Twilight

Here's an interesting article on "Twilight":

Mormon Vampires in the Garden of Eden



Looking forward to Mr. Granger's latest book.


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p.s. I survived November. Let's hope I make it through December.

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Reading

I've been on a Dorothy Sayers read-a-thon. I started with "Strong Poison" in June (as per July 4th blog post). I finished "Have His Carcase" mid July. And then devoured "Gaudy Night". I just finished "Busman's Honeymoon" August 18th. Of the four, I think I enjoyed this last one the best of all...although I wouldn't have if I hadn't read the first three to understand the background of their relationship.

These four books are the main books that deal with the Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane's relationship. I loved the interactions between those two characters (and Bunter!)...with a few mysteries thrown in as well. There was quite a bit of French and Latin thrown in also. Most of that I had to let go over my head. I would have loved a translation of the French letters near the end though.

Sayers also started "Thrones, Dominations" but it was finished by another author....who also wrote another Peter/Harriet novel after that. I'm still deciding if I should continue on. There have been very mixed reviews about both of those novels. But I don't know how I can resist not reading them....even if the last reads more like FanFiction rather than something Sayers would have wrote. Not all FanFiction is horrible.

Here is a website with the chronological list of the Lord Peter Wimsey short stories and novels with some reviews and plot points.

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A Twilight Moment

You know you've read too much Twilight when.......

You try to drink a Frosty (from Wendy’s) with a straw. You work and work to get the thick Frosty through the straw. You irritate the burned spot behind your front top teeth (from eating corn on the cob the night before).

You taste blood but continue to try to get the Frosty up the straw.

The Frosty is now about an inch and a half above the cover. You stop and access your lack of progress and see moisture in the straw near the top. You watch it roll down and meet the Frosty and realize that moisture is a drop of blood. You suddenly feel like Bella….drinking blood from a straw. You almost make your kids puke when you mention this as you are drinking it. LOL

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Yes, that happened this past Saturday between the church and the reception of my cousin's daughter's wedding. We had a nice time at the wedding. I've forgotten how much fun I had as a kid at family weddings when we'd get to dance with cousins and other relatives we rarely got to see. It's my kid's turn to have that fun and we were almost fun suckers by leaving early. So glad my youngest cried to stay longer. Only wish I would have gotten out to dance. She said later she would have danced if I would have.

New Driver and other sundry items

Yep! That day back in June when my oldest took her driver's test...she passed with flying colors! She didn't have any point deductions at all. Yippee! But scary at the same time. She's taken me to work a couple times so she can "have the car" while I work. Weird feeling...

Exercising is still going good. I finished my 30 day challenge a week or so two ago. That was on the medium level. I'll be starting another 30 days on the hard level hopefully next week. I did a hard workout today...one of the preset ones. Boy...that really got me sweating. Then I did the body test on Wii Fit. So far I lost about 5 pounds since mid-January. Probably would be more if I'd give up ice cream...oh well. I have noticed my muscles are more toned and I get less fatigued. My upper back doesn't hurt as often anymore either so that is good news.

Reading....I'm reading a Dorothy Sayers book at the moment. "Strong Poison" was first. The second story is "Have His Carcase". I'm maybe 5 chapters into it but having trouble staying awake at night. Long days at work and getting to bed too late/getting up early to exercise is beginning to take its toll. :yawn:

Knitting....I'm working on this year's Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery shawl. That is slow going too. No working on that in spare minutes or it would be tinking galore. But it is a pretty blue ...."Jazz" from Knitpicks...hence I've nicknamed this project "Jasper". Yes, a Twilight reference.

Mandala Pictures

This pattern is Mandala. It was last year's Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery Knit-a-long. The Ravelry pattern main page has some pretty pictures of finished shawls.

This pattern had 5 clues. Each of the first four clues had four different charts to choose from. So many options for the final shawl. The last clue was the edge. There was only one choice for the edge but you could substitute with another edge that had the same number of row repeats or if you were willing to do the math. I went with the given chart for clue 5.







































I was nervous about the blocking but it was a snap with a 70" round plastic table cloth.


Oh...here's my project page at Ravelry.

New Computer

Well, the new computer is here. But I can't seem to manage to get the pictures in the right place. What this means is that no pictures of my finished items are being posted. :sniff:

I've had the computer for a few weeks but I haven't had time to deal with the issue since I'm a bit busy with a new part-time job and we are trying to adjust our schedules to that. Yes, you did read that correctly. A new part-time job. Dh's job is tenuous at best and even his self-employment is having a bit of a down turn.

I'm off for a few days for appointments...much needed hair cuts, dentist, and oldest dd taking her driving test. The computer getting tweaked is high on my list of things to accomplish this week. Can't wait to post some pictures!

Oh yeah....Twilight......Hogwart's Professor has a new website for Twilight related posts. This article written by a guest author really explains Bella and Edward's relationship very nicely. And along those same lines....Subtlynice has updated her version of New Moon from Edward's POV. Reading today's updated chapter reminded me of Arabella's article.

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Fratrum concordia rara

How can I pass up that Latin Proverb with the word "concordia" in it?!?

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Busy Month

Since the last post....

House sat/Nephew sat while sis and her dh were picking up their oldest from college. Got locked out of their house without a key. Library card to the rescue. (Oldest dd's idea.)

Two days later...finally got the muffler repaired. Now I'm not so noisy.

A couple days after that...Prom for my oldest homeschooled daughter. Who would have thought! She went with a friend from church. His mom works for the DPI (Department of Public Instruction). And dd ran into two 2nd cousins while she was out for the night.

And there was a wedding shower, various church duties, "behind the wheel" class, dentist...once every month for braces, our wedding anniversary which I wasn't home for but we are celebrating tonight with cupcakes that the kids are making.

A bit of unplanned reading was thrown in the mix....The Host by Stephanie Meyer. I didn't really want to read it but my sister had sent it home with me so I figured why not. It made me cry (of course) but some of the characters really were very similar to Twilight characters.

Oh and knitting! Another pattern almost ready....plus the free one still. My Mandala is very close to being finished. (pattern ravelry link) Just another hour or two of knitting then on to the blocking. This year's Mystery shawl started this past weekend but I won't let myself start it until I get last year's shawl done.

But the biggest trouble this month was the computer dying. The one with the patterns and photos and all the other important files. We still don't have the new one here but it will only be another week or so. Luckily we have an old ancient computer upstairs that the kids use and we've got a wireless router. So except for all the files and programs and pictures on the main computer (which is a big BUT!) online life continued mostly uninterrupted.

How could I forget about exercising???? I'm still at it! Back to 5 days a week and sometimes weekends. I was able to save up enough of my exercise incentive pay to buy the new EA Active Sports program. I'm only on the first day of the 30 challenge so the jury is still out on which of the three exercise programs I like the best. This one this morning really had me sweating! But I like the flow of the Wii Personal Trainer and the fun of the Wii Fit. So most likely I'll be doing a combination of two of the programs each day for an hour's worth of exercise. Now if only the scale would start showing some signs that I've been exercising consistently since mid-January. :sigh:

EDIT: It isn't called Wii Personal Trainer. It is called Wii My Fitness Coach.
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Fitterknitter Blogged!

Thank you so much for blogging about my Pi Cloth pattern! You are the first to blog about one of the patterns that are for sale. I do appreciate the kind words.

I'm really glad to see that other knitters are enjoying the patterns and that the patterns are serving the purpose to which they were intended. Practicing skills on a smaller scale is not as intimidating as tackling a huge project with expensive yarns.





I do use these pretty cloths to give a little sparkle to my day when I'm doing the dishes by hand...which is every day...no dishwasher here! But if someone feels these are too pretty to use they would make some plain Barbie very lovely when she wears her beautiful new shawl to accent her outfit.




Anyway....check out Fitterknitter's website and Yahoo Group and the pretty lace note cards.

She is working on rewritting and charting the book entitled The Art of Knitting which was published in 1897. What a project! I've got problems trying to read the written directions of current day British knitting patterns. All the different abbreviations for YO usually get muddled in my brain.


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Smiling Diamonds Square Cloth

Here's the latest $1.00 pattern!

This cloth is knit in the round on four double pointed needles. The border is knit on and uses a triple join on the corners to allow the border to lay flat. After blocking the cloth measured 10.5" square.

The yarn is Pisgah Yarn & Dyeing Co., Inc America's Best Article 960, Perle Cotton and the color is Capri Blue. I love this thinner cotton. The cloths are so soft and just the right weight (about 24 grams).

I'll be adding the side bar link soon. But in the meantime here is the Ravelry link for the Smiling Diamonds Square Cloth.

And a link to purchase the pattern here in this post.

I've been a bit distracted.....

March 3rd was my last entry! Yikes!

I've been reading a lot since December. You already know about Twilight, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and Dracula from previous posts.

I have since continued to read book after book...

Northanger Abbey (Jane Austen)
Persuasion (Jane Austen)
Mansfield Park (Jane Austen)
Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)

and currently Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen...of course!)

Don't think I overlooked Emma. I've read that book a couple times in the last few years.

I've also been enjoying some (okay maybe more than just "some") Twilight related FanFiction. Someday I'll post a top 10 or 20 list...or wait how about chronological???. I really enjoyed the saga from Edward's point of view. I didn't think I'd ever read FanFiction but some of it is really not too bad. Although there is definitely plenty to avoid so please do use some caution at that site if you venture over there. (Especially anything with a "M" rating!)

Here's a few I enjoyed...
Continuance of Midnight Sun (This story picks up where Stephanie Meyer left off with Midnight Sun) although I preferred Phoenix Rising for the account of the action in Phoenix.
And this last link is one chapter called The Video Tape.


I had Atlas Shrugged checked out from the library but after vacuuming off many of our books and bookshelves I found some books I wanted to read that I had forgotten about. Yes...we have many books and bookshelves and that is not necessarily a good thing. Anyway....for now I just settled for reading reviews for Atlas Shrugged at Goodreads (above link). 1000+ pages and such a fine print was just too daunting at the moment.

Dd#2 was also confirmed on Palm Sunday (April 5th). (Hence the reason for the extreme dusting of bookshelves.) Very exciting day!

I have been knitting also. I've got one free cloth pattern and one $1 lacy cloth pattern about 99% ready to be released. Those posts and pictures will be coming in a few days or so.

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Apple Leaf Pi Cloth

The Apple Leaf Pi Cloth pattern is finally finished!

Scroll down the right side bar to find the link to purchase the pattern.

or here in this post..... buy now for $1.00 (Thank you for your patronage!)

See this post for more details about the yarn and needles used if you can't access the Ravelry link above (first link).

I love the leafy border!





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Rambling and updates

This was the reading from this past Tuesday from Day By Day We Magnify Thee.

It refers to John 15:16 "Ye have not chose Me, but I have chosen you."

Martin Luther writes:

"This cuts off and condemns at a stroke all the presumption of spurious saints, who want to do and deserve so much, even to reconciling God and making Him their friend. For what do they do but make the choice and seek to be first, in that their merits precede and God's grace toddles on behind? It is not He who chooses us, but we seek Him and make Him our friend, that we may glory in that He has received much good from us. That is what all the world does in seeking to merit God's grace by previous works. But the Gospel says 'Ye have not chosen Me'. That is, you are My friends not because of what you do, but because of what I do. If it were because of what you do, I should have to regard your merit, but it is because of Me and through Me, because I draw you to Me and give you all that I possess, so that your glory is in nothing but My grace and love, and not your own nor all the world's work or merit. For I have not let Myself be found by you; rather have I had to seek you and bring you to Myself, when you were afar off, without knowledge of God, and were held in the grip of error and condemnation like the rest. But now I am come, and I have called you out of the darkness, before you prayed or did anything about it. Thus you are My friends in that you have received all good from Me, and know that you have received it all for nothing and out of sheer grace."

Ahhhh....The sweetness of Grace!

God's
Riches
At
Christ's
Expense



Update on reading: Finished Dracula last night on Daily Lit. Putting that on the kids list of books to read. Now on to Jane Austin...Dostoevsky's Devils may just have to wait a little longer.

Update on Knitting: The Apple Leaf Pi pattern is written. Time to test knit.

Update on Exercise: Today I completed my 4th consecutive week (Monday thru Friday) of exercise (Wii My Fitness Coach...not Wii Fit). I like the program. It adjusts the workout to you, the workouts change every time, and you can add a step, hand weights, or a stability ball (and a heart monitor). And it was only $30 vs. $90 for Wii Fit (if you can even find one!). Also you can pick the focus of the day (6 different ones...yoga, stretch, cardio, lower, upper, core), the location, the music, and the length of time you want to workout.

There are a few things I would change about the program but they are insignificant. The "Goldilocks" thing is one. After a portion of the workout she (the trainer...not Goldilocks!) asks if that section was too hard, just right, or too easy. Well...if you aren't able to control the controller and you end up clicking on "too easy" when you really wanted "just right" there is no way to go back and change it. The next time she will "up the intensity" of the workout. I've made that mistake more than once but I haven't noticed the exercises being out of my realm of capability. When that does happen I'll just have to work real hard to click on the "too hard" button! The way to solve this would have been the next screen asking "Do you really mean that!?!". Or having the three choices further apart.

For those who know me, you may be asking how I've managed to workout FIVE days a week.... For FOUR weeks straight. Easy. I bribe myself. It wasn't my idea. I got it from a Ravelry group called Exerstashers. Everyone has figured out their own reward system. Mine is $0.25 for every 15 minutes of working out. On Friday...when I really want to just stay in bed...and justify that by telling myself how I worked out the rest of the week, isn't that enough?....Then my second incentive kicks in. If I work out each day (Tuesdays & Thursdays are easy days...yoga or stretching and only 30 minutes long) then at the end of the week I double the amount I received for that week. It isn't a lot but in four weeks I'm up to $25. And if you think it is weird to pay oneself for exercising....just think how much I'd be paying if I'd join a gym! Way more than that....plus I wouldn't have the incentive of saving up for some special reward. I'm not sure what that reward will be yet....

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Apple Leaf Pi Cloth

I finished this cloth Jan 9th but haven't blogged about it yet. Got too caught up in reading. In addition to Twilight I also managed to fit in Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. I can see how both of those classic stories influenced the Twilight books. Jane Eyre has always been one of my favorites although I hadn't read it in some time.

On with the knitting.....

This is another Pi Cloth knit in the round from the middle out. I used a leaf stitch for the main body. The border is also a leaf.

I used size 2 dpns with Pisgah Yarn & Dyeing Co., Inc America's Best Article 960, Perle Cotton in a Lime Green. I think that is the end of my green now.







Here's a close up of the leaf border.

I haven't formally written up this pattern yet.

UPDATE: The pattern is up for sale! Details here.

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Thoughts on the Twilight Saga

I've read all four books plus the extras at the website. Here are some of my disjointed thoughts.

Overall I enjoyed the story. I had a hard time putting it down.

I liked seeing the strength of the family, trust, loyalty, love and humor. And these qualities were even able to affect the feelings between natural enemies. (I'm trying to keep this general in case you haven't read the books yet.)

Things I cringed at...but it offered nice talking points with my girls:
works righteousness (but I wasn't reading this story for theological purposes),
some intimate bedroom scenes,
and a seemingly unhealthy "devotion" to a boyfriend.

Don't miss the extras for New Moon. Meyer has three snipets of the story from three other points of view. Jacob is a "crack-up". [NB: pgs 250-251 of Breaking Dawn]

I really liked reading the story from Edward's perspective. He had a lot more thoughts going on in his head than Bella who seemed kind of hung up on age and beauty. Hope Meyer decides to finish that book.

Is this saga a "classic"? My unprofessional opinion is "no".

Did I enjoy reading it? Yes.

Some are trying to compare this saga to Harry Potter. I'd say there really isn't any comparison. The Harry Potter novels are much deeper with more layers of things to experience on each reading. More mystery and surprise twists too.

If I had to apply movie ratings to these series of books....
I would rate Harry Potter as PG and Twilight as PG-13 (because of the bedroom scenes).

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Twilight

Okay...I've finally succumbed to reading Twilight. My two older girls devoured the books (all four! plus the draft mentioned below!) in the month of December and continued to beg me to begin.

I balked. I chose to read Dracula instead via DailyLit. I'm at about half way through that book. Just a little after the point where Dr. Van Helsing placed the garlic around Lucy and filled her room with it. (I thought I wasn't going to give any spoilers but.....Spoiler alert below in the quoted section!)

Someone had posted about Twilight and vampires and questioned what it was about the garlic. Another posted at that site that perhaps it is that garlic is good for our blood and that wouldn't be good for a vampire with evil intent (paraphrased).

Then today I read the first two chapters of Twilight and the first two Chapters of Midnight Sun (from Edward's point of view). It was the two chapters from Midnight Sun combined with the last lines I read today from Dracula that connected in my brain.

"Van Helsing did not go to bed at all. He went to and fro, as if patroling the house, and was never out of sight of the room where Lucy lay in her coffin, strewn with the wild garlic flowers, which sent through the odour of lily and rose, a heavy, overpowering smell into the night."

Ahhh...the "heavy, overpowering smell" of garlic....that's the thing about garlic!

Now go read chapters one and two of Midnight Sun. It is a pdf file at Stephenie Meyer's official blog link I gave you above.

p.s. The girls told me yesterday that the DVD of the movie is coming out March 21st. I didn't go see it either of the two times that they went. But I know that the books are always better than the movie!

Log Cabin Knitting

This project was done by dd#1. It had been on the needles for some time. But now it is finished and has been given as a birthday gift to a friend who wanted a small lap blanket for in the car. Gotta love winter!

She made it out of Simply Soft yarn. Needle size was 7's or 8's.

The pattern is from the Mason Dixon knitting book (the first one).

4 Trees Cloth

This was some after Christmas knitting.

The pattern: 4 Trees Cloth
The pattern is called Tree Lot at the above link and it's way at the bottom of the page. I got the pattern from the Holiday Mystery Gifts group (2008)

The yarn: I Love This Cotton!

I did not really love this cotton. There was white fluff that I had to pick off every so often and it seemed fuzzy. Plus I really, really like the thinner cottons for cloths.

My ravelry page for this project.

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A Precursor to the Mirror of Erised

I just finished reading Phantastes: A Faerie Romance by George MacDonald. It has been on my reading list for some time thanks to Dr. Veith and his book Reading Between the Lines. What got me motivated to read it though was finding (at a local bookstore) a bargain copy of The Princess and the Goblin (also by MacDonald) and reading that aloud to the kids. We are now half way through the sequel (The Princess and Curdie). I wanted more MacDonald for my own private reading time.

The copy of Phatastes that I checked out from the library has a wonderful forward by C.S. Lewis who states after reading this book that he "had crossed a great frontier". It was a turning point in his life.

Anyway...as I'm reading along I came upon a chapter that related a story from a library book in Faerie Land. This story tells of a mirror with curious carvings around the frame. As Cosmo looks into this mirror he sees his room reflected but also a lady who, when he turns away from the mirror, is not there. He sits many a night looking and longing for his beautiful lady.

"But as he gazed on the face and form, which now possessed his whole soul, to the exclusion of all other joys and griefs, the longing to speak to her, to know that she heard him, to hear from her one word in return, became so unendurable...." p.97-98

This mirror reminded me (although it was not exact as this was an enchanted mirror that had trapped the lady) of the Mirror of Erised from the Harry Potter series.


Mirror of Erised (from the Harry Potter Lexicon)
A magnificent mirror, as high as a classroom ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. The inscription carved around the top reads "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi," which is "I show not your face but your heart's desire" written backwards (that is, in what is called 'mirror writing'). When you look into the mirror, you see the deepest, most desperate desire of your heart. The mirror has trapped people who can't bear to stop staring into it, unsure if what they see is going to actually happen.

and from Dumbledore:
"Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible."

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Oh...I was going to add...Here is a link if you want to listen to the book at LibriVox. It isn't all the way finished however. But that is where I went to find out how to pronounce "Phantastes".

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