moonfrog –

Life has been stressful lately. In the grand scheme of things, my troubles have been small, but in the personal perspective, they have set me back a pace. The past month has brought a couple extra doctor appointments to deal with a small skin cancer on DH’s arm. Ordinarily, these things are just a check, a little biopsy and the ordeal is over. This time, the biopsy was done and no call from the doctor left us worry-free that nothing was wrong. A couple months later, we found out that the biopsy had gone to the wrong department and there was indeed a cancerous growth. Then there was the waiting for the next appointment — never soon enough for the taut nerves. In the end, all is well. No surgery is required, just a cream that will cause the cancer to peel away. A few more growths were frozen off and we are moving back to normal. In the mean time, I’ve been a bit distracted from blogging and knitting and other quiet pleasures.

So I’ve been picking up easy knits and leaving the more interesting projects for when there is more time for concentrating. Rose/Soleil is split for the V-neck, requiring me to learn new things. I still haven’t gotten over the major ripping that Shedir required, but it is back in my travel knitting bag. Soon I’ll pick it up again.

Hats are filling the knitting spaces for now. I finally made the Star of the Day Hat. I used Cottontots yarn and it turned out very nice — a much richer yellow that it shows in the picture. I even did the I-cord bind off, which was really quite easy after I got over thinking it would be too hard. It adds a nice finishing touch to the hat.

The pink hat is crocheted with Esprit yarn to make it stretchy. I didn’t use a pattern, it’s single crochet with a shell stitch border. These two little hats will go to a children’s cancer center.

I’ve also decided which vest to make with the Manos Wildflowers yarn that I swatched with last year. I’m itching to start Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Rib Warmer. When I saw Peggy’s Rib Warmer I knew this was the one. I wanted something simple that would work well with the busy yarn. I also wanted to use the pink Manos for an accent. Peggy used single crochet on the edges of her vest — perfect! This couples with my desire to continue in EZ’s Knitters’ Workshop to make this an easy choice. Now I just have to finish up one of my WIPs to make room for a new project.

And just a little more Harry Potter: I was reading some of the background information that JK Rowling has provided and came across this tidbit about one of her characters. Very sweet.

In Goblet of Fire (American hardcover edition, pg. 180), a girl named Natalie McDonald was sorted into Gryffindor House. She was a real girl who was suffering from a terminal illness. She wrote J.K. Rowling a letter. J.K. Rowling wrote back to Natalie and her letter included an outline of Goblet of Fire so if Natalie died, she would know how the book went. Unfortunately, the letter was too late. In memory of Natalie McDonald, J.K. Rowling included her name in Goblet of Fire.

And I ran across this pattern for HP House Fair Isle Pouch Bags. There’s a chart for each of the four houses. Awesome!

AudioBook Blurb
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield will appeal to book-lovers who tend toward classic novels in the vein of Jane Eyre, which has a prominent place in the plot. The protagonist is a book seller and a bit of a loner. This story is her adventure with an eccentric and mysterious author.

This is Setterfield’s debut novel, and she does an excellent job creating a complex tale with secrets and surprises throughout. A mystery/ghost story, the story unravels slowly, weaving the past with the present through storytelling.

Once or twice, an aspect of the story seemed slightly out of place, but very briefly. I enjoyed the slow revelations and the psychological teasers this book used to weave an intriguing story.