Christmas Reading - "The Last Duel"

I recieved this book as a suprise gift from our friend Pat, whom we visited over the holidays and I loved it! We had a great time with him, it was my first time meeting him and his companion cats, Hobbit, Critter and Kitten (glourious beasties all) though he is a long time friend of Pierre.

"The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, and Trial by Combat in Mediaeval France" by Eric Jager was great! I ate it up in about a day and a half. It tells the history of the last case of judicial trial by combat, a result of the scandal caused by the alleged rape of a noblewoman, wife of one of the combatants. I am used to reading things that are academic, even somewhat dry and still enjoying them, but this well-researched historical account was so suspenseful and exciting is was like reading a thriller. At the same time you learned a lot about mediaeval law and customs, armour, jousting, everyday life of the nobility, and much more. The writer is an academic, and this is apparently his first "popular" work (his other works are about Mediaeval literature, as he is an English prof), but I hope he will continue with writing for the non-academic crowd.

Since this was, to me at least, a completely unknown story (thought as the last judicial duel fought in France, it will be well known to history buffs, I'm sure) I was never sure how it would turn out, who would die, who would win, what would come next in the many twists the story took. This is pretty unusual for a factual historical account, and speaks to the quality of the writing and detail of the research. So, Thanks Pat for such a great gift!

Reading the details of jousting and armour reminded me of another great book, a long time favourite, that I often re-read, in whole or in part. "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White is a fabulously imagined re-telling of the Arthurian myth cycle, by another writer who immersed himself in his subject and researched exhaustively, but never let that dry out his writing. The copy I had had a quote which stated that the book brought to life the middle ages "...not as they were, but as they should have been" and I would have to agree. It also makes some very interesting philosophical/political points, as Merlin helps the young King Arthur understand the consequences of power by having him immersed himself in different types of animal societies, so he will learn how he best to rule his kingdom. "The Once and Future King" is actually the collection of several novels that follow each other, re-telling the arthurian story from Aruthurs conception to his fall.

Don't let this book pass you by, if you missed it as a child - it is one of those books that is great for all ages, and would be great for a long serial read-aloud to a child with the adult enjoying the process just as much. Happily, one of the side-effects of "Harry Potter mania" seems to be that adults are re-discovering that a well-written children's book is just as good as an adult book - some of us always knew that!

I'd love to hear any comments on either of these books, and I'm always looking for new reading selections, so don't be shy!

More Treats!

Was ever a girl more spoiled!?

Pierre and I delayed our departure for a day and lucky me, this let me get a birthday suprise from my dearest, oldest friend Lynda in the mail! Included was news and a letter updating us on her family - I can't believe how fast her little girl Kiera is growing and how SMART she is! She can say the whole alphabet and count to 11! There are days that I can't do that, and I have about 29 years on her!

Lynda sent me the coolest thing - a Knitter's Amulet! This lets you insert the fluff of your choice into the pewter celtic style ball, so it would match any sweater or knitted item, potentially - though what is in it right now is so pretty it might stay for a while!

Also some lovely yarn from Lismore farms, - this is a local sheep farm that makes wool to sell, and they have a yearly "open farm" weekend that I must go to this year! This features sheep shearing and spinning demos, and I've wanted to see it since I heard of it. They even have Border collies to herd the sheep.

I can't believe how professional her packaging for the soaps looks! If she ever wants a career change she can quit the doctorin' and go into artisan quality soap! I will include pictures of the soap later, when I get a chance to set up the camera!

Finally I just wanted to share the fabulous cat picture that came on a christmas card we recieved - a kitty under the mistletoe!



Meowy

Christmas

Everyone!

Party Like It's My Birthday

Though it was on December 16th...

Well, I just wanted to say a special thank you to all the kind friends and family who thought of me, wished me happy birthday and gave me lovely gifts! We had a family birthday party yesterday, and a little bit of early Christmas presents as Pierre and I will be in Quebec and away from my half of the family for this holiday.

And what a fabulous treat it all was (some of these are bday and some are xmas surprises)!

My sister surprised me (with her generosity even if I did know what the actual present was!) with a set of Denise needles!

Those of you who are in the know, will know that these are a special set of needles… uhm, think like a super-duper complete ratchet/wrench set, but for knitting needles.

Interlocking, interchangeable, and perfect for saving the budget conscious knitter on buying needle after needle!

I was so excited to see that even if I need to add to my set with spare needles or extra sizes I will still be paying about 1/3 of buying a whole new set of normal straight needles!

They work like a dream and I've already got 2 of my three on the go projets on them!

AND a membership in the Canadian Knitter’s Guild. If you don’t know and you care they have started (just this year I believe) a real “guild/apprentice” type program.

This means you can work through a series of things, mail them in, get critiqued and helped and get some real knitting street cred!

I can’t wait to get started. Canadian knitters, join up! See http://www.cgknitters.ca/

I also received from Meredith, a fabulous pair of grey knee-high socks with THE coolest black kitties – not cutes pootsey kitties, like black Halloween “Don’t cross me or I’ll hex you” stylized kitties. And a great book of short stories of Christmas cats from Clare, which will come in handy big time when I am away from MY kitty and missing him a lot!

Some lovely clothes, a nice beaded pullover, and a cardigans from my parents. The wool on the cardi is a wonder – it is all acrylic except about 10% kid mohair, yet my first reaction on touching it was “Wow! This must be a super-expensive all natural fibre!” I only wish I had some to knit with too!

From my granny I got some great socks and the cutest pair of knitted slippers that fit like a glove and look like little elfish shoes!

And, the sneaky Pierre surprised me with a plaque mounting of an ancient gig poster (signed, no less) from a Billy Bragg show that I went to way back in high school – I thought we threw it out, but no, he saved it and has had it hidden at work forever! It totally revived the sorry poster, and now looks great!

The Loop Craft Cafe in Halifax

This is from an email I recieved from a person who is part of a joint venture to open a knit cafe in Halifax - can't wait to see how it all turns out!

"On October 1st we take over our space on Barrington St. downtown Halifax, and start transforming it into our knit cafe. It will be called "The Loop". We expect to open mid-November. We don't have a website yet, but we will, and will definitely have e-mail updates. I'll gladly add you to to list for sending out the web address when it's ready. And we love Knitty, it's very much aligned with the kind of mood & community we want to create. We are excited about the space we found (across from Loomis & Toles), we are convinced that this will become a happenin' spot! We are three co-owners, one of whom is a male knitter (my boyfriend Bill) and we intend to try to encourage more men to get involved too. It's great to hear from you and to know that there is a 'buzz' out there about the place ... please pass it on!"

Let's all support this venture and make it a success! I have paid a brief visit and the space is lovely and well-renovated. The yarns are the ultimate in luxury and most I've not seen in halifax before, just read about in mags like Vogue knitting - this means they are a bit beyond my budget, but it is great to see them "in person" as it were. The people were very friendly, and the workshops look intriguing and seem very reasonably priced. So if you live in the area go to the website, sign on to the mailing list and let's make it a success!

Go to The Loop

The website gives hours, location, products, a newsletter sign-up, and a handy calendar of upcoming workshops!

My great hope is that the intriguing "storefront display" highly visible window right on busy Barrington is going to suck lots of people in to see what is up and snag some new knitters in the process!

They also have alot of very very sexy handcrafted needles and other accesories that I drooled over!

GO GO GO!

Opinions Please?

I have got quite a bit of the sweater body done, but now I'm thinking of starting over. I had an idea to make the sleeves more decorative, very simple, but something other than plain knit stitch. I like it so much, I decided I might try it with the body too. Which leads to one of the funny questions where I believe personality and knitting meet. Frogging.

How do you feel about it (if you are a non-knitter, an explanation - the term Frogging comes from the play on words," What do you do when you don't like the knitting? You rip it. Rip it = ribbit = frog noise = frogging). Personally I find it freeing and I like it. Unlike in life, you can take something ugly that you made a mistake on, rip it out, start all over and end with something even better. My mother reacts with horror at my willingness to rip out my work. To her, I think it makes her think of a lot of hard work wasted, and a project that was close to completion being far from started, all over again.

Me, I love the start of projects so that doesn't bother me. And I know what would bother me is to look at something I'd done and think "yeah, I could have done better on that, that isn't the best I could have done at the time." I know it won't be perfect and I don't care about that, but I'd like to do the best I can with what skill I have at the time. And I have learned so much from this attitude with knitting.

So, what I am thinking of doing is ripping out the body and putting a line or maybe two lines of garter stitch on the sweater. similar to the detail that I added to the sleeve, which you can see here.

I've included a sketch of the idea so you can see what I mean. And, I wonder about the back as well, should I put the stripe in that? I'd love to hear from any knitter and non-knitters, both about the idea of ripping out your work and what it means, and what you think of my modification for the sweater? Should I go for it?

In addition I'd encourage everyone to give this site a try and find out what your battle cry might be, shared with me from my friend Michelle... (Profanity is included if that bugs you)

http://chaz.bdmonkeys.net/battle.php

I'd love to hear your battlecries too.

...and she Reads Too

Yes, it is true, I do read. Alot. Pierre will occasionaly watch me while I do and he says I look like Data (think rapid eye scans of page, not freakishly pale skin. Well, maybe freakishly pale skin too.) Someday I hope to be able to accomplish the feat that my great-grandmother is said to have mastered - knitting socks on double pointed needles (while not looking) and carelessly reading away at whatever she was into at the moment. Oh, to have this skill! Right now I'm only a tv-no-look knitter, but I figure it is a start. As for the speed and volume of my reading I can only thank my parents who indulged my obsession/addiction to books from a young age and encouraged reading by library trips and filling the house with books, and my lifelong need to learn new thigns. Thanks Mom and Dad! Inspired by my Secret pal, who let me on the fact that the first book mentioned "Fall of the Kings" existed, I will share with you a few current reads, and old favourites, hoping they inspire you to pick one up or give one to a loved one for the holidays!

The Fall of the Kings - Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman
This is a great book, and it is fabulous to revist the world of the novel "Swordspoint" even if it is 60 years later (in the story world). Kind of a mix of the world of a historical novel and a fantasy novel. I have to thank my Secret pal for alerting me to the existence of this book. Kushner is sadly one of those fabulous but very non-prolific writers, so I had no idea she finally came out with another book. Apparently the new re-issue of "Swordspoint" contains a few short stories that fill in some of the time between the two novels, which I'd love to get my hands on, as well. The characters in the original novel, "Swordspoint" were so sexy, in such a seductive world, that it didn't matter if their sexual orientation was different than yours, you were falling in love with them anyway. And the sequel continues the trend. If you are homophobic beware, there is plenty of same-gender action in the book, and if this prevents you from a fabulous read, you are duely punished for your prejudice, so I won't say anything further.


Curse of the Narrows - Laura MacDonald

All about the Halifax Explosion, and all the freakish things that happened as a result. That is a lame review, but so far the book well written and the subject matter (in case you are not local or familar with it, this was the biggest man-made explosion until Hiroshima - but it was an accident!).

Due to my stupidly emotional nature I find myself frequently in tears while reading this book, probably because it hits so close to home, describing the utter destruction of areas of a city that I love. Also it is just filled with the heart-breakingly poignant human details of the aftermath of the explosion. Things like the lists of messages printed in the paper after the explosion of people looking for lost family members or worse still of unclaimed children too young to speak and give any information to their caretakers, whose families had presumably been completely decimated by the explosion.


Dead Reckoning: The New Science of Catching Killers - Michael Baden and Marion Roach

If you like the various CSI type shows then this will be a great read for you. Moreover, if you like great non-fiction writing you will find it here. The subject matter was what drew me to the book (I was interested in it before the CSI craze) but the writing was what really impressed me. A forensic pathologist goes through some of his most interesting cases and in the process exposes you to a whole new world of information. He also helps you to understand how one person deals with the aftermath of violent death day in and day out as part of a job, without going starkers. I was moved by his respectful, spiritual, yet scientific way of looking and and dealing with the dead. If I'm ever violently killed, I'd hope to have someone like this to speak for me. As a bonus to CSI fans, it will give you a serious leg up on understanding the clues to the mysteries they present. Certainly not for the faint of heart, but fascinating.

Fun with Rats and Knitting Needles

There's a title to concern animal welfare advocates, but I assure you I have the best interests of my ratty little friends at heart!

I simply found a way to use some spare needles and a tube of fabric from an old t-shirt to make a new tunnel/hammock for my rats. With the needles to afix the edges of the fabric to the wire cage top, you get a nice cozy rat napping nest.

This has prove a very popular place to nap and hide, and they spend about half of their sleeping time in there. Of course, since it is attached to the roof of the cage, which lifts up, one has to be careful about "lifting the lid" when rats are on board!

They are really cute in here, sometimes sleeping end to end, sometimes front to back, and sometimes side by side.

Alot of the time however, the big one (Bear) just seems to pile on top of the little one (Baby) in a big squashy pile.

I have been knitting like a fiend, trying to get some progress done on Pierre's sweater. The space between the two grey wool knots is yesterday's progress. I had been quite impressed with this but now it seems a bit feeble. I will shoot for more today. This is the simplest of all knitting - don't even really have to look, so I'm watching alot of tv/dvd - yesterday, I started Angel season 2 again, and we watched "Hitch" with Will Smith. Pierre learned some new dance moves, like "The Q-tip" Watch for Pierre the RIpper at a venue near you soon...Today I have season 4 of "Sex in the City" or is it "and the city" I never know - I've never watched the show, but my sister liked it and it was at the library. I also am watching "Fight Club."

The sweater itself is fairly plain and boring, but I hope it will turn out nicely. The wool is lovely and quite warm. My design includes a striaght bottom - I don't like the "tight waist band, bunched over" style of sweater, and I don't htink it looks good on people. It has a garter stitch hem, and is stocking stitch throughout. I am thinking of doing something more interesting to the arms - maybe a cable up the side or a band of garter stitch? Would that look weird? Comments and suggestions welcome.

The design is based on the principles of Elizabeth Zimmerman, as told in the article on knitty.com "Knitting By Numbers" by Julie Theaker.

http://knitty.com/ISSUEwinter04/FEATknitbynumbers.html

The idea is basically if you can measure the person and measure your guage you can make a simple sweater pattern of your own using percentages. It sounds mathy but it isn't.

Until the sweater is complete, PIerre is forced to huddle beneath blankets with Ranger the Cat for warmth. Sad isn't it? Actually, I walked in on these two in this pose and thought it was hilarious that they looked so much the same.