Happy holidays from our family to yours! We hope that you’re safe, warm, and having fun :]
PS O’s sweater is the Bumble Sweater by tincanknits, you can read more about it in this blog post.
Passionflower Sea Glass Mini
No matter how you shake and dance, you’re always left with a decision to make as a maker — do you keep the leftovers, give them away or is there not enough to do either. Several months ago, in June if you want specifics, I worked up a Rosemont Sweater. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the sweater, and also because it looks like I neglected to write up a post about it, Rosemont is worked up utilizing a gradient yarn for most of the yoke, switching to a contrasting solid color for the remainder of the pattern. Partially due to the size I worked up and partially due to the amount of yoke worked up, I was left with ample leftovers of both colors — the perfect amount to work up a baby/toddler sweater depending on the pattern.
As I mentioned when finishing our daughter’s Sorrel Mini, I really like Wool and Pine’s designs and set a loose goal of knitting them all. They’re beautiful, and selfishly I think knitting a kid-size version is a quick way to determine whether or not knitting up an adult-size version will be fun! With this and knowing I had two yarns to work with, I found myself reaching for the Wool and Pine Minis ebook and wondering if one of those patterns would be a good fit. Since I wasn’t ready to cast on immediately, I tentatively added Peperomia Mini to my queue and didn’t think about it for a while. In fact, it wasn’t until I was literally rewinding my yarn and pulling needles that I switched gears to the Sea Glass Mini pattern with the goal of allowing the gradient to speak for itself rather than risk colorwork overshadowing it.
It should have occurred to me that 1×1 ribbing would be slow and prone to tangles, thankfully the project was small enough that I was finished before my wandering eye caused me to start a new project. All in all, I love the effect and think the project was worth the over-measuring (am I really not done yet?!) and focus time. I also love that it’s written to be roughly size 2-4 years. Having over a year’s worth of growth and memories in our daughter’s Sorrel Mini, it’s honestly an added bonus that this little sweater has the potential to fit for a while.
Mom and daughter matchy-matchy outfits aren’t really my thing, although I have painted our toes to match a few times now. That being said, I’m super into the way my Rosemont Sweater and her Sea Glass Mini coordinate. Her sweater also already has paint on it from daycare, which somehow added beauty I didn’t know was missing.
Interested in making one of your own? You can use the discount YARNVIP for 15% off your total purchase from Wonderland Yarns (discount not eligible on sale items, with other discounts, or on yarn clubs).
November 2023 Bookclub: Hooked
I knew Hooked was going to be a steamy read, in fact after reading The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (which I forced my way through because a friend recommended it) I was really banking on this retelling (reimagining?) actually having a plot — and I was not disappointed. It was fun (but dark) and actually liked that there wasn’t really any fantasy to this story, and yet everything was recognizable. Pan was a nickname for a former kid on the streets. Hook received his nickname for his weapon of choice, not because of one of his, er, hands. Pixie dust was a drug. etc etc etc
There is an element of “we love who we love” to this story, where we see good girl Wendy falling fast and hard for Hook. I appreciate that he was a gentleman when getting to know her and that she could lean on this while things took a turn for the worse, but I can’t help but think about how I would react if I was kidnapped and hung out to dry for a bit. Definitely not as forgiving as Wendy was, which makes you wonder how much of her behavior can be thrown into the daddy issues bucket.
Family is a major component of this novel, how far are you willing to go to protect your family? How far are you willing to go to avenge your family? In Wendy’s case, it shattered her expectations and revealed that her father didn’t love her the way that she expected and strengthened her love for Hook because he was willing to protect her (after betraying her a little of course). In Hook’s case, he found he was unwilling to avenge his family in the end because he realized that it didn’t really mean anything or solve any problems. It still shocked me that Wendy was able to murder her father so easily.
In keeping with the “faith trust and pixie dust” theme of Peter Pan, it’s interesting to watch faith and trust play out throughout the story. Trust leads to betrayal in many plot points and yet faith in love brings everything back together.
Though I wouldn’t reread this one, I did enjoy it enough to recommend it to a friend and to pick up the next one in the series (each book is standalone).
For December, let’s close out the year with Remarkably Bright Creatures because I can’t resist an Octopus story.
After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.
Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors–until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.
Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late.
October 2023 Book Club: Anatomy a Love Story
This book is titled correctly, it is first and foremost a love story. True, there is a literal love story occurring within these pages, however, that felt like more of a subplot with Hazel’s love for anatomy taking the role of the true love interest. How interesting to consider what it would have been like to sneak into an all-men’s course and try not to get caught, especially when you consider that Hazel didn’t make an effort to remain a wallflower throughout her studies.
It was predictable that Hazel would be thrown out of the lecture, even though the hope that it wouldn’t happen remained consistent throughout the story. What wasn’t predictable was the sudden drop of immortality into the mix. I didn’t need this as a plot point, but it did make for an interesting think exercise when Jack had to decide between taking the potion or being hung for murder.
I enjoyed this book enough to read the second, although if I’m being honest this is a great example of a time where I wish the book wasn’t YA and was longer. The pacing felt as though it would have benefited from additional pages, however, I think the true limiting factor was that I wanted more from themes that a YA audience may not be interested in more.
With this in mind, I grabbed the second book in hopes that I would have some questions answered only to find that I’m actually a little upset about the ending. Hazel’s love for Jack seemed to feel forced, it seemed she spent more time pining for him than actually getting to know and falling in love with him. So when he suddenly appears in uniform while in London, I was really hoping that she’d let him go in favor of being the wife of a doctor. Hazel actually got to know Simon, who respected her opinions and sought her aid as a physician in treating the king. Hazel could actually see a life with Simon, whereas it was unclear where her life with Jack would go – which perhaps is what was so appealing about it.
November’s book club will be Hooked by Emily McIntire because a dark fairy tale is almost always fun – although I think this is technically not a fantasy story. Full disclosure, this book seems very opposite of a YA novel that doesn’t want to dive deep into adult themes.
He wants revenge, but he wants her more…
James has always had one agenda: destroy his enemy, Peter Michaels. When Peter’s twenty-year-old daughter Wendy shows up in James’s bar, he sees his way in. Seduce the girl and use her for his revenge. It’s the perfect plan, until things in James’s organization begin to crumble. Suddenly, he has to find the traitor in his midst, and his plan for revenge gets murkier as James starts to see Wendy as more than just a pawn in his game.
Wendy has been cloistered away most of her life by her wealthy cold father, but a spontaneous night out with friends turns into an intense and addictive love affair with the dark and brooding James. As much as she knows James is dangerous, Wendy can’t seem to shake her desire for him. But as their relationship grows more heated and she learns more about the world he moves in, she finds herself unsure if she’s falling for the man known as James or the monster known as Hook.
Hooked is a dark contemporary romance and the first complete standalone in the Never After Series: A collection of fractured fairy tales where the villains get the happy ever after. It is not a literal retelling and not fantasy. Hooked features mature themes and content that may not be suitable for all audiences. Reader discretion is advised. For all content warnings, check the author’s website.
Opposite of Boredom So Faded Pint Sized
Working a fade, whether knit or crochet, is not a new trend in the fiber world. Even Find Your Fade, which has inspired many kits over the years is almost 10 years old. In fact, if you’re including gradients in the fade world, the trend has been going on even longer. The point of a fade, however, is to choose your gradient, so for the purposes of this post, I’m not going to include them.
The other advantage of creating and using a fade set (or using one that someone else has put together) is that you have more control over the yarn’s usage. For example, gradient yarns require the least amount of manipulation when used for shawls, cowls, scarves, colorwork yokes – aka anything that doesn’t require the object to be split with stitches on hold for later. Fades, or even gradient mini skein sets, allow you to set some of the colors aside for those held stitches.
All on her own, our child has determined that she loves bold colors. Bonus points if those colors are pink, however as her preferences continue to develop it’s clear that the preference may not last as strongly forever. When I stumbled upon the Opposite of Boredom mini skein pack at Wonderland Yarns, I knew it would be the perfect match for So Faded Pint Sized and an instant favorite once completed.
Then Barbie happened. Now, I’m not saying that Barbie created a moment that made me hate these colors, I’m saying that all of a sudden the Opposite of Boredom color pallet was everywhere and I realized that I didn’t. This pallet went from something “only our daughter would love” to “actually I’d love a sweater out of these colors too”. Plus the pattern was engaging, swapping between colors meant that the body of the sweater had small “goals” to work towards rather than the “just knit to x inches”. The adult version of this sweater wasn’t really on my radar, but now it is.
My only regret with this little sweater is that I didn’t work the pink longer as suggested by the pattern.
Interested in making one of your own? You can use the discount YARNVIP for 15% off your total purchase from Wonderland Yarns (discount not eligible on sale items, with other discounts, or on yarn clubs).
Thoughts from iswimlikeafish 