SWEATER FOR BILLY

I'm currently pretty much working exclusively on a knit sweater for Billy. It's an 8-ish, using size 17 needles and three strands of yarn, each a different shade of blue. It's loosely based on the basic rolled edge sweater in The Yarn Girls' Guide to Kid Knits: Patterns for Babies and Toddlers, but up-sized, mostly using the guide in Ann Budd's The Knitters Handy Book of Patterns. I've done the back and am almost done with the front and have yet to start the sleeves. If I get it done soon, I'll try to do a sweater for Daniel and Andrew, too--which, being smaller, might take less time. I only started Billy's last week.

Of course, I'm still also trying to read my overdue books as well (and watch ANTM 5, TA:MS, and TA, work, keep my blogs up, and read about the TV shows on FORT). I've recently finished Teresa Medeiros' After Midnight--a "Regency" vampire story (though I'm not a fan of vampire stories in general, this one handled it well); Sarah Andrews' Only Flesh and Bones--Geologist Em Hansen investigates the murder of the wife of her former boss (I liked it, but it does take a while for the story to develop, then you're hooked); two Aaron Elkins' mysteries, Old Bones--Gideon Oliver uses his expertise as a bone specialist to identify bones found in an old French wine cellar (a page turner and a likeable protagonist)--and A Deceptive Clarity--art museum curator tries to find the fake in a collection of art formerly "liberated" by Nazis during WWII (very interesting, since I like art--tho not the period Chris Norgren specializes in (Renaissance)--and the descriptions of European cities are delightful); Susan Alexander's Skintight--Las Vegas showgirl meets professional poker player, who just happens to be the son of her former husband (great, funny romance and I especially liked the dance-related parts); Victoria Alexanders' When We Meet Again--another Effington lady finds her destiny, this time a "disgraced" cousin (Pamela) comes home and finds herself engaged to an exiled Prince, Alexei (another funny, romantic story); Jude Deveraux' First Impressions--a mother of a newlywed inherits a Southern colonial house, finds herself in danger, and needs the help of a jaded FBI agent and a local lawyer (delightful, hard-to-put-down book); Carl Hiassen's latest YA book, Flush--teenager finds himself helping his "ecoterrorist" (sort of) father discover the truth about a local gambling ship's illegal waste dumping (a fun read, with wacky characters, tho not quite as good as Hoot); and Jenny Nimmo's Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors--more about Billy Raven's ancestral background is discovered when Charlie and his friends try to save him from evil "adoptive" parents (good story, but seems to be more of a too-short filler leading to the next story).