Book Review: The Silent Corner

The Silent Corner by Dean Koontz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dean Koontz's latest series gets off to a thrilling start, from the first moment to the last page I was hooked!

This is the first book I've read by Koontz, after dismissing his previous books as 'not my cup of tea', but I loved the synopsis I read, and I'm very glad I gave it a chance.

Jane Hawk is a formidable main character, often treading the line of good and bad. She's a complex, and often hard-nosed woman, but I never found it hard to empathise with her. Towards the end of the book, I was really rooting for her to be successful in her crusade.

The only thing I can criticise is the constant reminders of how beautiful Jane is supposed to be. Almost every male character in the book had an opinion on her outward appearance, often making comments about her physical form. I think with the current climate regarding male/female interaction in Hollywood, and life in general the unnecessary comments on Jane's appearance were misjudged and should have been removed.

But, overall I really enjoyed the book - the writing was sharp and thrilling and the story chugged along at an exciting pace, leaving me excited for the next instalment.

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The Thoughtful Shawl Project: Shawl Three

Shawl Three:  Dauphine by Maria Magnusson

Back in 2013, I was an avid subscriber to The Knitter magazine. I was still very much a beginner knitter, but the contemporary and bold patterns in the magazine really spoke to me (my feelings on the magazine in it's current state are VERY different. But, let's not get into that rant today!).

As soon as I saw the beautiful Dauphine shawl in Issue 56, I knew I wanted to make it. I loved the easy way it draped around the shoulders, and the elegance of the lace and cables. I began making plans to make the shawl.

I started browsing online wool shops, and was (as usual) drawn to deep shades of violet and soft hues of lavender. But I felt an urge to steer away from my usual and safe colours. I found a gorgeous sunny yellow Artesano 100% Alpaca 4ply yarn. The soft halo and egg yolk yellow really grabbed me.

I snapped it up and began waiting impatiently. 

When the yarn finally arrived I cast the shawl on immediately, I couldn't wait to adorn my body in silky, alpaca sunshine. Although I was an inexperienced knitter, I've never really looked at a pattern and thought "nope, no way. That looks too complicated for me." I've always been very much in the give it a try! category. So, the lace and cables were probably less intimidating to me than they should have been.

I knitted happily away, following the pattern. Back in 2013, I didn't know how to read my knitting, and so one of the cable twists is a row or two too long because I accidentally repeated the pattern. But, I didn't dwell on it. I had a beautiful, elegant shawl. All done and dusted and ready to wear.

Except, the yellow really didn't sit well with my skintone. That beautiful shade of egg yolk made me look sickly and tired. I should have stuck to my safe space and gone with purple. 

The shawl languished in the bottom of my shawl chest. When I started this project, I began to look at my shawls in a new way. Does it being me joy? Do I know someone else who would have more joy from it? Who would this shawl suit?

I knew almost immediately who this shawl should be rehomed with. It has gone to live with one of my very favourite people in the whole world. A lady who I didn't know, until I turned up a few days after Christmas day to give it to her, had dyed her fair hair bright pink! 

We pondered together whether her hair was too bright for the shawl. I suggested she embrace it and go full-on brights! She wondered whether it might be better suited when the colour had faded a little.

Either way, I know she will cherish the shawl. And I know she will rock it, bright hair or not.

What is the Thoughtful Shawl Project?

I saw a post by Jennie of tinypaperfoxes about her 39 shawls project, it sparked something inside of me.

Like Jennie, I have an absolute wealth of shawls, but wear the same ones regularly which means that I own unloved, neglected shawls, just like Jennie.

The Thoughtful Shawl Project is my journey to reassess and explore my shawl collection and decide whether to frog, donate or keep. 

You can read the whole post about the project here: The Thoughtful Shawl Project or you can browse the other blog posts about shawls here: Previous Thoughtful Shawl Project Posts.

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“One can never have enough socks," said Dumbledore. "Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books.”

What is there to say that hasn't been said about Harry Potter?

I'm certain at this point in life, everyone knows how magical, wonderful and life-changing these books are. JK Rowling brings the spellbinding world of Harry Potter to life with bold and relatable characters, who are thoroughly charming because of their flaws and shortcomings as well as their good points.

As the first book in the series, painting a new world and characters while keeping pace with a gripping story can be a challenges, however in this book it's clear that Rowling has put her heart and soul into imagining the wizarding world, and manages to introduce this to new readers with ease.

The illustrated version adds a new dimension to the classic tales, with stunning artwork presented alongside the opening novel. Jim Kay has managed the difficult job of illustrating such well-loved characters and stories with dazzle and brilliance.

I was born into the generation that grew up with Harry Potter, the books were age appropriate for me as they were released, but as an adolescent I just didn't get it. My friends were all spellbound (if you'll pardon the pun), but the idea of following the adventures of an 11 year old boy wizard was really dorky to me. I fell into the books accidentally while volunteering in a Thai animal shelter. Nights were long and dark (no internet, no TV, no bars!), and I'd taken very few belongings with me. I borrowed the first book off someone else in the shelter, and was gripped from the first moment. I couldn't believe a book I'd avoided vehemently for most of my life could make such a big impact on me. I didn't just love it, it was true love.

I begged and borrowed the other books while I was at the shelter, and read my way through the entire series in a month.

I wish that I had read these books as a child, no because they're not great as an adult. Because, they undoubtedly transcend age. But because I wish I'd been part of the magic!

Thank you JK Rowling for such a perfect series.


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2017 in Knits

I thought that it might be a fun idea to round out the year with a look at what I knitted in 2017.

So, let's get into it!

In 2017, I finished 26 projects in total. This is an improvement of 6 projects from 2016, and it was an absolute bumper year for shawls.

Of the 26 projects, a massive 11 were shawls.  That means 42% of my knitting time went into shawls. The one thing I swore I would never knit as a beginner knitter!

So, let's take a look at them!

The first shawl of 2017 was the beautiful Aisling by Justyna Lorkowska. I actually started this shawl way back in 2015, but the edging really got me. I found the cabled pattern really hard to wrap my head around, and the huge amount of stitches was really intimidating to me. But I buckled down, stuck on some This is England and bashed out those many, many stitches. I'm really happy with this shawl, the pale colour is some gorgeous glittery Sparkleduck yarn. It shimmers so wonderfully under the lights. It's also a lovely big, drapey shawl.

My second finished was was The First Light by Veera Välimäki. I have complicated feelings about this shawl. It's knitted in the most beautiful, silky Stranded Dyeworks singles yarn, but absolutely no amount of blocking will make this shawl sit nicely on my shoulders. It feels very tight around the top of the shawl, and granted I do have fairly broad shoulders but I'm disappointed by how inelastic the top edge is. I wonder if it's possible to gently unpick it and reknit? Or perhaps it should be regifted to someone with more narrow shoulders!

2017 really was the year of finishing longterm WIPs. The gorgeous Vedbaek by Karie Westermann was the third shawl I tackled. I originally started this in 2015, but managed to convince myself the design was harder than it actually is - although I suppose this is a good indication that my knitting skills are definitely improving over the years. I knitted this out of some beautiful Malabrigo in the Candombe colourway. However, despite ordering two skeins of the same dyelot they came out so wildly different, it's hard for me to give this shawl the love it deserves. It's mostly my own fault, I should have alternated the skeins as I was knitting, but I didn't realise they would be so different that they looked like different colourways. It means the shawl has a big pale green strip towards the bottom, while the rest is a sort of grey, purple with flashes of deep green. It really is a shame, because it's a gorgeous shawl until the last three or four inches.

Finished Object: Evergreen Socks

It's fair to say, things are a little topsy-turvy for me at the moment. I've been dealing with an eye problem called Recurrent Corneal Erosion for a while now. It's the main reason I had to take a long break from dyeing and have numerous days and nights in lots of pain.

I had a recent attack which took all of vision from my left eye, and left me in agony. Daylight irritated it more, so I spent a week holed up in a dark room with the radio, podcasts and audiobooks for company while I healed. What has this got to do with knitting you ask?

Well, I was originally knitting these beautiful Christmassy socks to be part of the lovely Amy's festive sockalong. But sadly, due to my injury I missed the deadline, by a day. GRR!

But I'd worked like crazy on them before the injury, so my sock mojo was high to get them finished. Because I wanted so much to be able to wear them on Christmas day.

I only have one other pair of Christmas socks and the yarn bled so much the first time I knitted them that the once festive red, white and green stripes are now all a muddy shade of purple.

I knew as soon as I saw this pattern I wanted to make these socks, despite the fact that they are cuff down and my preference has always been toe-up. I have really defined (read: chubby) calves, so I like to be able to make a very, very stretchy bind-off and I've found even the stretchiest cast-on isn't as loose as a bind-off. I'd seen a few pairs on Instagram in gorgeous dark, foresty greens so I scouted out the yarn shops for a lovely deep green. I was pretty surprised that Malabrigo (my go-to commercial yarn) didn't have anything suitable. But after a bit of poking around I found some deep, emeraldy Fyberspates that looked perfect. I also picked up some new sock needles, some Knit Pro Zings in a lovely festive red colour - just right for this knit!

I cast-on the day they arrived, but soon ended up feeling pretty disappointed. I know really vivid colours have a tendency to bleed in the wash, so I was prepped to block the living daylights out of them. But nothing at all could have prepared me for the fact this yarn was going to dye my hands, my nails and my project bag a very Grinch-colour green. In addition to that the yarn was incredibly flawed with lots of splits and knots. I'll definitely not be using Fyberspates again, which is a shame because the colour is beautiful. As a dyer I know colour transfer can happen, and that's pretty forgivable but the flaws in the yarn were incredibly disappointing and the two paired together wasn't the happiest knitting experience.

That said, the pattern was an absolute pleasure to knit. I started with a twisted German cast-on to add some stretch and after the cuff it just seemed to fly by! It's such a clear, well thought out pattern. I'm very impressed and almost a convert to cuff down. Almost. 

The Thoughtful Shawl Project: Shawl Two

Shawl Two: Holden by Mindy Wilkes

Back in 2013, I was a very inexperienced knitter. I'd learned to knit as a child. My grandma taught me how to knit and purl, while I stayed with her for two hours every morning during the Summer holidays while my mum was at work. But it was in 2013, while quitting smoking and looking for something to do with my hands that I really got back into the hobby. And then, as it does, the hobby became a lifestyle. I became not just a knitter, but a Knitter.

I'd stuck mostly to Hobbycraft's meagre selection of acrylic mix and luxury Rowan when I could afford it, but I'd been hearing whisperings of beautiful yarn dyed by people. Not companies, but people. In their kitchens, sheds or home workrooms. Soft, delicate and hand-painted yarn, yarn full of love. I headed to Etsy to browse around and soon found RosiesMoments. I browsed her webstore with wide eyes and an itchy trigger finger, desperate to get my hands on some of the most beautiful yarn I had ever seen.

I fell hard for the soft, pastel, sweetshop colours of Sugar Candy and sent it packing on its way home to me. When the yarn arrived, I fondled the skein for weeks, desperate to find a pattern that truly deserved to be knitted with a thing of such beauty.

I had a few stumbles with lacy shawls, that were far too advanced for a beginner like me, before finding Mindy Wilkes' lovely Holden. The whole shawl took me just four days to complete, it was both my first indie skein of yarn and my first shawl. If only I'd known then what I know now, that it would open a new world to me. A world where I ended up dyeing my own yarn, and being the owner of more beautiful shawls than I knew what to do with (hence this project!).

When I look at my Sugar Candy shawl now, I see multiple flaws. The picot edging is a mess. I dropped and picked up stitches most inexpertly all over the place and my tension is wonky - to say the least.

But I know I will never have the heart to gift or frog this shawl. It will stay with me as a reminded of what it started for me. Because this shawl was a key to a brand new world for me. And that's why I will keep it, and I will wear it. Wonky edging and all.

What is the Thoughtful Shawl Project?

I saw a post by Jennie of tinypaperfoxes about her 39 shawls project, it sparked something inside of me.

Like Jennie, I have an absolute wealth of shawls, but wear the same ones regularly which means that I own unloved, neglected shawls, just like Jennie.

The Thoughtful Shawl Project is my journey to reassess and explore my shawl collection and decide whether to frog, donate or keep. 

You can read the whole post about the project here: The Thoughtful Shawl Project or you can browse the other blog posts about shawls here: Previous Thoughtful Shawl Project Posts.

Book Review: Bonfire

Bonfire by Krysten Ritter
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Can you ever outrun your past?

Krysten Ritter's debut novel is like some bizarre mash-up of Erin Brockovich and Gone Girl author Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects and it kind of works.

I found that it seemed to borrow a little too heavily, for instance Sharp Objects is a pacy thriller that follows a newspaper journalist who returns to her small and slightly odd hometown to report on a series of brutal murders. Bonfire follows Abby Williams an environmental lawyer who returns to her small and slightly odd hometown to investigate a scandal. Sounding familiar so far?

Both focus on teenage girls running wild in a small American town from the POV of an unreliable narrator with an entire suitcase of personal problems, from a troublesome family, a morally ambiguous love interest and alcohol consumption bordering on addition.

However, that's not to say it wasn't thrilling to read. Like Sharp Objects it's a gripping and at times uncomfortable read, letting the action pick up pace before hurtling to slightly predictable outcome.

Personally I found Flynn's novel more accomplished and would recommend it over this, but this tale isn't without merits if you manage to pick it up for a quick read.

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