Books,On and Off the needles,podcast mentions. I

Hi
Sunny and beautiful in Arizona.  perfect temperature 75 during the day 45 at night.  I have been trying to keep up with my New Years resolutions but I don't know if I can finish a sweater this month unless I really get to work.  I have read several books.
1.Cartwheel by Jennifer duBois this book is based loosely on the Amanda Knox case.  It is mediocre at best.  I don't feel any of the characters are well developed or likeable.
2. After Her Joyce Maynard 2 teenage sisters in Northern California try to help their detective father solve a serial killer mystery.  It is also part coming of age story. again not terrible but not great either.
3.Sister,Mother,Husband,Dog Delia Ephron this is by Nora' Ephron's sister it is not a downer even though the first half is about the illness of her sister.  Delia has the same style as her sister and same wit quick read

I need a good book to really transport me.  Any thoughts?

Podcasts     I don't know if any of you are into podcasts but I listen to several while I knit.  Among my favorite:
theknitmoregirls a mother and daughter podcast they are funny and have a good podcast probably one of the best  big following

2knitlitchicks another mother daughter podcast they talk about knitting and the books they are reading

ladiesof the knit  I love this one. Three friends talk about what they are knitting.  They live in the Boston area and like many of the same yarns and patterns that I do.

knitfm  This is a new podcast with serious knitting discussions It is hosted by Pam Allen of Quince 
&Co. and Hannah Fettig the knitting designer.
There are several others I like that I will mention another time.
You can download them through Itunes.

I have been working on my knitting.  I have finished "The Point of View Vest" In Knitbot Linen by Hannah Fettig  knit in Sparrow  Linen Yarn in the fern color by Quince&co.  I like how this turned out but since I am such a loose knitter I had to use size 1 needles and it took forever.
Almost finished with some fingerless mittens for my daughter.  These were knitted in some leftover Malabrigo yarn from a long time ago in a pattern I kinda made up as I went.

Fingerless Gloves

Charloette Cardigan

I continue with the "Charloette Cardigan"  On 9 needles In Swan's Island yarn.  I love this yarn from Maine.  It is expensive but you can get seconds which this yarn I am using is if you are ever lucky enough to be in Northport Maine where their retail is.

Point of View Vest

Yarn From the Great White Bale

Yarn dyed at Sacco Dye-works Biddeford ME

This past year I participated in Clara Parks "The Great White Bale Adventure".  Clara Parks is a woman who knits and has written several famous books on knitting.  She also has a famous blog and newsletter which I will link to here,www.knittersreview.com.  About a year ago on her blog she advertised that she was buying a bale of yarn and was going to have it spun and dyed and you could sign up and take the adventure with her and I did.  It was supposed to last 6 months but with all the delays she ran into it lasted about 10 months.  The pictures above are of the yarn we received.  The yarn is beautiful and over the next couple of months I will make some things from it.  I just wish one delivery was enough to make a sweater.  This past summer I visited the Saco River Dye Works in Biddeford Maine.  It is helping to revive this mill town.  The most fascinating part of Clara's adventure was the difficulty she had finding places in the United States to spin and dye her bale. It really increased my resolve to try and buy most of my yarn locally-spun and dyed locally and from local yarn stores.

I have been doing a lot of knitting and the next post I will put in some pictures and talk about it.  I may be repeating my self but my goal for this year is to knit a sweater and one small project a month and read 100 books this year.  If  I put this in writing I am hoping it will spur me to keep this resolution-hold me accountable.  The weather in Arizona is great.  It has been in the low 40's overnight so I get to wear some of my sweaters,scarves.and mitts. Happy New Year!

books only

Well the New Year is over and things have quieted down.  One of my New Year resolutions is to push myself and read more books especially some classics that I never got around to reading.  In this post I am going to list some of my favorite books of the past year.
My Best Books of 2013 not in any particular order; (All books Can be found on Amazon.com)
The Round House Louise Eldrich  good but sad

The lifeboat Charlotte Rogan different read in about 24 hours
If you Lived Here I would Know your Name Heather Lende true story by a woman who lives in a small town in Alaska
Benediction Ken Harrup beautiful book about a man near the end of his life in Nebraska
The Edge of the Earth Christine Swartz a woman and her husband live in a lighthouse off the coast of California at the turn of the century and the other people that live there after them
The Interestings Meg Holister 4 kids who meet at summer camp and then what happens to them over the next 40 years -a very good book and great read
The Woman Upstairs Claire Messud another great read a book you can really get into
The Burgess Boys Elizabeth Strout great ,part of it takes place in Maine a place she knows well living there her last book won the Pulitzer Prize
love Anthony Lisa Genova this book is probably chic-lit but has a place in my heart since one of the women has a child with autism
OVER RATED
A Tale For The Time Being Ruth Ozewki
The Twelve Tribes Of Hattie Ayana didn't get the point
The Goldfinch Donna Tartt
TERRIBLE
Enon Paul Harding depressing
& Sons David Gilbert ridiculous
Whit Heat M.J. McGrathra Eskimo mystery pretty bad
The Pretty One Lucinda Rosenfeld  ridiculous

Paperwhites  this Holiday