More Fun With Memes

So if everyone keeps circulating memes, I could become a very lazy blogger.  (Okay, who am I kidding, I'm already a very lazy blogger.)  But Noah tagged me for this book meme, so I figure what the hell.

1. Total number of books I own:  Who knows how many books they own?  I very scientifically counted the books on one shelf and multiplied by the number of shelves in my apartment and came up with 375.  But a lot of those are Scott's.  Last year when I moved a got rid of a lot of books, and my book buying addiction is no longer what it once was.

2. The last book I bought: On Tuesday I bought Donna Druchannas' The Knitted Rug, The F-Word: Feminism in Jeapardy by Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, and America's Women by Gail Collins.

3. The Last Book I Read: Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd.  (I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the sacred feminine.)

4. Five Books that Mean a Lot to Me:
Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes.  (Do you see a theme developing here?)  I read this the year after my mom died.  It seemed like a good way to honor her spirit.  It taught me a lot about the kind of woman I want to be.

Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund.  I just like it.  Also her second novel, Four Spirits.

The Collected Works of Eugene O'Neill.  My senior thesis was directing an O'Neill play, and I've never been able to figure out why a cheerful person like myself would be so fascinated by such a depressing playwright. But there it is.

The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand.  Ah, youth.

The Greek Myths, by Robert Graves.  I contemplated a Classics major in college, but instead opted for the far more practical Drama major.  But I enjoyed studying Greek and Latin, and have been fascinated by mythology since I was little.

5. Tag five people and have them do this: how about Kay and Ann, Alanna, Stacy, and Julia.

Oh, also - What I'm Working On

It's summer, so I must be knitting lace.  In fact, I've got three projects going and they all have some lace element.  There's the interminable poncho, which I haven't been working on much but I want to get it done since it will be good to wear in the air conditioning.  (Insert my annual rant about overly-air conditioned restaurants, movie theaters, and office buildings.)  This project has cables and lace, actually lacy cables, which are the best of both worlds.  I like this stitch pattern so much!  Here's a picture of it, which you might not be able to see very well (sorry):

Also last week I started a shell to match the bolero cardi I recently designed.  I realized that I didn't have anything to wear the cardi with, so now it will be a twinset.  I'm going to try to sell the pattern, so you don't get to see that.  The cardi has an allover clover lace pattern, and the shell has the clovers on the bottom border.

But the real lace project I started yesterday.  It's the Peacock Feathers shawl from Fiddlesticks Knitting (which is also being knit by Julia, as luck would have it.)  I like knitting lace-weight yarn with bamboo needles (Addi Turbos are my needle of choice for everything else), which makes lace the ideal travel knitting, and later this month I'll be going to Ft. Worth, TX for a conference.  Why anyone would make people go to Texas in late June is totally beyond me, but I guess Unitarians are crazy like that.  Anyway, I'll be taking this with me to knit on the plane and in meetings and lectures.  Here's my swatch:

I look forward to a summer of glorious lace knitting... in between all the packing and moving, that is.

Comments

[julia fc]

Hey! Nice Peacock. What a good dooby to knit a swatch. Not me, I just plunged ahead, and it took me until halfway through chart #2 to orient myself to the blasted thing. I'm at row 91, or 93, I forgtebecause my post its went on holiday without giving notice.

And I already did the book meme (May 11th), but thanks for asking. I too loved Ahab's Wife, I made the costumes for The Hairy Ape for a friend's senior thesis production, and tore more than one copy of The Fountainhead in half out of frustration with Ayn Rand in my several attepts to "get" what everyone else loved so much about that book. AH, youth.

[Alison]

Thanks, Julia. I'm normally pretty lax on swatches for lace shawls, but I'm glad I did one for this since my first one came out much too small. Truth be told, I think this one is a tiny bit small too, but I decided it's close enough. I'll check out your May 11th entry...