com]

Best thing I've read all year, hands down, was Cashore's GRACELING. But since I read that last month, I have to wait a bit before re-reading it again.

Right now... Lynn Flewelling's Nightrunner series, speaking of homoerotic violence (or maybe violent homoeroticism). And dipping back into the Lee / Miller Liaden books when I need comfort. And Taleb's BLACK SWAN, when I want to raise my IQ (and my blood pressure).

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I have Graceling, haven't cracked it yet.

[annikah.livejournal.com]

I also thought you had misspelled tea cozy, but my, that's pretty darn cool. Maybe there are buttons on the other side of the tree? Definitely can't be tube-shaped because then... wouldn't you have to be IN the tree to knit it? o.O

I've been reading for school, so: The Book of Margery Kempe, Medieval Literary Theory and Criticism, The Canterbury Tales, etc. I did however reread "Queen of Attolia" over Fall Break.

A few weeks ago I reread "The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell: humans discover a new planet, the Jesuits send a mission over. A modern "what-if" Columbus/New World novel exploring humanity, alien-ness, and spirituality in general. Also, very beautifully written. I've been trying for months to come up with a short summary that does it justice and am still trying...

[ricardienne.livejournal.com]

I'm not knitting, sadly, but I have been darning socks...

Nor am I reading much, except Tacitus and People Writing About Tacitus. The former, I would so heartily recommend. The latter, less so.

Um. Has anyone read Kingdom of the Waves (don't tell me what happened: I want to find out when I finally have time to read it myself: but just how awesome was it?)

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

I've learned to knit like twice and promptly forgotten how the minute I put down the needles. I did know how to crochet at one point...

I'm currently reading the Winter Prince by Elizabeth Wein. Its quite good, but... I dunno. I'm just not absolutely loving it.

Also reading The Hero with a Thousand Faces... not exactly for pleasure. Its for a paper I'm writing, but its not a paper for a class, its for a completely optional symposium thing... but anyway. Its a really fascinating book, for anyone who is interested in how stories are put together.

Oh! And these last couple days I read Frindle and two Alex Rider graphic novels. During work... which I'm technically not supposed to do. But all the books were shelved and all the shelves were straightened and dusted and so...yeah. I read them in snatches, a few pages here, a few there...
Frindle was a fun, quick read. I didn't absolutely love it, but then I didn't expect to. But I just had to read it since it seemed like basically everyone else had.
The Alex Rider Graphic Novels... now let me just say first that the only reason I'd read the actual Alex Rider novels would be if I was on a hours-long plane flight/car ride/whatever and there was absolutely nothing else to do/read. But the graphic novels were quick, entertaining, and really, really funny in a 'well yeah I know this is fiction but that is REALLY just... laughable. And yet I am still entertained and somewhat curious about the ending' way.


According to the library website, Victory of Eagles should have been on the shelf these last couple days. I've checked more than once, and it isn't. I'll get around to reading it eventually, but really, IMHO the books in that series, while quite good, have been going downhill.

[deirdrea.wordpress.com (from livejournal.com)]

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<i've learned to knit like twice and promptly forgotten how the minute I put down the needles. I did know how to crochet at one point...</i>

I know exactly what you mean. I was filled with ambition when I was 8 years old, and decided to make a scarf for my dad. Then, I got very frustrated, because whenever I got to the end of a row, I didn't know what to do. So I turned the scarf into a bookmark!

[peanut13171.livejournal.com]

My recent reads.

Chalice by Robin McKinley – good but end needs more ‘splaining
Bell at Sealey Head by Patricia McKillip – good
Graceling by Kristine Cashore – quite good
Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi - excellent
Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society – very good
Cabinet of Wonders – Marie Rutkoski – very good
Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas – very good
Ella Minnow Pea - good writing but didn't buy premise. DNF.
Magicians and Mrs Quent – disappointingly mediocre

[traboule.livejournal.com]

I (tried to) read The Lady of Hay, a precursor to Diana Gabaldon's doorstops, that had been recommended to me as classic historical fiction. I hated it and had to stop. Maybe it's because I already know something about 12th century Wales and can catch Erskine when she's being interpretive, or maybe it's just her bad writing, but - finishing that book was something that didn't have to happen. I mention this just because I'm always on the look out for historical fiction and figured other people might also be. Anybody have any feedback on Elizabeth Chadwick? A novel on William Marshall sounds fascinating, but if it's crap, I won't bother.

I also read Chalice and The Graveyard Book and adored both of them. Nice to know there are some dependable things in this world.

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

Just finished rereading Edith Wharton's House of Mirth. Very compelling, as if Jane Austen lived in 1900ish New York and got really depressed.

Also recently read Rapunzel's Revenge -- much fun and great Western setting. Like Checkers, I'm reading Nation, but I think she's ahead of me, because I got distracted by Wharton for a bit. Also it's heavy to carry around, so when I'm out and about, I'm also reading Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, which is small and portable, and is one of those books I was supposed to have read many years ago but didn't.

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

Gosh, everybody seems to be loving Nation. I got an ARC a couple weeks before it was released and gave it a try, but I became pretty bored with it and put it down. Everyone has different reading tastes I guess...

[octopirock.livejournal.com]

I've been alternating between knitting a blanket and a hat (it's so much colder at school then I'm used to!).

As for reading, I have not been able to do much for fun lately, but I recently finished Jasper Forde's (sp?) Eyre Affair.

[thelasteddis.livejournal.com]

My current reading materials:

Moliere
The Theaters of Moliere
The Public Mirror
The Bourgeoisie Gentleman
Tartuffe
The School for Wives
Politics and Theater
Moliere and the commonwealth of letters

Yeah. Anyone else see a pattern? *frowns at enormous paper due wensday*

[tearoha.livejournal.com]

Whoa. That is... um... quite some tree cosy. Wow. And it's actually real?

I was going to recommend Stargirl as well, and someone beat me to it! (Oooh, and gotta love Terry Pratchett too) Jerry Spinelli's books are awesome, and I love the unconventional character of Stargirl -plus, this was the first book I ever read that had a homeschooled character, so that was a big thrill :)
An author I've never seen discussed here, but who is BRILLIANT, is Sharon Creech, who got a Newbery medal in 1995 (thank you google!) It's a while since I've read her books, but Bloomability is a winner. It. Is. Fabulous. The internal transformation her main character goes through is brilliantly written - it's so subtle and manages to be funny, but is totally lifelike as well.
oh, and can't forget Sign of the Lion, by Sherryl Jordan, who is an NZ writer so may not be available over where most of you are :) It's a pretty allegorical redemption story most of the way through, but also has a great female protagonist (who plays panpipes. LOVE) She's mostly a fantasy author and I guess this book fits into that kind of genre, but it's also pretty simply told and accessible. Maybe it's a crossover. I read all three of these books when I was pretty young but they're the kind you can re-read forever, like some other books we all know well...
So, anyway. That's my two cents :-)

mems

[(Anonymous)]

EEK!!! Another Bloomability lover! Yay! I love the subtlety of Creech's writing and I adore Guthrie. That book instilled the love of Switzerland in me...can't wait to visit Lugano one day, when I'm rich enough. :)

[aged-crone.livejournal.com]

Moccasin Trail, by Eloise Jarvis McGraw. Re-reading, for the umpteenth time, because it is magnificent

Secret of the Andes, by Ann Nolan Clark. Newbery Medal winner in the year that Moccasin Trail and Charlotte's Web both got silvers. Definitely the wrong book won that year.

The Reb and the Redcoats, by Constance Savery, which is the only children's book I've ever seen set during the Revolutionary War but written by a British author and set in England (the Reb in question is a prisoner of war).

The Wonder Woman Archives, vol. 5. Reprints of Wonder Woman stories from around 1944-1945. Fun. I don't like what "comic" books have become for the last 20 years or so, most of them, because they take themselves way too seriously and are grossly inappropriate for children and far too dark. The old ones are better.

The Apprentice of Florence, by Anne Kyle. And old Newbery Honor Book. Quite good.

Cedric the Forester, by Bernard Marshall. Another (very) old Newbery Honor Book. Adventurous, but kind of strange since the last couple of chapters seem almost tacked on to make sure that Magna Carta makes it into the book. Not bad, just not my favorite.

Keeping Score, by Linda Sue Park. Park won the Newbery for A Single Shard, which was a wonderful book. This one I just got in with my library book order. I really like her writing, though this one isn't my favorite of her books.

[meltintall3.livejournal.com]

I've been reading Newberys and Newbery Honors off and on for quite awhile, trying to see if I can get all/most of them read. Some of them sound much more fascinating when they're not just titles on a list.

(In other words, I'm taking notes here...)

And I loved both Reb and the Redcoats and Enemy Brothers by Savery.

Linkage

[doreenahk.livejournal.com]

Not necessarily reading, but I found these of interest:

Lovely cover for Meg Rosoff's not-yet-released new book:

http://tinyurl.com/6qqjlp

Bookshelves of Doom reviews all six books in Elizabeth Peters' Vicky Bliss series. Note the first book in the series is Borrower of the Night which I think was first published in the 70s. Last book is the recently released Laughter of Dead Kings.

http://tinyurl.com/6679kb

[emerald-happy.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, nice tree!

[(Anonymous)]

I am currently reading 160 something 2008 fantasy/science fiction books for the Cybils Awards--if anyone is curious to see what got nominated, the list, with links to reviews by us panelists, is here--
http://charlotteslibrary.blogspot.com/2008/10/cybils-my-list-of-whats-been-nominated.html

Here are some I like, that I think you all would too--

Magic Thief, by Sarah Prineas (worth mentioning again!)
The Cabinet of Wonders by Marie Rutkoski
The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman
Sisters of the Sword, by Maya Snow
The City in the Lake by Rachel Neumeier
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit by Nahoko Uehashi
A Posse of Princesses, by Sherwood Smith
The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

Others on the list are good as well, but these are the ones that I think have the most Sounisian appeal.

Charlotte

[ladymoon-kora.livejournal.com]

Wow. That is...interesting.

Anyway, I'm reading (for what feels like forever, because books normally take me a few days and this has gone on into a week or two...just no time anymore) Edith Wharton's Age of Innocence. It's very good, except I want to finish it because I have other books I'm waiting to read.

Also, someone above mentioned Graceling by Kristin Cashore--I LOVED it. I hated to put it down, so if you get the chance, read it.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I have Age of Innocence sitting right here. It's...let's see...maybe third on my To Be Read list.