My First Cardigan Off the Needles. . .

I'm really pleased with how this turned out.  The pattern is quite brilliant. It's called the Modern Garden Cardigan by Finnish designer Veera Valimaki (check out her beautiful blog 100% Rain here), and it was quite an easy pattern to follow once I got the hang of following a chart.  The leaf pattern increases/decreases automatically pull the cardigan in at the waist giving it a nice shape.  I also learned to do short rows for the first time for the back collar.

I found the lovely buttons which are made out of avocado stones at Americo. 

I've now knitted a seamed sweater, this sweater which was knitted seamlessly from the bottom up and so next I want to try a top down sweater.  

Plummer Panache. . .

How lovely for Christopher Plummer winning his first Oscar last night and what an elegant and touching speech.  I was really happy for him.  His memoir, In Spite of Myself, which came out a few years ago remains one of my favourite celebrity autobiographies, because the guy can really write!  This is such an enjoyable, intelligent read for anyone who loves the theatre or film world. It has a wonderful portrayal of Montreal in its cultural heyday, filled with fantastic anecdotes of working with all the theatrical greats, and Plummer's very honest, charming and quite funny observations about just how much fun and naughtiness he's had throughout his career.  You can picture a twinkle in his eye or a mischievous grin on virtually every page. He loves his work and it shows, and now there's this lovely Oscar coda to add.  I was so pleased that he got a standing ovation.

The BBC recently released a DVD of Hamlet at Elsinore which I simply must get my hands on.  It was filmed at Kronborg Castle and Plummer's performance is supposed to be one of THE definitive Hamlets. I've been lucky enough to see him live as Prospero, Lear and John Barrymore,  and I have a wonderful CD of him doing speeches from Henry V accompanied by Walton's score.  His presence is so commanding and I just love that deep and powerful and very sexy voice.

Cowl Noir. . .

This is my Mildred Cowl that I started and finished last Monday when we had the day off.  The pattern is called the Tuesday Night Cowl by Susan Lawrence and the free pattern is available on Ravelry here.   I loved, loved the pattern. Big smooshy cables and the cowl sits very cozy around the neck, not too loose, not too tight and very warm.  It was knit with about one and a half skeins of Cascade Pastaza which is 50% wool and 50% llama.  It's a 24 row repeat with only two of those rows being the cable rows and the rest just stockinette, so it was the perfect DVD watching project.  I finished it as I watched the last episode of HBO's mini-series Mildred Pierce, starring my constant girl crush - Kate Winslet.  It was a bit strange watching noir in colour, even though much of the palette was dark and moodily muted so it definitely suited the story.  It's in many ways a completely over-the-top story but I enjoyed this extended version and the acting, costumes and set design were all terrific.  It also made me want to read Cain's novel.  There is a commentary on two of the five episodes by director Todd Haynes, co-screenwriter Jon Raymond and production designer Mark Friedberg and they are well worth a listen.

I don't think Mildred would ever wear this cowl but she definitely needed some cozy warmth throughout many of her trials and tribulations.

Carey and the Swan. . .

I've recently read a galley of Peter Carey's new novel The Chemistry of Tears, due out in May.  At the core of the story is the reconstruction of a beautiful swan automaton with hundreds of individual pieces made out of silver and glass.  When activated, the swan dips its head and picks up one of the fishes in the water below (created by rotating glass tubes). The novel blends the modern story of the curator involved in the restoration, with the historical story of the man who originally commissioned the project. I was telling a librarian yesterday about how much I had enjoyed reading the book and since librarians are endless founts of knowledge, she immediately piped up and said, "oh yes, that sounds just like the swan at the Bowes Museum".   One google and many youtube videos later, it's clear this must have been the inspiration for Carey - his descriptions match it completely.  But the novel doesn't prepare you for the absolute gorgeousness of this swan, originally created in 1773.  I must make a pilgrimage to see it some day, along with the rest of the museum which focuses on the decorative arts, and has some lovely gardens and fountains. 

Check it out in action here.

A Tale of Two Daughters. . .

Over at the wonderful Dovegreyreader Scribbles blog, there's a write-up of Dottor Of Her Father's Eyes, an  intriguing coming-of-age graphic novel about two daughters - Lucia Joyce, the troubled daughter of James Joyce, and Mary M. Talbot, the author herself, who was the daughter of an abusive Joycean scholar.  You can read dovegreyreader's blog post here and see some of the artwork, created by Mary's husband Bryan.  It doesn't seem to be available yet in Canada, but I'll be on the look-out as I'm always intrigued by narratives about living with writers or the writing life.

Sweet Knitting Dreams. . .

I was in Ottawa for two days last week and stayed at the Hotel Indigo.  It's my usual choice because it's in a good downtown location and because you can request one of these rooms:

Yes, that is a huge blown-up photo of a cabled sweater behind the beds.  When I first stayed here a few years ago, I confess I did worry I'd have nightmares of being smothered by a wool sweater.  But since I've taken up knitting again in a big way, I find it very comforting.  And it's the best of the room designs.  I don't mind the wildflowers but I've been in ones with huge bamboo or cornfield murals and they are a bit creepy.

Finished my Ilkley Shawl this weekend and am very happy with it. It's a gift and it's good to get it out of the way in plenty of time.  Hoping also to finish up a cardigan for me but it's at a tricky spot so I'm proceeding cautiously.

WIP Wednesdays. . .

The endless hexipuffs continue.  I've started sewing them together - not because I'm all done with knitting them (I only have about 50 out of probably 200 that I need), but because if I ever do finish with them, the enormous job of seaming them all at once will probably be the end of me and I'll never get around to it. The pattern calls for just a few stitches at every meeting point, but I find it a bit floppy so I'm actually sewing up each side.  A long way to go, but I am going to try and finish this by the end of 2012.

Happy Valentine's Day. . .

The Guardian has posted a list of the Top 10 Best Love Letters complete with visuals which you can read here.  I like the one from Charlotte Bronte to Professor Heger, all ripped up and reconstructed by Heger's wife.

Here's the cute card my sweetie gave me and while the sentiment is of course lovely, it's the fact that he sought out a knitting-inspired Valentine that most touched my cynical holidays-are-too-commercial heart.  The accompanying chocolates also helped.  I think he may be a keeper.

National Sweater Day. . .

Count me in with this great idea (though this is my basic philosophy throughout the winter), and I don't even need a reminder call from a granny, though this part of the campaign is very funny.  More info at the official site here.  So get cozy and get your favourite one on.  Though I'm very fond of my first ever knitted sweater, I really, really love this one that I bought last fall from Roots. It's called the cabin sweater though I tend to think of it as my sock monkey sweater.  It's very flattering on the body, there are handy pockets and it's very warm.  There are red stripes on the sleeve cuffs and on the back of the collar too.

WIP Wednesdays. . .

This is the beginnings of the Ilkley Shawl designed by Torontonian Laura Chau.  I knit one for my Mum as a Christmas present and she loved it.   And my boyfriend's mother loved it.  So I offered to knit one for her too and asked her what colours she would like.  And she said she wanted the EXACT same one as my Mum.  Okay knitters, hopefully you can see my dilemma.  Apart from not wanting to knit the same thing over again ( not the pattern which I love, but you have to try different colour combinations to keep things fresh don't you?),  I feel uneasy about two mums wearing the exact same shawl which they could very well do next Christmas if we again spend it all together.  So I just can't do it.  I'm using more or less the same colours but I'm varying the width of the stripes and while my Mum's had a charcoal gray background, this one will be red with the gray as one of the contrasting colours.  I'm hoping that once it's actually finished and gifted, she won't mind the changes and will appreciate having her own slightly different shawl.   Fingers crossed!

The Angst-Ridden Executive. . .

It's always a delight discovering a new mystery series and this one is a lot of fun. It's part of Melville House's International Crime Series and though The Angst-Ridden Executive by Manuel Vazquez Montalban, translated by Ed Emery, is the third in the series (there are more titles coming out this year),  there's no problem with jumping right in (although I 'd like to read the fourth one next  - I think it's Southern Seas - to possibly understand the fallout from the ending of this one).  Our private detective is Pepe Carvalho, formally imprisoned under the Franco regime, a man who once worked for the CIA and has now set up his own business.  He loves women, good food (obsessively and gluttonously), talking politics and (strangely) burning the odd book in his fireplace.  To relax he likes to cook, "something slightly painstaking and packed with stimulation and small difficulties", or go to the movies, with a particular taste for classic Hollywood noir. It all seems to help him in his job:

Yet more role models! Which should he choose?  Whom should he copy? Bogart playing Chandler? Alan Ladd doing Hammett? Paul Newman as Harper? Gene Hackman? In the privacy of his car as it crept up the slopes of Tibidabo, Carvalho practiced the mannerisms of each of them. Bogart's dewy-eyed look and the contemptuous curl of the lip.  Alan Ladd, and the way he walked as tall as possible to cover up for how short he was. Then there was Newman, with his self-awareness of being so very good-looking. And Hackman, with the look of a man who's been jilted by his wife, weighs two hundred pounds, and is tired of life. 

The above excerpt gives a small sense of Montalban's writing style which I'd characterize as sophisticated wisecracking. Pepe is cynical, world weary and impatient. He doesn't suffer fools or corruption gladly, but there is a generous heart located somewhere amidst the cholesterol.  I haven't written much about the plot (a wealthy executive is found murdered with a pair of knickers in his pocket and Pepe doesn't buy the official version that he was killed by a pimp), simply because this isn't really a whodunit in the traditional sense. There's no clever plotting and accumulation of clues; this is certainly not a country house cozy.  Suspicion for the murder falls on the group of friends closest to the murdered executive, who have remained in touch but followed widely different paths in the wake of Franco's death, and it is in this vivid and vibrant portrait of a still uncertain Spanish society trying to come to grips with its political past, that the book most intrigued me.  And the food descriptions won't disappoint.   Despite its occasional violence and dated misogyny (the book was originally published in 1977), I did chuckle quite a bit throughout and I'd definitely read another in this series.

February Reading. . .

I've been in the reading doldrums recently.  Partly it's because I've been spending all my spare time on knitting projects.  But as a book rep, at this time of year, I need to dip into the first chapters of a lot of different manuscripts in order to get a feel for the book to help me in my selling appointments, and this type of scattered and unfinished reading always feels rushed and unsatisfying.

But I'm going to turn it all around this month.  Usually I get my reading mojo back by turning to the classics, and listening to the radio this morning, I heard about a terrific idea for an online bookclub.   Check out the City Builder Book Club which over the next few months will be facilitating a group read of Jane Jacobs' The Death and Life of Great American Cities, in order to discuss how cities work.  The reading pace is very reasonable with just two chapters a week.  Sign me up - this book has been on my reading pile for ages and as a proud Torontonian, I'm actually embarrassed that I haven't yet read it, although I have read some of her other books.  No excuse now.

I was lucky enough to have a lovely conversation with Jane Jacobs several years ago.  I picked her up to drive her to an event at the University of Toronto where she was participating in a celebration of the Modern Library.  She'd just written an introduction to Dickens' Hard Times and though the drive was short we had a wonderful chat about the power of literature to change social policy, touching of course on Dickens but also Upton Sinclair (she'd also written an intro to The Jungle).  Oh, she was such a delightful woman.

Then I got to thinking about Dickens.  The literary world is of course celebrating the 200th anniversary of his birth this year with all sorts of read-a-longs, reappraisals, exhibits and just general joy.  I've been meaning to pick up some Dickens myself and as his birthday is February 7th, this is the month to do it. I want to tackle one of the novels I haven't previously read, so I've scanned the shelves and have settled on The Old Curiosity Shop.  Really looking forward to it.

Right, that's February's reading sorted.  Now, if I could only work out how to read and knit at the same time.

Ta Da . . .

A milestone in my admittedly short knitting career,  but I can't help feeling a bit chuffed.  This is my first ever sweater - and it FITS!  Okay, in a perfect world, it would be an inch or so longer on the front and the back, but the fit widthwise and under the arms is great so I'm just going to leave it as is.  The pattern is a Rowan one by Martin Storey called Dusk.   I used one and half skeins of Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool that I got very cheaply in the sale bins at Romni.  The skeins are huge - 425 meters each - and so I knew I wouldn't run out of yarn at a crucial moment.  It's very warm.  And now that I've conquered my fear of mattress stitch (who knew it could be so much fun?) I now have the confidence to try something more challenging.   Oooh, it just feels so good to get this project finished.

New From NYRB. . .

It’s been ages since I gave NYRB Classics a bit of love, but I recently read another one of their amazing gems and so the gushing has to commence again.  


The book this time is The Letter Killers Club by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky, translated by Joanne Turnball.  I’d previously read his surrealist collection of short stories, Memories of the Future, so I knew to expect something wild and different.   Like that collection, The Letter Killers’ Club is similarly filled with great storytelling but it’s got an added narrative and thematic structure that creates a really original and thought-provoking read.  Our narrator gets pulled into a mysterious club that meets every Saturday in a room filled with empty bookshelves.  The members each take turns relating their own fictional tales, but from the top of their head, with no notes to refer to.   These stories cannot and never will be written down because the club is devoted to the idea of clearing the mind from the overwhelming and artistically suffocating existence of the world's printed pages, in order to focus on the simplicity and purity of literary "conceptions." The stories that follow are marvellous and diverse, ranging from a sci-fi tale about a bacteria experiment, designed to control the movements of limbs, that turns into a nightmarish world of mind-controlled drones and their dictators, to a comic tale about three men trying to decided definitively what mouths were specifically created for - whether to kiss, eat, or to spout words.  My favourite is the first tale, read aloud as a play about Guilden and Stern both competing for the role of Hamlet, which involves a visit to a shadowy, muttering cavern filled with former "roles", including Richard Burbage who takes the opportunity to escape. It's very clever and amusing.


Weaved in among the stories however, is our narrator's growing unease as he observes the different members, in particular a mysterious man named Rar who will eventually reveal just why the narrator has been invited to this exclusive club.  There's a very sophisticated and intriguing debate running through this novel about the danger and yet universal necessity of the printed word - which of course our narrator can't help setting down in the very book we are reading.  Fans of Calvino, Borges and even Beckett would enjoy this, along with readers of Orwell, Wells and Huxley.  It nestles very nicely, if a bit rebelliously, on the shelf of books about books and bibliophiles.

I have a few other recently published NYRB classics on the to-be-read-soon pile, all by writers I’ve previously read and admired, so I know I’m in for a treat.  Albert Cossery has a really unique literary style, combining political satire with a sense of absurdity cushioned by  humanity.  The Jokers was a fantastic read and I’m sure Proud Beggars will also deliver – plus I’m intrigued to read political fiction set in Cairo in the wake of Egypt’s ongoing protests.  I also have copies of Gregor von Rezzori’s An Ermine in Czernopol (his Memoirs of an Anti-Semite was such an unusual and powerful book), and Robert Walser’s Berlin Stories.  I’ve read his novel Assistant, plus in lieu of getting someday to Berlin myself (it's on the bucket list!)  I enjoy reading about the city, particularly in the early 20^th century, an interest fueled after devouring Doblin’s Berlin Alexanderplatz and then watching all of Fassbinder’s movie in a marathon three days (we won’t rant about the epilogue today).   

Coming out in March will be Amsterdam Stories by a new writer to me, who goes under the pseudonym Nescio.  His short stories have been compared to F. Scott Fitzgerald and I have visited Amsterdam, so I’m very much looking forward to the collection.  And then in April, NYRB is continuing to bring out the work of Stefan Zweig and will be publishing Confusion, about a civil servant’s love of reading and scholarship.  I’ve read and enjoyed a number of Zweig’s books, and I’m also thinking it might be a very good companion piece to one of my favourite NYRB titles of all time – John Williams’ heartbreaking Stoner. 

Over on their tumblr page, NYRB has posted a fall preview here and here for a fix of even more forthcoming goodies.

On Trend. . .

So Tangerine Tango was chosen as THE colour of 2012 and it's lovely and vibrant and energizing and I'd love to knit a sweater in this colour.  But for now, a simple cowl will have to do.  I found a skein of Italian Feltro Lana Grossa in the sale area at Romni for only $5.00 and knit this up very quickly.  Since I tend to wear a lot of gray (I'm trying to change this), I figure this will cheer things up for the remainder of the winter.  

WIP Wednesdays. . .

I got two quite large skeins of New Zealand mohair for xmas and have been wondering what to do with them.  There wasn't quite enough for a sweater and I'm not sure I want that much fluffiness/fuzziness in a knitted garment.  I decided it would be lovely for a really big shawl especially if I stripe it with other wool. Off to swatch.

I'm going with the one on the left  - it's a ruching/ribbon stitch from Barbara G. Walker's stitch dictionary, A Treasury of Knitting Patterns Volume One (which is so drool worthy - I'm going to have to acquire all of her volumes).

This is going to be a BIG shawl - there are 600 stitches in the ribbon part - but I think it's going to be lovely and warm.  It's also using up a fair bit of my stash.  And, I have a colour scheme and an idea that, if it all works (and that's a big IF), will have an inspirational tie to Virginia Woolf.  We'll see.  At the moment, it's a big, furry snake.

Work In Progress Wednesdays. . .

Lots of knitting bloggers are starting WIP Wednesdays, so to keep me on track with all of my many, many projects, I'm determined to post some progress every week.  I'm half-way through the second sleeve of my first ever sweater.  Front and back have been blocked and I hope to have the sleeves blocked and dry by the weekend so I can then attempt to seam this baby up.  Then I'm supposed to pick up a number of stitches at the top edge to knit a ribbed collar.  I'm debating whether to do it in a contrasting colour just for fun.  But first I need to seam and see if it fits.

I had an appointment in Kitchener earlier this week and took the opportunity to stop by Shall We Knit? for the very first time.  What a beautiful yarn shop. It's located in a lovely house and has a wonderful selection of yarns, notions and lots of knitting books and patterns.  My mum has just bought herself a new winter coat in a deep shade of purple (really quite a daring colour for her - I'm quite proud) and when I saw this skein of hand painted Misti Alpaca Super Chunky named The Magic Flute, I just knew it would be perfect for a small, but cozy cowl to match the coat.  I'm casting on for that tonight.

Cozy Against the Cold. . .

It's turned bitterly cold this weekend and I was determined to hibernate at home and just knit, read and cook comfort food.  Until I realized I'd run out of butter (an essential ingredient for ALL comfort food) and had to venture out to the store.  Since I'd bundled up anyways, I took the opportunity to take a photo in the natural light of my new, cozy cowl that I finished Saturday morning.

This was made from two skeins of Rowan Colourscape Chunky, designed by Kaffe Fassett and I just LOVE the colours which remind me of all the shades of pink and purple that one finds in winter sunsets. The repeats are quite long, so I tried all sorts of different stitch patterns and scarf ideas before settling on a big cowl that is stretchy enough to wrap around my neck twice.  It just makes me very happy to look at the colours, although I realize now that I need a matching hat for the-head-that-seems-to-defy-all-pattern-sizes.  Stay tuned.

I'm very pleased with my knitting progress so far this year.  My first sweater is coming along. I've knitted the front and back and blocked them, and have started the first sleeve.  I'm a bit worried it's too small for me, in which case it'll be a gift for my Mum, but we'll see.  I also finished a pair of Fetching mitts from the Knitty pattern located here, which is a gift for my friend K's birthday.

And as for that comfort food:  It was Mac n' Cheese in the slow cooker.  Yes, the slow cooker.  You may not get all the breadcrumb crunchy bits from the traditional oven method, but this is the creamiest mac n' cheese I've ever tasted.  And there was plenty to freeze away for future lunches.  The recipe is from the Canadian Living: Slow Cooker Collection by Elizabeth Baird.

And I found a great new podcast to listen to while getting on with my projects.  A Playful Day is by a woman who lives in London, England, and is a relatively new but good and enthusiastic knitter, who also loves great food and likes to talk about both.  I listened to a number of her back episodes and really enjoyed them.

I'll top off this weekend with dinner at my Mum's and then we'll watch the next episode of Downton Abbey.  How many more weekends till spring?

Wanna Bet They Change The Title?

Well, here's something to look forward to.  Kenneth Branagh is directing a film version of the delightful novel The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society with Kate Winslet starring.  Could be fun.  Hope they leave the literary bits in.  Story here.

It Had To Come Eventually. . .

We've had our first blast of winter snow and the morning commute was extremely slow.  These are the days when I'm glad to take the bus and have someone else do the driving.  I had my knitting with me (and I'm working on something really colourful - it's just a joy to look at) and my iPOD and there was no more appropiate music to listen to than Kate Bush's latest album, 50 Words For Snow.  I particularly like the title track which, not surprisingly, is more or less a list of 50 different words for the white stuff, set to music. But while Kate does the counting, Stephen Fry actually says the words in all his lovely British pluminess.  My word for snow (not part of the list) is simply: Yuck.

Crowing for the Rooster!. . .

Hooray, it's back!  I'm talking about the Tournament of Books in which a list of sixteen novels from 2011 go head to head in several rounds until a winner is chosen and awarded the prestigious Rooster. What makes this exercise so much fun is the commentary by the judges on why they selected one book over another, which is then taken apart and analyzed by the "booth announcers" Kevin Guilfoile and John Warner.  There's also a Zombie round where a book that's been booted out is resurrected based on readers' votes. It's all very entertaining.  And they have a terrific shortlist this year which includes five books I've read in full or partially (I'll admit I'm stalled in the middle of Murakami's 1Q84),  and several more that are definitely on my radar.  The shortlist and judges were announced today; the tussle starts in March.  All info is located here and you can vote for your favourite as well.

Keep Calm and Cast On. . .

"Knitting is the saving of life."
                 - Virginia Woolf

I found the above quote in Keep Calm and Cast On: Good Advice for Knitters, a cute little book that I picked up in Waterstones on my holiday.  It's compiled by acclaimed knit designer Erika Knight and is filled with lots of quotes from other designers and knit enthusiasts, bits of research on the health and stress reduction benefits of knitting and lots of useful tips, such as putting fluffy wool such as mohair into the fridge before knitting to make it easier to work with.  Who knew?

I'm intrigued to do some research on Woolf and her knitting.  These are the days (and there aren't many of them) when I miss being a grad student with library access to all sorts of online research databases.

Wrapping Up the Old and Anticipating the New. . .

I didn't finish as many books last year as I normally do.  I can't knit and read at the same time, and I was definitely more obsessed by the former. Still, looking through my reading journal last night, I was pleasantly reminded of many great reads from 2011.  So here, in alphabetical order are the ten books that gave me the most reading pleasure last year:

After Midnight  by Irmgard Keun, translated by Anthea Bell.  This is a little masterpiece of a novel, set during a few days in 1930s Germany where a young girl contemplates both the effects of growing Nazism and growing up in equal measure, while attending a party. As moving as Mrs. Dalloway.

The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje. As always, Ondaatje can paint such vivid and magical scenes. I was completely captivated by the unexpected people on board this journey.

Fair Play by Tove Jansson, translated by Thomas Teal.  I'm already a big fan of Jansson, so I knew I would love this tiny but so astute portrait of two women friends and artists, over the course of their long-term relationship. How she can convey in such a slim volume all the complexity of female emotions mystifies me, but it is such a beautiful experience to absorb myself in her prose, especially when she's describing the Nordic landscape.

Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of Everest by Wade Davis.  This was the book that occupied most of my reading life in 2011 as each chapter is so rich with historical details and amazing stories that I had to take many breaks. I am in complete awe at his research and dedication.

The London Train by Tessa Hadley.  I loved this beautifully written novel which gets into the heads of two very different characters, on separate journeys,  linked by a chance meeting on a train. The clever construction of this novel is one of its most pleasurable aspects.

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes.  Definitely deserved the Booker.  A lovely little gem of a novel I will love to keep on rereading.

The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst.  A very interesting exploration of memory, literary legacy and the art of writing biography, told over several decades of the twentieth century.

There But For The by Ali Smith.  Wonderfully inventive, funny and full of playful language and narrative. This novel about a man named Miles who goes to a dinner party and locks himself up in a bedroom, refusing to come down again - for weeks - is told in four voices, neither of them by Miles, of people who barely know him and yet Smith makes it all work.  And it made me want to go and explore Greenwich.

A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan.  This wasn't published in 2011, but I only got around to reading it last May. I was really impressed by the originality of the storytelling and how engrossed I was with the characters.  And while I thought I would be rolling my eyeballs at the chapter told in powerpoint, it totally worked for that character's voice.

Vital Signs by Tessa McWatt.  This was the most overlooked Canadian novel last year and it's a shame because it was such an interesting portrait of a long-term marriage undergoing a crisis, told from the husband's harsh but honest viewpoint. I love a character that is flawed and unsympathethic and there were some interesting twists. And it has my favourite ending of all the books I read this year.


As always, there were tons of books that I didn't get around to reading and are at the top of the pile now.  These are the 5 books from last year I really, really want to read:

The Blue Book by A.L. Kennedy
Half of the Human Race by Anthony Quinn
Lightning Rods by Helen DeWitt
Midsummer Night in the Workhouse by Diana Athill
Open City by Teju Cole

And if you want to whet your appetite for what's coming in 2012, The Millions has this excellent overview.  I'm really looking forward to William Boyd's new one, Waiting For Sunrise, which takes place during WWI, and The Last Nude by Ellis Avery, a fictional account of the love affair between painter Tamara de Lempicka and her muse, set in 1927 Paris.

And I'm Off. . .

I've done it!  I've cast on for my first ever sweater.  And I'm using my new square circular needles, which so far, I really love knitting with. They are supposed to be much easier on the hands. Long way (and many tears I'm sure) to go yet,  but it feels so good to have started.

Happy New Year. . .

I've spent the holidays in the U.K. where the weather was mild (I actually saw some crazy daffodils out!), the food was plentiful (no one does roast potatoes and puddings like the Brits), the walks were great (the above photo was taken on New Year's Eve in North Wales), and the telly kept me pretty well occupied with tons of celebrity chef Christmas specials - Jamie, Nigella, Delia, Nigel Slater - I watched them all.  As well as the entire series of Jamie's Great Britain (I got his cookbook for xmas) which was terrific. All of which has inspired me to do far more cooking this year, buy more organic and local, and to try lots more new recipes.

My knitted gifts seemed to go down well (cable scarf for boyfriend, wool shawl for Mum) and I got such lovely knitting gifts in return - a set of needles, a beautiful Rowan pattern book and of course wool!  My entire carry on case was filled to the brim with all the skeins I brought back; I'm completely inspired to start on all sorts of lovely projects and yes, 2012 will be the year that I finally tackle a sweater and get over my sleeve and seaming fear.  To this effect, I found this fun widget that tracks how many meters you knit in one year which I've added on the right hand side.  You can get one for your blog here.

I have many knitting resolutions in addition to the sweater.  I want to try Fair Isle and double knitting.  And I really, really want to finish up my log cabin blanket, now that I think I've cracked how to sew it together and add a border.

So here's to 2012 - a year I hope will be full of inspiration and good intentions, adventure and serendipity, health and happiness, and lots of great reading, knitting, film-going, cooking, eating, learning and walking.   And I may even get out to my spin class one of these days!