a little light reading

i used to be such a book worm. this is just one of my bookshelves, my favourites, the classics:

the phd put paid to that. when you have to read to work you dont want to read for pleasure as well. hence knitting.

but lately i have been feeling the urge to read again, especially as christmas is coming and that is traditionally the time i stock up on all the latest releases, and there are some good ones this year.

to ease back into it, i chose a classic i havent read in a while, elizabeth gaskells 'wives and daughters' and read two chapters about sweet molly gibson, and gave up. then the potter movies have been on tv again, and i thought i might go back and read the last three just to brush up and see if i could pick up some details i had missed. so i am now happily ensconced in this one:

i know that some people dont get the potter thing, and say they are not well written and not original stories, and this is to some extent true. but they are kids books, and i think they are well written for kids. the level of writing and themes is far and away better than any enid blyton i ever read when i was young, and no one ever said they didnt get the famous five! and i cant explain why i love them but i do. i am happy when i am reading about harry (even tho i think hes a bit of a prat, of course i totally relate to hermione) and thats all that matters really.

potter reading was interrupted yesterday by the arrival of a package of books being generously lent to me by a very fine lace knitter who had read of my lace knitting dilemmas and took pity.

there are three books with fantastic lessons in lace techniques and some beautiful examples of scottish, american and russian lace, and i think i might end up making some doilies after all! and i have flicked through victorian lace today before, but to sit with it and read each pattern and all the techniques at the back made me much more appreciative. there are so many patterns in here i like, and so much useful information, i think i will end up buying it. given i have two lace weights to use over summer, i have decided on two patterns. for the jade sapphire i am going to go with Victorian Ruby, a lovely wide bordered scarf with a drop stitch body.

i am going to start with this because its complicated at the ends and easy in the middle and i think thats a good start to serious lace, especailly leading into christmas where i am not entirely focused! i have 400 yards of the jade sapphire 2 ply cashmere and the pattern calls for 450 of a 2ply, so i may end up buying another skein and making it longer.

and for a less-than-800 yards bigger scarf/wrap, i cant go past the melon shawl for the alpacka.

i will have more than the pattern calls for so again, can make it bigger if required, or at least make it with out the 'do i have enough' tension. its surprisingly complicated, not the pattern repeat, but the construction, with the corners and border so i am looking forward to being challenged by this one early in the new year.

after that i am going to do some lace weight stash enhancement and try one of those huge circular shawls, like the cap shawl (rav). seriously tho, i want to knit just about everything in this book.....thanks jen!

other reading i am doing is a pile of first year exams.

this is definitely my last lot of marking in the immediate future, and its that thought alone that is getting me through each piece of plagiarised drivel.

on that note, i interviewed on monday for 'that museum job' and they were quick to tell me they were interviewing all day and had received 'many fine applications'. i put that aside and did a good interview and felt happy that i had done all i could, and the rest was out of my hands. so i was momentarily crushed when i didnt get the job, but am ok about it now. i have an opportunity to make more of the nursing research i am doing, and they were pleased to hear they could have me on a more permanent basis, so who knows where that will lead (apart from cardiff in march. hmmmm colinette.....)

and in between all that reading, i am running around like a fool today getting cars in and out of mechanics etc. jem knows i am going out and is waiting for his bone:

awwwww.....

k xx