The Infamous Afghan and A Book Review (Kind of)

Infamous. Yes, I have given the afghan wip the title of infamous. You recall I told you there was a problem with skein and the afghan was a, let me see if I can quote myself: 'a friggin' lot of work.'

I admit I did not spend as much time knitting yesterday as I normally do - I don't know what I did between hour 23 and 24 of the day - oh wait, I sold an afghan yesterday and I had to ship it off to New York! Yeah, me!!) But even so, I know I spent some time knitting and it doesn't look much longer than when I took this picture. So I didn't bother taking another picture so as not to give witness to the progress I did not make. I believe I have only three color changes about the blue (that's really purple - what is it with digital cameras not photographing purple - can someone tell me?)

The good news is I got so tired dealing with the messed up skein that I finally took the (great deal of) time to pull the end out of the skein. I found the end that supposed to be on the outside and I pulled it to the outside and now I can't find the end that goes on the inside but I can unroll the skein from the outside - just like I used to do. I put the skein in a bag and now I'm a happier knitter.

(By the way, this is the afghan that sold. I was thinking it would never leave me to go to another home, but it's going to the Big Apple and from there, I have no idea. But you see the panel to the right? That's actually purple - it looks blue and the second panel from the left is deeper purple - geez!)

Anyway, the infamous afghan is reminding me of one of the ski sweaters which is why I am continuing work on it. I believe it will be stunning when complete - and since it calls for 30 different color changes, it will be quite the stash buster. I am pulling out another skein with each color change - and because black is tying them all together, color matching is pretty easy because almost anything will go. That's a fun aspect.

Don't want you to think I'm not having a good time - I am. Sometimes this kind of impatience is a knitting tool!

Remember I told you about Lori's Reading Corner and how it moved me to want to pick up a book? I picked one up: The True Darcy Spirit by Elizabeth Aston. She 'specializes' in writing novels about the relatives of Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pride and Prejudice. The first novel of hers I attempted to read was Mr. Darcy's Daughters. I couldn't get through it. Because she seemed so far off base of what their daughters would be like and what Elizabeth and Darcy would be like that it made no sense for me.

I often wondered what happened to the characters. Were Elizabeth/Darcy and Jane/Bingley happy? Who married that bi-ach Miss Bingley (I would love to read the exit of Miss Bingley from the house where Jane would now be the mistress.) What would have changed had Mary married Mr. Collins?

I was interested in reading about the characters but it didn't sit comfortably with me in that particular book and also the style of writing tried to hard to capture how Austen wrote. The thing about Austen's writing was she was writing in the style of the day so it's completely natural for her. Not so much for Aston. But what about The True Darcy Spirit?

So far, I'm liking it. The style of writing has changed to that of a historical novel and not one so much trying to be a novel written back then. So the tone is lighter and more natural and that makes her characters easier to breathe in. I'm not completely done with it, but I'm liking how much easier this book is. I am glad I gave her a second chance. And I'm thankful to Lori for inspiring me to take up a book again - somehow it's not a stretch that a knitter also likes to read. In fact, a lot of knitters I know also like to read.

This has caused the creative juices to flow - two weeks from today I will be having another contest that combines reading and knitting. In other words, I will be putting together a prize package that includes a book, yarn and needles. I need the two weeks to decide which book, yarn and needles to give away.

Now, if you will excuse me - I have the next five hours free before I have to do my second workout of the day - I am going to knit and read!





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