Knitting has been on the back burner here at Casa del KatKnits in the fervor of Tour de Fleece. My sock grows slowly, but it is simple “pick up and just knit” knitting that is so simply satisfying.
Over the weekend, I began the epic bind off of TTL Mystery Shawl, but I still have not finished. I am about half way done. It is absolutely glorious outside this morning so before I get my work done, I might sit out under the pergola and work on that a bit. Head’s up fellow MKAL knitters – the bind off is slow going, but I love how the picots look!
I am honing in on my first Bingo – I finished Doc and, while this is not a typical genre for me, I really enjoyed it. I loved the narrator’s voice which seemed so perfect to be relating the story of Doc Holliday. There were times I chuckled at the antics and hearing the fabled story of the west. There were also poignant parts that endeared Doc to me. If you are looking for a “western”, I recommend this highly.
I also started and finished listening to Charlotte’s Web – read by E.B. White (Thanks Bonny for this stellar recommendation!!) I loved this book as much as I did the first time I read it a million years ago. I was able to “become my children” – listening attentively as they did when I read it to them when they were little. I now understand their begging for “just one more chapter,” as I listened to the book in one sitting.
I started listening to The Book Thief (Told by a child narrator) and reading My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry (With a family member in the title). This will give me my first bingo! I am also reading The Inner Circle (Hated by someone you know) on my kindle at night.
Books in the wings:
- My Kitchen Year (With food as the theme)
- To Kill a Mockingbird (Published in the year I was born)
- Knitlandia (With a one-word title)
- On the Pulse of the Morning (Poetry Collection)
I am still working out what to read for those final “practically impossible” squares. I have 3 squares that I am struggling with – ‘Manga’, ‘By or about a member of the LGBTQ community’, and ‘From the Harvard Classics 5 foot shelf’. I will head down to find something from the “top shelf’ of my bookcase, hopefully there is something besides a knitting book there!
As usual, I am joining in Ginny’s Yarn Along, where you will find beautiful knitting and diverse reading going on.
Have a fantastic Wednesday in a week that is filled with those perfect lazy days of summer. How is your knitting and reading coming?
I love your shawl! I’m sure the epic bind off and picots will be well worth it in the end. And I’m so glad you liked Charlotte’s Web. I’m always just a bit fearful of rereading beloved childhood books as an adult, but having this one read to me by E.B. White himself was perfect. I can’t help much with your impossible squares, but a middle school librarian friend highly recommends Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by by Benjamin Alire Sáenz for LGBTQ, and it’s available on Overdrive. Good luck with those troublesome three!
That mystery shawl is looking amazing. I suspect I’ll be buying the pattern one of these days! The colors you picked make me think of chocolate mint — a very pleasant thought.
Knitlandia is a fast, fun read. I reread Mockingbird when my daughter read it in high school. I know I’m the only person who doesn’t love this book, but I don’t love it. Looking forward to your thoughts!
Love your shawl and now I’m really wanting to listen to Charlotte’s Web read by the author! Knitlandia is on my bookshelf – my mom read it and gave it to me and I will make my way to it eventually!
Love your shawl. I did one with a picot bind-off and just loved it. Can’t help with your difficult bingo blocks, but I just finished 2 good books: Pax and Burial Rites. Recommend them both. Your first 3 books in the wings are on my list…can’t believe I never read Mockingbird.
The shawl is going to be lovely – I love those colors together, and would never have thought to do that myself. (But now really want to!)
My knitting has been non-existent. Though I am inspired now, since I finally got the craft room/office/extra room organized more to the way I want it over last weekend. So I’ve got plans!
My reading has been zooming along lately. I have no immediate things in my brain to suggest for your other squares, sorry.
Keep cool!
I’m so far behind in my knitting. I wonder if I am a real knitter!
Your shawl is going to be fabulous. I LOVE Kaoru Mori’s. I’ve read part of her “Emma” series and several volumes of “A Bride’s Story”, which has texture, textiles, and so much more!
For LBGTQ, Fun Home (graphic novel) has gotten good reviews and I’ve heard good things about Alan Cumming’s recent memoir. I can recommend anything by David Levithan (YA) or Brian Selznick (kidlit), George by Alex Gino (kidlit), Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz (YA), and Tim Federle’s Better Nate than Ever (kidlit). Blanche McCrary Boyd’s Revolution of Little Girls was good, as was Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison. Authors Jacqueline Woodson, Colm Toibin, Amy Bloom, Roxane Gay, Patricia Cornwall, Patricia Highsmith, Emma Donoghue, Margaret Wise Brown, and Oliver Sacks would qualify. David Sedaris isn’t really my cup of tea, but lots of people like his stuff.
Try searching your library system’s online catalog for ‘lgbt’ or ‘lgbt fiction -“non fiction” ‘ or ‘lgbt fiction’. Here is what I got on my system’s OPAC:
http://find.more.lib.wi.us/iii/encore/search/C__Slgbt%20fiction__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=cobalt
http://find.more.lib.wi.us/iii/encore/search/C__Slgbt%20fiction%20-%22non%20fiction%22__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=cobalt
Or search for “homosexual fiction” or “lesbian fiction”.
Can’t wait to see your finished shawl! Did you google LGBT fiction for recommendations? That’s what I would do. OR if your library has a subscription to Novelist that is excellent for book recommendations. If they don’t let me know and I will check into it for you.
Your colors are really nice. I’ve got Knitlandia – a wonderful grift from my s-I-law. I think it will head to vacation w me. Planning on kicking reading butt that week. 🙂
Can I suggest Jeanette Winterson as a writer and member of the LGBTQ community? I’ve read “Oranges are not the only fruit” and really enjoyed it.
I have only finished Clue #1 . . . but someday!
Last year, I had the “5-foot bookshelf” square — and ended up reading “She Stoops to Conquer,” a short, satirical play written in colonial times. Worth the read. And quick, to boot.
if the fiction doesn’t have to be about lgbtq but written by lgbtq, fannie flagg novel would fit the bill, in fact fried green tomatoes is excellent, I bet you read that!!
any manga would be good.
Lots of great suggestions for your bingo card! I may re-read Charlotte, too…alwasy a fave. Your shawl is lovely…I’m slowly adding rows to my knitted piece…
The colors and the pattern of that shawl are beautiful.