She Knits By The Seashore

Forever Tweed and Reading Update

For the last two weeks, I've been knitting a new sweater, Forever Tweed by Wendy Bernard. The collar is finished and I have a few more rows before I divide for the sleeves.

 

This sweater, knit on size 9s, is flying off the needles! I'm not sure why so few knitters have made it (according to Ravelry); perhaps it is the 1980s boxy yet cropped shape? I'm long-waisted, so will probably need to add a couple of inches to the length when I get there.

I absolutely love the Thistle-colored Rowan Tweed yarn that I found on sale last fall for this project. It's a nice break from my Vogue pink skirt, which I'm still working on, that is knit on size 3s. In fingering weight sock yarn.

 

 

Last weekend, we visited an old mill-turned-used-book store (with a cafe, music/DVD shop, and art studio as well). Would you believe I didn't find a single title on my list? Book Mooch made up for this, though, because I have received two knitting books through them -- quite a coup as the waiting lists for knitting titles are long and it's really hard to snatch them.

 

Thankfully I have been reading a lot (though still not as fast as the acquiring part). I very much enjoyed The Ghost and Mrs. McClure, the first title in a present-day Rhode Island-based series. Mrs. M and her aunt have recently refurbished and upgraded their local independent book store, and their first visiting author dies during the intermission of his booktalk. While of course bringing lots of publicity and sales to the bookshop, the murder also brings police suspicion. Not to worry, though, when the ghost of a 1940s detective, Jack Shepard, reveals himself to Mrs. M. Though his spirit cannot leave the brick walls of the shop, he coaches Mrs. M in detecting, and helps her to find the killer. One of these days, in a future book, Mrs. McClure is going to help Jack identify his own killer -- I just know it. I'm looking forward to book 2!

The Poisoned Chocolates Case is a vintage 1929 mystery, republished by the very cool Felony & Mayhem publishers. The mystery centers around wealthy members of a crime club, who meet monthly to discuss historical and current crimes. As the story begins, a visiting Scotland Yard detective presents to members a current, unsolved murder, of a wealthy rogue whom everyone had reason to hate. Each member is given a week to investigate and gather their own details and then, one at a time, each presents his or her solution and murderer. I loved the concept of this mystery (almost like Agatha Christie's Thirteen at Dinner) but I found a few of the crime club members rather annoyingly pretentious. The eventual murderer seems rather obvious, but perhaps it wasn't when the book was originally published? If you like Golden Age mysteries, try this one and see what you think.

Anne Fadiman, author of personal essays, was a delight to read in At Large and At Small. If you are a fan of coffee or ice cream, you'll especially enjoy her confidences on those sweet addictions. The essays on Charles Lamb and Coleridge were a little dense, and I often have to run to the dictionary when I'm reading her work to look things up. But her honesty, quirky stories, and sense of humor make it totally worth it.

On a very different shelf, I finished The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine Aron. I'm not one that usually reads psychology/self-help books, but after scoring highly on the author's quiz, I couldn't resist finding out more about HSPs. HSPs are usually but not always introverted, and the author stresses the differences between sensitive and shy. Sensitive is not, as you might think, describing people whose feelings are easily hurt. It is more about being sensitive to any sort of stimuli -- loud noises, strong scents, caffeine, activity. Think of your nervous system or senses being overloaded by your surroundings and that might give you a better idea of the types of things the author discusses. While I did find comfort in this book -- knowing that there are others who need time alone each day to collect their thoughts and recoup from social activity (even of the most fun kind) -- the author was on the borderline for me of enabling some people to make excuses rather than give explanations for asserting their needs. She refers to Carl Jung often (also an HSP), and some of the comparisons eluded me as I took very few psychology courses in college. One of the best things about this book is her explaining that our culture favors extroverted people, and in that light, tries to "fix" those of us who are introverted to meet that ideal, rather than celebrate our different strengths, like intuition and sensitivity to other people's feelings, awareness of great detail, etc. If you have ever felt pressured to change to be someone you are not (extroverted, not-so-sensitive), reading this book will explain why and how you can be comfortable being you.

I've started two new books, Gunpowder Plot in the Daisy Dalrymple series, and A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf, which I have wanted to read for a very long time. What are you reading and knitting?

Knitting and Reading Updates

Thank you for your kind comments about Pedal for Paws. It was an amazing experience, but I'm grateful to have more time now to catch up on other things. I'm slowly re-organizing my desk and office. It's amazing how the paper piles up! I've finally gotten my winter clothes out of the attic, and stored the summer things. And I'm getting back into the knitting groove. The top panel of the pink skirt is coming along nicely so far.

 
Rainy and Rosie check out my progress.

One of the things I do enjoy about fall, though the allergies are kicking up madly and the temperatures are dropping, is a good road trip. When Chris and I were first married, we would travel north to Massachusetts and Vermont, and visit antique stores and used book stores. And though we don't collect little vintage finds any more, we are still very much excited to visit favorite used book shops, and discover new ones.

This past Saturday, we met our friends Dorothy and Hobgoblin for a three-state book crawl. It is so fun to have friends who are fellow book enablers! Our first stop, in CT, was an old favorite, Barbara Farnsworth. (Interesting trivia: her shop is in the same area where Michael Pollan, the author, resides). I found one sweet book not even on my list:

 

From there, we went north to MA. One of our regular stops, the Berkshire Book Co, seems to have closed. We think the store owners retired. But in Great Barrington, we found the Yellow House book shop, and I discovered something I've wanted for a long while: the Janson's History of Art book that all art history 101 students use in college.

  

My copy is the 4th edition. The newest available is the 8th, which is over $130. I don't think that there are too many updates between them for me to justify the steep price of a new copy.

I also bought two mysteries, Murder is Binding, and The Case of the Caretaker's Cat, in the photo below.

After a quick lunch, we crossed the border into Hillsdale NY for Rodger's Book Barn, a new favorite that Dorothy and Hobgoblin introduced us to last year. This is a dangerous place -- all the books are $2.50ish and it is so easy to come home with an armload!! I narrowed it down to five.

 

So, for the week's total: eleven books. The top two were bookmooched, and then the remaining nine I found on Saturday.

This does not include books that I bought when Chris and I took a day trip to Cape Cod a few Saturdays ago, and when I visited our local Book Barn with friends:

 

It may save shelf space, but somehow I don't think a Kindle is nearly as much fun!!

One other thing I've had a little more time to do is to experiment with recipes. I am in no way more than a passable cook but I do appreciate the creative aspect of cooking and baking. As I have become a vegetarian, I'm looking for more of those kinds of recipes too. With the deluge of apples this time of year, I made this applesauce cake for Chris:

 

The recipe I used, from Everyday Food April 2010, uses an 8" cake pan, and the linked recipe uses a tube pan. Also, that recipe uses prepared applesauce, where the magazine edition uses fresh apples boiled down in a sauce pan. Depending on your time and how many apples you have to use up, you can follow either method, and it will taste delicious.

How are your fall knitting and reading projects going?

My Year of Meats and Other Thoughts

I'm sorry the blogwaves have been so quiet. This Saturday, Oct. 2, is our Pedal for Paws charity bike ride, and I am eating, sleeping (occasionally), and worrying about things like volunteers, rest stops, and who is going to wear the Sylvester costume.

The weather forecast is perfect, sunny and high 60s. The leaves are turning pretty colors right on schedule. I promise to post photos of the day to share with you. In the meantime, though, I am on the hunt for a massive amount of fruit for those rest stops...

The only thing that gives my mind a break is reading. I've finished a couple of mysteries, The Cruellest Month by Hazel Holt, and All Shall Be Well by Deborah Crombie. But the book I want to write about here is My Year of Meats.

In My Year of Meats, Jane Tagaki-Little, a Japanese American documentary filmmaker, is hired to promote the sale of beef to Japanese households by developing a series of TV episodes of My American Wife. She is instructed to select stereotypical American households that appeal to the Japanese audience, and feature the wife/mother preparing a recipe made with meat.

 "John", the Japanese ad executive who adopted his Americanized name, constantly finds fault with Jane's choice of families, as she seeks to represent real Americans. Traveling through the south and midwest US, she films a Louisiana family with many adopted Asian children, a midwestern family with a daughter in a wheelchair (her legs were crushed by a Wal-Mart delivery truck), and an African-American church-going family in Arkansas with nine daughters who excel at softball. "John's" wife, Akiko, becomes emotionally involved in each episode, desiring the company of these real families rather than trying to live up to the facade that "John" forces on their married life. She is bulimic and therefore cannot produce the child he is desperate to have. In frustration, he abuses her, but she is too terrified to leave and get help. In desperation, she reaches out to Jane, who, as a DES daughter, must confront her own issues during the filming of the final episode of My American Wife.

Although this novel could be full of cliches, the author presents each character as a complex, flawed individual, doing his or her best with the emotional and ethical challenges they face. I can't say that I liked the book, or the characters, or that I enjoyed reading the story -- escape reading it was not.  I can say that it was well-written, and kept me turning the pages to see what would happen next. I particularly wanted to know if "John" was going to get what he deserved, but I'll let you find out for yourself. 

A vegetarian friend of mine loaned the book to me, as I told her I've been mostly vegetarian all my life. Except for the occasional piece of chicken or hamburger, I just never cared for the taste of meat. Shortly before I started reading this book, I decided to become an official vegetarian. If I hadn't, this book may have been the catalyst to finally convince me. But whatever side of the dietary line you stand on, My Year of Meats raises a lot of valuable questions about our food that are worth considering.

When I finished the novel, I somehow started four other books: a mystery, a book of essays, a psychological book, and A Novel in a Year. I also need to get back to my creative study, Walking in this World. What are you reading right now?

P.S. I am still making progress, if slow, on my knitted skirt.

Summer Reading 2010

We had a wonderfully long, hot summer in New England, but it still seemed to go by so quickly. I can't believe Labor Day is already past.

In my spare moments, I've been doing a lot of escape reading. With a lot going on for our charity bike ride and doing some prep work for my writing and editing business, taking a few minutes every afternoon for a cup of tea and a few pages of a mystery is saving my sanity. I haven't posted in a long time about the books I've been reading, so I hope you'll find something you like here.

It took me almost two months to read "A Rather Charming Invitation," the third "romantic suspense" book in the Rather series. [It is a fast read, but I was working on other things!] In this volume, Penny and Jeremy are engaged, and feeling torn between his haughty English grandmother's and her snobbish French aunt's plans for their wedding. When a historic tapestry is offered on loan for the ceremony, and then stolen, Penny pores over the photographs she took of it, trying to unlock the message woven into its images. Her search takes her through Grasse, the perfume capital of France, to Paris to interview an aging ballerina, and to hunt down a vintage train car somewhere in between. Ancient coins, family secrets, and a suspect millionaire's masquerade ball at his chalet in Switzerland make for a fascinating journey...with a promise of the next assignment from the Palace at the end. I adore these books, and don't feel I do them justice here.

Continuing on with the "witty couples having summer adventures" theme, I read Fall of a Philanderer by Carola Dunn, the 14th book in the Daisy Dalrymple series. Daisy and Alec, her DCI husband, are vacationing at Westcombe on the English coast when the local lothario is found at the bottom of the cliff. Did he fall or was he pushed?

Next up, The Cape Cod Mystery by Phoebe Atwood Taylor. Chris and I discovered the newly reprinted editions of this 1930s series at a book shop in Chatham on Cape Cod. In another summertime mystery, Prudence discovers her author-neighbor dead in his nearby cabin, and she and her niece Betsey work fast with handyman-turned-detective Asey Mayo to prevent Bill, her niece's admirer, from being charged with murder. If you like "golden age" mysteries, you'll enjoy this series -- there are 24 books with Asey Mayo, and Taylor wrote 9 other mysteries under pseudonyms.

My end-of-summer reading took me back to Lochdubh, where Hamish MacBeth solved two murders, the Death of a Perfect Wife and Death of an Outsider. The Scottish setting fascinates me, and the stories are total mind candy, easy to get lost in for an evening. Having no more books in the series at present, I've now traveled south to Taviscombe in England, and switched over to Mrs. Malory. Hazel Holt, the author of this series, was friends with and wrote the biography for the author Barbara Pym. Mrs. Malory is a widowed literary author and critic, and shares her favorite authors with other characters in the books as she solves the mysteries. I've finished Mrs. Malory Investigates (British title is Gone Away), and will now move on to The Cruellest Month. There are 19 books in this series and counting, and I've been hoarding collecting them over the past year. :)

In between these titles, I read and finished the summer-long study, Becoming a Woman of Simplicity. There is a lot here to learn and put into practice, and I'm very much a work in progress in that regard!

I've also started a very different kind of fiction book for me called My Year of Meats. I've toyed with the idea of becoming a vegetarian for a long time; I don't eat much meat simply because I've never liked the taste of it, and agree with the ecological, health, and moral viewpoints too. A friend who is already a vegetarian loaned this to me, so I'll let you know how it goes.

Of course, there has been yet another visit to the Book Barn.

 

I found the Death of an Outsider there, along with the first two books in a new historical mystery series by Clare Langley-Hawthorne, and one of the Bloomsbury books [I see they've just added four new titles!], Henrietta's War. I bookmooched the writing title, even though I already have many excellent writing guides I have not yet touched. I hope to get to these soon!

What books are on your "to read" list this fall?

Pink Skirt Math and New Books

Are you having a good week? I hope so!

Last Friday night, my friend C and I went to the Sting Symphonicity concert in Bethel, NY. It was the first time I saw Sting in concert, and with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra behind him, it was the most amazing music I've ever witnessed. It was simply electric, in an open air pavilion high up in the hills with the sun setting in the background. C gave me one of the very best birthday presents ever when she presented me with the ticket back in February.

A photo of the pavilion before the concert started, the best I could do with my phone. I love the evening sunlight. The stage is to the left.

I've knitted up to the third ivory stripe in my skirt, so it's decision time: do I knit the ribbon panel and then the fourth stripe, risking it falling across the most unflattering part of a person's backside (mine), or do I skip the ribbon panel and stripe and begin the stockinette early? I think I'm going to opt for the second and see how it goes.

I've got 300 stitches on the needles, and the pattern has you decrease to 210 by the time you get up near the waist. (I added back extra stitches to be able to knit the block rows in the round). So I'm thinking 300 stitches - 210 = 90 stitches to be decreased. 90 stitches divided by 4 stitches per "side" (one left and one right side on both front and back) is 22 with 2 left over.

There is 18" over which to do these decreases. The gauge is 10 rows to the inch, so there are 180 rows to work with. My gauge is actually 9 rows to the inch, but this is a rough estimate. Sooo...180 rows divided by 22 decreases from above is roughly a decreasing row every 8 rows. (For the mathematical purists: 18" x 9 rows to the inch = 162 rows, divide by 22 decreases is 7, with 8 left over. I think.) Does this make sense? I've never done well with "Train A leaves the station at 11:00am..." -type word problems, so I always like to have other knitters check my math to make sure I'm figuring things out correctly. There will certainly be an element of "try it on; adjust accordingly" but I am open to suggestions! My email is scarlett22770 at yahoo dot com if you'd rather not deal with the comment box.

Also, is there some trick to doing decreases in the round, like make them one or two stitches in from the marker so that they line up vertically? I tried to google that but couldn't find anything.

This year, I've tried hard not to buy any new books. It's taking me forever to finish what I start, and my shelves are already overflowing. But every so often something comes along that I cannot refuse. One of my latest was a book of Sea Poems I saw in a bookstore on Block Island. I've also mooched a few others:

Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh, A Hopeless Romantic by Harriet Evans, and I Could Do Anything if I Only Knew What It Was. A strange mix to be sure! Have you read any of these?

How is your summer reading and knitting going?

"Some Instructions on Writing and Life"

It is always a sweet surprise when the next book you choose to read turns out to be the very book you need to read at that moment.

I have had a good run of books in the past two months, the Seaside Knitters mysteries providing my favorite kind of escapist reading, and the Too Perfect and So Long, Insecurity books to deal with my pressing need for me to do things right, exacerbated by the intense pressures of not finding work and starting my own business. While I am still re-reading and practicing parts of those, along comes Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott.

First published in 1994, I missed it because I was not thinking of writing again, at least not beyond the library journals that published my articles on young adult services. Fast forward to last year, when I took writing classes at the local bookstore over the summer. Fired up with enthusiasm for the essays I used to love to write, I sent off several to magazines, and heard not a peep. Early this spring, I sent off a detailed proposal for an article to a local magazine, and I was so sure it was a perfect fit. Normally I don't have that level of confidence, but this time I truly felt like I'd done my homework and had a good chance at publication. I did not receive so much as the returned SASE saying "no thank you." Needless to say, my enthusiasm for writing since then has been like the wayward balloon that gets caught in the top of a tree, and the now-deflated rubber bit hangs lifeless at the end of the ribbon, swaying in the breeze.

I picked up Bird by Bird from my shelves because a reviewer somewhere recommended it in their review of the Too Perfect book, noting that it dealt with perfectionism in writing. Why not, I thought, and began. I'm not even half way through this book, and already I have found someone who understands, and it is comforting:

From "Short Assignments:"

What I do at this point, as the panic mounts and the jungle drums begin beating and I realize that the well has run dry and that my future is behind me and I'm going to have to get a job only I'm completely unemployable (I am so there!!!!), is to stop. First, I try to breathe, because I'm either sitting there panting like a lapdog or I'm unintentionally making slow asthmatic death rattles...After a moment I may notice that I'm trying to decide whether or not I am too old for orthodontia and whether right now would be a good time to make a few calls, and then I start to think about learning to use makeup...and then I think about all the people I should have called back before I sat down to work, and how I should probably at least check in with my agent and tell him this great idea I have and see if he thinks it's a good idea, and see if he thinks I need orthodontia...

And if that wasn't enough to endear me to Ms. Lamott, there is this:

From "Perfectionism:"

Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life...I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won't have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren't even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they're doing it.

...It's easier [breaking through perfectionism] if you believe in God, but not impossible if you don't. If you believe, then this God of yours might be capable of relieving you of some of this perfectionism. Still, one of the most annoying things about God is that he never just touches you with his magic wand, like Glinda the Good, and gives you what you want...but he might give you the courage or the stamina to write lots and lots of terrible first drafts, and then you'd learn that good second drafts can spring from these, and you'd see that big sloppy imperfect messes have value...

I have a terrible first draft, from NaNoWriMo. I haven't looked at it since November. Perhaps God and Anne Lamott will give me the courage to get it out sometime and try for that good second draft?

Creative Inspiration, and the Great Kitty Rescue

I'm almost finished with the second sleeve of Mr. Greenjeans, and the first lace tier on my skirt, but they're not yet photograph-worthy. While I'm finishing those, I wanted to share a couple of fun experiences I've had in the past week or so.

I'm fortunate to live in an area with many talented authors and artists, and last night, one of the local libraries hosted a talk by Jill Butler, author of Create the Space You Deserve. After living in France for about sixteen years, Jill moved back to the states after her divorce and needed to start anew. She talked about finding and making a home where she would have space and inspiration for the next phase of her life. She wrote a book based on that journey, and invited others in the audience to dream about what they want to make space for in their lives, particularly after, as she put it, life hands you a lemon. Her philosophy is: the more lemons, the more opportunities.

The talk went by too fast; I had the feeling she had much more to share before she had to stop and sign books. Some of what she shared overlaps with my favorite creative mentor's work, Julia Cameron of the Artist's Way, including doing the daily morning pages in your journal, and making time to spend with yourself via "the artist's date." These ideas are not just for creative people, but anyone seeking or facing a change and just not knowing what they want next, or how to get there. 

It didn't seem appropriate to ask for an author photograph in this setting, so I took one of the inscription she wrote in my book:

 

There are a lot of changes I'd still like to make in my life, including making my own creative room more appealing, but one thing I do know is that I find great fulfillment in my volunteer work at the cat shelter. No matter how discouraged I get about my writing, for example, I know the time I spend there is some of the best time I'll spend all week. And last week, just before the Great Sinus Plague got me, I had my first opportunity to do a cat rescue!

A local day care center called to report a friendly stray cat they'd noticed on the property, who appeared to have been hit by a car due to an odd walking pattern. None of the usual "rescuers" were available, so I received a call asking if I'd be willing to go out and get the cat. Of course!

Sometimes it's good you don't know what you're getting yourself into until after the fact. I drove over to the center, and walked around the property for a good long time, wondering when the cat might show up. They told me he's almost always around -- typically we'd set a trap with some cat food and wait, if the cat wasn't so friendly, but in this case I had the impression that the cat would magically appear at the first whiff of tuna! Finally I got the idea to walk to the property next door, full of long grass and junk where a cat could find a safe place for an afternoon nap (and I could pick up Lyme Disease -- must take bug spray next time!).

Within a few minutes, he came over to me, and even let me pick him up. Talk about a blessing! I held on to him for dear life and walked back to the center where my car was parked and the carrier was waiting. Getting him in wasn't too bad, and he was so good in my car, almost thankful that he knew he was headed for better things. Well, if you call the vet visit better!

We drove straight to the vet and they did a quick exam before I left. Patches, as the center wanted to name the kitty, has a fractured hip (verified in X-rays), likely from being hit by a car. But he's not in pain (the vet would have given pain meds), and with "cage rest" will heal up nicely! There is no surgery or other treatment you can give for a fractured hip, or collarbone, or many of the other cyclist-like injuries except time.

I picked him up two days later and took him to the shelter, where he settled nicely into a cushy bed and unlimited amounts of food. Want to see him?

 

I woke him up from his nap when I took the photo, so he's a little annoyed with me!

I know I'm a total nerd being so proud of what was a relatively easy rescue. The women at the shelter who normally make these visits could tell you stories!!! (I do believe they would have the *best* reality show ever: Dumpster diving. Climbing trees. Breaking into abandoned barns to get moms & kittens...). But it makes my weekly shift so much more real, now that I've had the experience of seeing what happens before a new cat comes to us. I am so grateful for this shelter and the volunteers. My cats are sick of hearing it, spoiled as they are.

Here is a photo of Jenny, another new cat at the shelter, who cannot get enough petting and attention! She's got a little cold and will soon go to her new room when her meds are done. Love her pink bed.

 

I am also grateful for everyone who goes out of their way to make time to help and support others. Kara and Erin, two very cool sisters, knitters, and sewists, participated in an MS walk recently for their brother. I received a very generous prize from Kara for supporting their walk:

A Liberty of London clipboard, a Jane Austen notebook, and a skein of hand-dyed wool from Plain & Fancy Sheep & Wool Co, in lovely a-t-mn colors! Thank you so much for these wonderful prizes. I will enjoy them very much! The wool will make a very nice shawl, if I can find the right pattern.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and spend lots of time doing what inspires you most!

The Moon Spinners

The Seaside Knitters have saved me again.

I escaped into the first two books of this knitting mystery series by Sally Goldenbaum while trying to cope with The Great Flood of 2010 in our basement. Then I received the third book, The Moon Spinners, in the mail last week, and had intended to read only a couple of pages a day, to savor it for a little while. After coming down with the Great Sinus Plague this weekend, I gave in to total immersion. Losing myself in sun-soaked summer days of Sea Harbor, MA helped me to forget how miserable I was feeling, as I followed Nell, Izzy, Birdie and Cass in their quest to discover Sophia Santos' murderer.

Sophia Santos, Gracie's elegant but cool aunt, is a private person who reveals little of herself to her family and community. One thing she is known for, however, is her black-and-white view of the world, with little room for gray. Her attitude turns some Sea Harbor residents off, and appears to have pushed one to commit murder, when she loses control of her husband's sportscar and drives it off of a cliff. The police determine the brake lines were cut, and the Seaside Knitters are determined to support their friend Gracie in determining the reason her aunt was killed.

This third installment of the series is the strongest yet; the author seems to have hit her stride in balancing the setting and character descriptions with dialogue. All of the Sea Harbor residents we have come to know and love appear in this volume, with the addition of the Santos family and their competitors in construction, the Delaney family. Izzy, Nell's niece, seems to be acknowledging her deepening feelings for Sam, her childhood friend, and Cass becomes attracted to Danny, the journalist investigating the Santos family who is also the son of the local bookstore owners. We are given a glimpse of the town's summer solstice celebration at the end of the story, although I was disappointed the author didn't include anything about St. Peter's Fiesta, a real-life Cape Ann event held the last weekend in June, where St. Peter is honored as the patron saint of the fishermen. The free knitting pattern is for Knitty's Fish Hat, which Cass knits for her brother Pete for his band, the Fractured Fish.

The next volume, A Holiday Yarn, will be published Nov. 2. This may be the first non-summer glimpse we have of Sea Harbor, when the tourists are gone and the temperatures are frigid. Cass and Pete will be finishing up the lobster fishing season, and the Seaside Knitters will be enjoying wool, cables, and sweaters. While I'm looking forward to book #4, I'll happily wait so that I can enjoy our real-life summer!

Thank you for your kind words about my sore foot. I went to the orthopedist this morning; of course my foot felt fine! It's like when your car stops making the funny noise once you get it to the mechanic. In any case, I am going to start some physical therapy and see if we can pinpoint what's going on. I am missing my bike and hope to be back on it once I recover from this sinus plague!!

Spring Greetings and Series Recommendation

 

Thank you for commiserating with me on our flooding. We are still vacuuming water out of our basement along with everyone else on the shoreline, but the water seems to have finally stopped seeping in the foundation. Our neighbors in Rhode Island have it so much worse than we do. I so love it there, I'm half-scared for my next visit, to see what may or may not have been damaged or destroyed: the used bookstore and bike trail in Kingston, and the shops and harbors at Watch Hill and Westerly most especially.

To escape from the stress of this week, I vacationed in Cape Ann, Massachusetts, or at least it seems that way. Reading Death by Cashmere and Patterns in the Sand, the first two books in the Seaside Knitters mysteries, transported me to the quaint villages of Rockport and Gloucester. A trip there this summer to visit in person is a must.

Both books are set in the fictional village of Sea Harbor, which, near as I can tell, is a morphing of Rockport and Gloucester, and the other villages on Cape Ann as well. The commercial fishing industry, the art colony, and the breakwater are central to the lives of the characters in the series as well as to residents in real-life.

Nell, a sixty-ish mother figure to her niece Isabel (Izzy) who owns the Seaside Knitting Studio, seems to be the central character and detective. I say "seems to be," because the jacket copy of the first book introduces us to Izzy as if she were the main character, but the stories unfold through Nell's eyes. I suspect this is because someone in the marketing department of the publishing house wrote the jacket copy but did not actually read the book as the editor did.

Nell, Izzy, Izzy's friend Cass (a lobsterwoman -- cool!), and Birdie, an eighty-year-old friend of Nell's, comprise the Seaside Knitters, along with Purl, the calico kitten. They meet on Thursday nights to eat Nell's delicious meals, drink Birdie's wine, knit with sumptuous yarn, and discuss the details of the latest murder. In Death by Cashmere, Izzy's upstairs tenant Angelina is pushed off of the breakwater one night after arguing with the son of a local society woman. In Patterns in the Sand, a young fiber artist named Willow comes to Izzy's shop to speak, only to be accused of the murder of a local wood sculptor. When a gallery owner is murdered a short time later, the Seaside Knitters are overwhelmed with secrets of their fellow villagers, and try to untangle the facts to keep Willow from arrest. Patterns for the items they knit at the studio are printed in the backs of the books.

Both books could have used a more careful editing to make the narrative tighter. Conversations between characters where the reader is led to believe a new clue will be revealed often go nowhere. Frequent observations about how the murder has changed the character of the town, or the summer, or that the townspeople are now suspicious of each other, are unnecessary and obvious from the plot. I wish there was more character development: we are told in the first book that Izzy began a law career only to make a 180-degree turn, leave her firm, and join her aunt and uncle in Sea Harbor to open a knitting shop. In the beginning of the first book, the narrative hints that something awful happened, but later in the story, the reason is revealed in one matter-of-fact paragraph, never to be manifest in Izzy's personality again. If it was truly that awful, wouldn't we see even hints of its effects in Izzy's conversations and behavior? Also, an old friend of Izzy's named Sam comes to town, and we are told that she is reluctant to see him, he makes her uncomfortable, etc. The reason isn't clear, yet they are soon friends again. I know nothing of Cass besides her job and voracious appetite, and little of Birdie, who is a spirited lady with what I suspect is a colorful life. I hope in future books that the author will define these characters better, show us more of their personalities and motivations and weaknesses. I also hope the publisher will not rely on spellcheck to edit the text: the missing words, incorrect verb forms, and other assorted mistakes that were left behind in these books were annoying to this former editor who otherwise truly enjoyed the books.

Despite the shortcomings listed above, I read page after page because I was captivated by the seaside village and its summer lifestyle. Characters take morning runs on the beach, meet frequently for coffee or tea on outdoor patios, spend one Sunday night a month wandering through galleries for the Art at Night festivals with fireworks. They meet at Nell and her husband Ben's house every Friday night for meals on the deck that will make any cooking afficionado melt: chowders, grilled fish, seafood salads, gourmet cheese, fresh breads. Everything is heaped with fresh herbs and vegetables, and even though I can't eat seafood, it nearly made me want to hop in the car to our nearest seafood restaurant and try it. They have a bookstore next to the knitting shop, and of course, a beach, sailboats, and whale watching. I want to move there right now. Though my town has some of the same character as Sea Harbor, it is the relationships between friends and neighbors that make these books special, and I can't wait for the next installment, Moon Spinners, due later this month. If you like mysteries, or the New England seaside, I hope you will try this series.

I hope you have a happy and peaceful Easter and Passover, and are enjoying a sunny, warm, flower-filled spring! A Happy Autumn to readers in the southern hemisphere!

Christmas Mysteries

Have you shoveled out yet from last weekend's storm? At the seashore, we had two feet of snow...unheard of. It took Chris four hours to shovel our driveway! Hello white Christmas!

I've finished a small knitted gift which I'll show after Christmas, and ripped back on the Mr. Greenjeans sweater too. But honestly...I'm not motivated to work on my current projects. I hate to start something new with several WIPs, and yet, it might help to get the inspiration back. Last night I wound yarn for the Lace Twist Mitts in the fall Knitscene, and did the first repeat. I think I'm going to rip it back and change up the pattern a little bit, and then I'll show a photo of that.

I've finished two books, both Christmas mysteries. Of sorts. While they take place around Christmas time, there is very little Christmas detail in them, which was disappointing.

A Christmas Journey by Anne Perry begins with a houseparty several weeks before Christmas. Outspoken Isobel makes a nasty after-dinner comment to nearly engaged Gwendolyn, resulting in her death. At this point, I had expected the future Great-Aunt Vespasia of the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series to discover that the apparent suicide was in fact a murder, but the story takes an entirely different direction. The host, knowing that Isobel has committed social suicide with her comment, proposes a medieval-like penance: if she is willing to make the punishing pilgrimage to the north of Scotland in winter to notify Gwendolyn's mother of her death, and bring the mother back with her for the funeral, all the guests are bound to forgive Isobel and treat her as if the event had never happened. Reluctantly, Isobel agrees to go, with Vespasia accompanying her on the journey. Vespasia is sure there is more to Isobel's comment and Gwendolyn's response than first appears.

The journey, and how it affects the characters, is the focus of the story. When they return from Scotland at the end of this short book, it is Christmas Eve. Talk of forgiveness, redemption and new beginnings echo the themes of Christmas. I would have liked more of a glimpse of the Victorian Christmas celebrations: the food, the decorations, the traditions, and more of the usual mystery story that Perry does so well. This was well-written, but not something I'd want to re-read.

Thanks to Chris and C.J.'s contest, I won two Hamish MacBeth books, one of which takes place at Christmas, Death of a Snob. After the grueling journey to Scotland, I was ready to...return to Scotland and take another grueling trip from west to east to a remote island, Eileencraig?!

Our sniffly hero Hamish is uninvited home for Christmas by his mother, when his nasty aunt decides to visit the MacBeths at the last minute. As Hamish looks for another place to spend his holiday, his long-lost love Priscilla informs him that her friend Jane, owner of a health farm on Eileencraig, feels her life is in danger. Jane asks him to accompany her on the arduous, freezing trip and join her guests for the holiday.

After arriving at the health farm, Hamish quickly discovers that tension is high between the guests, particularly due to Heather, whose tirades against romance novels and capitalism among other subjects wear everyone's patience thin. As Jane and Harriet, a cookbook author, tempt Hamish romantically, he tries to keep the peace among the male and female guests. Soon Heather is found dead, and Hamish is unsure whether or not Jane was the intended target.

Once again, Christmas is a minor detail in this mystery. Harriet cooks the Christmas dinner to give the guests a break from Jane's healthy vegetarian meals, and Jane hands out a present to each guest, most of whom do not offer a gift to her. The mystery could easily stand on its own, however, if it were set at any other time of year. While I enjoyed the puzzle and did not guess the murderer, I was disappointed that there weren't more details about Christmas in modern-day Scotland.

Since we are so close to Christmas, and I am hoping to receive some new books, I haven't started any other fiction. I'm currently reading How to Do it or The Lively Art of Entertaining by Elsa Maxwell. It's a facsimile edition of a book first published in 1957, written by a socialite who was known for her innovative party ideas, managing difficult guests, etc. It's a fun book that gives a glimpse of what high society New York was like in the 1950s, though I could do without the excessive name-dropping in the first few chapters I've read. Maxwell wants to impress her readers, but since most of her guests are no longer alive, and some names are not familiar to me, it is lost on me. Maxwell, who died in 1963, is credited with inventing the scavenger hunt.

What are you reading? Are you ready for Christmas and the new year? And if you're knitting gifts, have you finished them in time?