Book List: Wow, It's Been a While Edition

I'm still reading, but I haven't done a Book List in a LONG time. So I'm going to do a quickie version with lots of books. I'm sure I'm leaving out one or two, but this should be most of them. Without further ado...

Addicted to Love by Lori Wilde: This is a classic modern romance novel. There is plenty of good old fashioned lust at first sight and eventually some love. A fun read. The "sexy" parts were humorously worded, in my opinion, at times which actually added to my enjoyment of this book. It is part of a series and I would definitely check out the others if I ran across them at the library.

The Way Through Doors by Jesse Ball: This may quite possibly be one of the weirdest books I've ever read. I found it quite intriguing and interesting--even when it was confusing. A very different book from a very different author. Not my typical read, but definitely worth checking out.

The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Decked Out by Neta Jackson: A good example of the modern Christian novel, I enjoyed this book. It's message is more subtle than some, but definitely Christian-based. This is part of the Yada Yada Prayer Group series. This was the first one that I had read and I enjoyed the characters and the message. The novel is set around the Christmas season and it gave me a lot of ideas of how to celebrate Advent and how to bring Christ back into Christmas. I need to read it again next fall to get ready for the holidays.

Nine Wives by Dan Elish: This book was really entertaining and I could see it being a great movie. The main character is ready to settle down and get married only he doesn't have anyone to settle down with. So he imagines married life with every woman he meets which leads to some hilarious "dreams." Very funny and interesting male perspective on something I always saw as a female situation. The main character is an actor and writer and I totally pictured him as Joseph Fiennes in Shakespeare in Love the whole time I was reading this novel.

Chocolate Beach by Julie Carobini: A decent read. I enjoyed this book, but it didn't leave a major impression on me.

Santa Baby by Jennifer Crusie (and two other holiday-themed novellas by Lori Foster and Carly Phillips)
The Playboy by Carly Phillips
Tempting by Susan Mallery
These three books are more of the classic modern romances. All fun, flirty and full of love and lust. Tempting was my favorite of the three.

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi: I've been hearing about this book for so long and finally ran across it in the library (in the non-fiction section) and checked it out. It's a very interesting read. I am really bad about not watching the news or reading the newspaper so I'm never very well-informed on the state of various parts of the world. I really had no idea of the history of women and their rights (or lack there of) in Iran and this book was very eye-opening. It is written by a woman who was an English literature professor in Iran and her love and understanding of these novels play an important role in the book. It not only made me feel angry for the way women are treated in Iran, but it also made me want to read the classic novels that Nafisi writes about. They are as much "characters" in this book as the people are. Very interesting and informative book.

Don't Look Down by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer: Although Crusie is known for her romance novels, this book was more action film action than action in bed action. It was a fun and entertaining read.

Crochet on Hold

So I was told by the designer of the potholder I was trying to crochet that it doesn't look like I'm doing it right. And looking at the pictures, I don't think I'm doing it right either. Not sure what I'm doing wrong so I'm going to try to talk to a few friends in the neighborhood who crochet and figure it out. Oh well. I guess I can't just teach myself how to do everything. Will keep you posted when I figure it out.

A Funny Photo Shoot and a Great Visit!

My parents were just in town for a visit and it was SO wonderful. We had so much fun with them. Both boys and Pepper were LOVING all the extra love from Mooma and Papa. It was just a wonderful wonderful time. During their visit, we decided to go to the Dallas Zoo. It had been a while since we'd gone and we really had a blast. J is into all kinds of new animals since his latest obsession with Go, Diego, Go. (He's decided he wants to be an animal rescuer when he grows up and he wants N to be one too.) N is finally old enough to get excited about the various animals (real and statues). Anyway, the following are some of my favorite photos from the visit:

Fun with the crocodile statue. Mooma and N.


Then B decided to get in on the fun. Love how N is watching him.

Then Papa joined in. Who is that silly man?

J decided to save his funny pictures to pose as a zookeeper.

"Cheese!"

With my boys on the carousel. J was so excited to ride an okapi--one of his favorite animals from Diego. We also saw a real one in the zoo for the first time. Definitely a highlight!

I am so glad my parents came to visit. It was so much fun for us all. I am so blessed to have such wonderful parents!

It's growing...

So after two painstaking hours, my crocheted potholder has grown to this:


It's not love at first project, but I'm finally getting a little bit of rhythm to my crocheting. That's definitely one of the things I love about knitting is the relaxing repetitive rhythm of the stitches. I think it will be good to know how to crochet, but I don't yet see it becoming the new love of my craft life. This potholder will definitely NOT be perfect, but hopefully it will keep my hands safe. In time, maybe I can make my great grandmother Ruthie proud. She made some mean potholders that we all still love and use to this day.

Little Knitterly Updates

I'm wearing and enjoying my two latest knits, the Berry and Bramble Cardigan and the Owls Sweater.

I wove the belt through several of the "loops" made by the berry and bramble pattern and am enjoying my cardigan much more. It's less fiddly this way.


I've managed to wear the Owls sweater multiple times despite the fact that it's hit 70 twice. I am still deciding whether or not I want to put buttons on this one. I think I do because I thought they were so adorable on the one in the pattern. However, I don't want the buttons to draw too much attention. I found some olive green 1/4" buttons at JoAnn's that are kind of cute. This is what they look like:

I like how the olive blends nicely with the colors of the yarn. I don't love how thick and flat these buttons are. I am worried that the 1/4" size may be a bit small. I found two other options on online that I like. They are both a tiny bit larger (3/8"). The first option is a beige button that is light in the middle and darker brown at the edge. Even though my sweater is gray, it's a very warm charcoal grey and I think these might look nice. I think they also look eye-like. The second option is a black button with a fish-eye shape in the middle. I think the black will blend more with the dark charcoal yarn. Not sure how I feel about the shine.

In other knitting news, I started J's sweater. I'm calling it the School Bus Sweater since that's what the yarn color reminds me of. I'm adapting the pattern so I can knit it in the round instead of in pieces. I will let you know how that goes. So far so good!


And, this weekend while my mom was here, we decided to try and learn how to crochet. My great grandmother used to crochet these awesome potholders that we all love. My mom and I found this pattern that looks very close so I tried to teach myself. This is what I have so far.


The stitches make sense to me, but I'm confused by the pattern. Will keep trying because I really need a new craft in my life :).

I do not "heart" this news

I do not <3 it at all. In fact, I find it a bit disheartening.

First, I took Pepper to the vet on Saturday for her yearly checkup (we adopted her last January) and found out that she has heartworms. She'd been tested before we adopted her and tested negative at the time and we've had her on monthly heartworm medicine ever since. But apparently, if they have young heartworms that are not yet producing the antigen they test for, then dogs can have a false negative and that's probably the case with Pepper. The good news is that it was a light positive which means she probably does not have very many heartworms. The other good news is that the lifespan of a heartworm is only 1 to 2 years and hers is most likely at least a year old. We talked to the vet extensively about our treatment options and have chosen to take a less aggressive route. If you choose the more aggressive treatment, you have to keep your dog inactive for 4 weeks afterward or else they can have deadly complications. As Pepper is a very excitable dog, we decided this could be a dangerous option for her. So instead, we are giving her an antibiotic that is known to weaken heartworms and will retest her in six months. Of course, meanwhile I am freaking out every time she looks funny or does anything out of the ordinary. It's going to be a LONG six months. Please, God, please let my baby girl be okay!

Yes, she thinks she's a lapdog.

In other disheartening news, I found out today that I have high cholesterol and that my bad cholesterol is particularly high. This isn't the end of the world and it isn't really shocking news as high cholesterol runs in the family, but it made me sad all the same. I'm sad that at only thirty-three I already have to start watching what I eat. I know it's a good thing in the long run to change my diet, but it still makes me sad. It makes me feel old. I guess I can't keep eating "kid food" when B's out of town. I don't think tater tots and chicken nuggets are low in cholesterol. Oh well!

Finished: Owls Sweater

It's finished and I really like and I've even worn it twice...which is good since I live in Texas and the warm weather is returning soon.

Sorry for the delay on the Owls sweater post, but it's been a crazy week and I didn't slow down to get proper pics until today.
Pattern: Owls by Kate Davies of Needled
Size: XS (I had gauge issues--28 stitches x 18 rows =4 in--so I followed the instructions for the Small to make an Extra Small.)
Yarn: Patons Shetland Chunky Tweed (72% Acrylic/25% Wool/ 3% Viscose/ 109 yds/ 3oz/Charcoal--6 skeins)
Needles: Size 9 for ribbing, Size 10 for body and sleeves, Size 11 for Binding off
Modifications: (See Note about Size and gauge.) Also, I did the Back waist decreases as written, but decided to move the waist increases to the sides because of lots of comments about "puffy back." Before I did this, I moved the beginning of row marker and side marker so that there was an even number of stitches on the front and the back. Instead of doing 6 sets of increases and then decreasing by 2 stitches, I just did 5 sets of increases. I had a total of 98 stitches when I set the stitches aside to work on the sleeves. Because of tight sleeve comments, I cast on 28 stitches instead of 24 for the sleeves. I tried on the first sleeve and felt it was a little snug so I frogged the sleeve and started over. My final sleeve started with 32 stitches, has 4 inches of ribbing, and only has 4 sets of increases to end up with a total of 40 stitches (36 stitches after casting off stitches for the armpits). When I put everything together to do my yoke, I had 170 stitches to make a total of 17 owls.
Other Notes: I had several different dye lots so I was careful about when I changed skeins. I had two matching skeins so I used one for each sleeve. I had one skein that was pretty different so I used that one for the owls since it would be a visual break anyway. I also changed skeins at the beginning of the neck ribbing so I wouldn't have to change mid-ribbing. I think the final sweater looks okay without any too noticeable differences in the colors of the parts of the sweaters.
I think this is a sweater I will wear often as it's very comfortable. Of course, I live in Texas so I won't get to wear it TOO much.