Look at that! Progress is being made on the final sample of Saint Nicholas! I would still be grateful for a few more knitters to do a quick preview knit now (not a test, it shouldn't need much, if any, editing at this point) so I can see how people like the design and to have some extra project pages besides my own ready to link up when I release the pattern in November. If you are interested, please e-mail me, contact me via Arabian Knits Designs on Facebook, or @arabianknits on Instagram, on my Ravelry group or leave a comment here with your e-mail address. This is a quick stocking, knit in a worsted weight (and only one to knit!), that can easily be finished by the middle of November. However even if you don't finish, but post a couple pictures of your progress, that still helps me. I should be able to send PDFs to people tonight or tomorrow. Thank you to those of you who have contacted me already!

Nejat's blanket, meanwhile, has grown an extra round. The crochet vortex still has me in its clutches. I thought I was on the final round, and found that I had one more to do. Sigh. It's a good thing that Nejat already loves this blanket.

As for my reading, I did finish Murder is Bad Manners. It was a fun story, but I think included elements that were inappropriate to a book aimed at juveniles. They didn't even make sense, which is something I'm noticing more and more. These kinds of messages are included, I think, because they are "supposed" to be, but with little regard to whether it makes sense for a character, a story, or is appropriate to the audience. In any case, I actually liked the story, in all other ways, but as it wasn't exactly great literature, nor necessary, I'm not recommending it to our kids, and I told them why and my opinion of the story.

At that point, I was ready to start a more serious book, and picked up Hillbilly Elegy. It is an amazing narrative. J.D. Vance is a compelling writer, though there is definitely inappropriate language, and real life violence in it. The only times the language really bothered me were when it wasn't a direct quotation or when it was actual profanity (versus vulgarity, which is what many of our "bad words" are). Also, if you have lost a child as we have, whether to early death, stillbirth, or miscarriage, there are references to the death of an infant and multiple miscarriages. Nothing graphic, but it was sobering, and both Rich and I had to kind of take a moment to breathe and talk about it with each other. The picture he paints is powerful, though, and language notwithstanding, we are recommending it to Alexander and Dominic. Rich and I have been reading it together at night, and really think the warning and the advice intrinsic to the book is so important for young men, especially, to understand.



Also posting to Keep Calm and Craft On and Yarn Fanatic.

Labels: Books, Crochet, Design, Family, Homemaking, Homeschooling, Knitting, Yarn Along