Knitting Procrastination

Book plug - Haven't received my copies of Father By Choice yet, but as soon as I get them, I'll be sending out a copy to someone :) I'll give one out on my blog and another out on my facebook account. /Book plug

Okay, now that that's over, let's get on to the knitting. I've been knitting for a very long time. Off and on over the years. I learned to knit from a book I checked out from the library when I was 9. Back then (in the stone ages), the only place to get yarn from was Walmart. However, for a brief period of time Kewanee had a craft store.

Man, have times changed. I have downloaded patterns, found Ravelry and ordered yarn from the Internet. We have a really nice knitting shop in the town I live in and there is a Michaels not too far away. Of course, I think Kewanee is still stuck with Walmart, but at least there is the Internet now.

So what I'm working on. I made a beaded scarf but haven't done the finishing so no picture yet. I'm also making fingerless gloves for my daughter. It has a basketweave look. This is the one I've finished. I'm working on the other one.

I found a book on Kindle called Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders. It has a beaded fingerless glove that I want to do, but had to order the beads for it since neither Michaels nor the knit shop had the size beads I needed. But I did get a lovely dark purple Alpaca yarn.

I'll post it when I get it done. The other website I found is KnitPicks and bought a bunch more yarn. Now I need to make sure I actually use all this yarn, which means no more buying until this is used up.

My son wants a pair of fingerless gloves too. And I'm thinking of trying as many of the patterns in the One-Skein book as possible. I also picked up some patterns for sweaters and shawls. I really want to try clothing. Most of what I made when I was younger was afghans and the ocassional Christmas ornament.

Now for what the title of this blog post indicates. Yes this feels like procrastination or avoidance of working. I try to keep it to the evening when all I'm doing is watching TV anyway. But I do want to get things done and it's a lot faster to finish a glove than to weave together a story worth telling. It also gives my mind time to think about what I'm working on. But too much... well, then I'm just avoiding. Then again it's a cool hobby that's very fun. What hobbies do you have?

Super Excited! FATHER BY CHOICE Available for Preorder

Even though we spent last year in a state of flux because we moved from the Midwest where my husband and I grew up to the Southeast coast where winter has been moderately cold, I was actually able to finish a book while all that was going on. And the great news is it will be released on April 23rd!!! This year!!!

The story is about Brady Ward, the middle brother of three brothers. After spending the past eight years abroad, he returns to the States only to be confronted by the woman he shared one night with. Maggie Brown did try to let Brady know that she was pregnant eight years ago and when his oldest brother started giving her money, she figured she had Brady's answer to how involved he wanted to be. Until Brady's brother comes forward to tell her that Brady doesn't know and sends her to tell him.

This is my first small town story. Set in the fictional town of Tawnee Valley, I tried to create a world that has as many benefits as it has flaws. I grew up in one of the larger small towns in the Midwest, but my fictional town is smaller than even that town. With the shorter format of Harlequin Special Editions, I tried to still maintain the charm of a small town book while keeping the romance in the front.

I can't wait for it to be out so I can hear what readers think!

What type of stories draw you? Small town? Big cities? Family dramas? Work dramas?



P.S. I'm thinking about blogging about my knitting as well. I just found Ravelry.com and have lots and lots of ideas. I'm currently working on a shawl and a pair of fingerless gloves. What do you think? Want to hear about knitting or only writing?

Check, check! Is this thing on?

Yes, I suck at my blog, but I haven't had much to say. So now I do and want to post longer than Facebook allows so...

I love Pride & Prejudice! No really, I love it. I don't just like it, I love it bunches. I would totally marry it if I could, but since I can't... I'm going to extol on its many virtues.

1. The book - Not my first exposure to it. I own a copy and adore it. I think it's really hard to understand the full story without first reading the book. I'll admit it's a little hard to get into at first. The writing style is completely different from modern storytelling techniques, but once you are in, you are in. :) While I have read other Jane Austen's books, this one remains my favorite.

2. The BBC awesomeness - Yes I saw the BBC version first, complete on (if I remember correctly) 6 VHS tapes. Loved it. It does give the most complete version of P&P on film. No one can deny that the actors lived in the essence of the story. Wonderful.

3. The Kiera Knightly version - My favorite version of the movie because it doesn't take a day to watch and it stays close to the story structure. The filming is lovely and the setting is a personal fav of mine because I lived in Sheffield just off of the Peak District where Kiera Knightly is on a cliff looking like she's going to get blown off :)  Also I've been to Chatsworth Hall which was used for Pemberly Hall in the movie. The bust of Mr. Darcy resides in the statue room which does include the statue of the veiled woman seen in the movie. The statue of the woman is uncanny up close. You can see that it's stone and even look closely to see how it's done, but your mind truly believes that the veil is like cloth.

4. I've been to Bath! And the home of Jane Austen. They have some of the dresses from filming the BBC version and it's a beautiful place. Though Bath is not in P&P, it is Jane Austen (so fan girl!)

5. Becoming Jane - Love, love, love this movie. To think that the woman who touched our hearts with her story of love had a love story of her own... It's mostly made up, but I'm okay with that.

6. Bridget Jones' Diary - Such a quirky movie. It's adaptation of the original story thread is incredible and deliciously modern. It took out bits and pieces and spun them into a story that works. Again I've only saw the movie, but I still love it :)

7. OMG! Have you seen the Lizzie Bennet Diaries!http://www.lizziebennet.com/story/ I just spent the weekend catching up on it and can't wait to see more. Wish I'd discovered it after it was done so I could see the whole thing and not have to wait. But yay!!! They've done a wonderful job of modernizing the story. I have to go follow them all on twitter to find out what is happening. So much fun!

Is there an author or movie or book or series that drives you ga-ga? Something that if you see it's on, you have to stop and watch it?