Summer Book Recommendations ~ Part 1

The summer is coming. People, hopefully, have free time. More free time than normal, anyways, those who were in school. Unless you’re doing summer school, then you’re probably not as free as you’d like. Anyways, I digress.

The summer is coming, it’s pretty much here. I’ve completed *both* graduations. I’m officially a college student now (got my student ID, whaaaaat) I’ll be at our local community college this fall, and then after that I’ll make the big decision of which major university I’ll go to. Once again, I’m digressing.

THE SUMMER IS COMING. And you know what this means? Besides more knitting time, heh heh. More reading time!

I know I’ll have lofty goals of reading at the beginning, and it’ll actually come down to me reading probably only 5 out of the like 20 book list that I come up with. But hey, it’s 5 more than I was able to manage during the school year.

I’m really… not going very far with this post, it’s kind of just… rambling, haha. But that’s this blog is, right? The Ramblings of a Knitting Goddess, haha.

Long story short, I’m going to give you some book recommendations. Just one, right now, in this one post. But there’ll probably be more coming.

I will be re-reading, for probably the 15+ time, the Emily of New Moon series by L.M. Montgomery.

I know I’ve expressed my love and adoration for this particular series and this author many many times. But it’s just one of those things that has to be done every so often… because I love these books and this author so stinking much.

Why do I like these books? Why do I like L.M. Montgomery in general?

Her writing is so personable. It’s real. It’s full of amazing descriptive-ness of everything and anything. But not in a flowery, over-the-top way. Her characters, in all her books, aren’t perfect. Which bugs me, when authors start off with their characters, who obviously aren’t perfect, then slowly they become more perfect, till it’s kind of silly and it’s like “wat”.

I don’t really find that in L.M. Montgomery’s writings. They have their problems, and they still have their problems at the ends of the books. Obviously, some problems are fixed, but they go through hardships and trials. They’re very believable. And I like that. These characters have dreams, passions, goals, and strive to reach those goals.

“When I read that the flash came, and I took a sheet of paper. . .and I wrote on it: I, Emily Byrd Starr, do solemnly vow this day that I will climb the Alpine Path and write my name on the scroll of fame.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Emily of New Moon

Another thing is that the romance that she writes is just perfect. Like, oh my goodness, I love it. Sure, I like that kind of stuff. I’m not afraid to say that I am :-P

The books are some of the most quotable books as well. There are so many good lines and paragraphs, it’s almost ridiculous. In a really really good way, of course :-P

These are also the kinds of stories that once you start them, you have the hardest time putting them down. They pull you in, and you’re then part of the story. You live and breathe the characters and their adventures.

Plus, another reason why I love these books is that they remind me of when I was younger. I remember what I was going through when I read different parts. I remember learning lessons from the stories, and then rediscovering what I learned. Then discovering brand new things I didn’t see before.

These books, especially the Emily of New Moon series, are full of treasures for everyone of any age.

*end rambling-rant-whatever-you-wanna-call-this*

I know I didn’t really like say what the Emily of New Moon series is about, but I’ll just say that they’ll make you laugh. They’ll make you cry. They’ll make you cling on to the nearest cat due to scary situations. You will love these books.

Don’t know what to read this summer? Read these books, you definitely won’t regret it. :-)

Currently, Me

I did this kind of post back in February, and thought it’d be cool to do it again :-P Maybe it should be like a monthly, every-other-month type thing.

Obsessing over…

Loop Batts, if I had the money, I’d buy every single one of them. EVERY SINGLE ONE. Also, Lollipop sock yarns.. I’ve heard so much about this yarn, but never was online during the shop updates. But I saw one was happening a week ago, or something, and quickly scootered over there and got me and my mom each a ball. I’m saving mine for traveling knitting *and* I’m planning on trying my first Afterthought Heel by Laura Linneman (ravelry link :-P) from The Knit Girllls (one of my favoriteest podcasts)

Working on…

Well, at the moment, the projects that are front and center are..

The Wispy Cardigan (my KAL with Hannah ^_^)

The Featherweight Cardigan (just an inch and half left on the collar)

Various little iCord headbands

The Mysterious Unnamed Sweater (a.k.a. the one I’m designing :-P)

and tons of other stuff ^_^

Spinning wise, I’m working on finishing my Mom’s birthday batt, which is happy happy happy ^_^

Thinking about…

Graduation! Major major graduation, the first one is only a week away! And the second one is 2 weeks away. It’s getting closer every day! Lots of stuff needs to be done. I’m also thinking about all my amazing friends and family who are helping me stay sane and happy while we all work together. They’re seriously the best <3

Anticipating…

Haha, more graduation stuff. Starting junior college in the fall, with a busy schedule. Knitting in class ^_^. Ballet recital. Piano recital. Getting to go back to the town I grew up in and graduate with pretty much everyone I grew up with. Working this summer. Getting my driver’s license. Lots of stuff, haha.

I’m also looking forward to the happiness of Tour de Fleece and the Ravelympics! It’s going to be epic!!

Listening to/bands I’m addicted to…

Allie Moss! Paper Aeroplanes! Jenny and Tyler! JJ Heller! Mumford and Sons! The list is endless ^_^

Eating…

I’m craving some chocolate chip cookies.. but alas, they are not to be had. I think I must fix this problem :-P

Wishing…

That it would rain, haha. More time for various things like knitting, spinning, reading, and focusing on the blog. That I could take another trip over to London, Dublin, and Edinburgh.. it’s almost been a year, and I miss it :-P Missing friends and wishing they didn’t live so far away.

What have I been up to?

I do apologize for my absence over the past couple of days, haha. I’ve been swamped with school stuff and getting everything ready for graduation (WHICH IS SO EXCITING) So, there will probably be spans of no posts for a couple of days in the future. Stuff has got to be done!

So what have I been doing? Actually, not a whole lot of knitting… *gasp* I have been knitting stuff, but nothing that’s like really… speaking to me, haha. Or anything that has had a ton of progress on, heh heh :-P

I did pick up that Granny Square blanket yesterday..

So that’s awesomeness! I’m still far far away from finishing it, but it is fun… good way to work on my crocheting skills :-P

I’ve been studying for various tests and working on various last papers… which Bertie has been helping me with, haha

He sits with me, so when I feel the need I can lay my head on him, haha. And he gives me a little chirp, then I get back to work.

To releve some of the stress of studying, during my breaks between subjects I’ve been treating myself to some P.G. Wodehouse. Which always puts me in a better mood, and I feel ready to conquer whatever I have left. Plus, I got that particular book in London… and my bookmark is a receipt from something in Paris. *happy Europe memories* That was almost a year ago in a couple of months..

And, more fiber oriented, I’ve been spinning! Hallelujah, I finished my first Loop batt! OH MY GOODNESS, IT’S SO AMAZING.

This was my first shipment of the Loop Bullseye Bump Club that I got my birthday. The colorway thing was called “Nature Chic” and it was 5.0ish oz. Which spun into an absolutely gorgeous 454yds of probably a DK Navajo ply.

Which, I’m pretty proud of myself… 454 yds is the most I’ve gotten to date. Of something that’s pretty nicely balanced, if I do say so myself :-P

Also, on Sunday, Joey, extremely nicely, took some senior pictures. Some of which included various knitted FOs and this skein of yarn…

It’s pretty happy happy. Plus, it’s got some sparkle (which makes me think of “sprinkle” but that’s something *totally* different ^_^) so that’s just awesomeness right there.

Bertie is also pretty happy for me too, haha. He, obviously, loves the sparkle, haha. Or maybe he just loves napping. Haha :-P

Let the KAL (almost) begin! ^_^

Tonight! Or sometime this afternoon… the KAL will start!! *so so happy!!*

So, obviously, Hannah and I are doing the Wispy Cardi by Hannah Fettig of the Knitbot. I’m using Finch from Quince and Co. in the Peacock colorway. And Hannah is using Misty Alpaca Silk, in a light purple. Eeeeeee ^_^

And I can’t waaaaait to get started ^_^ it looks like some really fun and interesting construction, so that’ll be exciting :-P

KALs make me happy ^_^ even more so when I get to do them with an awesome awesome friend. And the yarn is awesome. *and* the pattern is awesome. Everything is awesome! How could I go wrong, haha.

Also…

*hair is flipping every whichway* Wat, haha.

This picture just makes me laugh. Why, I don’t know. It was a tester picture to see if I had the settings right on my camera.. Yeah. That’s all. Hahahaha :-P

FO!!(!!!!!!): That Weird Blue Thing!

GUESS WHAT??!??

Well, hopefully the pictures are obvious, but I finally finished that weird blue thing that I’ve been (*cough* complaining *cough*) about for awhile now, haha :-P

But it is done now! Hallelujah! You can read my first post when I started this project, if you check this post out :-P It’s from the the 2nd chic Sublime bamboo & pearls dk book by Sublime…#647. Which, if you so desire to make this for yourself, you can get the book over here

This project is not for the faint of heart, some of the instruction was a big vague, which resulted in me having to rip out stuff a couple times, but nothing too huge. You just have to keep your eye out and always be on your toes :-P

I feel rather proud of myself for finishing this, haha. Because I really didn’t like putting it together, knitting it wasn’t the most pleasant experience. But I wanted to get it done. So done, it got. (yaaaayyy for incorrectly formed sentences ^_^)

Another UFO finished, stash yarn was completely used up (I literally had like 20 yards left over. ^_^) Yep, I’m pretty happy ^_^

My First Loop Batt ^_^

I started my Loop batt that was my first shipment of the Loop Bullseye Bump Club which I got for mah birthday

DO YOU SEE THE SPARKLE?!???

Yep yep, the sparkle kinda really really makes me happy. Every time it goes through my fingers, a little part of me goes “OOO, BLING! OOOOO”… silently, of course. cause that’d be weird if I said that out loud. *cough cough* I’d so never do that, right? Never. Ehhh heh ^_^ (though there was that *one* time… heehee)

Plus, it’s prepared soooo extremely nicely, I don’t have to do anything to it, just pull out the center, and I’m ready to go! And it’s soft. And it’s beautiful. And the colors are like amazing. AND IT’S GOT SPARKLE IN IT. Whoops, there I go again, sorry ^_^

Though I’m definitely not the first person to be like “holy cow, I adore Loop batts!!!”, I’ll still say it anyway. Because its just something that has to be said ^_^

FO!!: Sonoran Cowl

Yaaayyyy! Finished Object post!! So happyyyy!

I actually finished this probably 2 weeks ago, but finally got around to getting pictures of the FO, heh heh :-P

Pattern: Sonoran Cowl by Jill Zielinski of Knitterella
Yarn: Sublime’s Cashmere Merino Silk Aran in colors 0003 (white) and 0168 (blue)
Needles: US8 (5mm)

And even though it was 85 degrees when these pictures were taken, it was still amazing to wear this cowl. Cause the yarn is soooo soft, and the pattern is just too gorgeous.

So much sunnnnn ^_^

annnd yeah :-P

Yep, yep. I adore this cowl. SO MUCH.

“Riiiight! The big blue wet thing!”

Steadily working on this strange blue thing. Which that’ll probably be its new name, haha :-P The Strange Blue thing. Which then reminds me of Fozzy Bear’s line in the Muppet’s Treasure Island “Riiiight! The big blue wet thing!” but obviously… this sweater/shrug thing… isn’t wet, haha :-P

I’m hurrying to get it done, for secret reasons, which you’ll find out soon. They’re happy happy reasons ^_^

Almost doneeee! ALMOST DONE!!!

I like it when I learn stuff

Ze sleeves are done! Sleeve… thing. And back. And.. something else. That I’m not sure of, haha. All in that one piece. Yeah, I’m not sure :-P

So I gots this one last piece to make, then I’ll start putting it together. Which should be fun… and interesting :-P

As much as I’m complaining about I have no clue what’s going on, I am really enjoying knitting this. The yarn I’m using is really awesome, it’s not at all heavy for a cotton (which is amazinggg) it’s got nice drape, which is really important for this type of sweater.

And its definitely a mind bender, kind of a “Just follow the pattern, and it’ll be fine. You don’t know everything” type deal :-P And I enjoy that. I’ve noticed that the past couple of projects I’ve started/finished, though they do have more complicated attributes, they’re also somewhat simple, in a way.

So this… it’s a good “LETS LEARN SOMETHING” project :-P Definitely a good thing :-P

I love learning stuff. Especially when it comes to knitting ;-P

My life is a knitting adventure

does this look like it’s making any sense yet? Yeah, I didn’t think so either. I mean, I can see where the sleeves are and what it’s going to be is… I think. But how it’s going to be put together, I’m completely clueless. Oh well. It’s an adventure. I like adventures ^_^

Speaking of adventures, here’s my design thing I’m working on…

That be it ^_^ And that’s all I’m going to say/show you. Because… it’s still in the surprise mode, haha. But writing a pattern is a huge huge adventure. I am enjoying it, but it’s very tricky at times :-P SO WORTH IT!!

Bertie likes drinking out of the sink.

I do not know why, haha. He just does :-P

and I loves him anyways ^_^