limedragon :)

Mysterious Women

(There is a bit of knitting content, I promise!)

You might recognize these names and know what they have in common:

• Karen Grigsby Bates
• Amanda Cross (Carolyn Gold Heilbrun)
• Diane Mott Davidson
• Rosemary White Gatenby
• Carolyn Keene (Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, and others)
• Jane (Gillson) Langton
• Emma Lathen (Mary Jane Latsis and Martha Henissart^*)
• Katherine Hall Page
• Kate Ross

They’re all mystery authors. I thought this was quite appropriate for Halloween.

And what’s more, we all attended Wellesley College. I was already aware of the Stratemeyer connection, but I had no idea Cross, Davidson, or Page went to Wellesley. I’ll definitely be checking out the other authors new to me. Has anyone read most or all of these authors?

By coincidence, I had queried in the Ravelry YarnWords group forum about a long lost and vaguely remembered book I had read during childhood. The book turned out to be The Swing in the Summerhouse, by Jane Langton! In addition to the Homer Kelly mysteries, she writes The Hall Family Chronicles, of which Summerhouse is the second book.

One of the characters, Eleanor Hall, is a knitter! At one point in The Diamond in the Window, she uses the sharp point of a needle as a prying tool. Later, there is a paragraph about the knitted gifts she made. I’m quoting it here because I think it will strike chords with some of you.

…She had knitted something for everybody. Aunt Lily’s present was one mitten with the promise of another. Edward’s was a nose-warmer that buttoned in back. Uncle Freddy’s was an enormously long striped muffler. It dangled to his knees.…  “It was just knit-a-row, purl-a-row,” said Eleanor. “I almost forgot to stop.”
(The Diamond in the Window, Jane Langton, pages 119-120)

I wonder if Langton knits?

Source: “When it comes to murder and mayhem, Wellesley authors are masters,” by Karen Grigsby Bates, Wellesley, Fall 2006.

^*Of the Emma Lathen duo, Latsis is the Wellesley alumna. They also wrote under the pseudonym R.B. Dominic.

Three old ladies knit the socks of death

Today’s post title is courtesy of Rick Riordan’s The Lightning Thief. I thought this chapter heading was too cute not to use. (The book is first in a series about a boy’s modern-day adventures with the Olympian gods, demigods, creatures, and monsters. If you are familiar with Greek and Roman mythology, it’s easy to guess the three knitters are a recreation of the Fates or moirae.)

Did you notice? I’ve been on a sock break lately. In late August or early September, I suddenly wanted to knit something different. But I didn’t go cold turkey; I’ve been stealthily working on a sock design for my Hogwarts SS2 pal, Amelia.

It’s been a slow process. It took me a while to get a chart draft worked out to my satisfaction, and then even longer to knit it and see what worked—or didn’t. Finally, I think I have gotten it sorted out.

Here’s a preview:

There’s no color for two reasons. It’ll be a surprise to Amelia as to which House colors these are. (She is in Gryffindor, but is open to other house colors since she received Gryffindor colors in the first term.)

I also removed the color because I’m interested in your name suggestions and didn’t want any color influence. I do have a favorite name in mind, but want your fresh perspective. (I haven’t decided yet whether to submit this design to a magazine, or to self-publish.)

Meanwhile, while trying to boost my socknitting mojo, I signed up for Socks in the Cities KAL, and volunteered to be a Sockapalooooza Savior.

After a few false starts, I decided to knit the newest Sockamania Club KAL pattern for my pal. The colorway I’m using is “The Berry Brigade” from Spunky Eclectic. The purplish tinge has, thus far, been impossible for me to capture in a photo, but I’m loving the red.

Behind and Behinder

Ahoy, me hearties! I was out of town last week, and intended to have several posts scheduled and ready to go. Unfortunately, I ran out of time before departing and forgot to upload the needed pictures.

Below is a mini-catchup, and tomorrow, you’ll find out where I traveled!

BookMate Update

Some of you will recall I posted reviews of hands-free book holders earlier this year, including the BookMates I & II. Two weeks ago, I received an odd email through my contact form about the BookMate. At first I thought it might be spam, but I decided to check the website first. It turns out that the BookMates have been discontinued at BookMateStore.com.

They will continue to honor warranties, which is good. They plan to introduce a new line of book holders/covers/stands by November 1. I wonder what they’ll be like, and how they compare with the original versions and those from other manufacturers. I’ll try to post another update once the new product is available.

Organic Power

The heavy rains and related floods that hit SE MN and SW WI a few weeks ago have affected many of the region’s farms. Knittymama is holding a fundraiser contest in conjunction with Sow the Seeds‘ fundraiser to help these organic farmers. Please consider donating (details are in the contest post) to this worthy cause. You could win some pretty yarn! Deadline is September 29.

Flower Power

The newest installment of the Rockin’ Sock Club arrived a few weeks ago. I’m fairly sure all members have received their yarn, and this is old news, but in case you haven’t seen it yet:

I admit, when I first pulled the yarn out of the envelope, I only saw the blue and brown end, and thought, “Huh… This seems very similar to Rainforest Jasper?” But as you can see in the picture, more colors are included, including indigo and magenta, in the colorway. Groovy.

If I were a book…

ETA: Schrodinger (yes, the one I test-knit the Twisted Tweed socks for) is running a contest in preview of her new Etsy shop. Go over there right now and leave a comment for a chance to win a cool cube-shaped sock bag!

What? What? There was a miniseries? How did I miss this? Oh yeah… I was buried under a ton of books in grad school. Time to update my Netflix queue! : ) Cute quiz, even if I’m not Camelot-obsessed. (Quiz via Kimbooktu.)

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bleargh

I’ve been out of town, too busy, or too sick to knit very much. This past weekend, I read the last Harry Potter book, which was exactly what I hoped for, even if it made me weepy. Yesterday my job was terminated; I despise job-hunting and am not looking forward to it. A new pair of socks are nearly ready to leave the needles (pictures coming Friday). Forget July, I’m ready for August!

Birthday Swag

(A couple readers have expressed interest in the Sockamania Club Knitalong, which, up until now, has been closed to new members. The club has opened to new participants with a possible cap at 100. If you signup before the 10th, you can participate in the current July pattern-along and qualify for the monthly drawing if you finish before the deadline. Email signup and KAL details are on the club’s blog sidebar.)

My birthday was simple but lovely: quesadillas on the grill at my parents’ house, then gifts.

Being from a bookish family, I wasn’t surprised to receive some books,

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To bind or not to bind

Knitters and book lovers out there, I’d love your feedback/comments on this, thanks! : )

Some of you may already be aware about a binding service Kinkos (or Office Max, Office Depot, etc) offers: for a small fee, they’ll cut the spine off a book and re-bind it. If you haven’t seen this before, here are a couple of examples: this person chose comb binding for her books, and another went with spiral. Also, this topic has shown up now and then on forums/lists, here’s one at Knittyboard.

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1000!

On Monday, Nicole of Knerq left the 1,000th comment here! Yay! She chose the Amazon gift certificate as her prize. Nicole is thinking about getting a knitting book and is taking suggestions. There are tons of good choices, which book would you recommend?

Fun Stuff

There are lots of fun knitterly activities in the near future, both IRL and online. 

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Sock Premiere

Remember that nasty sock curse I had? No more! Yesterday I finished up the Fortissima socks and took them someplace special for their first outing.

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