Still not knitting

Let's see, while we are on the subject of books it seems only appropriate that I continue telling you about how they have been getting in the way of my knitting time. (My brain totally agrees as I tried to type "time" and instead spelled "knit." No joke. knitting knit.) **By the way, if you are looking for a lengthy book review go talk to a fourth grader. I wrote my thesis already and it sucked all, even marginally, comprehensive writing out of me. The following tend to be recommendations without much reasoning.**

On a quick trip to my local library I picked up some reading material for all that knitting down time I'm having recently.

First up was "Chicks with sticks."


I feel that I should warn you that the plot is essentially a teenage drama centered on how knitting is life changing. You don't need a coming of age with knitting story? Well, I have accepted my inner nerd/teen (thanks to His and Her Circumstances) and throughly enjoyed the book. The author has a true grasp on what the current knitting culture and even pokes fun at some of our beliefs and customs, much as do we-I'm thinking about the rift between crochet and knitting specifically. I liked it, just not as much as I liked The Friday Night Knitting Club. Unfortunately, I think my standards got set too high when I started with that one.

This next one fell very far below my standards, which oddly enough had nothing to do with the plot or the way it was written. In fact, the first story in "KnitLit Too: from sheep to shawl" had me in tears of laughter it was so good. Picture this: the Yarn Harlot takes her white knitting project ice skating and hilarity ensues.


A few others really got my attention, such as Zondra's sweaters in the story entitled "I wore black," but what sticks out in my mind the most about this book was how all the other stories didn't. I'm not blaming this problem on any one particular story or the authors' ability to judge the material sent to them. It just wasn't for me. However, I won't pass judgment on the whole series yet. This one may be a bit of a drag because it is the second in a series. I'll wait on the original to give my final decree.

Lastly, I finished "Knitting under the influence". Let me stop and say right here, that if you don't drink after you read this book you will. It has a bartenders guide in the back for most of the drinks mentioned for crying out loud! I had to stop halfway through the first chapter and fix myself a mojito just so I could continue reading. In fact, remembering this book makes me want a drink. Salty, sweet mint mojito...


Three friends have formed their standing Saturday (or was it Sunday? I don't know. Maybe a drink will help me remember!) morning knitting get together. You, the reader, are brought to understand that this is nothing new. Soon you meet (not necessarily in this order) Sari, Lucy and Kathryn. I felt a real connection with the character Sari and her constant self-denial. The character Lucy also felt very "real" to me meaning that I could actually imagine a person to be like her. The third member or our trio took a little more suspension of disbelief to understand. Kathryn is a wealthy party to a set of triplets who has no real aspirations or goals in life. But when in reality have you ever had a matching group of friends? Not me. During these knit-ups the women discuss their lives as you might imagine. Mainly this book is about their lives and not knitting, but it is well written and definitely worth a shot.

Now, what else can I do that is knitting related, but not actually knitting....Oh, that's right I can go organize my project on Ravelry!