Reading Corner

Anyone who knows me from Facebook will know that I have two book challenges running at the moment. One with Goodreads to read 50 books this year and another to read all 200 books from the 2003 BBC Big Read.
Due to my passion for knitting I am choosing to use audiobooks for my reading as I can totally immerse myself in the stories whilst still following a pattern. I have two sources for my reading pleasure, the One Click Digital service from my local library and my Audible subscription. I currently have a subscription for two books a month and as far as I am concerned it is the best value for money I get from anything I buy, (other than yarn of course).
Anyhoo, back to my challenge progress.
I have so far this year completed

7/50 Books in the Goodreads challenge

and overall

10/200 from the Big Read

As most of the reading I do comes from the library the Goodreads total will increase much quicker and I shall just dip into my Big Read challenge from time to time. I am not reading the Big Read books in any particular order, rather I am using a random number generator to choose my next book for me. 

My reading will slow down drastically in the summer when I am back at work but the winter months are just perfect for curling up with a good book.

My current book is The English Girl by Daniel Silva read by Jim Barclay

This fast moving thriller has really gripped me and I am racing through the story.

I will declare now that I am not a book reviewer, rather I am an avid reader who will share with you what I am currently reading and whether I like it or not.

Knitting Natters

Disaster has struck! I may have to go a day or two without knitting. I woke up this morning with a burning sensation in my right thumb. Upon closer inspection I discovered a tiny blister.

Not a major obstacle you would think but it is mighty sore and damned annoying.

So, what to do? Well I could, gasp!, do some housework, or I could spend the day sorting out my stash, (otherwise known as home insulation). But hey it is Saturday and these are not weekend jobs. So I will gingerly pick up the big needles and try oh so carefully to do some knitting on my garter squish blanket.

Knitting Natters

Super Secret Knitting

I received an e-mail yesterday which caused me to drop everything and with giddy excitement rush to my stash and sharpen up my 2.5mm circular. I have been asked to test knit a pair of socks. How wonderful! A few e-mails back and forth and the yarn was chosen and the pattern arrived. Now, whilst I cannot show you my progress I am sure Fiona, the designer, will not mind me sharing my yarn choice with you.

This lovely yarn is Ripples Crafts reliable sock yarn in Wild Heather. I bought this at last year's Edinburgh Yarn Festival and it has been sitting in my sock yarn box just waiting for the right pattern to come along.

Once the design is released I will of course share the link with you all.

Monday Musings

Last Friday saw the 40th anniversary of the maiden flight, with paying passengers, of Concorde. The British Airways flight from Heathrow to Bahrain on the 21st Jan 1976 was undertaken by G-BOAA. This anniversary got me reminiscing about my ambitions as a child.
Back in those days I had only 3 things I really wanted to do in my life. I suppose today it would be called a bucket list. Those three things were to fly on a Concorde, sail on the QE2 and overnight on the Orient Express. Yes, as a child I was attracted to luxury.
Fast forward to me here in my 5th decade and what of my list have I achieved? Nada, nothing, nowt!
The QE2 which was launched the year I was born is retired, as is Concorde (2 years younger than me), I seem to see a theme developing here, and the Orient Express is way out of my league price wise.
I have however cruised on a number of beautiful ships with another cruise to look forward to next year. I have been on many trains and I have travelled the beautiful Inverness to Kyle line which has scenery to take your breath away. I have flown with a few airlines, mainly EasyJet, which have adequately served to get me from A to B.
So my bucket list from childhood is but a memory.
All is not lost completely though. I have a wonderful job which more than makes up for the disappointment of never having flown on a Concorde, I now work with one. And not just any one, I work with G-BOAA, the very Concorde which made that maiden flight 40 years ago. I have been on that aircraft now more times than I care to remember and I still marvel at what she and her sisters achieved in the realms of transatlantic flight. I delight in the faces of visitors whose jaws drop when they see her for the first time. And I never tire of seeing her sleek beauty each and every time I step into the hangar in which she is housed.

Smokin' Hot Needles

This month I have been busting the stash. With a week still to go I have already knitted up nearly 2.5 miles of yarn.
I have finished the socks I mentioned last week. So cosy and perfect for cold January days.

I have finished the body part of the jumper for mu mum and am now on the sleeves.

I am knitting the sleeves on very short, 40cm, circular needles. They are fiddly to use to begin with but you soon get into the rhythm and I find them much, much less stressful than DPN's.
Next up I have put a few rows and beads into this shawl.

I started this nearly a year ago but it went into hibernation and I have just recently pulled it out again.
Finally, I had heard a lot of folk talk about multi-stranding to use up stash. As I like to work with thin yarn and needles I had more or less let the idea pass me by. Recently I had been feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the fact that my sock yarn leftover bag was starting to overflow and the blanket I am knitting with these leftovers is a very slow and long term project. I decided to bite the bullet and give multi-stranding a try. I chose to follow the Garter Squish pattern by Stephen West but I am using 3 strands of sock yarn weight and size 7.5mm needles. The resulting fabric is just to my liking and the i-cord edges give a neat finish.

As you can see my needles have been clicking along at a fair pace.

Monday Musings

Today is known as Blue Monday, according to theorists for many it is the most depressing day of the year.  I take issue with this theory as I for one would not choose a Monday. Monday is the start of a new week it should be a day that brings hope that the week ahead will be all it can be. Now Tuesday is an altogether different beast. What is the point of  Tuesday? It is neither the start, middle or end of anything. It is too far from the weekend to be like Thursday with it's tickle of frisson that the weekend is just around the corner. Nope, Tuesday is a non day, good for nothing and this year it will be Blue Tuesday for me.

The last few days here have been particularly blue of their own accord. Since Friday evening I have been floored by some nasty bug, so much so that my best friends have been, in no particular order, sock knitting, Lemsip and Audiobooks. I lost nearly all of Saturday racking up just 38 steps in 24 hours on my Fitbit, I was out of it. Every time I turned over in bed it felt like I had been hit by a monster truck. Luckily by Sunday I was able to sit up and I got stuck into one of my favourite sock patterns.

Knitting 

This is my progress on the socks. Not too bad for feeling so poorly. The pattern is Socks on a Plane a freebie on Ravelry. Not being a fan of cables this pattern is a surprise favourite of mine. It knits up so quickly using a 6 row repeat and simple short row heel.

The yarn I am using is Reliable Sock from RipplesCrafts. It is my go to sock yarn, hand dyed in gorgeous colours in Assynt which is in the North West of Scotland. 

Books

When I feel awful the last thing I want is anything too heavy or grizzly so at times like this I turn to lighter reads. This was one of those times so I chose A Holiday Yarn from my Audible wishlist. This is the 4th book in the Seaside Knitters series and Sally Goldenbaum's words are once again beautifully read by Julie Mcay. 

The story does have a murder or two in it but the setting of Sea Harbour and the knitters themselves with he wonderful food they share is like a balm to the soul. When listening I feel swept up in a warm and safe haven and I am looking forward to many more mysteries with the four knitting friends.

Half Way to February

We are now half way through the first month of the year and what a first 15 days it has been. Floods have wrecked homes and lives and for a while it seemed the rain would never stop. Every day it was just grey and wet.
Then came the shock of two men passing.
David Bowie was the epitome of a star. His ability to re-invent himself to suit the music tastes of the time was flawless. He could take a feeling, capture it and make it his own. From Major Tom to Dancing in the Street with Mick Jagger there was something for everyone. Even to the end the last photos of him showed a stylish man who gave nothing away that he was so ill. He will be sadly missed but his music will live on forever.
Whilst still reeling from the death of David we were hit with the passing also from cancer of the wonderful actor Alan Rickman. Although best known to younger folk as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films this man was so much more. Through decades he has entertained us on stage and screen. The world of acting is so much poorer today.

Knitting

Moving forward this month I have a new MKAL to look forward to.

I love Susanna's patterns and will be looking forward to a new clue coming out each week. There is still time to sign up via Ravelry if you want to join in.
As it is a winter theme I have chosen to use Drops Lace yarn in a beautiful icy baby blue and silver lined blue beads.

I will keep you updated with my progress each week as the KAL continues.
The red jumper for my Mum is growing and I am almost at the place to put it aside and knit the sleeves.

Walking

My walking has slowed down this week as a cold has kept me mostly indoors. But as soon as I can I will get myself back out and get steps added to my journey.

Books

This week I finished  The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith, read by the actor Robert Glenister. This is the first in a series of novels written by JK Rowling using this pseudonym. It took me a while to get into the book but once I did I really started to care for the characters, especially Robin. I will definitely be looking for more of these.