Books, books and...

I have been reading the Gilbert Morris series; "The House of Winslow" books 1 and 2 (Yes even during the move when I didn't have time to blog). I love this series and plan to read all of them--there are approximately 30 in the series. Gilbert Morris is a historian and did not have his first book published until he was 57! Now he is a very prolific author with several series to his credit.

His books are very factually correct. The first one "The Honorable Imposter" is about the Mayflower and the pilgrims coming to America. The main character is fictional but several of the other characters are real. The second book is several different events in England and American history rather than just one main one.

I also read Lynn Austin's "The Daughters of Eve" and really enjoyed it and "Oceans Apart" by Karen Kingsbury. "Oceans Apart" was the story of a man's sin finding him out and how he and his family became stronger and learned the true meaning of love. It was very insightful.

I also finished the Beverly Lewis saga "Annie's People" which was good but would have been better if it had been two books instead of three. I felt she was setting up the next book in the ending of the previous so there was no clear delineation but that's just my personal view. Others told me they loved all three books.

Life goes on

Finally I am back. The move is over albeit there are still boxes to be unpacked in every room. It seems that moving always results in at least one or more loss and right now I can't find my cell phone charger. However, it could be worse--last week the cell phone itself was lost.

I have finished three of the prayer shawls I was working on. Pictures will be later as I'm having trouble posting them. All three were very easy, although the bluegreen was very time consuming as it is a tighter weave and about 5' by 3'. Tonight I will take them to the Craft ministry.

One of the results of the move is that I want to get rid of a lot. I went through all my yarn last night and I am simply tired of packing the same old boxes of the same old yarn. I think the Salvation Army would be a good place for a lot of it.

I moved from an upstairs apartment 1-bedroom apartment to the 2-bedroom right below it. One of the reasons I moved is the stairs are so steep, also, my parking space for the downstairs apartment is right outside my front door!! Life doesn't get much better than that.

Moving

The move is now in full force. I will be in my new apartment on Saturday. I have hired two men with a truck and the next door neighbor. Hopefully, it will go as smoothly as possible.

In each room I have set up an "open me first" box. My knitting is in the living room box and I just pray it doesn't get lost or buried in transit. My latest prayer shawl is working up nicely but is by far the slowest one yet. The pattern is easy but it is 3' wide by 6' long so is taking awhile.

I have been reading "Eve's Daughters" by Lynn Austen and really love this book. This is the first one of hers that I have read but it won't be the last. Her characters are so believable, she touches on WWI and WWII without losing the story line.

New student

I have been helping a lady with her knitting. She has done some knitting, has made several dishcloths but now wants to knit a vest. We picked out a beautiful grey tweed yarn and she knitted her gauge swatch. She found that her stitches were looser than recommended so went down to a smaller size needle. After she knitted several rows she dropped a couple of stitches. I recommended that she rip it out and start over. She was not very happy, but as we all know--as you knit so shall you rip!! I remember the first time I had to rip out a sweater. It was several days of fuming and fussing before I finally picked it up from the corner I had thrown it in and ripped it out. Fortunately, the second time the pattern was much clearer and I didn't have to rip it out again. When I have made knitted lace, I have ripped out several rows several times, usually because I made a mistake but occasionally a pattern is wrong. In that case, I finally had to give up on the pattern and find another.

I was making a baby bonnet from a magazine that I thought followed the standard knitting rule of finishing each row at the same point. However, the pattern was Australian and their rule of thumb (as I understand it) is just to stop at the end of the row and start the next row above it. I finally called the company and they had the designer call me. Call me a coward but I haven't had the nerve to work on that bonnet since.

 

Yarn sale

Michael's had a yarn sale and, as an appreciation for their employees, they had a once-a-year coupon special. Since I work there, I received a very nice discount on my purchases and, of course, came home with a huge bag of yarn. Moving or not, I needed that yarn and anyway how could I ignore that sale?

I have been working on a shawl using a very old pattern. In fact, the book I'm using was published in 1959. Originally the pattern was for a baby blanket/christening shawl, the center is increased from 3 stitches to 102 then decreased back down to 3 stitches before it is cast off. Since I am making it for an adult I only used the increases then cast off making the center triangular (see picture). The sides are worked separately in a feather and fan pattern then sewn together. I only have one side finished, since it is triangular rather than square, there are only two sides.

September 11

Today is September 11 and like so many people I have been thinking about the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center six years ago. There was so much pain and suffering and even for us on the West Coast it has changed our lives. One way it has changed my life is to make me appreciate my everyday life more. Another way is to realize how very important this country is to each of us and how fortunate we are to live here. The American flag is a symbol of our country and today on Kim Komando's site of the day, she had a small symbol of the flag that will fly on your desktop as you are working. The site is www.deskflag.com if anyone wants it.

I am packing for my second move this year and I am constantly amazed at the JUNK I have in my life. I am trying to sort through things but sometimes it is so much easier just to box it up and plan to deal with it later. After all, I'll be moving in about three weeks.