Books 2013 #4 - #9

Since the Kindle arrived chez byrne I have turned some of my nefarious attention away from downloading american crime series and towards downloading books. This means that I recently started reading such titles as "No Cooperation from the Cat" by Marion Babson and "The Chocolate Moose Motive" by Jo Anna Carl not because they were on my wish list but because they were accessible. Shame on me. I read about ten pages of each before coming to my senses - drivel. Fortunately it is not all bad in the epub world and so you'll see one below which I got from the Guttenburg Project as it is out of copyright and was really rather delightful. They have 42,000 free ebooks so I feel a return journey there is definitely in my future.

#4 Death from a Top Hat
Clayton Rawson

Sadly out of print but available either as an ebook or, as I received this one, as an audiobook. The reader was Gregory Gawton who has a good voice for this sort of thing and brings the characters to life. This is the first in the series which book 56 from last year is part of. These stories are complicated so you need to pay attention but it is worth it. I love the former magician who now runs a shop and helps the police solve these crimes. The solution to this one is a little unfair but that hasn't discouraged me from procuring the next in the series. They are set in the early part of the 20th century and describe a calmer side of american life than we often get. I guess in terms of genre this is almost a 'cosy' but isn't as homely as that. 

#5 Die Laughing

Carola Dunn

As you might have guessed from the lurid cover, this involves a dentist but this need not put any odontophobes off as apart from mentioning his profession there isn't much further discussion of drills (eek) or other elements of their macabre arts. These books are definitely cosy's. Daisy, for it is she, is now married to Alec and sharing the house with her disapproving mother-in-law. Much to her husband's annoyance Daisy finds her dentist deaded and is asked by the widow to get involved in uncovering the truth. This particular book was from the Library - but it is a ebook. Borrowing ebooks from the Library. How awesome is that? I'm very happy about it. And anything else that makes me less of a criminal. 

#6 Hilda Hopkins: Murder She Knit

Vivienne Fagan

You all know that I am big fan of JB. So when I saw a free kindle book on Amazon that linked my Fletcher love with my knitting love I was in like Flint. This is more of a novelette than a full blown book but it's actually rather funny. I feel sure we all know someone like Hilda, who kills her lodgers but then knits 18" dolls that resemble them to ensure they are not completely forgotten. Her evading capture by lurking in a charity shop gave me ideas for when I eventually have to live the life of a fugitive and her eventual taking by the police os clearly a scene written by a knitter. OK - it is machine knitting - but that still counts. The rest of the series are an ungodly £1.27 or so each but I dare say I might be getting a couple in time for my holiday to France. 

#7 Glimpses of the Moon

Edmund Crispin

Not to be confused with the Edith Wharton novel of the same name, this is really charming. Gervase Fen is another hero of mine and featured in the books I read in 2012 but this was an audiobook and something I loved coming back to (I have read it before several times). The voluntarily bed-ridden pub landlord with his happy wife, the cavalry major with his distrust of horses, the vicar with his...everything, the tortoise, the pig's head, the pisser...it's all vintage genius. This is late in the series and I've read complaints that Gervase has gone soft in this one but I think he's entirely in character still - just getting on a bit and taking it easy in an english village during the summer. I wouldn't suggest this as a way to start Crispin's ouevre but if you have read Swan Song or another one and liked it you'll enjoy this too. 

#8 The Adventures of Inspector Lestrade

MJ Trow

Awful cover but interesting book. A series of murders follow a children's story book. But that's not the core here - the point is that Lestrade is the much besmirched policeman in the Sherlock Holmes books and here he is as our leading man with both Watson and Holmes coming into the story as side characters and around whom fiction blends with reality. This is one of Liz's recommendations and another audiobook. I found myself intrigued and thinking about the story in between listening to it so I've happily downloaded the next book and will continue to listen with interest. 

#9 That Affair Next Door

Anna Katherine Green

Published in 1896 so well out of copyright and available free and pre-kindle formatted or through the Guttenburgers. This started a little frostily as I was relating the protagonist to someone who I am currently finding very annoying. But once I got over that I really got into this. A very proper lady of the period clearly spends a lot of time thinking about how correct she is and how incorrect others are. She happens to see a man and woman entering the house opposite hers late at night. Improper! She goes over the next morning to see what's what and finds the body of a dead young woman. The plot thickens to the consistency of treacle and doesn't clear until pretty late on. The solution isn't new - but then it probably was when this was written - but it is clever and well written and well worth a read. This is the first in a series so I will, and I seem to have said this a lot, be reading others when I get hold of them. 

Now for some knitting on that scrotum.

 

Me-ow

My newest buttons have arrived.

Squuuuuuueeeee! Could not be happier. They got here amazingly quickly from Australia AND free postage AND half price. Her Etsy Shop is here. She has other buttons, earrings and lots of other very beautiful stuff. Definitely to be recommended.

It has made me think again about making the most of my most precious and loved buttons which otherwise live in a storage box. This would be a good way to display singles:

Source: blog.luulla.com via Alex on Pinterest

But then I am thinking more like this kind of thing except just with carded buttons.

Source: baltares.blogspot.com via Alex on Pinterest

Ah - the craft we would do if we didn't have to work!

Speaking on which, on my way in this morning I noticed a block I pass twice a day had added a flag.

"So what?" I hear you ask. But look what it says.

Hello!

Wrung Like A Chicken

Thirty minutes after meeting a man (whose name I can't now recall) for the first time I was semi-naked, oiled up and he had both his arms around me. Then he wrung me by the neck like a chicken. 

Another day, another medical professional. This one is an osteopath and has just caused me the most pain I've experienced since the days before my back operation. Then he cracked me, vibrated me with what felt a jackhammer and then zapped me repeatedly with a laser. 

On the other hand I do now feel considerably better. Plus having been subjected to that much pain I am obliged BY LAW to comfort myself. 

Current favourites are Cherry Deluxe, just in case anyone's buying...

Having not been able to look over my right shoulder properly for two months now it genuinely does seem to have eased after just this first session. And as knitting seemed to aggravate the problem I really had no choice but to seek a solution. Fingers crossed this does it. 

Spooling

I have added some new necklaces to my shop.

I have also updated my Stitchmarker packaging.

Little bit of a shop spring clean, rather than doing any actual cleaning. I was out with friends on Friday night and one said he felt strongly you should do your own cleaning. I am not a subscriber to this theory being more than willing to hand my cleaning off elsewhere. Although a natural extension to it would be that you should make your own clothes. And that I can relate to. I have cast on a new project - avoiding my previous malaise by deciding to knit something as a present.

Knitters know that unblocked lace looks like nothing so much as a pencil sketch of a scrotum so won't be surprised to hear this is going to be a glorious lace shawl. One day.

Things I'm finding intriguing at the moment...

Source: atdesign.fudangi.net via Alex on Pinterest

Source: juan.tumblr.com via Alex on Pinterest

Source: juliacrosslandart.com via Alex on Pinterest

Source: folksy.com via Alex on Pinterest

Source: designspongeonline.com via Alex on Pinterest

Source: maiyamayhem.tumblr.com via Alex on Pinterest

Tick Tock Knot

Do you remember this clock?

I did a tutorial for it many moons ago. I've been thinking for a while it was due for an upgrade. I have also been thinking about colour with plain grey.

Source: sewmesomethinggood.blogspot.ca via Alex on Pinterest

The result of all these and other thoughts is now becoming reality...

The colours are a little zingy in the photo but you get the idea. I've always adored the variegated DMC/anchor threads and can remember being given the occasional one as a present when I was a little mite. I now have quite a collection and while it's always tempting to leave them pristine it's always better to use them.The felt tip vanishes with water and is something I use on so many projects just because it's so darn useful. So once I've finished my rainbow circle of french knots all that will be left is the grey linen with the numbers in relief.

Incidentally, if you like embroidery thread, and who doesn't, you may be interested in the Embroidery Thread Lovers Group on Flickr. Eye candy but also some clever ideas of how to store yours. The more eco option?

This is my absolute favourite.

One day I shall have a craft room and it shall have a pinboard with embroidery thread on it. Maybe. Except for it fading in direct light and getting dusty and stuff.

Button Belts

I am still completely paralysed in my knitting because of the grumbling of yesterday's post. It's freaking me out. I am not happy without needles in my hand or knitting in my heart. And yet...this makes me a little bit happy.

I made my first one for my sister's wedding.

But the lace has bowed under the weight and it needs tightening. The black one uses thick 2" elastic and an astonishingly large number of buttons, all from my mighty stash.

I've just ordered more elastic for a blue/green and a red one.

No knitting.

It's not right.

Grumbled

There are times when you get yourself annoyed about something for which you are responsible and have control over and despite having the power to right it you don't because you are too annoyed. At such times you may describe this feeling as "having grumbled yourself". I have grumbled myself.

I do not need any further knitted items. I do not need any further quilts. I have knit and sewn for most if not all of my relatives and although I could do more and fill in some gaps I do not want to. I want to knit and sew things for me. But I don't need anything. This is the perfect definition of the self-grumble. It is very annoying.

Nancy Drew is a Clue

So frustrating. My Nancy Drew quilt is making me uber happy as it all starts to come together but I said at the end of January that I wouldn't be showing it again until it was finished. What to do....

Side on doesn't count right? Like side boobs don't count. I also made a start on my purchase from the Scrap Store last weekend.

I'm deliberately playing with having the stripes running different ways to play with the texture. The fabric is thicker than the cord used in the original (picture in this blog post) and my y-seam skills are poor so it's not exactly perfectly flat.

But still, it's an interesting experiment.

I feel I ought to mention in passing this bizarre situation that is going on in Europe about horse meat. Personally I have avoided Findus since they saw fit to retire the creamy bacon crispy pancake and can't remember the last time I bought burgers, but it seems increasingly likely all of us red meat eaters have been eating not-so-thoroughbreds for some time now. The big question in my mind is - where is all this horse meat coming from? It's not like the plains of Texas are covered in horses.

Well said Ma'am.

Books 2013 #1 #3

#1 Have Mercy on us All
by Fred Vargas

That Fred - she's good. In the first two books I grew to rather like her detective Adamsberg. In this book he is still likeable but then he does something SO stupid. So. Stupid. But that is just a side plot. The main plot involves a conspiracy to bring Black Death back to Paris. The story weaves in and out of the refurbishment of the police department and the life of an old sailor discovering a new role for himself. The book is very well written and although you just want to kick Adamsberg I'll definitely be reading the next. In fact I already have a copy and am holding off as I don;t want to finish the series too soon. 

#2 Oscar Wilde and the Murders at Reading Gaol

by Gyles Brandreth

 

Having gone off the boil a bit with these books this one comes right back up to standard. It deals with the period during which Oscar is actually in prison and the way he is treated and lives during that time. It's rather unsettling - even non-history-buffs can take a guess at what the prison system was like back then - but not too weighty and the deaths are approached in an interesting way since Oscar is clearly not at liberty to investigate as he usually would. Some authors want to show off how much research they've done and cram it all in regardless. Not here. The characters of the mainly male cast are well developed and brought to life and the story avoids getting bogged down in historical detail.

#3 The Day Aberystwyth Stood Still

by Malcolm Pryce

I've loved this series all the way through. This is what I was reading when I met up with KnittingontheGreen and we discussed them as she's not partial. I think having read Dashiel Hammet and Raymond Chandler in my formative years I can admire how well Pryce writes the hard-boiled detective genre, set in a town in Wales with a caravan park, philosophical ice cream seller and machiavellian mayor. Not afraid to bring in the surreal and super-natural, this book includes much talk of aliens but Louie is so sceptical and hard-bitten about everything that it doesn't matter whether you believe in such things or not. You become so enthralled that by the time the story reaches the point at which the mayoral elections are decided by human cannonball you barely notice anything odd is going on. I adore these books - of which this is the sixth - but if you can't stomach silly or hard-boiled you may not want to read a second. 

On my reading list for the next few weeks is a non-fiction about success, another magical mystery by Clayton Rawson and maybe, just maybe, the next Fred Vargas. Any recommendations?

Reading is Good For You

I love reading. You find out sooooo much. Even reading fiction - large parts of my vocabulary and behaviour are based on PG Wodehouse and Margery Allingham. Last week KnittingOnTheGreen and I met up to got to the "A-Z of Crime Fiction" exhibition at the British Library.

It's only a small exhibition but really hit the spot. KotG combines a vast experience of the genre with a great memory so was able to help when my side of the conversation dissolved into "oh you know that author, I think it began with a V, like Poirot but modern times, or was it Campion?" We had a great time discussing current and past favourites and I came away with eight new titles on my reading list.

I've also started a new Coursera course this week called "E-Learning and Digital Culture". Lots of reading needed for that and I started thinking again about the whole Kindle question. To e-read or not to e-read is something I've been debating for quite a while. I kept telling myself that I got a lot of books secondhand so it wasn't worth it, but in fact I get a lot from the Library, who also lend e-books. Plus all my study reading is online. Mmmmmm....maybe.....

Yeah, so I bought a Kindle. I'm waiting until the case arrives before I get stuck in properly but so far I'm quite impressed. I've naturally already explored how to work around the way the manufacturer would like you to use it and look forward to getting more acquainted over the next week.

This Weekend Belonged to Charlie

Behold...Charlie!

I would never, in a million years, have thought of myself as a tortoise person. But...within seconds of catching sight of him out of the corner of my eye positively powering along with watercress in his sights I was hooked.  His favourite thing, apart from watercress, is climbing and so when on the ground he would immediately set off for higher ground. He made it up to my neck and then fell asleep.

It is rather lovely to have a tortoise fall asleep on your neck. Pooch said he'd passed out because of the smell but I prefer to believe he liked the warmth and felt safe.

The main purpose of the weekend was not tortoise discovery but spending time with my pregnito sister and her husband. And how better to do this than with a visit to a Scrap Store.

These places are awesome. I'd never been to one for real but had seen them online. If you're not familiar with them they are essentially a genius combination of recycling and community action. Local businesses donate unwanted bits that would otherwise end up in landfill.

Maybe they made too many packaging pots, or the bits cut out of huge sheets of plastic/wood/card weren't needed or they had stuff left over. It comes here and then groups and families from the community can go along and fill a sack with what they want and pay a token amount for it. And I mean token. I got large scraps of felt, leather and card plus the item below and they would only charge me £4. I tried to insist it should be more but no. I had to just stick the rest in a donation jar. This was the gem:

You know those fabric sample books you get? Yep, a whole one! Well, a few reds are missing but there are still more than 40 colours. I had previously seen this bag on Pinterest...

Source: etsy.com via Alex on Pinterest

Oh yeah. I'm going to have a rainbow one. Yee ha!

While at my sister's I got to hand over all the baby goodies I've been stockpiling. Including this blanket.

This is the one I'll be writing the pattern up for soon. And speaking of which...

I am planning my entry for the Festival of Quilts competition. I'll be entering the miniature quilts section and doing tiny little paper pieced hexagons. I'm just deciding whether to go for a traditional pattern or something more pictorial.

Sister and hubby were on good form and she's all healthy and rounded at about 5 months but it is freakin weird to see your little sister with one in the oven. I felt the niece-in-progress kick and saw the nursery. All so exciting! Having decided not to have any of my own I'm going to take full advantage of the subversive aunty role.