interim

Posted by marne on February 9, 2011 in knit | 6 comments

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.