I'm working on a post all about some natural skincare things I've been making and using, but it's taking a little time, so here is some more knitting. Do you mind? Are you tired of knitting? Because it seems that I am not. 

I want to find a knitting group, so I tried one out this past weekend at a local yarn store and made a hat:

It's pretty darn cute, and was fun to knit. The only downside, which isn't really a downside, just my own disatisfaction was that I used the exact yarn in the exact colors called for in the pattern, which is great, it just makes it feel a little less creative. Know what I mean? It's a silly complaint, and I love the finished hat. In fact, I'll be making the matching mittens, so maybe I should just stopping whining. It's the perfect yarn in the perfect colors, so I don't know what I think I want. The pattern for the hat and matching mittens is from The Red Collection, which is a really cute bunch of patterns. I want to make the ziggity hat and mittens too. As for the knitting group, there were just a few people, but I found out about another, large group that meets at a nearby Panera on the second Wednesday of the month, so I'll be trying that out this week. Maybe there will be some readers there, so I'll find a book group too. Or maybe I'm just overly optimistic. 

I also whipped up a baby sweater for a co-worker. I've made this pattern before, it's not particularly exciting, but it's a nice, classic look for a little boy, I think. It's from The Baby Knits Book by Debbie Bliss, which has lots of good, basic patterns. It's a quick knit too!

It's been awhile since I've done any seaming, it was good to practice. 

I spent a few hours on Saturday waiting while one of our cars was in the shop, so I used those hours for reading and finished Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. It's my second non-fiction book for the year, and it was really amazing. Louis Zamparini grew up in Torrence, California, where he was a Troublemaker-with-a-capital-T. With some help from his older brother and best friend, he became a track star, breaking records and accomplishing brilliant feats of speed around the track. He even went to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. He had big plans to attend the 1940 Olympics, where his increased maturity would certainly make him a contender for a gold medal. And then, World War II broke out and the Olympics were cancelled. 

So he joined the Army Air Corps and became part of the crew of a B-24 Bomber. What follows is an amazing story of endurance, optimism and redemption. It might sound a little cliché, and I know there are probably more WW II stories like this that will never be told, but that doesn't make this one any less worth reading. I won't spoil it for you, just recommend that you pick it up soon and read it. Laura Hillenbrand, the author, has obviously done extensive research and spent a lot of time interviewing Louis, who is still alive. I really appreciated her obvious admiration for him, although her writing is at times a little dry. She has a journalistic style, which I think that I, as a fiction reader, am not used to reading, it's not quite as 'literary' as I am used to (not that I'm some literary snob, I'm in the middle of a slightly cheesey mystery novel at the moment), so that's not even really a criticism. 

 Just for fun, as is my habit, let's have a look at the one-star reviews, shall we? I wasn't sure how anyone could rate this story one-star, but right now, there are eleven who did. It seems that a common complaint is that the book is overly-dramatic. Really? A man survives unbelievable odds for years during a major war, and you don't think it should be dramatic? That's pretty funny. I can kind of, sort of understand not loving the writing style, but I really don't see how this story is anything less than amazing. 

I'm still knitting away here. It's cold and windy tonight, so I am curled up with a plain little baby sweater. I need some straight stockinette stitch so I can start getting through the backlog of foreign films in my Netflix queue. I think I'll start with The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, for a nice two-and-a-half hour knitting marathon.

Oh, and my Juneberry shawl is moving right along, it's just not a foreign film sort of project. I've completed the body and am working on the edging, which I suspect will take as long as the rest of the shawl did. I'll write more about it and the yarn when I'm done, but it's been a really fun project. The heavier yarn means that it knits up super fast, and the pattern is interesting, but not difficult. I was a little worried at first, since there are pattern rows on the right and wrong sides, but it really hasn't been hard. I tried to get some in-progress pictures, but it pretty much just looks like a big pile 'o yarn. Still, the color is pretty accurate, and you can see the beginning of the edging (in the lower right corner). 

All this nesting knitting I've been doing lately has made me be a little more organized. My little studio, where I keep all my knitting and sewing supplies, is a short walk out the back door, but when the low is supposed to be 19 degrees, like it is tonight, I'd like to avoid having to venture out in search of a tape measure or stitch marker. So I've put together a toolkit of knitting essentials that I keep nearby at all times, and thought I'd share. You certainly don't need everything here, but most of what I've got are just things I've collected here and there, and are things I use regularly.

I labelled everything on flickr, so you can click the image to see all the notes. A little pouch is handy for keeping all the smaller items together, and if you're working on multiple projects, it's easy to move it from one bag or basket to another.

• Scissors are useful, but a yarn cutter will do in a pinch. 
• Stitch markers are necessary for many projects and I like these Clover markers that work like a safety pin, so they can be removed in the middle of the row. I'd love to make some small beaded markers for smaller projects. Maybe one day I'll get to that. 
• A retractable tape measure stays neat.
• I hate it when my hands are dry, so I keep some rose salve and lotion nearby. I just made the lotion in that little tin (under the rose salve), I'll tell you more about that in an upcoming post, it's pretty cool!
• Post it notes are essential when I'm following a charted pattern
• I finally thought ahead and added a couple different weights of waste yarn. I used a wooden spool and a yarn bobbin to keep them neat. 
• I don't use my row counter too often, but I figure it's a good idea to tuck it in anyway, since it takes almost no space. 
• Cable needles in various sizes and configurations make large or elaborate cables much easier.
• A pencil for writing notes on patterns. Essential for calculations and reading patterns.
• Crochet hooks are great for everything from picking up dropped stitches to doing a provisional cast on. 
• Nothing works as well as a bent-tipped yarn needle for weaving in ends. A chibi (the yellow case) and a wooden fish are cases for keeping my collection of needles safe until I am ready to use them. 
• I have a set of the Zephyr clear acrylic needles from Knit Picks, so a needle gauge is used every time I start a new project, to make sure I've picked up the right size needles. 

Oh, and I nearly forgot, a little chocolate is never a bad idea. You have to keep your strength up when you settle in for a marathon knitting session. What are some of your essential knitting tools?  

I've had a couple three-day weekends in a row, so this measly little two-day weekend felt far too short. I had all sorts of grand ideas for Projects-with-a-capital-P, but ultimately I only ended up doing a couple very small things (besides laundry, grocery shopping and other miscellaneous errands). So this is probably the most exciting blog post you will read all week, I'm sure. 

First of all, I am overwhelmed with the state of our cupboards and closets. So I'm tackling them one at a time and doing some thorough cleaning out, scrubbing down and tossing of junk. I started with the spice/tea & warm drinks/sweeteners and small baking items cupboard. I like all my mis-matched, hand-labeled spice jars, but I also have a spice addiction, and am regularly bringing home new spices. I had organized them pretty well last summer, but the addition of two-tiered lazy susan makes it much easier to find what I'm looking for and fit them neatly into a fairly small space. I actually found a box of chamomile tea with a best before date of 1995. How is that even possible? I don't know, but yuck! Now that I thinned our tea collection down to just a half dozen or so, it's much nicer to make a cup or pot and know that it's relatively fresh and it's a flavor we like. 1995! Yeesh! 

I like this shelf a lot:

Second of all, I don't know if I should even admit this, but I've never made oatmeal from scratch, and had no idea how to do it. I guess I must have known that there were directions on the can, but for some reason I thought it was really complicated and time-consuming. I don't know why, but I guess because I think of oatmeal as weekday breakfast, I was fine with a little packet of gummy, instant oatmeal, dressed up with some brown sugar and dried fruit. In the cleaning of the aforementioned cupboard, I unearthed no less than three containers of oatmeal, two steel-cut and one regular old-fashioned oats. I'll save the old-fashioned for cookies, but decided to try my hand at cooking the steel-cut. Just in case there are other oatmeal novices out there, the ratio is 4:1, boiling water to oatmeal. Just sprinkle in the oats when the water is at a rolling boil and heat to a simmer. Let it cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. I added a dash of salt to the water to get it boiling faster and for flavor. And now, I don't think I can eat those little packets of instant oatmeal ever again. I had a nice warm bowl with a little golden syrup and dried cranberries and almonds and cashews. I never thought I'd get cravings for oatmeal, but I think I might have some for dinner tonight, it was so delicious.

Does anyone else not know how to make something that everyone else probably knows how to make? Am I ridiculous for writing about cleaning a cupboard and making oatmeal? I think I might be, but darn it, opening that cupboard door makes me pretty happy right now. 

And my Shelter yarn from Brooklyn Tweed arrived today, so I will be spending the rest of the evening winding it into balls and starting a new project! 

Oh, and the book of the week (on audio) is Leviathan , which I am really enjoying. It's imaginative and original and a rollicking adventure. 

I think someone could make a business out of coming up with pithy blog post titles. I am obviously not that person.

Some things I've been knitting include my Seraphim shawl, which is now finished.

I knew I would love it, and I was right. It weighs nearly nothing, but is so warm and soft. I'm cursing this ridiculous January heatwave, because it means I can't wear it right now. Not that I have anything that really matches in color or style even if it was cold. I don't care, though, as soon as the temperature goes back down to reasonable winter levels, I'll have it jauntily tied around my shoulders with my every day black hoodie sweater and jeans. 

Sadly, I'm still not any kind of lace knitting expert. At one point, well into the lace border, I had to rip back a few rows due to a glaring error, and let me tell you, it was.not.fun. Then, not learning my lesson, I neglected to put in a new lifeline, and found a couple extra yarn-overs. As I continued knitting, they were so obvious that I wasn't sure I could live with them, but I also couldn't face ripping back again, so I decided to let it go. And you know, as I was blocking the finished shawl, I really had to look to find them. I'm pretty sure that no one will ever see them while I have it nonchalantly draped around my neck, either. 

I think my next lace project is going to be a Juneberry shawl from Brooklyn Tweed. I hope to get some Shelter yarn (I'm very tempted by the Button Jar color, but Almanac is also nice), I think lace in a heavier yarn could be a lot of fun. 

Of course, once I bound off and blocked my shawl, I thought I ought to start something else. I am not at all tired of the purple Malabrigo I used for my Abrazo, so I used the leftover to start a pair of socks.

The pattern is Pyroclastic from Knitty Winter 2009, and they are easy-peasy. Well, that's not entirely true. There is a knitted-in arch support, which I think sounds like a fantastic idea, but the truth is, I started working on it and I just wasn't feeling it. You have to fiddle with about six stitch markers on size 1 needles, and keeping track of increases and decreases on this dark, dark yarn during these dark, dark evenings just isn't any fun, so I decided not to do it. I'll let you know if that's a big mistake, but I think it will work out just fine. I love the mock cables, they couldn't be easier, and the socks are just flying off the needles. 

Some things I've been reading include the entire Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. They're YA books, so they were really quick reads. I thought they were a lot of fun. The action was non-stop, and I really enjoyed all the funny lines the author came up with, like

"I nodded, looking at Rachel with respect. "You hit the Lord of the Titans in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush."",

or ""It's him," I said. "Typhon." 
I was seriously hoping Chiron would say something good, like 'No, that's our huge friend Leroy! He's going to help us!'"

Or "I’ve met plenty of embarrassing parents, but Kronos, the evil Titan Lord who wanted to destroy Western Civilization? Not the kind of dad you invited to school for Career Day."

I was seriously on the edge of my seat for most of the five books, so I read them back-to-back, pretty much non-stop. I would have probably loved these when I was in sixth grade, so if you have any young readers looking for something entertaining, and even a little educational (I even learned a few things about the Greek gods), give them a try. 

Way at the other end of the spectrum, I spent a good part of my day off yesterday reading Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue. Wow. I don't want to say too much about this one, but I couldn't put it down, and I will be thinking about it for a good, long time. Room is the story of Jack and his Ma and the 11 x 11 room where they live as prisoners of Old Nick. Five-year-old Jack is the narrator of the story, and it takes a little while to get into the rhythm of his voice, but ultimately, I think Donoghue has done an excellent job of creating that voice. Jack is at the same time smart yet somewhat developmentally or maybe emotionally disabled. His Ma does that best she can to educate and entertain him within their very confined, limited existence. 

Often, when I read a book, particularly a very popular book, I have a bad habit of reading the Amazon reviews, mostly the bad ones. I can sometimes empathize with the one-star reviewers, and often find new insights that I may not have thought about before. In this case, however, I found myself disagreeing with most of them. Many of them didn't like the voice of Jack, saying they didn't think a five-year-old would talk like he did, using simple words and improper grammar one sentence and then spouting multi-syllabic words the next, but I thought that was very authentic, particularly because his world was so limited, yet his mother would play games with him to teach him new words and their meanings. The other complaint that was repeated multiple times was that the reviewers thought that the many references to breastfeeding were "gross." Really? I get that in society today it's not really acceptable to breastfeed a five-year-old boy, but they didn't live in regular society. I think it was quite understandable in their circumstances, and that it was a great comfort to both Jack and to Ma. I understood the discomfort of people outside of Room when Jack wanted to breastfeed at that point, but I would hardly call it gross. Okay, I'll stop there, but if you've read it, what did you think? Please comment! I still need a book group!

 I was going to talk about some things I wanted to do this year, but then I watched this, and now I don't think I will! 

Okay, well, I'll talk about one little goal I have this year, mostly because I'm pretty sure this one won't be a problem to fulfill. I've been keeping a little bit better track of what I've been reading, thanks to GoodReads, and it turns out I read fifty-some books last year. That's not too shabby, but I can do better, both in number of books read, and keeping track. I've often been guilty of devouring a book and then, once I set it aside, completely forgetting half of what I read. So, part one of my goal is to enter all books in GoodReads and then rate it when I'm done and add at least a brief review. I'll also share longer reviews here of the titles thought were particularly good.

I've also decided to up the number of books I read this year to 65, which is really a suggestion from Michael of the Books on the Nightstand podcast (which, by the way, is excellent for all you book lovers out there. If you haven't listened, I suggest subscribing right away!) to read +11 in '11. I just rounded to 65 since I know I missed listing some last year. I decided that since my sister thinks I don't read enough non-fiction that I would make those 11 additional books non-fiction titles. GoodReads also added a nifty feature this year to help you set and track reading goals.

Another thing helping me read more is a new toy from Mr. HeyLucy (who sacrificed his own Christmas money, combined it with mine and insisted I get it), it's a nifty little Nook Color, and I've really been enjoying using it to read anywhere and everywhere. I don't buy many books, because our bookshelves are full, but I've always got a library book or three laying around, as well as constant requests waiting to be checked out, and I'm excited that I'll now be able to check out ebooks as well. I've read lots of books on my phone, so this bigger screen is really luxurious. And there are plenty of free and bargain books to download as well.

And now, how about a book recommendation? The last book I read in 2010 was The Bells , by Richard Harvell. It was a perfect way to end the year-with one that I think will be a favorite for a long time to come. 

The Bells begins in a small Swiss village, where the bells in the church tower are so loud they can only be rung by a deaf woman, who comes down from the hills and dwells in the belfry. She has a child, and the villagers and parish priest assume that the boy, too, is deaf. When the priest discovers that is is not the case, he is so angry  he takes the child and throws him into the river, certain that he will die. The boy is rescued by two passing monks, who aptly name him Moses and take him back to their abbey. There he becomes a prodigy of the strange choirmaster, Ulrich, who decides he must preserve Moses' beautiful voice. What follows is the story of his life as a castrati, abhorred in his native Switzerland, and exalted in the music capitals of Italy and Austria. I don't want to give any more of the story away, I will leave it to you to discover. 

I loved the way Harvell captured the physical feelings of pure, beautiful sound. His language is sensuous and beautiful. Even the most painful scenes reverberated with the feelings of hearing, not just with the ears, but the whole body. There are so many good passages, like this one from the beginning of the story:

"As my mother rang her bells, she tuned the fibers of her body as a violinist tunes his strings. There in her neck, she rings faintly with a part tone of the middle bell. There in her thighs, with another. In the bottom of her feet, I heard the strike tone of the smallest bell. Each tone, ringing in her flesh, was itself the faintest echo of the vast concert. I cannot remember my mother's face, but I remember this landscape of her sounds. And though I have no likeness with which I might recall her, when I close my eyes and hear her body ringing with those bells, it is as though I have a portrait in my hands."

I love the sound as memory imagery. The Bells is highly re-readable, which is high praise indeed. 

Please share any good book recommendations in the comments, I have 65 books to read this year!