Easy Knitting and Great Books

   I have been doing a lot of reading lately.  Probably due to weather and winter.  There’s something very seductive about losing myself in books right now.  When I’m reading (or listening) to a book, I become part of the story as a silent observer. Whether I read or listen depends on how into my knitting I am at that point.  Currently, not so much.  Although for those of you expecting knitting content, here’s the mittens I’m working on for my granddaughter ~

My own pattern, based on a basic mitten but with the string knit into the cuffs as I-cord.  The key is getting the I-cord the right length before starting the second mitten.  I knit the first mitten, picked up four stitches on the cuff by the thumb, and knit the I-cord the length I wanted.  Then I purled a row and used a cable cast on to begin working the second mitten.  I’m thinking of making a pair for myself, since I’m always losing my gloves!

As for reading, right now I’m almost finished with the first Sookie Stackhouse book.  The series, The Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris, is the basis for the HBO series True Blood. 

I just finished Under the Dome, Steven King’s latest.  Very good, but very long.  The book is almost four inches deep.  According to Wikipedia (quoting Time magazine), the first draft beighed 19 pounds and was over 1500 pages.  That’s not a book – it’s a tome.  But it was a good tome.  One reviewer said it was Lord of the Flies meets Our Town with a little Peyton Place thrown in for good measure.

A friend gave me two books to read that I would love to start.  The problem is that they are the third books in two different trilogies.  Both by Nora Roberts, so they’re going to be good, but quick, reads.  The books are The Pagan Stone and Valley of Silence.  I have to wait on those until I get the first two of each series.  I hate reading out of order.

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