middle of a book

Moon Report: waxing crescent. 3% full.

Book Note

Ok. I am in the middle of a book called The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman by Louis de Bernieres. This is a very well written book and one I think is interesting and should be great if I ever finish it. My problem--I think my attention span is shrinking. I have now checked it out of the library for the third time to see if I can manage through. There is absolutely no excuse for my lazy reading.

I originally checked this out of the library because I thought the title was amusing. After beginning I am glad I checked it out--it's magic realism/surrealism [I adore it.] But now I find that this is the middle book of a trilogy and I am wondering if I shouldn't stop and read the first one.
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Crochet v. Knit

I am ambidexterously-challenged. I can't knit to save my life. There is something about having to use a stick in each hand to knot a bunch of yarn together that is impossible. The giant problem: knitting has so many cool stitch patterns.

My sis, who writes lefty but is ambidexterous otherwise, can knit. She's not bad either when she learns a pattern. [I'm jealous].

All I can do is crochet. I am about to attempt my first afghan. I decided a good granny afghan would be nice and "homey" for this winter. I just bought a ton of very bright yarns--canary yellow, peackock turquoise, fire engine red, and spring grass green. They will make up the granny squares and then I'll crochet it all together in black. My goal is to be finished by mid-January. Luckily the granny square is very simple to do while watching TV and doesn't require too much concentration.

learning crochet

I'm learning to crochet things a bit more complex than single and double stitch scarves. Unsuccessfully I might add.

My grandmother taught me how to crochet when I was about nine or ten, but I just recently "rediscovered" it. It wasn't so much a rediscovery as an alternative to my terrible hand-eye coordination with knitting. [Some people are ambidextrous enough to knit, but I am NOT one of them.] So I returned to a stitching method for which I had an ability.

Here are a couple of interesting places to visit: Crochet Pattern Central and GrannyAlong Blog.

Granny squares should not be rocket science. They are supposed to be one of the easiest squares to do. I can't get mine to look right to save my life--it all goes down hill after the foundation chain. My first layer no longer looks as if it has been chewed by weasels, but the whole square is less than elegant.

But I'm going to keep working at it so I can attempt the Babette Afghan. I swear one day I will get it accomplished! The Purl Bee also has a flickr account where you can see the different interpretations for the blanket and all the wild colors people have used. They are fun and beautiful.

I love blankets. I'd like to have my cedar closet full of warm quilts and afghans that have been made with love by someone that wasn't a factory. The handmade kind are always better.