Book Meme

Okay, got this from L at Knots in a Row . I normally don't do this stuff, but I figured at least once a year is okay right??

Look at the list of (100) books below.
Bold the ones you’ve read.
Italicize the ones you want to read.
Leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in.
Movies don’t count.
1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell
)5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien
)6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25 . Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie(Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand
)34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver) Got only 1/2 way and couldn't do any more!!!
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

I have to say that 99% of everything marked is the result of my high schooling!!! I went to an all-girl's Catholic high-school that really focused on summer reading and a bunch of books during the school year too!! Not many have been read after college though!!!

Rockin' Sock Club 2007

I'm SO excited to be a member of the Rockin' Sock Club for 2007. I just got my shipment on Wednesday and I couldn't be happier!!! It looks so like it's going to be so much fun. I can't wait to start. I have 2 bag projects that need to get finished prior to the socks so I need to speed things up. I can tell you that the socks will be on our Keys trip next month! They will be my project on the beach! I can't wait!!!!

Thanks to L at Knots in a Row for setting up the Blog Ring for Rockin' Sock Club members!! She's a rockin' lady!!! Of course, I know this b/c she is one of the bestest friends EVER!!!

Long time no post

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I posted!! Bad knitter!! To tell you the truth, I've just be down about the weather, had company, and dealing with a 2 year old who has given up naps!!! It's all just toooooo much !!!!! =)

Well, S is through with naps for good and doesn't like me on the computer. R thinks I'm a freak for having a blog about knitting so I don't ever blog when he's home. That leaves little time for my poor little blog. Today we have our housekeeper here and S is all over her. Nothing like a little cleaning and babysitting for $20 an hour!!!

The only new thing I've have been up to is the Felted Bucket Bag that I started a few weeks ago. L got me the yarn and pattern for my birthday and it's going really well so far. I even bought more yarn in the same purple family to increase the stripes on it!! I can't wait to see what it's like when I'm done. I'm using 13s on this one b/c the 11s the pattern calls for makes a tight fabric and I'm not sure it would felt right. The 13s look like it'll be a great size and just perfect for felting.

Other than that I started a blanket for a friend that is expecting. I won't give out too much info b/c I think she reads this blog. I'm use Bernat Baby Boucle and Baby Bubbles held together on 15s. I'm using a basic dishcloth pattern. I think it's turning out great! I hope she likes it.

If you remember my S'nB group was going to dye yarn for our February gathering. I volunteered my house so I had to test the yarn prior to having 3 other people dye at my house!! I used some sock yarn from knitpicks. I figured if I screwed anything up, I'd only be out a few $$$$!!!

Here are some pics of after the dye, the mircrowave cooking and the final product!!

Finally, we dyed the yarn. It was fun and easy. I think everyone's turned out beautifully. We even had a non-knitter who thinks we're all crazy here. She did admit finally that the yarn looked great! The Kool-Aid is so easy to use and the colors are SO vibrant!!!! Here are some pictures from that night!

When knitting is my "happy place" and a FO

For those of you that read this on a regular basis and/or deal with my constant whining in person, you'll know that we have fertility issues. I found a great doc, who did lots of testing immediately when I walked in the door last month. He did test after test and came to the conclusion that my progesterone is low.

Quick info, progesterone is produced after you ovulate to keep "your oven" happy so that a little fertilized egg can snuggle deep and grow. If you are not pregnant, your body stops producing the progesterone and good ol' Aunt Flo shows pretty quickly. Well, I had half of the minimum progesterone that a normal 34 year old woman should have. So Aunt Flo was showing up WAY TOO soon for any little egg to snuggle in. Really no explanation. My body just doesn't want to make it. So I started progesterone shots.

I promise Knitting is a part of this post! R gives me a shot in the rump every night. Not fun, but necessary if I want another baby. Well, he was in Chicago last night and I had to do it myself, in my THIGH!!! YIKES!!!!


So in the needle went, the meds are in, and out the needle comes. Of course, I start having doubts I did the shot right. Did I inject it into a vein? Did I put it into fat and not muscule?? (the needle is 1.5 inches) What happens if I did it wrong? Will I know something is wrong? My brain was going 100MPH. The first thing I wanted was a Xanax, but that isn't good for people trying to have babies so I picked up knitting.

Within 5 minutes, my breathing was normal again, my stomach wasn't in knots, I felt at peace. I figured that if anything were to go wrong, it'd be okay, I could call 911 or my neighbor. Slowly, but surely I realized that I did do the shot correctly AND everything was going to be okay. I'm amazed at how quickly a few rounds of socks relaxed me.

Knitting truly is my happy place! Luckily, my happy place can go with me anywhere! How many
people can say that!!??!!

Okay, so know onto my 2nd pair of socks. I made them for my Aunt Peg for her birthday next week! Not what she originally picked out, but she'll deal!! She picked Austermann Step last summer when I was in Florida with her and I was sure that I'd be sock expert by that Christmas. Both WRONG!! I tried and tried, but it just wouldn't work. Damn you, Step Yarn(ala Jodi).


So I went and got some Sassy Stripes by Moda Dea, used the best sock book ever, Sensational Knitted Socks, and whipped out these babies. Not the prettiest, but not too shabby for pair #2!!

A disclaimer!! I pulled both socks from different balls, but both came from the middle. I have NO idea why the striping didn't match. Not the best thing in the world, but they look quite bohemian, just like my aunt. Even L was confused with this one. I guess that is what happens when you buy $5 sock yarn at Michael's!! =) I'm happy that I was able to use a semi-pattern and really explore what I can do with socks.

I'm about 25% done a pair for S in his BLUE that he wanted. He's so funny about these socks. I couldn't find a pattern for a 2.5 -3 year old b/c apparently only babies and older kids wear socks. So I went searching for a sock pattern generator. I found this: Elizabeth Bennetts' Perl Sock Program. You just add a few pieces of information and boom, you have a basic pattern. I decrease the stiches by 4 just to make sure it wasn't too big. I'm on the 1st heel flap now and it fits perfectly!!

Gotta go watch Grey's and Ugly Betty. Life before DVR was just not living!!!!

MILs Finished Bag

I finished my MILs Toshiko Tote from Berroco. I finished the handles last night while watching Little Miss Sunshine at KKs house. It was a FUNNY movie. KK and I got the giggles which we couldn't control! This morning while R and S played in the basement, I sat with Kramer, my knitting supervisor (aka. Nosey Cat) and finished sewing the tote bag together.


Overall, I'm very pleased with the results. It knitted up FAST and was a fun project during playgroups and time when S was up and at 'em!


The handles are not even close to being matching. I didn't realize how far off I was. My knitting supervisor should have watch me more closely!!! It's his fault and since he can't defend himself, well then he claims all responsibility. My MIL wants to use this as a gym bag, so I think it'll be just great.


I used 4 skeins each of Patons Classic Wool. I used it for my bag and just love it so much. I added the leftovers on Destash for Cash even though I'm sure I could find other uses!!
FINAL PRODUCT AFTER FELTING

More Yarn porn

Trekking for socks! Yes, I'm addicted!!!
Cascade 220 from L in beautiful purples!!!
One last final look at the stash enhancement from January!!!

I still can't figure this blogger spacing out so I had to add another post with my January purchases!!

My month of stash enhancement . . a little yarn porn

Well, I just got pictures taken of all my newest yarn. I'm addicted to Destash for Cash. It's a wonderful blog that I can't get away from!!! I've purchased so much and still waiting for 2 orders to come in. It's really scary how much I'm on this site.

Needless to say I've gotten 2007 off to a whirlwind of stash enhancement!! Sock yarn, yarn for no project, yarn for projects, etc. Just everything and anything!

So I thought I'd interest you in a little Friday yarn porn! This stuff is all from January purchases and gifts!!

Crazy superwash sock yarn from Country Hill! Some lovely handspun silk/wool mix (Aqua) and another handspun mohair from Fiberwoods Studio here in Milwaukee.

Malabrigo Worsted. Nothing more needs to be said!!!Look at this stuff. Truly heavenly!!

Fable Baby Alpaca in little lilac color! 2 full skeins.

Cascade Pastaza Wool/Llama blend.