December 2010 Archives

I finally got myself on Goodreads! Are you on it too? I will still maintain my book lists on the blog but Goodreads is a nice way to find new books and see what everyone else recommends.

Happy New Year to you all. Here's to many, many more books in 2011.

1. Open: An Autobiography, Andre Agassi ("Vork your wolleys, Andre!" - Andre's coach/father when he was young.)
   
2. Hedge Fund Wives, Tatiana Boncompagni. I needed some light holiday reading!
   
3. Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw, Mark Bowden Couldn't put this down.
4. Black Hawk Down, Mark Bowden A very good book that clearly detailed all the miscellaneous events that happened in Mogadishu.
   
5. Doctor Dealer, Mark Bowden
6. The Bricklayer, Noah Boyd
   
7. The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York, Deborah Blum
8. One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night, Christopher Brookmyre Funny in a violent way. Also, nice cover design.
   
9. The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown. Why am I reading this? Total desperation.
   
10. No Reservations, Anthony Bourdain
11. The Scarpetta Factor, Patricia Cornwell This was a return to a more descriptive, detailed writing style. Miss Cornwell's past few books, I noticed, were much sparer, and I'm glad she's back to true form.
    
12. Scarpetta, Patricia Cornwell
13. Hidden Empire, Orson Scott Card
14. Shadow of the Giant, Orson Scott Card This finishes the Shadow Series, about Ender's first lieutenant, Bean. There's also a bit about Peter and Ender, which I liked very much.
    
15. Spent: Memoirs of a Shopping Addict, Avis Cardella. Rabid, ugly consumerism. Hilarious in its materialism. I can't sympathize.
16. Oxygen, Carol Cassella
17. Clementine in the Kitchen, Samuel Chamberlain
    
18. No Good Deed, Lewis M. Cohen
19. Nine Dragons, Michael Connelly
20. Trunk Music, Michael Connelly
21. The Scarecrow, Michael Connelly
22. Chasing the Dime, Michael Connelly
23. Pirate Latitudes, Michael Crichton
24. Chocolate & Zucchini, Clotilde Dusoulier
25. Paris Boulangerie-Patisserie: Recipes from Thirteen Outstanding French Bakeries, Linda Dannenberg
26. Knit One Below: One Stitch, Many Fabrics, Elise Duvekot
27. Twinkie, Deconstructed, Steve Ettlinger
28. Wife of the Chef, Courtney Febbroriello. Not worth the paper it's printed on.
    
29. Hungry Town: A Culinary History of New Orleans, the City Where Food Is Almost Everything, Tom Fitzmorris
30. Knives at Dawn: America's Quest for Culinary Glory at the Bocuse d'Or, Andrew Friedman
31. Comfort Knitting and Crochet: Afghans, Norah Gaughan, Margery Winter, Berroco, Inc. This book is brilliant! I want to knit and crochet everything in it!
    
32. Small is the New Big and 183 other Riffs, Rants, and Remarkable Business Ideas, Seth Godin
33. The Associate, John Grisham
34. Ford County, John Grisham
35. The Solitude of Prime Numbers, Paolo Giordano
36. Chef's Story: 27 Chefs Talk About What Got Them into the Kitchen, Dorothy Hamilton and Patric Kuh
37. On Rue Tatin: Living and Cooking in a French Town, Susan Herrmann Loomis
38. The Winds of Dune, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
39. Paul of Dune, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
40. Paul and Me, A. E. Hotchner
41. The Draining Lake, Arnaldur Indriðasson Way better than Stieg Larsson. By far.
42. American Terroir: Savoring the Flavors of Our Woods, Waters, and Fields, Rowan Jacobsen
43. Triumph: Life After the Cult--A Survivor's Lessons, Carolyn Jessop
44. A Good Fall, Ha Jin
    
45. The Swan Thieves, Elizabeth Kostova Not as good as The Historian.
46. Boys and girls like you and me, Aryn Kyle
    
47. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson. I was distracted by the odd language, and then I remembered that this was a translation. It seems that the translation was verbatim as opposed to taking entire sentences or paragraphs into context. I think it may have lost a certain lyrical quality because of it. I felt like I was reading what my brother-in-law would say.
48. The Girl who kicked the Hornet's Nest, Stieg Larsson. Just as awful/meh as the first.
    
49. The Reckoning, Jeff Long
    
50. Bear Island, Alistair MacLean Written almost forty years ago, a well-written murder mystery.
51. Last Chance to Eat, Gina Mallet
52. One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. His narrative style is very distinctive, which prevented me from really enjoying the book.
53. Chez Nous, Lydie Marshall. Close to my heart, or where I left my heart! In the southof France! Lydie and her husband live in Nyons, Drome, France. (I miss my beloved Drome!)
54. Beatrice and Virgil: A Novel, Yann Martel
55. Socks Appeal, Brenna Maloney
56. Every Day in Tuscany, Frances Mayes
57. The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott, Kelly O'Connor McNees
58. Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead: Frank Meeink's Story as Told to Jody M. Roy, Frank Meeink with Jody Roy
    
59. The Murderer's Daughters, Randy Susan Meyers
60. Off Duty: The World's Greatest Chefs cook at Home, David Nicholls
    
61. Her Fearful Symmetry, Audrey Nifennegger Not as good as her first.
62. Stalling for Time: My Life as an FBI Hostage Negotiator, Gary Noesner
    
63. The Knitter's Book of Yarn, Clara Parkes
64. Heresy, S. J. Parris
65. Chez Jacques: Traditions and Rituals of a Cook, Jacques Pépin
66. Eels, James Prosek
    
67. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, Mary Roach. Starts well. Ends quite boringly.
    
68. Angel Time, Anne Rice I haven't read Anne Rice since she turned to religion and abandoned the type of fiction she was first known for. Since then, she's stepped away from the Roman Catholic church. This book feels like a gradual return to the type and style of writing in Interview with the Vampire. A very gradual return.
    
69. Fork It Over: The Intrepid Adventures of a Professional Eater, Alan Richman
70. Knitted Tams, Mary Rowe
71. The Reach of a Chef, Michael Ruhlman
72. Storm Prey, John Sandford
    
73. Rough Country, John Sandford
74. Phantom Prey, John Sandford
75. Heat Lightning, John Sandford
76. Invisible Prey, John Sandford
77. Hidden Prey, John Sandford
78. Nancy Silverton's Breads from the La Brea Bakery, Nancy Silverton
79. Undone, Karin Slaughter
80. Skin Privilege, Karin Slaughter Good lord, she writes serial killer novels very well.
81. It Must've Been Something I Ate, Jeffrey Steingarten
82. The Nearest Exit, Olen Steinhauer Excellent.
83. The Tourist, Olen Steinhauer
84. Liberation Movements, Olen Steinhauer
85. The Confession, Olen Steinhauer
86. The Bridge of Sighs, Olen Steinhauer
87. Denial: A Memoir of Terror, Jessica Stern WOW. This is heavy shit.
88. Gone 'Til November, Wallace Stroby
89. Blind Descent, James Tabor A good book about caving. I've always been curious about caving despite the fact that I have issues with darkness, claustrophobia, and water! Ha!
    
90. The Food and Cooking of Germany, Mirko Trenkner
    
91. Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures, Robert K Wittman with John Shiffman
92. Charted Knitting Designs: A Third Treasury of Knitting Patterns, Barbara G. Walker
    
93. Sex, Death & Oysters: A Half-Shell Lover's World, Robb Walsh
94. A Romanov Fantasy, Frances Welch
    
95. The Angel's Game, Carlos Ruiz Zafon It's good, but not as good as The Shadow of the Wind.
96. The Prince of Mist, Carlos Ruiz Zafon
97. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller (writer)
    
98. Batman: Year One, Frank Miller (writer), David Mazzuchelli (artist)
99. Batman: The Long Halloween, Jeph Loeb (writer), Tim Sale (artist)
100. Final Crisis, Grant Morrisson (writer), J G Jones and Doug Mahnke (artists)
     

{ Flickr }

You wouldn't know it from the dearth of content on this blog, but I've been busy.

Some friends decided to get together, and a Secret Santa was proposed. The last exchange we had, when we traded cowls, was a smashing success. Our handmade exchange, just this Saturday, was a good one, too. It was a pleasantly sunny day; Japanese maples shed their gorgeously vibrant mantles as we drove through town. As I walked along a garden path, you could swear we were in New England, for all the crunch-crunch-crunch of leaves everywhere. There was yummy food and gossip, not much knitting, as this was catching up with each other's lives more than anything else. And time went by. So fast. It always does, around these knitty friends of mine!

Amiee was my Secret Santa giftee. She's an übercrafty girl, so I had to make something that would definitely wow her. I picked a sewn project—I had too many knitted projects on my plate already—and I had always wanted to try string quilting, or at least, the idea of using a foundation piece for sewing. I had my sister-in-law's sewing machine. Plus, I just wanted an excuse to go fabric shopping! Hee!

{ Flickr }

In addition to string quilting, I added contrast and texture: A contrasting running stitch on a strong peacock blue. A strip of light blue. Endless gathers of lime green. I made a rough sketch of dimensions, nothing more, and went with gut instinct. Truthfully, I'd add time to that equation: my sister-in-law wanted her sewing machine back and, well now! You have two days before you return it!

Nothing like a deadline to inspire those creative juices! Yup.

{ Flickr }

The pattern print is Foliage cascade in aqua, from Art Gallery Fabrics' (AGF) Color Splash collection. I really like Pat Bravo's color sensibility and use of geometrics. (And here's a post showing how those beautiful fabrics made.) The 3 solid colors I used were taken directly from the print. The backing was peacock blue. Any high quality fabric store should have a good collection of solids from different companies, so I just picked what I felt would go with the print. And what Amiee would like.

{ Flickr }

Do you think she liked it? I think she did! More pictures of the meetup here.

Below are just two reasons why I've been busy lately. I had two patterns published in Winter 2010 issue! Yippee!

Unusual construction is something I've been fascinated by in the last few years, and these two are the results of countless sketches, charts, directions, and many, many (mercifully unblogged) knitted attempts. Cables are a great texture, a natural stitch configuration to turn to for winter projects, and oh so flexible, their willingness to twist and bend and separate to fit the projects. I experimented with quite a few cable combinations but ultimately the simplest ones worked. I try very hard to please.

Samsara ::: Photo by Jane Heller ::: Flickr

Antalya ::: Photo by Twist Collective ::: Flickr

Another post is in the works with more details on the projects.