Musing Mondays and a Plethora of Knitting Projects I'm Enjoying

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme hosted by Jenn at Books and a Beat that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

                              

• I’m currently reading…
• Up next I think I’ll read…
• I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
• I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I can’t wait to get a copy of…
• I wish I could read ___, but…
• I blogged about ____ this past week…

THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: Name a book everyone should read at least once.

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Musing Mondays post, or share your answer in a comment in Books and a Beat. Thanks!

     This weekend I started a new book: New Leaf: A Mystic Creek Novel and I am enjoying it tremendously.  I haven't gotten far into it, but the first paragraph grabbed me of its description of the snowy small town.  "The headlights of the county-owned crew-cab truck cut through drifting snowflakes to bathe quaint store-fronts in flashes of gold as Barney Sterling circled the town center of Mystic Creek and then turned right onto Main Street...".  I could imagine the little towns back East in Upstate New York and Vermont that I used to pass through during snowstorms.  Old store fronts. Some open, others closed but with a remnant of an old sign making you wonder what was there and what it was like long ago.  I think Mystic Creek is supposed to be a town somewhere in the West, but it reminded me of old towns back East. 

      I love creative descriptions of quaint small towns and the characters that fill them.  So far this book isn't disappointing me.  I love the sheriff, Barney and the rye sense of humor he displays. He describes how he wished either his name was different or he had picked another occupation because of the Barney Fife jokes.  The story has wrapped itself around me already and I'm wondering how it'll play out as Taffeta Brown tries to skirt Barney's advances because of some hidden past she is hiding from.

Catherine Anderson's books are always a very good read.  The previous book in the Mystic Creek Series:  Silver Thaw: A Mystic Creek Novel was good.  And a few years ago I read everything of hers I could find, so I'm sure I'll like this one.

THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: Name a book everyone should read at least once.

I would always recommend my favorite Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.  It's an adventure and romance (but not in the traditional sense) that will draw you into another world, one which you hate to leave. 

                                                      

 This week on the knitting front I have several projects going (as usual).  I've finished knitting my Sumptuous Fearless Cardigan and I need to sew up the seams. 
                                                                                

 I'm still working on a few prayer shawls for myself and my Mom- A Prayer Shawl.  I find the rhythmic knitting is good for watching shows at night.  My husband and I have been watching "Once" from the beginning. 

     I started designing a cowl using the Chinese Wave stitch in white and that is looking pretty good so far.  When I'm done with this size I'm going to try making it into a bigger loop and see which works better.  Perhaps with a twist?  But the Chinese Wave stitch makes such a wonderful squishy deep knit.  It was just a matter of figuring how to do it in the round on a circular needle.  I kept thinking of it in the middle of the night when I went to bed.  How to make a garter stitch on a circular needle and have the waves show in the front?  Ended up simple- I just had to think it through.  And by jove I've got it!  It's so lovely.

 I'm also fantasizing about ripping out an old unfinished shawl and using the yarn for a poncho I saw in Friday Fantasy Knits- I Dream Of Ponchos!

Pacific Breeze Poncho

     I also have my dishcloth to finish- Technique Thursday- Knitting a Dishcloth for Beginners to Advanced Knitters. 

                                                      

I love flowing from one project to another depending on what mood I'm in.  But I also cook and bake like that- flitting from one to another bowl or pot until it's all done together.  It works in the cooking department.  We'll see about the knitting one.  I somehow lack the patience to work on just one thing tills it's completion.  I think letting myself enjoy what I can't wait to get my hands on and then circling back to a previous project all re-freshed and enthusiastic works better for me than forcing myself to finish just one project I just began.  This is after all supposed to be fun.

Have a great week reading and knitting too!

 My Day-