The Trashy Romance Novel Challenge

This weekend I lay in bed with the flu, complete with drippy nose, sinus headache and a fever. Life went on around me, but I was not really part of it. There was plenty of Kleenex and tea by my bedside, but best of all, I had a novel to keep me company.

When we were on vacation in Lake Tahoe, my eldest daughter, my girlfriend and I were rummaging thru a bookshelf offering free books: they were all pulp fiction and trashy romance novels, and we challenged ourselves to find one to read. I had a tough time with that assignment, as I admit I'm usually a serious (cerebral), o.k. nerdy person, who just does not normally read these books.
But the challenge was made, and by gosh, I had to find a book! Besides, there was the LONG plane ride back to Alaska. So I did pick a murder mystery, and it sure made the flight go by faster than my knitting project alone could have.

Shortly after that, I picked up a novel at a used bookstore whose title and cover art intrigued me:




And it was a perfect book for when I was so miserable last weekend -- it was great to escape into my novel when I could not sleep but did not just want to lay there. It's about these 3 women who meet every week to knit, and their relationships with the men in their lives...

So, knitters & readers (esp. you other two of the 3 women searching the bookshelf in Tahoe): whichever one of you emails or comments on this post first, I will send you the book in the mail!

Knitting up a storm

I've been bitten by the knitting bug - this is a common affliction for me during winter. Shortly before heading to the cabin, I was furiously gathering scraps of wool to take along, and the results are a couple of funky scarves made from various types of yarn (everything from shiny ribbon yarn to strange acrylic blends passed to me by well-meaning friends, to Alpaca wool I carried in my suitcases from my last trip to South America). I blended it all together with a very fine mohair, and stayed more or less within a colorway for each scarf. I was actually quite pleased with the results -- esp. considering I could not actually SEE very well by candlelight!
Back at home in "civilization", I've discovered that I sit with my laptop in my lap, catch up on blogs, and knit at the same time!

There is something so soothing -- it calms me down, keeps my fingers busy while the mind can wonder or process: it may be a scary movie (I can look at a sweater I knit years ago and tell you what books or movies I read/saw that year). I love being able to give a hand-knit item as a gift, and admit to secretly enjoying being admired for my skills. Knitting also connects me to generations of women before me who provided for their families by the labor of their hands.

I'm not the kind of girl that likes to go to the mall for clothes-shopping; perfumes and make-up do not interest me, but woe if I get let loose in a good yarn-store (above is the Tangled Skein, our local source where I just happened to have stopped by today) -- I start drooling when I'm standing in front of rows and rows of wool. Ooooh, the variegated wool-silk blends by Noro alone are so tempting! I generally prefer natural colors and genuine wool sheared from sheep, but do occasionally get carried away by something more (I hate to admit it) synthetic -- but knitting is probably where only a small portion of our earth's oil reserves go...


Below a few pictures taken at the Rapids Yurt (just a few miles from the Nature Center where I work) during Spring Break in March a few years back. There I'm basking in the spring sun on the yurt's deck, overlooking some gorgeous mountains in the Chugach Range, and, of course, knitting! That year I was really into socks -- this colorful pair was my first (and only) attempt at japanese toesox. And I hate to have to guess as to how many miniature socks and stockings I've knit for dolls or Christmas tree decorations: doesn't this woman have anything better to do, like clean the house? In my own defense I have to add that I do a lot of my knitting while travelling, camping, or waiting at the bus-stop or dentist's office... Not that my house is ever clean...

Looking at these pictures is also a good reminder to me that in less than 4 months I might be knitting in the sun again. I sure miss sunshine right now -- perhaps that's why I'm so attracted to colorful wool right now -- a girl has gotta have something to get her through the winter!
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