SPUN

Catherine McKenzie does it again! She had me not wanting to put this novella down. I read it pretty much in one sitting. I have been a fan of Catherine's work since her first novel came out, which I read in the spring of 2010, a few short months after it was released. I've read all of Catherine's work, and thoroughly enjoyed every single novel & now novella, that Catherine has written. I was thrilled when I received an advanced reader's copy of Spun to read & review.

Spun is a sequel to Catherine's first novel, Spin. While Spin is Kate Sandford's story, Spun is Amber Sheppard's. While you don't need to read Spin to enjoy Spun, it does provide you with background on the characters. And if you haven't read Spin, I advise you to go pick up a copy today and read both. (And all of Catherine's other novels, you will not be disappointed). You can pick them up on Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Kobo.com, Chapters, etc!

Amber's character is extremely realistic, and I could picture her story on the covers of US Weekly or any other tabloid magazine. Amber stays clean after her stint in rehab and tries to get her life back on track. The story starts off with Amber going to see the love of her life, Connor, on the night he dies, and decides to get off his plane and with that decision, manages to save her life. So much happens in the 100-something page novella and the way Catherine writes makes you want to know more. And you have to keep reading to know the full story, as bits of the story and of what is going on are dropped along the way.

There is a giveaway for 5 copies of Spin by Catherine McKenzie. You can find the giveaway here!

Nantucket Throw

 

Over the weekend I knit up a Nantucket Throw that will be in the shop later today as a store sample. This knit took about 3 hours to do, I just didn’t have 3 consecutive hours to knit it as I was out of town on a business trip and it was a busy weekend. It’s so fun to work with and my arms got a great work out while doing so. Though, if I had one entire evening to sit down & knit, I could have finished it from cast on to cast off in one go. This used 150 yards, which is 1100 grams of Loopy Mango Big Loop Merino in Ivory. It’s so soft to work with and definitely different to work with than all smaller weights of yarn. I used US 50 - 25.0 mm needles that came in the kit, and those were really nice to work with as well. The unblocked finished size is 28"x53". With blocking, it should block a bit larger. I just need to find a space to block something this large!

 

I do plan to make one for my house, as it’s so cozy to sit under.

Cute Little Dresses

I whipped up two really cute dish cloth dresses as gifts this past week. One for my mom and one for my brother’s girlfriend. These are super adorable and knit up in no time. I’m thinking future teacher gifts! Both used up each approx. ~20-21g of dish cloth cotton. Making it in one color is easier as there are less ends to weave in. I also made one change to the pattern, instead of chaining 12 at the neck I chained only 4, as 12 is way too long. I am really happy with these cute little dresses!

 

Zayda

My grandparents and I on my 1st birthday in 1982.

My grandfather passed away yesterday in his 87th year. May he rest in peace. November 16, 1926 – April 1, 2014.