Unravelled Wednesday and WAYRN - 2 review books and a sock

Last week I mentioned that I started a review copy of Indomitable by Claudia Brooke and then set it aside. Since it was a review copy, I thought I should give it the respect of trying to read it, so I picked it back up. I was happy to read some urban fantasy about a dog that was bitten by a vampire. Sounds fun, right? Well, it wasn't. I hated the main female character Gracie. When a second first person voice appeared I thought the book might be salvageable. Then a third first person voice showed up. I guess Claudia Brooke doesn't know that books can be written in the third person? Anyway, I know we are not meant to quote directly from review copies, but let me give you a little sample of Gracie's thoughts after her boyfriend gets called in to work when she is at his apartment:

"He had picked me up, so if I wanted to go home, I'd have to call a relative. Scratch that. A relative ride would come with questions and lectures. Uber would be a better choice. But I was perfectly content in [his] apartment."

Then why did we have to listen to you debating your means home?

When the vampire, who is 6 foot three, don't you know, meets her he describes her as "a tiny thing". and keeps on crapping on about her tinyness. Oh good, tall men and short women again. But what really made me close the book was that the vampire dog shows up and starts talking in an "atrocious" accent. Maybe this whole thing was meant to be cute, but I found it juvenile, poorly written and not for me.Great cover though.

Then I picked up another review book, hoping that it's not just me being too grumpy to read. Luckily it wasn't! Three Muses by Martha Ann Toll is a (mainly) post holocaust book following two main characters (written in the third person, praise be). John survived the camps and Katya is an american ballet dancer and I love both of them. I read more than a third of it in one day, because it is compelling and interesting, and doesn't play the obvious pity cards. It too has a lovely cover.

The knitting has been going smoothly - I'm working on the knee high socks I started in Bendigo. I've just finished the first sock and am loving it - the colours, the fit, the pleasure of a clever pattern.

And that's my week in knitting and reading. To read my all my book reviews, and to see everything I knit, you can find me on Ravelry as Sharondoubleknit and on GoodReads as Sharondblk.

I'm joining in with Kat from As Kat Knits for Unravelled Wednesday and Kat from the Bookdate for It's Monday, What Are You Reading. Thanks Kat and Kat for hosting these linkups.

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Geogradiant MKAL Part 1 - that was unexpected (spoilers)

Stephen West released the first MKAL clue on Thursday night. I started knitting it without looking at spoilers. When I got up on Friday he had sent through an "alternative" clue one. I then went and had a look at the spoiler thread to try to work out what was going on. Which was that some people thought the pattern looked like a "German hate symbol". I knit on anyway, since I was half-way through. Then he took down the original clue, replacing it with a mitred square in garter stitch. The Ravelry forums and Instagram are a complete shit-show, even though Rav is being moderated. It's been a bit disheartening, having something that is usually quite light and fun weighed down with all this. I admire Stephen's quick and sensitive response to this drama. I also feel that anything can look like anything if you squint. To me this looks like a Celtic knot. I think mine is pretty, and I'll knit on through all crises.

Linky Wednesday - the one with the drama

The drama about the Stephen West MKAL continues, and I can't be bothered with it. It's meant to be a fun, interesting, communal knit and and that's not what this year has turned in to. Stephen has done his best in a difficult situation, but I'm just not feeling it. Meanwhile, Israel is at war, and we (as a country) are going to vote "no" on a referendum that asks for basic consideration for Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders. So yeah, lots of turmoil here. It's very tiring. I'm knitting a sock and considering what happens next. Luckily the reading was dramatic in a good way. I'm reading a NetGalley review copy of Last Summer at the Lake House and it's great. Super dramatic family drama about three sisters who loose their father unexpectedly and then find out that the family has secrets. I 've nearly finished it and I don't know what I'm going to read next. I've got a bit of a break between review books, so maybe Sta

Mussleburgh musings

I made a Mussleburgh hat earlier in the year, and even though I thought I was following the directions exactly it did not come out quite right. It was a little bit loose. My head is 51 cm, my gauge was 7 stitches, so according to the pattern I knit the right size. It's also a little bit shorter than I would like it. Too long for a beanie, too short for a good turn-up. I couldn't work out why. I still wore it, but it was not quite right. When I decided to knit one for Elise I knew I wanted to make it longer, and tighter. After I finished Elise's (with 24 fewer stitches) I realised something about mine: Now, this is a knit tube. I know how to knit tubes. When I make sleeves or socks, they don't balloon out in the middle. So I decided to reblock it. The instructions actually specifically say to fold it inside each other after blocking, but I probably folded it and dried it on my head, because that's how I block my hats. Not this time: Now it's longer and thinner

What I made, by Sharon

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