MORE BOOKS READ (CONTINUED AGAIN)

Of course, I also read Romances, too. In keeping with the just-finished season, I read a couple of Christmas-related books:
The Brides of Christmas, a collection of three novellas by Jo Beverly, Margaret Moore, and Deborah Simmons, all set in the Middle Ages--all three were interesting and touched on different aspects of the Holiday celebrations of the period
To Marry at Christmas by Kasey Michaels--a reprint of a story from the 80's, really too sugary for today's tastes (a department store buyer and the son of the owner meet and at once (it seems) decide to get married)
A couple of the books were by very popular authors:
Red Lily by Nora Roberts--the conclusion of the In the Garden Trilogy, a nice finish to the ghost story and the romances
All Night Long by Jayne Ann Krentz--good romantic-suspense occurs when a young lady returns to her hometown at the request of a long-ago friend only to find her dead and the mystery of her own parents' death re-opened.
The rest of the romances read since January were historicals:
In Pursuit of a Proper Husband by Glenda Garland--a widow is attracted to the widower husband of her deceased friend, but secrets get in the way of their romance in this well-done Zebra Regency
Alas My Love by Edith Layton--a former street urchin, sent to Australia, has returned to England after amassing a fortune and sets out to find his possible family in this well-written story by the always reliable Ms. Layton; a most unusual hero
Noble Destiny by Katie MacAlister-- another wacky "Regency" by the very amusing MacAlister, full of outrageous characters and malapropisms, misunderstandings and sensuous romance
Just Say Yes by Myretta Robens--charming story of a vicar's daughter who is attracted to a land steward who is really a Lord.

Since I started this topic, I have read a few more books:
Let It Be Love by Victoria Alexander--the latest in the Effington Family stories has moved on to the grown children of the original Effington characters; here Jonathan reneges on a promise to marry a desperate young lady, but then falls in love with her while they write a sensuous book about Gods and nymphs
This Rake of Mine by Elizabeth Boyle--a schoolteacher meets up with the man who had ruined her reputation by kissing her in public years before and gets involved with spies and murder as her three young lady charges attempt to match-make; I didn't like the hero at first, but he became more likeable as the book went along
Forever by Jude Deveraux--a Kentucky girl with the power of "True Persuasion" helps a Montgomery to solve the mystery of his parents' disappearance years before, while confronting witches in this unusual paranormal romance
Shadows in the Dark by Elaine Cunningham--a former vice cop now PI specializing in finding lost children is herself sought by evildoers as the heiress to enormous Powers (strong hints as to her heritage come from a character called Ian Forest who owns a club called Underhill) [a real page-turner!]

MORE BOOKS READ (CONTINUED)

I turned in my log sheet for the STDL Winter Reading Program and got a nice lined notebook and attached pen as the prize.

Most of the books I read seem to have been mysteries (including the Native American related ones for STDL). I've taken a liking to the Aaron Elkins mysteries and read three since January:
Curses!--Gideon Oliver takes part in a dig at an ancient Mayan site in the Yucatan Peninsula where a previous scandal at the site 5 years before is revisited when a dig member is killed
Icy Clutches--Gideon Oliver investigates when the remains of victims of an avalanche in Alaska are discovered
A Glancing Light--museum curator Chris Norgren takes on verifying the authenticity of recently recovered art stolen by the Nazis in WWII
I also read a couple of books by Donna Andrews from her Meg Lanslow series (very funny):
We'll Always Have Parrots--when the unpopular star of a fantasy tv series is murdered at a fan convention, Meg must cope with escaped monkeys and parrots, rabid fans, temperamental actors and writers, and a fencing demonstration (in skirts) as she tries to find the culprit
Owls Well that Ends Well--Meg and English professor/actor Michael have bought a house "as is" (full of junk) and hold a gigantic garage sale that becomes a media circus when an antiquarian bookseller is found dead in an antique trunk.
I read, finally, as well, the latest books by several popular authors:
The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell by Lilian Jackson Braun--not much mystery, but still a cozy read as the town of Pickax celebrates its sesquicentenary.
Murder at Five Finger Light by Sue Henry--Jessie Arnold is stranded on a lighthouse island with a few other people while a murderer stalks them; lots of surprises.
S is for Silence by Sue Grafton--Kinsey Milhone investigates the disappearance of a woman and her car that occured in the fifties, 34 years previously.
I also read (and enjoyed) the latest [before March, anyway] in the Blackbird Sisters series, Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die by Nancy Martin--impoverished socialite Nora's obnoxious Society column writer boss is found dead on her porch and her mob-connected boyfriend is a suspect. I liked Veronica Heley's latest, too, Murder by Committee, an English cozy featuring Ellis Quicke, a widow finding her way as an independent person and still trying to rescue her selfish daughter who has been involved with a shady entrepreneur who is murdered. Lastly, I read a first novel by Elizabeth Becka, Trace Evidence--a Cleveland based forensic specialist, Evelyn James, gets personally involved in the deaths of two young girls, one who has been drowned after being thrown in the river with her feet encased in cement and one who has been strangled after escaping her cement shackles; not too gory, but very intense ending.

MORE BOOKS READ SINCE JANUARY

For the Elk Grove Winter Reading Program we only had to read three books: one set in the past, one in the present, and one in the future. For the first two I read two Christina Dodd books:
My Fair Temptress--impoverished former belle is assigned to teach an apparently foppish weakling how to be a "man" and win a wife
Close to You--conclusion of the Prescott trilogy, TV reporter is being stalked by the man who killed her parents and separated her from her siblings when she was a baby.
For the third I read
Jack McDevitt's Seeker--27th century antiquarian Alex Benedict and his pilot Chase Kolpath look for a derelict ship purported to belong to a long lost colony from Earth.

Some of the other books I read also fall into the SciFi/Fantasy categories:
Mel Odom's Lord of the Libraries--the exciting conclusion to the Vault of All Human Knowledge series wherein ex-Librarian Juhg and Wizard Craugh rescue Grandmagister Wick and prevent the Goblinkind from overrunning the world
Christopher Paolini's Eldest--continues the quest of reluctant Dragonrider Eragon to help dwarves and elves to vanquish the renegade Dragonrider, King Galbatorix
Catherine Asaro's Charmed Sphere--mages Chime and Lord Fuller use their flawed powers to help save their kingdom from their ambitious neighbor and his own evil mage
Mercedes Lackey's and Rosemary Edghill's Music to My Sorrow--unseligh elves, corrupt tv evangelists, mesmerizing rock bands, grasping parents, and more confront Bard Eric Banyon and his friends

A couple of the books I read don't really fit into a genre:
A Year in the Merde by Stephen Clarke--humorous fictional account of a British executive's attempt to work at a French firm and to live in Paris
The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason--four Princeton seniors attempt to help solve the mysteries of a famous Renaissance book [that actually exists] while coping with school deadlines, women, social duties, and a murder [fascinating page-turner; I read this while in France and on the plane home]

DANIEL'S SWEATER, ETC.

Wow! It has been a while since I posted here. I did finish Daniel's sweater in January and sent it to Iowa by mail. However, I don't think he has put it on yet (he's 3). His mom says she'll use it instead of a coat when the weather is a bit warmer.

Because we are getting ready to move and I was preparing to go to France for my youngest daughter's wedding--listening to Pimsleur tapes, scanning old magazines to-be-tossed, packing some stuff up, and reading over-due books--I haven't done much craft/needlework except for my AAUW Craft Group project which is a felt penny rug with a lighthouse and sailboat motif from the August, 2003, issue of Create & Decorate Magazine. Even after 2 meetings, I only have all the pieces cut out and a couple of them embroidered onto the background.

I have read a LOT of books (36) since January, though. The Schaumburg Library's Winter Reading Program had a theme of Native American characters and writers. The six books I read for that were:
Arthur Williams' Missing at Tenoclock--small-town Colorado female deputy is forced to take over a murder investigation when the Sheriff is killed
Jake Page's Stolen Gods--blind New Mexico sculptor helps solve the murder of an art gallery owner who dealt in historic Indian artifacts
James D. Doss's The Shaman Sings--newcomer sheriff investigates the vicious murder of a young graduate student at the local college in a small Colorado town
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Ogilvie, Tallant, and Moon--lawyer uses his shamanistic abilities to relive the last hours of a murder victim's life [recently republished as Bad Medicine]
Scott Young's Murder in a Cold Climate--Inuk Canadian Mountie travels by plane, helicopter, dogsled, and snowmobile in an effort to solve the murder of a prominent man
Kirk Mitchell's Cry Dance--BIA officer Emmett Parker and FBI rookie Anna Turnipseed search for a cold-blooded killer who mutilates his victims amidst Native American confrontations with opponents of reservation casinos

More on the books read later.

BILLY'S & ANDREW'S SWEATERS

Andrew in his new sweater. It's lighter weight than Billy's and only took me three days to make.

Billy in his new sweater. The sleeves are, indeed, WAY too big, but he likes it. If I get a chance (maybe this summer), I'll redo it.

Both boys in their sweaters.

I started Daniel's in the car on the way to Iowa and worked on it on Saturday while watching TV at the house...but (of course) I ran out of one yarn with just the top of the second sleeve and the neck to go (sound familiar?). So I'll have to finish it here and send it in the mail. It's royal blue, medium blue, and off white.

I recently finished Donna Simpson's The Gilded Knight--lame, impoverished ne'er-do-well tries to persuade his deceased cousin's widow to vacate the entailed estate she lives on, but a blizzard keeps him snowbound with her and her gravely ill daughter, enabling him to learn to know her better as well as to re-examine his own pointless life, leading to love and personal reform (a kind of bittersweet story, with a potentially happy ending); Catherine Asaro's The Last Hawk--Sauscony's brother, Kelric, doesn't die in battle, but crash lands on a planet ruled by women, where he is forced to remain for 16 years, a catalyst through his Quis playing skills causing great societal changes and war (another intense story, hard to put down, though the end is very sad, if heroic); and Charmed Destinies--three novellas connecting romance and magic by Mercedes Lackey (dark view of medieval life with a great revengeful ending), Rachel Lee (cute story about a future/modern couple magically co-dreaming the same adventure while at work), and Catherine Asaro (interesting tale in which a girl discovers her mage abilities by finding a long-lost heir to the kingdom).

BILLY'S SWEATER FINISHED

After much "frogging" and using different yarns, I finished it.

It is heavy, but actually doesn't look too bad. I don't think the yarn changes are too glaring.

I have not been doing any craft stuff since then--a week ago--until Sunday, when I did start a sweater for Andrew, but I only have a couple of inches done. Blogging, reading, and packing up Christmas stuff have taken a lot of time. And, I worked this past weekend. This sweater will be in brown shades.

I am currently taking down the tree; I packed the ornaments yesterday. I brought in the outdoor lights this morning and am packing them; I'll get the tree lights later today. Here's some pics of the tree as it was:

I've only read a few books since Christmas. Lynn Kerstan's Dangerous Passions was quite good, another in her Black Phoenix series, though leaving the reader with several unfinished plot threads. I also like Nora Roberts' Blue Smoke even though a lot of characters died nasty, horrible deaths. Rita Mae Brown's The Hunt Ball was a nice relief, more picturesque than scary or gory. Lady Savage by Donna Simpson was very different, depicting the struggles of upper class Regency era characters to survive on a deserted Caribbean island after being dumped when their ship was hijacked.

STILL WORKING ON SWEATER FOR BILLY

The frustration continues since I have now run out of two of the three yarns used in the sweater. I have substituted, but the colors really don't match. So, the top of one sleeve and the collar will be "slightly" different. Oh, well.

SWEATER FOR BILLY CONTINUED

Still working on the sweater--and nothing else. It took me most of the week to do the first sleeve, since I ripped most of it out after I was almost done because it was too long (I changed the increases from every 6 rows to every 5 and it helped). Saturday I finished the first sleeve, but only after taking out the cap shaping several times until it fit the shaping on the finished body sections--major frustration. I finally started the second sleeve today. However, since the kids were unable to come here for Christmas because of car trouble, I now have at least a week to finish it.

Meantime, I've been reading, but just a few books: Jeffery Deaver's The Coffin Dancer--the second Lincoln Rhyme mystery, good, but full of scary tension and twists; Shirley Jump's The Angel Craved Lobster--the third in the "romance with recipes" series, enjoyably humorous and with all-seafood recipes this time (the Indiana brothers are real characters); Mercedes Lackey's The Wizard of London--another in the Elemental Masters series and an engrossing story (tho I liked Phoenix and Ashes better). [Looking at the first Amazon review, it appears the original stories about the parrot and raven featured in the story are available online at the Baen Free Library.]

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).

JESTER HATS FROM YARN GIRLS BOOK

Last winter I made these darling Jester Hats for the three youngest Iowa-based grandchildren (mainly because they were supposed to work up quickly). The pattern came from The Yarn Girls'Book of Kid Knits: Patterns for Babies and Toddlers. I finished Thea's as while we were there and did take pictures of them wearing them, but they weren't as clear as I would have liked. When they came to see us last week, they all had their hats so I took pictures of the hats alone. They are a bit big on them, but do look cute.

All three hats:

Andrew's hat:

Daniel's hat:

Thea's hat:

MELANIE'S PONCHO FINISHED

Well, I did finally finish the poncho on Sunday, just before they left for Iowa.

Surprisingly, it fits just right.

It seemed so big while I was working on it. It was the only craft I worked on all week, even during lunch at work and during the evenings while everyone else was watching movies. But I did get it done.

Now I'm kind of in a wishy-washy, what-should-I-work-on-next state. I did do some on the baby afghan while watching my tape of three episodes of America's Next Top Model and one episode of The Apprentice: Martha Stewart.

I've also been trying to finish some of my majorly-overdue books--some so overdue they've been declared "lost". I recently returned Elizabeth Castro's Publishing a Blog with Blogger--got some good hints, though a lot I already knew; Marc Romano's Crossworld: One Man's Journey into America's Crossword Obsession--mostly about the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (I enjoyed this very much); Kathy Reich's Crossbones--a kind of departure since it delved into the possibility of a post-Crucifixion Christ (very interesting); Patricia Rice's Much Ado about Magic--the latest in the Malcolm Family series in which the women have "talents" that might designate them "witches" (loved it and can't wait for the next); Shirley Jump's The Bride Wore Chocolate--another of her funny recipe-a-chapter contemporary romances in which each recipe (in this book, all have chocolate in them and are easy) has relevant character commentary (enjoyable, but the recipes really made me wish I wasn't allergic to chocolate [sigh!]); Jeff Lindsay'sDearly Devoted Dexter--funny and disturbingly gruesome at the same time because the main character/narrator is himself a serial killer of serial killers (really nasty deaths, but still a compelling read); Sarah Andrews' Mother Nature--geologist Em Hansen goes to California and investigates a murder relating to environmental cleanup of old, buried, leaking oil tanks in a flood plain (not a quick read, but very interesting); Jo Beverly's A Most Unsuitable Man--another excellent romance set in the Malloren milieu (hard to put this one down, even though this time period is not a favorite of mine). I just finished Betina Krahn's The Book of the Seven Delights--an exciting, Indiana Jones/The Mummy-type of adventure romance set around the turn-of-the-century in which the heroine (a Librarian!!) searches for the lost Library of Alexandria (loved it! great fun)--and Sam Baker's Fashion Victim--murder during New York's and Milan's Fashion Weeks (very timely and intriguing since I've been watching ANTM 5).

Yvonne and I also watched Revenge of the Sith this week--great special effects, but the story, etc., "eh". Now I'll have to read the book version--which is supposed to fill in some gaps.

MELANIE'S PONCHO CONTINUES

I'm still working on Mel's poncho. I started the 4th and last section yesterday in the car on our way to Wisconsin, but still have a ways to go before Sunday when she goes back to Iowa--and it's her Birthday. It's the only craft I've worked on for the last week--when I realized it had to be finished NOW--except for the ornament I made at my AAUW Craft Group on Tuesday night. And, of course, I've worked every day this week (except Thanksgiving) and I will work all weekend, too. Nutcracker is Saturday night.

STARTING MELANIE'S PONCHO

I finally started Melanie's Poncho using the same pattern as Thea's, only in turquoise and larger. At the moment, tho, I'm frustrated because I've ripped out at least 8 rows because the number of stitches was wrong and the yarn-over rows had to be ripped out completely--several times already (AAARRRGGGHHH!). I' am still going to try to have it done by Thanksgiving for her birthday--they'll be coming here for that holiday.

I'm coming along on the small "Autumn Sampler" and Jean's afghan, bit by bit. I've added the "Turkish Afghan" to my current projects, in rotation, also having ripped out 6 rows because I thought the "intarsia" stripe looked wrong--did it again and it looks much the same; oh, well. I tried a small circle-type flower pattern on the white afghan and like the way it looks; I'll use it for the small half-triangle sections, at least.

Recently I've finished Beth Ciotta's Charmed(a sequel to Jinxed), a cute and funny contemporary, Elizabeth Peters'The Camelot Caper, on audio download from Overdrive (I read it many years ago and it's still silly and funny), Margaret Maron's Rituals of the Season, another good cozy mystery about Judge Deborah Knott, and Susan Elizabeth Phillips'Match Me If You Can, a very funny, very romantic story set in our own North-side Chicago.

YARN TANGLE

This year's pumpkin:



For the last two days I have been untangling a huge mess of yarn that has been around for years. I was trying to see if there was some yarn for a poncho and decided to sort the whole thing--it originally filled a large garbage bag.

This shows less than half of the original tangle

Yhis is a closup of the mess


Most of it was short pieces or remains of skeins. I was surprised that I had so many ends left from the weaving projects I had done in the early 70's!!--pearl cotton, warp thread, and the fingering yarn from Bridget's baby blanket. I had recently pulled out enough long pieces of the turquoise fingering yarn to make a Barbie sweater,

The sweater is from Knits for Barbie

Closeup of sweater; the little shorts were made using the small amount of brown yarn left from the afghan


but now all that's left is many pieces measuring only 2 to 6 inches. Now all that yarn is "sorted" into the pearl cotton ends, the string-ish ends, the fingering yarn ends, cotton rug yarn bits, needlepoint yarn, < 50-inch pieces (to be tied onto others in a ball for a future scrap afghan), > 50-inch to c. 60-inch pieces (to be made into "flower" centers for a future scrap afghan). Anything longer was rolled into balls and put into the boxes I have with yarn sorted by colors. The "bag" is now much smaller and neater, not trailing bits of yarn that fall out.

In looking for poncho yarn, I also decided that I'd better check that any yarn I found wasn't already "committed" to another project. So, I looked in my "partially done" box and pulled out the part of a "Turkish Afghan"


(from a Family Circle Great Ideas Fashions and Crafts, July, 1986) I had last worked on in 1997 (!), before The Fire. Sure enough, one of the colors I was thinking of using was one especially bought for that afghan. I then dug through everything again and pulled out all the yarn I had for it; only two colors could not be found, and they were small amounts that I can substitute without a problem. Another project to work on!

There is an additional on-going project I've started. This summer, I knit an all-white afghan--made up of triangles, mostly done on our trip to Seattle--that was supposed to have flowers embroidered on it. Fair time came, and I ran out of time, so no embroidery got done and I entered it "plain" (and still got a 3rd). The original design was too heavy for what I had (I had used larger needles and acrylic yarn instead of wool), so I started to look for duplicate stitch patterns. I've found some that might work, but I'm still testing and learning the technique.

Michaels has a sale on embroidery floss this week, so I did pick up the remaining skeins I need for the "Autumn Sampler"--a lovely array of Fall colors when seen together. These seasonal samplers are very small--around 3" x 5"--and done on 18-count aida; the original design calls for 36-count linen but I couldn't find any and I had enough of the 18-count for all 4 seasons.

I recently finished Donna Andrews" Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon, the next Meg Lansdowne mystery--a fun look at murder in a computer game development office. I also just finished Ellis Peters' The Knocker on Death's Door, an Inspector Felse mystery written in 1970. It was good, but dated, and the murderer was kind of obvious. I like this series, though, even if only a few volumes are in print.

CROSS STITCH "WELCOMES" FINISHED

I finished the 4th Seasonal Welcome from Just Cross Stitch, but have to decide how to mount them now--maybe on navy, which seems to go with all the colors used. I'll have to see what's in my stash here (a lot is in storage).

Winter Welcome Closeup

Winter Welcome

Summer Welcome

Summer Welcome Closeup

Spring Welcome

Spring Welcome Closeup

Autumn Welcome Closeup

Autumn Welcome

I also finished crocheting the first two panels of the baby afghan (that I had to go back on to add more squares) and have started the third panel. I may do the embroidery on the first two before finishing the remaining panels, just to see how it will look.

Thea's poncho was mailed on Monday. I'm trying to see what yarn I have sufficient quantities of to make more ponchos, probably doing Melanie's next--but what color??? Should I do another knit one or do the crochet version??? Decisions!

I also started knitting one of the simple little purses (from our Learn-to-Knit class at the library) for Guinevere. I can do it while watching TV during commercials.

I wanted to do the Autumn cross stitch sampler like the Winter one I finished (need to mount that, too), but I don't have some of the floss and hate to buy it off-sale when I need 12 skeins. So, I'm waiting for a sale (missed the one at JoAnn's since it was only 2 days).

Recently finished reading Donna Andrews' Revenge of the Wrought Iron Flamingos--murder at a Yorktown Reenactment with lots of interesting and funny characters--and Kasey Michaels' Shall We Dance--a post-Regency romance with Princess/Queen Caroline (never crowned) as a major character, which made it a kind of sad story with wacky characters. I also finished the Mercedes Lackey/Rosemary Edghill edited collection of urban elves stories, Bedlam's Edge--very enjoyable, though the story about evil threatening New Orleans was a bit too timely.

LATEST BOOKS

Just finished Odom's The Destruction of the Books--chock full of action (unfortunately of the kind to make a librarian of any time period shudder). It's another book I can barely wait to read the sequel to--like the next Harry Potter; fortunately I will only have to wait a week or two (I have a "Hold" on it) instead of a year.

The other book I finished was Elizabeth Thornton's The Marriage Trap, a well-done Historical Romance. She's one of the authors I look for.

I started Joanna Lindsey's Marriage Most Scandalous, but did not like the characters, so I didn't read beyond the first 3 chapters.

Still working on my 4 projects. I'm ready to do the neck for Thea's poncho.

NAME CHANGE/AFGHAN PROBLEM

Karl compained the title was too boring, so I'm trying this title now. Better? Not? Also, I changed some colors a bit--may need more work, tho.

The baby afghan I'm crocheting is made up of strips of alternating afghan stitch and lacy-ish stitch "squares"--I thought there were 5 "squares" per strip or panel (that's what the picture shows). BUT, on rereading the directions--after having finished 1 "complete" 5 square panel and almost finishing a second--I realized each panel is actually 7 squares. Thankfully I only have to go back to one panel and unravel the edging and just continue on the second panel I'm already working on. Not a catastrophe.

I'm almost finished with Thea's poncho--started the 4th section--and the 4th seasonal cross stitch "Welcome". (I only worked a few days last week and this.) Also have gone back to another cross stitch project I've been working on sporadically for several years.

Just finished Mel Odom's The Rover--which I had started in June before I saw him at ALA. Excellent adventure! Also finished Patricia Rice's California Girl; nice contemporary romance.

NOT ANOTHER BLOG?!!

Yep. I'm going to try ANOTHER blog--not that I keep up with the other 4--to record what I'm working on craft-wise and book-wise.

Right now I'm knitting a "Martha's Poncho" for Thea, with the intention of making a poncho for each of my 5 granddaughters. It's in a really nice medium blue I got at a garage sale.

I'm also crocheting an afghan for my youngest grandson. It's part afghan stitch, part lacy crochet and will have cross stitched embroidered animals on the afghan stitch parts--like the "Toy Fair" afghan I made for Maddie, but lighter weight--which should be better for California.

And I'm finishing the last in a set of 4 seasonal "Welcome" cross stitch designs intended for my parents from Just Cross Stitch magazine. We've been doing this in my AAUW craft group, too.

Also from Just Cross Stitch, I've started a set of 4 small seasonal samplers designed by Gail Bussi, one of my favorite designers. I finished the "Winter" one, but have to figure out how I want to display it--possibly as a little wall hanging rather than in a frame.

[I plan to post pics when I figure out how.]

I just finished reading Marion Chesney's Sick of Shadows (third in her new series and typically full of main characters who never do the right thing to make themselves happy) and Sam Llewellan's Little Darlings (wierd, "typically?" British satire for children, especially for those who like Lemony Snicket's books). I still liked them both.