Finished!

Here is the completed Olympic Sweater. Finished late last night, after days of just sitting there waiting for me to put it together. Photographed today in a sunny window (sorry about the shadows, I didn't want to go outside and shoot it).

Overall, I'm pretty happy with it, I liked the yarn, the pattern was simple and quick, but I doubt I'll wear it. It's just a little too bulky for me, and a little too close fitting. I tried it on late last night. DH thought it looked good, and it fits better than I anticipated and looks fine, but I don't like the feel of it on me. I think it's the combination of bulky yarn and the fit. I think it would feel better if it were a size larger, even though it might look sloppier. For the next knitting Olympics I'll try something in a finer gauge

:-)

I finished the pieces long before I thought I would and instead of just finishing the whole sweater, I worked on other things. I finished the second sock from a pair I started at the Scottish Games last Sept. I didn't include a picture because they are plain ribbed socks in a solid green. Not very exciting, but I'm glad I got them done.

Then I started another pair of socks and almost finished them too! They are just simple stockinette stitch socks, but I like the pattern in the yarn, how they fit and feel and wash. I made a similar pair for Lolly's socktoberfest in October and I wear them all the time. Socks are so much easier to throw in my bag and take with me everywhere. Portable knitting is good.

I probably won't work on them much today. I have a tiara to make for wonderful Annie and I think I'll make some raspberry chocolate truffles for my book group. I've only made truffles a few times. The first batch tasted great but looked like the dickens. The second batch tasted even better and looked a little more like actual truffles. I'm getting quicker with the dipping the cold center into the warm chocolate, so I don't end up with a lumpy melted mess. Today we'll see if the improvement trend continues.

I finished the Historian and I'm about finished with She got up off the Couch. I am really enjoying She got up off the couch. It's the sequel to Girl named Zippy by Haven Kimmel. They are both about the authors childhood in a small town in Indiana. She manages to convey exactly how life looked through her childhood eyes. I love the way she presents the picture of her life just as she understood it then, no adult understanding enters into the story. I also love the crazy characters, the craziest of which are her own family. It's wonderful non fiction storytelling like few other books I've ever read.

I struggled through the Historian, I liked the characters and the plot was interesting ( even though I'm not interested in Dracula) but there were so many points where the book made me grind my teeth, I would have put it down if it weren't one of my book group books. Too long for me, too plodding, too many huge convenient coincidences, too many 'she uncrossed her legs and looked at her watch' or 'removed her gloves' ... I just don't have the patience for a book that takes almost 700 to tell me when people cross their legs, but doesn't explain huge plot points that make absolutely no sense or worse, explains them as a stunning coincidence.

I also couldn't stand that while some of the non english speaking characters searched for common everyday words to express themselves, the next sentence they would use words like 'waxen' and say that someone was 'slighter' than someone else. I'm sorry, if you don't have a basic grasp of enlish, the word waxen won't cross your lips and slighter? sorry. no. smaller maybe, littler possibly, even tinier I'd believe before slighter. It's a picky little thing, but it bothered me to no end. I know at least one other person in my book group loved this book, so I know it's one of those personal taste things. There are plenty of books I love that other people thought were silly, simple or just plain bad. That's how personal taste works.

This is one of those things I love about books and talking about books. Two people can be in absolute agreement on many books they read and then there will be one of those books that throws them completely on opposite sides of the spectrum. Or two people who have nothing in common with one another, at all, and find they love the same author. It's just so odd how people's tastes overlap, I find the intersections of taste so fascinating.

Okay, enough rambling... here's Fannie Pie herself, sunning on a Booga Bag.