Sunday, 11 February 2018

Yarn Along: Goldilock’s syndrome

I seem to be struggling to choose books at the minute. January was great of the reading front - I read three books* and enjoyed them all - but this month isn’t going so well on the book front. I started Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly but it was rather too taxing for my often tired brain (the continued lack of light associated with winter makes me sleepy), so it got put to one side. For something easier I started The Note by Zoe Folbigg, which I had heard about before it was launched at the end of last year and pounced on when it was available in Kindle format for 99p. The premise is simple, and a little preposterous: a girl falls in love with someone on her commute, but is too shy to talk to him, so one day slips him a note telling him how she feels; I’m finding a lot of the characters rather silly - a children’s entertainer who is afraid of stickers - or just rather vacuous. And the parts that go into the man on the train’s relationship with his girlfriend make her sound like the worst person on earth. I will finish it, but it’s not quite the read I was hoping for. 


Both books are on my Kindle, so when I wanted to read in the bath last week, I had to start something new, and picked up Nutshell by Ian McEwan. I love the idea of this book; it’s written from the perspective of a baby in the womb, who is privy to a plot being created by the adults around her. The heavy literary style isn’t quite what I’m looking for at the minute though, so it’s going slowly (yes, I do keep falling asleep while reading it).

There are a couple of books I am really excited about at the minute though: I’m reading The Magic Misfits by Neil Patrick Harris with my son and we are both enjoying it. The book is about an orphan who is looked after by a crime-fighting group of magicians. There are codes to crack and magic tricks to learn within the book, and the writing style is great for reading aloud. I am tempted to read ahead, but am trying my hardest not to so I don’t accidentally spoil any of the surprises! I got Artemis by Andy Weir for Christmas in hardback and it’s firmly at the top of my to-read pile. I really enjoyed The Martian, and suspect this one will be similar (but moon-based rather than set off Mars), but am really excited to get started. I probably ought to finish something first though.

Things are looking much more positive on the knitting front. Yesterday I finished the baby hoodie I’ve been working on for the past few weeks. I know I said I would have it finished at least a fortnight ago, but other things got in the way! Now to decide what the next (baby) project should be... in the meantime I’m back to my Mind the Gap socks. I did the heel last night, but when I compared the two socks I realised I’d done last night’s slightly differently, so I’ll have to do that again this morning. Oops.




Work knitting is also going swimmingly. For a bit of variety, I have been doing a lot of crochet this month, which has been an exciting change. I’ve always enjoyed crochet, but don’t find it as versatile as knitting. I have finally managed to design something that will work well as crochet and cannot wait to unveil it to the world! It definitely won’t be my last crochet design - the next one is already brewing in my head. 

It’s half term this week, and I’m really looking forward to spending some more time with my kids; we’re especially excited about Shrove Tuesday this week: making pancakes is much easier when you don’t have to fit it round the school run!

What have you been reading and crafting on this week?

Linking up with Ginny for Yarn Along.


*Cheer Up Love: Adventures in Depression with the Crab of Hate by Susan Calman; A Very Distant Shore by Jenny Colgan; How to be Champion by Sarah Millican

1 comment:

  1. The sweater looks incredibly soft and plush--I almost thought it was a fleece, not a hand knit! The socks are super fun too!

    Happy pancake eating! It is maslenitsa for us this week, so we're eating up all the dairy and eggs in the house!

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