The Bog of Lost Scholars

29 June 2009

Craft Update: Startitis and Bag

Filed under: Crafts — Castiron @ 22:08

The dread disease of startitis has caught up with me again. I continue to justify it with the reasoning that if I have the yarn, it’s already taking up space in my brain, so I might as well start. Sadly, this reasoning does not lead to rapid finishing.

I’m not formally participating in the WiP Wrestling Mania on Ravelry in July, but I may try to focus on a couple long-lingering projects, like the Ivy socks and the Aran sweater.

Started:

  • Socks from Regia Ringel Color in Clown. I’ve finished the toes.
  • Medallion Travel Bag, a huge fairisle felted bag. I’m almost halfway through the bottom.
  • “Shall We Dance?” doily, using inherited #30 crochet cotton. (I justify this project because it needs a Ravelry entry, and I want it to have a photo.)
  • Annemor #8 Gloves. First glove is halfway to the thumb.
  • Another Old-Fashioned String Bag — actually started & finished! I didn’t have quite enough of the skein to finish, but I had some remnants of a coordinating color.

Other progress:

  • Andean Treasure Vest: on fourth pattern after the armhole steeks.
  • Oblique: Front done through waist decreases; switching to the back to work the same section.
  • Ballet socks: Heels turned; in the middle of gussets.
  • Ivy socks: Working on the legs. Need 1.5 more pattern repeats on one sock and 2.5 on the other (of course, a pattern repeat is 28 rows….).
  • Arietta: One more row. Given that it now consists of three rows, I could argue that this isn’t even started.
  • Blueberry Grape socks: Rapidly approaching the heels.
  • Heere Be Dragone: The second set of charts is done, and I’m about to start the third. (The good news: there’s only four sets of charts. The bad news: charts 3 & 4 are about 75% of the shawl body, and there’s still the edging afterwards.)
  • Memories afghan: A few more rows.
  • Coupling: A few rows beyond the toes. I haven’t quite gotten the pattern memorized; I can do most of the rows without looking at the pattern, but there’s one that still sometimes throws me.
  • Spot-check socks: A few more rows of ribbing on the first sock. This is another that counts as “barely enough to justify being called started”.

18 June 2009

Recent Reading: How to Write a Novel

Filed under: Publishing and Writing, The Castiron Reading Journal — Castiron @ 23:29

Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman, How Not to Write a Novel. Numerous examples of what doesn’t work when writing a novel. Entertaining, and “Where Not to Send Your Novel” just capped the reading experience.

31 May 2009

North & South: The Movie

Filed under: Film and Media — Castiron @ 14:09

Just finished watching the DVD of the BBC 2004 version of North and South; I saw it for the first time a few weeks ago while visiting family and decided it was worth getting my own copy. (At some point, I need to read the book again; the movie stands on its own, but I can’t remember the book well enough to judge it as an adaptation.)

It gives the character interest of a Jane Austen movie (and the period costumes and settings), but with the addition of social and economic issues that aren’t as blatant in an Austen production. And the textiles person in me keeps trying to figure out what exactly they’re doing with different machines. I greatly enjoyed it.

I have to ask, though, is the public affection at the end something that would’ve been tolerated in period, or is it there for the modern audience? I’d have bought it more if they’d waited until they were in the train….

24 May 2009

Craft Update: Dishcloth, Socks, Booties

Filed under: Crafts — Castiron @ 22:47

I don’t quite agree with the Yarn Harlot that we many-at-a-time knitters finish things just as fast as one-at-a-time knitters. Yes, total knitting time is total knitting time no matter how many projects you spread it over, but if you take a slice of my knitting time vs. a slice of knitting time from the alternate universe me that knits the same amount but focuses on one project at a time, at the end of that slice of time, alternate me will have a few more finished objects than this-universe me — we may have both knit 50K stitches, but I’ll have them scattered over 2 finished and 12 unfinished projects, while alternate me will have put them all into 6 finished projects plus the one on the needles.

That said, the fun of having many projects going at once is that sometimes you finish several at once. Like the Grün Ist Die Hoffnung socks, the Hockey Skate Booties, and the Dalek Dishcloth, all finished over the course of a week and a half.

Naturally, I’ve taken the excuse to start two new projects, the Spot Check socks from Knitting with Handpainted Yarns (one cuff started) and the Coupling socks from Knitty (both toes done, first pattern repeat done on one sock).

Other progress:

  • Andean Treasure Vest: finished first pattern after the armhole steeks.
  • Oblique: Still chugging along slowly on the front.
  • Ballet socks: 60% through the feet.
  • Ivy socks: A few rows.
  • Arietta: One more row.
  • Blueberry Grape socks: Toes done.
  • Flutter Cardigan: On looking at it further, it may actually be the recommended size — it’s hard to tell with this stitch. I’ll keep going for now; if I run out of yarn, then I’ll rip and start over a bit smaller.
  • Everything else: nothing or negligible progress.

2 May 2009

Recent Reading: Austenalia, Wrede, and the Bitchery

Filed under: The Castiron Reading Journal — Castiron @ 19:46

Fifteen years ago, I was a fairly heavy bookbuyer. But after realizing that yes, one can have too many books (I hear a lot of people hissing, but guess what? When there’s so many books in the house that it’s hard to move around? and there’s nowhere to put more shelves? and more books keep being bought by household members? AND you don’t have the time to read 90% of them, so they’re taking up space without giving you any enjoyment? That’s too many books. When my ex moved out and took his book collection, which was about 75% of the books in the house, I was relieved.)….

Anyway. After realizing that yes, I can certainly have too many books, I became a lot stricter about what books I buy. These days, if I buy a book, it’s either 1. by one of my few autobuy authors (basically, Lois McMaster Bujold or a Steven Brust Dragaera book), 2. a needlework book, 3. a book I’ve already read at the library and liked, or 4. a book I’m buying because I like the author’s work in another context and want to support them with a $0.50 royalty payment, whether or not I turn out to like the book itself.

Josephine Ross’s Jane Austen: A Companion falls into category 3. I checked it out from the library, and while I wasn’t able to finish it before I had to turn it in, I found it interesting and enjoyable enough that I wanted to have my own copy. It’s a very readable look at Austen and her world.

Ross’s Jane Austen’s Guide to Good Manners and Margaret Sullivan’s A Jane Austen Handbook are shorter gift books, both looking at customs in Austen’s time. I found Ross’s book the meatier of the two, teaching me a few things that I didn’t already know (though on further reading Companion, a lot of the same data is in there). Sullivan’s book is a definite Category 4; I love her P&P/Northanger Abbey crossover, The Firstborn, so this purchase is my royalty payment. Handbook is fun and has an entertaining arch tone, but I didn’t find it as educational; many of her lists are simply examples drawn from Austen’s books, rather than supporting material showing that these really are the customs of Austen’s time. It’s cute, but honestly, if I’d read it at the library, that would’ve sufficed.

Two Category 4s that turned out worth keeping on their own merits: Patricia Wrede’s Thirteenth Child, a fascinating fantasy set in an alternate 19th century United States (where the New World never had human settlers due to big nasty magical critters, until the Europeans advanced sufficiently in magical technology) (stands alone, but I’m anxiously waiting for the next book), and Sarah Weddell and Candy Tan’s Beyond Heaving Bosoms, the book that arose from their blog Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, and a hilarious look at the romance genre.

25 April 2009

Socks and Dishcloth

Filed under: Crafts — Castiron @ 19:23

Two finished projects: the Southwestern Socks (which I call Tundra Socks) that are too big for me and will probably end up going to my sister,

and a blue crocheted dishcloth that seems like it might work better as a potholder.

Two started projects: the Arietta cardigan (if you can call it started; I’ve done a swatch to check color, and I’ve cast on and knit one row of the back), and a pair of socks in Panda Cotton, color Blueberry Grape (just realized I did something weird with the toe increases; will probably rip the one sock).

Other progress:

  • Gruen ist die Hoffnung socks — in the home stretch! The heels are done, so it’s just straight knitting up the legs until I’m ready to do ribbing and cast off.
  • Andean Treasure Vest is on the last pattern before the armhole steeks start.
  • Oblique: Chugging along slowly on the front.
  • Ballet socks: halfway through the feet.
  • Afghan: still on the corner.
  • Aran sweater: a couple more sleeve rows.
  • Everything else: nothing or negligible progress.

26 March 2009

Recent Reading: Economics, Biography, and Legal Fanfic

Filed under: The Castiron Reading Journal — Castiron @ 19:40

Dan Ariely, Predictably Irrational. Ariely, a behavioral economist, shows the flaws in the traditional economic idea that people are rational actors. The book is extremely well-written, and the experiments are fascinating (and in some cases sobering). My one quibble is that I’d have liked to read more on how individuals can work around our tendencies to make decisions that aren’t in our best interest — but that would be another book (and come to think of it, Sunstein and Thaler’s Nudge would be one such other book).

Ariel Sabar, My Father’s Paradise. Sabar’s father grew up in a Jewish community in Iraq, and later emigrated to Israel and finally the U.S. File this under “need to check out again sometime when I’m more able to handle it”. What I read of it is extremely interesting and powerful, and I want to read the rest someday when I’m in a better mental state to handle it.

I’d blogged Pamela Aidan’s An Assembly Such as This but hadn’t gotten around to blogging the rest of the “Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman” trilogy, Duty and Desire and These Three Remain. The first book was excellent, and I seriously considered buying it and the other two rather than waiting for the library copy. But I ended up reading the library copies first, which turned out to be a good thing.

Duty and Desire covers the “missing months” between when Mr. Darcy left Netherfield and when he met up with Elizabeth Bennet at Hunsford. Showing what Mr. Darcy would’ve done during this time is a great idea, but Aidan’s concept of what he might have been up to…. Well, if she were writing what Mr. Rochester had been doing in the months before he showed up at Thornfield in Jane Eyre, I’d have bought it. As a story about Mr. Darcy, it didn’t work for me. And while These Three Remain was better, it still wasn’t as good as the first; it seemed rushed. So I’m glad I didn’t spend money on these, but disappointed that they weren’t worth opening my wallet for.

10 March 2009

Cowl

Filed under: Crafts — Castiron @ 23:42

The Stacked Eyelet Cowl is done. I haven’t decided what (if anything) to start in its place yet.

I’ve finished the back ribbing on Oblique and started the front ribbing; while I’m going to do the pieces separately like the pattern says, I’m working them simultaneously so as to more easily keep track of my shaping. So far the size looks like it’s going to be decent….

…unlike the Flutter cardigan, which I’ve realized is far too large. I’m going to have to do some calculations before I rip and restart the body.

Other progress:

  • Gruen ist die Hoffnung socks — a couple more rows.
  • Andean Treasure Vest is on the fifth pattern.
  • Tundra socks are nearing the end of the heel gusset.
  • Ballet socks: smidge of foot. They’re still in the “I keep knitting but they’re not growing” phase.
  • Afghan: a corner.

25 February 2009

Startitis

Filed under: Crafts — Castiron @ 00:22

Startitis has hit with a vengeance. So far this year, I’ve started the Oblique cardigan (halfway through the back ribbing), a pair of socks in KnitPicks Dancing color Ballet (toes are done; starting on the foot), the Stacked Eyelet Cowl (halfway through), and an afghan from Lion Homespun. But hey, they all count under my “I have the yarn, and it’s assigned to a project, so it’s effectively a UFO already” rule.

And I’ve finished a fair number of projects over the past couple months:

  • the Featherweight Fantasy stole
  • the Trekking socks
  • the Regia Lampion socks
  • a string bag out of Hempathy
  • a string bag out of Euroflax linen
  • a hat for the baby
  • a new Urchin
  • a set of dishcloths for my sister’s family
  • the heart ornament

Other progress:

  • Gruen ist die Hoffnung socks have about 25 rows each left on the foot before I turn the heels.
  • Andean Treasure Vest is almost through the fourth pattern.
  • Tundra socks are nearing the end of the heel gusset.
  • Heere Be Dragone: row 152.
  • Flutter cardigan is about a third of the way to the front-back split.
  • The gussets on Ivy Socks are done.
  • Neon Turkish Sweater — a couple more rows.
  • A thread on the cross-stitch pentacle.

11 February 2009

Recent Reading: Bebris and Brockmann

Filed under: The Castiron Reading Journal — Castiron @ 23:53

Carrie Bebris, The Matters at Mansfield. Mr. and Mrs. Darcy solve another mystery. Why I put a hold request in as soon as I know the library has a new Bebris book: it’s a fun romp. This one’s no exception; I read through it rapidly, and I found several characters’ portrayal quite good. Why I read the library copy rather than buying it: there’s always something that makes me step back and say “wait a minute…”. In this case, it’s a character’s apparent memory loss — it adds nothing to the story other than some artificial pathos. (And frankly, I don’t find the character’s fate consistent with what Austen says in summary.) I find the stories fun, but at the end, I’m dissatisfied.

(Also, note to the publisher: it’s Mrs. Jenkinson. Please correct Chapter 4, where it was consistently given as Miss.)

Suzanne Brockmann, The Defiant Hero. A romance in which the female lead’s daughter and grandmother have been kidnapped by terrorists, and the male lead is a Navy SEAL. I loved her Unsung Hero, but this one didn’t work as well for me. I enjoyed the suspense plot and the subplots — I love the grandmother! — but I don’t really buy the main characters’ romance.

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