Wednesday, April 03, 2019

April Yarn Along: Seeing Double

After finishing my labor-intensive Mirkwood socks, I wanted to try a slightly easier sock project. I've had several "Miss Marple" inspired sock patterns (from This Handmade Life) in my library for a while, and I picked the Tea & Scandal socks. I love that her sock patterns are reasonably priced (and I got them during a half-off sale!), and I couldn't resist the sweet lace patterns or the Miss Marple associations. I'm knitting these up in Palette yarn because I had some in my stash, and I'm curious to see how they hold up. Palette is quite inexpensive and has a broad... well, palette!... so I'm hoping they work out -- I'd love to make more of my children's socks, and I know they'd enjoy getting to pick their own colors.

I'm also knitting both socks at the same time, using two sets of DPN needles (the pattern calls for magic loop, but I switched to DPNs after knitting the toes). I like the idea of being done both socks at the same time, and I also like being sure that I'm knitting them identically. These socks are constructed quite differently from the Mirkwood and Leftovers Baby Socks I've made -- they're toe-up, with short row heels. It's good to get a feel for various construction methods. I might try an "afterthoughts" heel sock next; I like the idea of being able to replace worn out heels.




In honor of Miss Marple, I'm rereading a favorite Agatha Christie, The Moving Finger. Miss Marple features only briefly, but she's in there. I found a collection of five Agatha Christie novels at a thrift store years ago, and it has survived every library "cull" I've done since. 

I just finished up (yesterday!) Peace Like a River, another title I put on my reading list after reading Book Girl. It's quite unlike any novel I've read before -- possibly because this is not a genre I'm familiar with -- and I found Leif Enger's prose to be as limpid as the recommendation on the back cover suggested. It was a difficult read in some ways, because I felt so connected to the characters; but it was also beautiful and engaging. 




I finished up a few leather pouches for my knitting notions -- I love the purple stitch markers from KnitPicks! I have my purple needle point protectors (also Knit Picks) in the brown pouch. I'd been storing these in two tiny plastic containers, but after finishing up my new knitting bag (which is working beautifully, by the by) I was inspired to make something a bit smaller and more aesthetically pleasing. I have a set of pricking forks for leather work now, which makes my stitching much tidier and easier.

I finished up The Haunted Bookshop, sequel to Parnassus on Wheels, and thoroughly enjoyed it! It's quite different to the first novel in some ways -- largely, I think, because it was written just after WWI, which clearly affected the author. There are some prolonged "philosophical" bits that verge on the prosy, but it was an excellent read. I wish there really were such a bookshop in Brooklyn; I'd have to visit!

My other read right now is God's Battle Plan for the Mind: The Puritan Practice of Biblical Meditation. This is a topic I've long been curious about (without going to the trouble of studying it), and I'm finding it quite helpful.


Joining up with Ginny's Yarn Along



4 comments:

  1. I've some of This Handmade Life's sock patterns on my list too . . . I'm just not a huge sock wearer, but as a knitter, I want to try socks.

    Book Girl by Sarah Clarkson? I love that so much.

    I can't stand Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple, so I like when they don't feature strongly in the mysteries, so Moving Finger is one of my favs for that reason along with the plot and characters.

    I usually buy from Knitpicks, but I haven't yet tried Palette, and yes the lovely assortment of colors is quite a draw . . . I'm just more in silk (or silk wool blend) and cotton blend line. I love the rose color you picked.

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    1. Livia Rachelle,

      I'm not a huge sock-wearer myself, but I wear them enough to justify a few pairs. ;-) I'm more likely to knit socks for my children, because they will always be growing out of/wearing out their socks.

      Yes, that Book Girl! It was such a lovely book. I almost didn't read it, because I wondered if a book *about* books could really be that good. It is.

      Oh, I must admit myself quite fond of both Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Though Tommy and Tuppence are by far my favorites. Have you read "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?" (it's in my collection of novels as "The Boomerang Clue"). It's another that doesn't have a "main" detective. "Death Comes as the End" is set in ancient Egypt, and is quite intriguing though also a bit depressing. I also highly recommend "The Red House Mystery" by A.A. Milne. I came across it quite by accident, having no idea (at the time) that he wrote adult stories!

      I find Palette not as soft as the other KnitPicks yarns I've tried, but it is certainly economical. I'll have to try it out for a while before I decide if it's worth making socks out of. Silk-wool blends are certainly nicer to work with and wear!

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Cheers,
      Shannon

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    2. Sounds like we have similar a similar love of mysteries, I've read Tommy and Tuppance and Death Comes at the End (that seems like one of her best and it freaked me out) and The Red House Mystery. I think many of the ones without a main detective are the only Christie's I have left to read.

      Have you read the Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries by Dorothy Sayers? I love those. He's like the detective version of Sir Percy Blankeney.

      I also read Death in Cyprus by M.M. Kaye recently and definitely want to try her others. I also want to try all the mysteries with detectives Tommy and Tuppence were playing at when they first got started. I'ts funny how big a thing mysteries were in like the 1st half of the last century (I think Sherlock Holmes started the craze?).

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    3. Yes, we do indeed seem to have similar taste -- even within the genre of mystery! "Death Comes as the End" was the next novel in my collection, so having just finished up "The Moving Finger" I decided to keep going! I've only read it once, but still have vivid memories of being quite spooked. I think I've forgotten enough to really enjoy it again (though I do also enjoy reading mysteries that I remember the endings to). "Passenger to Frankfurt" is another Christie that I quite enjoyed -- not much like her other books, I found, and more of a "spy" novel.

      I've read a bit of Dorothy Sayers, but I might give Lord Peter Wimsey another try. Whichever novel I tried was just a *bit* beyond my "comfort level," but I can't remember why.

      I'll have to look into M.M. Kaye! I'm always on the lookout for a new mystery author. I agree, mysteries seem quite popular in the early 20th century -- and I believe you are right about Sherlock Holmes. There were a few "detectives" before him (Edgar Allen Poe's Dupin, for instance), but Holmes ushered in a new era of mystery fiction.

      Cheers,
      Shannon

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