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Book Lust

There are *many* books coming out in the next several months that I am lusting after here are some of them:

Bend-the-Rules Sewing: The Essential Guide to a Whole New Way to Sew by Amy Carol -- So excited about this one!  30 sewing projects (including aprons, of course!)

Warm Fuzzies: 30 Sweet Felted Projects by Betz White.  Over 30 projects, including one for the super-cute cupcake pincushion -- yeah!

Doodle-Stitching: Fresh & Fun Embroidery for Beginners by Aimee Ray.  There just aren't all that many embroidery books out there with a modern look, so this is a welcome addition.

Crazy Aunt Purl's Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair: The True-Life Misadventures of a 30-Something Who Learned to Knit After He Split by Laurie Perry.  I mentioned this on the blog the other day.  She's just so funny -- I can only imagine how hilarious this book will be!

Wagashi: Handcrafted Fashion Art from Japan by Kumiko Sudo.  This looks unique -- fabric origami, kumihimo, and more.  Includes instructions for 20 projects.

Whew!  And I'm sure there are more.  What craft books are you looking forward to getting a peek at?  Leave me the title and author in the comments!

Not right, but here.

It's been a long time since I updated my template.  And truth be told, I've kind of cobbled together the CSS through the years.  At this point I need a total overhaul.  So I once again cobbled something together for now, but I'm going to be putting together a whole new template soon. 

Sounds like a lot of work.  Hmmmm. . .

Argh!

My website isn't showing up correctly on Firefox and I have no idea why.  Argh!

Baby Quilt for TJQ!

My sister's baby shower was this past weekend, so I can finally show you what I've been spending a lot of my crafting time on!

I made her this baby quilt.  Here's the back:

I had a lot of fun making this -- baby quilts are pretty managable and I was able to quilt it on my sewing machine much more easily than my first quilt (which I don't think I've ever posted a photo of!)  Here are some "in process" shots:

Back taped right side down to the floor.

Here's the whole "quilt sandwich".

I used masking tape to get nice straight lines for the quilting

After quilting I give the whole thing a nice trim.

Binding machine sewn on one side.

After this point I simply hand-stitched the binding onto the back of the quilt.  Okay, I say simply, but it took so long!  It was good practice though and I felt like I was getting quicker near the end. 

I was so happy with this project that I've decided I might make a few more to sell.  I need to see how much time it actually takes me from start to finish, so one of the next projects on the list is making another one and keeping records of time and costs.  I'm kind of excited about it!

Crazy Aunt Purl. . .

went and wrote herself a book!

I just recently started read her blog and she is so funny!  I can't wait to read this book!

The story of an Empress

I have something crafty to show you -- but not yet.  Sounds mysterious, no?   So instead, I'll get my reading list updated with a couple of reviews.

I really enjoyed The Last Empress by Anchee Min.  It is the sotry of Tzu Hsi -- Empress Orchid -- the last empress of China.  While the story has some basis in fact, the Empress is protrayed in a positive light -- clearly in contrast with the way the world saw her.

I love a good novel based on history -- especially a history that I have little to no prior knowledge of.  And what is history anyway?  All historical accounts are shaded by memory, time and the personal opinions and preconceived notions of the author.  In my opinion, good fiction can open the world to you in an interesting way.  This book did that for me.

As the dynasties of China are losing power, the Empress holds things together as much as is possible.  She loses her husband and sons along the way and struggles as many women do even today.  She is torn between governing, raising her sons and living her life.  Isn't this the sotry for so many woman today?  Caught between work, their families and their true passions? 

I don't know if the Empress was the loving and compassionate woman which Min describes or whether she was the dragon lady that the rest of the world thought she was -- I'm sure the truth lies somewhere inbetween.  Despite this sachrine sweet portrayal of her, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. 

Anchee Min also wrote a novel detailing the early years of Orchid -- Empress Orchid.  This one is definitley on my to read list!

I'm not sure why I picked up The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards.  If history has taught me anything, it's that books that make the best seller list are usually not worth my time.  And while I did finish this book, the writing was just not very good.  The story itself sounded interesting -- twins born back in the day when women were given gas during labor.  One twin was fine, the other had Downs Syndrome.  Institutionalization was more common for this situation at the time and the father whisks the baby away before the mother wakes up.  He then tells her that her 2nd baby died.  The nurse takes the baby and raises her as her own. 

Okay, now that I've written that little plot summary I realize how bad it sounds!  Why did I give so many hours of my life to this book?  Well, I guess I wanted to know if the mother would ever be reunited with her child.  It was a hook -- plain and simple.  Argh! 

So I can't really recommend it.  So go read The Last Empress and forget I even mentioned this other book.

Now reading -- The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu.  Really excellent look at immigrants and the "American Dream".  More on this soon!

Henna Results

Whew!  My first henna experience is behind me and I've learned a bit.  The results were quite good and I'll definitely do it again.  Here is the before shot:

Notice the very grey roots and the really faded dye job on the rest of the hair.  Ugh!

And here's the after -- sorry, it's really hard to take a photo of the top oy your head!  You can see that the color is much darker now and you can't tell where the grey roots were.  Here's another shot:

I think it's getting a little redder as time goes on -- they say it will become more intense over the next day or so.  I was surprised that it came out as brown as it did.  I really like it!  Pete thought it looked very natural.  You can see that there are some color variations -- almost like highlights. 

So what did I learn about henna?  Well, it is really messy to put on -- probably worse because of the long hair.  I could smear it on my roots easily enough, but trying to coat the length of hair was tricky.  Maybe adding an egg or oil as some sites suggest would make it a bit more easy to work with.  And I took some advice I saw online and wrapped my head in plastic wrap and heated it with the blow dryer every half hour or so.  I guess the heat makes it activate better.  I also used a spray bottle to keep my hair damp -- very important since this stuff did want to dry out quickly.  I think that helped to make it easy to wash out -- it was no trouble at all.  And finally, I was actually patient and kept it on for about 2 hours.  I would say my patience paid off, because the color was really quite good.

So that's my henna experience!  I'll definitely be doing it again.  Usually after dyeing my hair with chemical dyes, my scalp is itchy and my hair smells strongly of the chemicals for the next few days.  Today my hair doesn't smell and it feels conditioned (rather than stripped!)  And no itchy scalp or sneezing!  Yeah!

The henna is on my hair . . .

OMG!

First of all, I wasn't prepared for the messiness of it.  If you have short hair, I think it wouldn't be so bad, but the long hair?  What a mess!!  Pete says I'll get better at it each time -- I hope so.

I ended up buying Light Mountain Natural Henna Chestnut which appears to be pretty cheap at $4.95, but you have to pay that again in shipping.  I *so* wanted to try the Lush henna, but it's been out of stock for a long time.

Wish me luck washing this stuff off.  I am very afraid!

How to dye wool with Easter Egg Dye

We finished up dyeing our eggs and I looked at all the cups filled with that gorgeous dye and couldn't resist!  So I ran upstairs and grabbed some wool.  It's very easy to dye wool using leftover Easter egg dye -- let me tell you what I did.

First of all, we used the Paas tablets -- the kind that require vinegar to activate.  And we dye eggs using glass cups which worked very nicely since they can be microwaved -- but I'm getting ahead of myself.

After we finished up our eggs, I took some wool and tore it into sections that I thought would be able to fit in each cup and kind of rolled it into a little ball or nest shape.  Then I filled a clean bowl with warm water and soaked each piece of wool -- just for a few minutes so that it was saturated.  Then after squeezing out the excess water I plunked the pieces of wool into the cups filled with the extra dye.

After that I microwaved each cup (one at a time) -- our microwave is old an feeble, so I think I did about 2 minutes per cup.  I did a second round of microwaving -- this time it was only 1-1:30 minutes per cup, then I let them sit for a while.  The dye exhausted in some, but simply wouldn't in others.

After a nice rest of about an hour, I took out each hunk of wool and rinsed it until it ran clear -- the green was a b*tch!  I rinsed it and rinsed it and soaked it in clear water and rinsed it some more.  ugh!  After that I squeezed out the extra water and hung them to dry.  After they were dry I pre-drafted a bit to fluff them up and. . .

Here they are!  The purple dye reacted strangely with the wool -- the pink from the dye flew unto the wool leaving blue dye behind.  I was glad I used the nest/ball method or one half would have been pink and the other blue.  As it turned out the whole thing is verigated!  Nice surprise!

So, no fancy equipment -- no fancy tools.  Next time you dye eggs, give it a try!

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. 1922-2007

Such sad news, Kurt Vonnegut died yesterday. 

I have such a personal feeling about this writer that I'm having trouble putting into words what he meant to me.  Books have always been a huge part of my life and he holds the place as my all time favorite writer.  I got hooked on Vonnegut back in the 80's and bought a few books for my Dad.  He, too was mesmerized by Vonnegut.  (I buried one of Vonnegut's books with my dad when he passed away in 2000.)   

What I really want to say is that you should read his books.  They are as important today as they ever were -- and as darkly funny too.  My favorite -- the one I have read over and over and written paper after paper about in college -- is Cat's Cradle. 

I'll end here with a favorite quote of mine from Vonnegut:

Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.

-- Kurt Vonnegut

Seen around the blogs . . .

• Fabric flowerpot at at Juju loves polka dots.
• Cool "Pattern Tester" at kirin notebook -- she'll make custom fabric for you.  Is that not awesome?
• Sockaplooza 4!
• Loving the Granny-Along blog.
• Chocolate is under attack!

Cool Crafty Stuff

• Tiramisu Baby Blanket -- Pattern for crocheted baby blanket from Alicia at Posie Gets Cozy.
• Awesome doll quilts from Turkey Feathers available in her Etsy shop Wednesday!
• Printable sewing tips at the Sew, Mama, Sew! blog.  (Also check out free fabric friday at this site -- I won a couple weeks ago!)

Aranzi Aronzo

 

Okay, Jappanese craft books are great and all, but they are written in Japanese, you say.  I say, check out Aranzii Aronzo -- now translated into English!  That's right,let me say it again. . . you can now get Japanese craft books that have been translated into English.

The Cute Book is a guide to making felt mascots -- cute little creatures that include everything from bunnies and kitties to aliens and a kidnapper (!?!).  I especially like the Squirrel -- but I am a lover of all things squirrel-y.  The directions are super easy and include lots of illustrations. 

The Bad Book is kind of like a comic book about some of the characters from The Cute Book.  It combines illustrations and photos -- it's funny and strange and will give you ideas on how to dress up your mascots.  (I kid you not -- there is a section on "bad guy fashion"!)

It appears that two more translated books are coming out this fall -- Aranzi Aronzo Cute Dolls and Aranzi Aronzo Fun Dolls!  How cool is that?

Since it is book week at Booga J

I give you Booking through Thursday:

1. Just out of curiosity, as we enter into Passover and Easter season... have you ever read the Bible? Just the odd chapter or Psalm? The whole thing? (Or, almost the whole thing? It's some heavy reading, of course, and those "begats" get kind of tedious.)

   Ah!  An interesting for an atheist such as myself.  I was raised Catholic and went to Catholic school from 2nd-12th grades, so I did read a good portion of The Bible, although the stress was obviously more on the New Testament.  I specifically remember being given the Good News Bible to read in grade school.  Father Burns taught religion class in 6th grade and we had class down in the dark AV room.  He was big on bible reading assingments.

2. If so, was it from religious motivation or from a literary perspective? Stuck with nothing else to read in a hotel room the Gideon's have visited? Any combination?

   Even though I had to read the bible for school, I actually started to read in cover to cover on my own -- my Dad had done this and I wanted to do it too.  Many allusions are made to the bible in literature and my extensive reading of it did help when I was an English Lit major in college.   

3. If not, why not? Against your religious principles? Too boring? Just not interested? Something you're planning on taking care of when you get marooned on a desert island?

   I never did read the whole thing though -- some parts are just too long and boring.

4. And while we're on the subject... what about the other great religious works out there? Are they more to your liking?

   Being an atheist, I have always been somewhat fascinated by religion and I did take a world religion class in college when I had the chance.  I haven't read many religions works -- although I did love reading Dante in college.

If you liked The Kite Runner. . .

. . . then you should read In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar.  While it's quite different, there are some similar themes and I even felt that the style was similar. 

In the Country of Men is basically about a boy growing up in Libya during the revolution.  His family is living in fear as Khadafy's secret police hunt and eventually imprison the boy's father because of his counter-revolutionary actions. 

On another level, it is the story of the boy's mother -- forced into an arranged marriage at 14 and giving birth at 15.  Truly this is a "country of men" and she longs to be free of it all.  The ending is especially poingnant.  (I won't give anything away here.)

So really, if you liked The Kite Runner, I think you will enjoy In the Country of Men.

World Without End

World without End by Sean Russell is today's book.  How I came to read this book is directly related to my blog and a prior review I did.  Back in January I went on and on about Lian Hearn's Tales of the Otori books and Deb (who is a much faster reader than me!) decided she liked what she heard and gave them a try!  Then we got to emailing back and forth a bit and she suggested that I try some Sean Russell.  On her suggestion I read World without End and I really enjoyed it!

There is a lot happening in this book and it almost lost out to the 50 page rule.  I was a bit lost at the beginning of the book and there was a duel and I don't know. . . but I stuck with it and figured out what was going on and it was really good!  Most of the book has to do with an ocean voyage -- it's sort of set in a made up world that isn't too different from 18-19th century England.  There is a "magic" element to things, so I guess you would call it fantasy.  In reality it's more of a mystery and as such it really keeps you reading!

I look forward to reading the next book in this duology -- Sea without a Shore.  Thanks again for the recommendation, Deb!

No Sheep For You

I was recently sent a review copy of No Sheep for You: Knit Happy with Cotton, Silk, Linen, Hemp, Bamboo & Other Delights by Amy Singer.  Now at first sight, I was turned off by this book.  I thought the cover was terrible -- a supposedly naked woman knitting some big brightly colored rectangle on straight needles???  I don't think so.  I'm much happier to see a nice photo of a project from the book, or -- well, anything else on the cover.  So I probably wouldn't have picked this book up -- however -- upon opening the book I was pleasantly surprised!

The first thing that I noticed was that 15 or so pages were devoted to talking about the non-wool fibers used in the book.  Everything from silk to Seacell is discussed and I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff.  I love learning new things and much of this was new to me.  I also liked the second (mini) chapter which includes a chart that shows you the different characteristics (stretch, shrinkage, etc.) of the various fibers so that you can more easily substitute the right fiber for wool in patterns you already have.

Then there are the patterns.  Again -- pleasantly surprised!  There are some lovely sweaters -- stranded, garnsey, cabled for both men and women.  Bacardi and Morrigan are especially nice.  There is even a jacket and silk robe.  However, as you may know, I'm not much of a sweater knitter  :)  So I took a closer look at the smaller projects. . .

There are several accessories, but the book is not overwhelmed by them.  I especially liked the shawl (I'm a shawl loving gal though) which is knit in a lovely red silk.  The pattern is very simple, but it works well with the yarn.  I also thought the thrummed mittens were smart -- using silk for the thrums.  And there is a pretty beaded silk scarf I liked.  In addition there are socks, a bag, a hat and some other little things. 

If you can't hadle the itch of wool, or are (gasp!) allergic to it then this is a must have book.  And even if you aren't -- well, I say take a look!  There are some beautiful designs and good info on non-wool fibers too.

If you are in the Chicago area, Amy Singer will be at Loopy Yarns on the 4th for signing her book from 5:30-7:30pm. 

Book Review Week!

I have so many books to review right now, that I've decided to call this book review week. I'll be posting a book review (or 2!) every day this week -- or at least that's the plan. First review later today -- No Sheep for You: Knit Happy with Cotton, Silk, Linen, Hemp, Bamboo & Other Delights.