Tangled Thursday - My Name

Tangled Thursday is a new occasional post on this blog. Heather at Books and Quilts is hosting these challenges in which we share our latest Zentangle inspired creations.

This week I asked the other participants to create a tile representing their name. Basically, we were to divide our drawing space into the same number of sections as there were letters in our name.  For example, I need 5 sections in my tile for my name. Then, fill each section with a pattern that starts with one of the letters in our name. So, I’d pick a pattern that starts with an M, an A, an R, etc.


Here's mine for this week:

M.A.R.I.E - Mooka, Asian Fans, Reticulated, Indy-Rella, Eylet Ribbon (Mostly in order from the bottom left.  The last two patterns are reversed.)


I had fun doing this one and really enjoyed finding new tangle patterns with which to complete it.  It's not as neat as I hoped, but I still like it.   I was hoping to do a few other variations, but the week got away from me. 

I'm a bit behind on my daily Zentangle project, but I did mange to do a little every day.  Hopefully, I'll be able to post an update on that next week.

Be sure to check out the other name creations on Books and Quilts.   If you'd like to join us, please do so by linking your post to the Mr. Linky on Heather's post.  

Needlework Tuesday - My New Sweater!

Other than keeping up on my temperature scarf, I didn't really do much in the way of needlework...until yesterday. When the sweater kit I ordered from Mary Maxim arrived. 

I really had a hard time deciding on the colour, so I went with a Dark Rose, the one pictured. I'm not a girly-girl, but for some reason I wear a lot of pink.  I was hoping that it was going to be more on the red/raspberry side of the colour spectrum, but nope, it's definitely dark rose...pink. Oh, well. Like I said I wear a lot of pink, so it'll fit right in with my wardrobe.

I couldn't wait to get started, but the pattern intimidated me within 5 seconds of opening it up. I've made sweaters before, but not for a number of years.

Here's the problem:

• I really don't understand the gauge instructions. I know how to check my gauge (although I rarely do it), but this one is overly complicated., at least when I read it.  I decided to skip it and hope for the best.  
• The pattern uses stitch markers. I haven't used them before, but after a quick Google search, I found out that it's really straight forward, so that's one less thing to worry about.  I'm going to use some cute paperclips and/or dental elastics instead of buying some. 
• There's a mistake (at least by my calculations) on the first row!!!! of the pattern. Sheesh. I couldn't figure out exactly what the instructions should have been, so I just ended up purling a few more stitches on the end of the row. That had me worried about the rest of the pattern, so this morning I pulled out my calculator and went through a number of the other rows to make sure I understood what to do and to make sure that the stitches added up correctly. So far, so good.

Not a good way to start what I was hoping was going to be a fun, relaxing project.   I'm hoping it's going to get easier once I get into it.  I remember when I knitted my Aran Fisherman's sweater a number of years ago, I ran into all kinds of obstacles, but I eventually overcame them all...by myself.   If needed, I have a couple of neighbours who are avid knitters, who might be able to help if I run into major problems. 

The yarn feels really nice and so far it's been easy to work with.   I love that the Mary Maxim included a plastic zipped bag to hold the yarn while I'm knitting.  I imagine that it could also be used to store my cardigan once it's complete.   I also ordered the pewter buttons for this sweater, but I'll show them once I'm more into the project. 

Anyway, here's what I have done to date:

Needlework Tuesday is hosted by Heather over at Books and Quilts.  Today she's posting about her temperature scarves.  She's even thinking about doing two more!!!! 

Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson by Jeff Guinn

In Manson: The Life and Time of Charles Manson, Jeff Guinn, presents information, new and old, about Manson's early life, his music career desires, his life with "the Family", as well as the murders that made him infamous. Guinn puts all of it into context with the troubling 1960s and world events.

I should state that I've read Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry many, many times. In my younger days, I was fascinated by the facts of the case. That fascination has waned a bit, but I still seem to latch onto any new information I can. That book remains one of the few that I've read more than once. Therefore, I think I have a pretty good handle on the details as Bugliosi presented them. However, looking back on it now, I think Bugliosi's presentation style and ego hampered that book and perhaps distorted some of the facts. It's going to be hard to write this review without comparing it to that book.

As for this book, I really enjoyed it. I was surprised by all of the new information that Guinn was able to assemble. By talking to others who hadn't spoken to an author before now, Guinn was able to present some new information about Charlie's life, "the Family" and of course, the murders. Perhaps some of this information was just new-to-me because it's amazing that some of this stuff wasn't known before. It has been over 40 years.

I loved that Guinn presented the material chronologically. I had complaints about authors doing this with other true crime books, but in this case I was happy about the way it was presented. It really helped the facts and events in order as they happened rather than a mishmash of random happenings. The book also answered some questions that I had, some regarding the sequence of events. I won't go into them here because they won't make sense if you don't know the details of the story.

I loved that Guinn didn't editorialize the material. He presented the information in a clear, concise manner without adding his own two cents into the mix. What a welcome change from the other book.

This book focused more on Charlie's failed attempts to garner some interest from the music industry and his intense desire for a music career and less about the Helter Skelter, the race war that was supposed to come about from the Tate/LaBianca murders. It had me questioning whether or not that war was the main motive for the murders. I don't know if there will ever be a definitive answer to that.

Guinn doesn't just write about Manson and his Family; he also presents lots of information about what was happening in the world at that time, a very chaotic time in American history. I'm not a huge history buff, so a lot of the information was new to me. It was all fascinating. I also learned more about LSD than I'll ever need to know. I hadn't given the drug that much thought, but I did have some misconceptions about it that Guinn cleared up.

My one disappointment was the trial portion of the book. Although it was condensed quite a bit, that section repeated too much of what Helter Skelter had to say about it. There were a few new tidbits of information presented, so it wasn't all bad. This book wouldn't be complete without it, so I guess I can't complain too much. It's really my fault for reading the other book too many times.

Here are a few of my favourite quotes:

...compares Charlie to a cancer cell because he thrived by eradicating everything around him that was healthy. (page 399)

The unsettling 1960s didn't create Charlie, but they made it possible for him to bloom in full, malignant flower. (page 399)

Highly recommended. If you want to know more about Manson and his Family, in my opinion this is the new go-to book.

For more information about this book, please visit Simon & Schuster's website.

I'd like to thank those nice people at Simon & Schuster for this review copy.

Manson: The Life and Time of Charles Manson by Jeff Guinn, Simon & Schuster ©2013. ISBN 9781451645163(Hardcover), 495p, includes index and various appendices.

Tangled Thursday - Daisies

Tangled Thursday is a new occasional post on this blog. Heather at Books and Quilts is hosting these challenges in which we share our latest Zentangle inspired creations.







This week (our first!) we are presenting the daisies we've been working on. Here's mine:
 

Centres: Clockwise from upper right - Merryweather, Nvelopes, Bales, Minouche 
Petals: Clockwise from top - Hollibaugh, Purk, Bead Lines, W2, Pippin, C-Bun, Pop Cloud, Paris
Additions: Twisted Rope and a few made-up edges.  

I think I mentioned that I got this 4-tile idea from a Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT), Adele.  Here is her gorgeous 4-tile Floatfest tile.  I hope she doesn't mind that I used it for inspiration.  If you haven't checked out her blog yet, you should.  Her work is informative and wonderful.

If I had to do this all over again, I'd do a few things differently.   Ideally, I'd mount this on a black mat, but I didn't have one that was big enough, so I used a navy blue.  Sorry, the photo's not straight...bad lighting and angle.

It's my turn to pick the challenge or design we are going to be working on for next week, November 7.   How about we Zentangle our names?  Basically, you divide your drawing space into the same number of sections as there are letters in your name. For example, I need 5 sections in my tile for my name. Then, fill each section with a pattern that starts with one of the letters in your name. So, I’d pick a pattern that starts with an M, an A, an R, etc.

Very similar to the one on Tanglepatterns.com: Zentangle Your Name

Instead of the restrictions outlined in those instructions, let open it up and see what we get. You can use any tile or paper you want, any size you want, and any patterns you want that start with the right letter (not just official ones). Let’s stick with the random string idea, though. I’m sure we will get into different shapes later on. Unless, of course you’d rather use a specific shape. Then by all means, use one. Also, it would be great if you could identify the patterns you used, so that others can look up the patterns you used online (if it’s available) and learn how to do them, if they so choose.


I've also been working on my Zentangle project.  (If you've been here before you might notice that I dropped the year-long part.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to cut it short at the end of the year). Anyway, here are my latest creations:

Week 6 - Ona, C-Bun, Cruze, 8s Parte Dos, Purk, Bead lines, Hollibaugh

Week 7 - Creznt, Sindoo, Poser, Twisted Rope, Ahh, Snood, Emingle




Be sure to check out the other daisy creations on Books and Quilts. If you are a Zentangler and would like to join us, please do.  Heather has a Mr. Linky set up on her post.  If you join us this week or any other week, but sure to link visit her blog post for that week and link up your work.  

Needlework Tuesday - Temperature Scarf plus Odds and Ends

For the past week or so, I've been doing lots of little craft things, but I don't have much to show for it.  For my temperature scarf project, I copied Heather's idea and created a more sturdy legend for the yarn colours, which is much better than the little slip of paper I had before.
 

The weather has turned colder, so I've introduced two new colours to the scarf...a light green and a dark green.   I'm not thrilled with the lighter green.  Next to the other colours it looks neon.  Oh, well.  I also wove in all of the ends that were sticking out. Here's the latest photo:

You can see on the left hand side where I joined the yarns (I'm a lefty) isn't that pretty.   Meh.   From now on, I'm just going to show little snippets of the scarf. That way, when I'm done I can do a big reveal.

I also pulled out my sky scarf that I completed in April and wove in all of the ends that I hadn't done when I finished knitting. Because I had carried many of the yarns up the side, there weren't that many to weave in. It's now ready to wear.  Yay!   Did I ever mention that I'm still writing down sky colours every day in hopes of making another one?  At this point, I'm months and months behind, but I'm still hoping to do it one day.  If I make the scarf a little narrower than the last one, I should have enough leftover yarn to complete it. 

I also ordered a sweater to knit from Mary Maxim. I phoned the store/order desk twice to make sure I got the right size. Unfortunately, I received two different answers.  After some thought, I decided that a larger size was better than a smaller one.  I can always wear one that's too big, but it's hard to squeeze into a sweater that's too small.   Also, the woman on the phone who told me to order the larger size sounded knowledgeable...her explanation made sense to me.  However, I must have caught her on a bad day or she was naturally cranky because she hung up on me before I finished talking. At that point, I hadn't actually ordered it yet.  I was very, very tempted to say F**K it and move on.  But I really like the sweater and wanted a nice winter project that wasn't an afghan or wrap.   Rather than risk another hang up, I ordered online.  By the way, their online order system is easy to use, relatively quick, and not at all cranky.  

I also cleaned up my craft area and made a list of the garden craft projects I want to get done over the winter.   I might have to scale a few of them down.  Also, I had thought I was going to do some Christmas crafts soon, but I haven't started those and I don't know if I'm going to.  Maybe I will once the season draws closer. 

I've been working on lots of Zentangle patterns, but I won't be reporting on those in this post anymore.   Come back on Thursday for that. 

Needlework Tuesday is hosted by Heather over at Books and Quilts.

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde

If you've come here to read a review or anything else about "50 Shades of Grey", you are going to be disappointed. This is NOT that book.

Shades of Grey takes place in the dystopian world where colours rule. People are segregated according to what colours they could see and their hierarchy is based on that. For one inhabitant, Eddie Russet, the world is about to turn upside down when he travels to East Carmine and he meets a Grey named Jane. He begins to question why things are run as they are and that doesn't sit well with those who hold the power.

I don't read a lot of dystopias, so I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I really loved it! It was quirky and so much fun to read. The rules in this world were definitely absurd and generally there was a whole lot of silliness going on. For instance, instead of progress they had "leap backs", where certain inventions/tools/items were no longer supposed to be used. Other examples: Rule "2.3.06.02.087: Unnecessary sharpening of pencils constitutes a waste of public resources, and will be punished as appropriate" (page 156), Rule "9.3.88.32.025: The cucumber and the tomato are both fruit; the avocado is a nut. To assist with the dietary requirements of vegetarians, on the first Tuesday of the month a chicken is officially a vegetable" (page 46). Silly, right?

It was such an interesting read, because even though that world was very different, it was vaguely familiar, too. There were lots of references with slight and not-so-slight changes that I recognized, but there was an equal number that were elusive to me....on the tip of my tongue, but didn't quite make it to my brain. It was all good.

I'm sure there were some deep underlying themes running throughout the book about society and it's rules, but I don't analyse books that deeply. I'll leave that to the literary folks.

Here are a few of my favourite quotes from the book:

...information can liberate but also imprisonate.(page 210)

First, time spent on reconnaissance is never wasted. Second, almost anything can be improved with the addition of bacon. And finally, there is no problem on earth that can't be ameliorated by a hot bath and a cup of tea. (page 211)

Prisons are still with us...only the walls are constructed of fear, taboo, and the unknown. (page 356)

Highly recommended. I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed this one. I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for the next books in the series. In the meantime, I have a few of his other books on my to-be-read shelf to keep me busy.

If you liked this book, you might also enjoy Tourquai by Tim Davys (my review). It's a very different book from this one, but has some of the absurd qualities.

For more information about this book, please visit Penguin'swebsite.

For more information about the author, his other books, and call kinds of craziness, please visit Jasper Fforde's website.

I'd like to thank those nice people at Penguin for this review copy.

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde, Viking (Penguin), ©2010. ISBN 9780670019632(Advance Uncorrected Proof), 389p.

The Blood Gospel by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell

In The Blood Gospel, three investigators are on the search for a gospel written in Christ's own hand, The Blood Gospel. Those investigators are: Jordan Stone, a military forensic expert, Rhun Korza, a priest, and Erin Granger, an archaeologist. They start their journey underground by finding the crucified body of a mummified girl and are soon trying to outrun the evil forces who are also trying to get hold of the book. As they travel on their search, they uncover some mysteries of the Catholic church.

This wasn't my favourite book. In fact, there's very little that I enjoyed about it. I didn't like the vampire angle at all. I've been trying to stay far away from this genre because it just doesn't interest me. Having said that, I have read and enjoyed a couple of other books featuring vampires/immortals, so there are exceptions, but as a whole the genre isn't my thing.

I also didn't like the change of point of view in the middle of the scene. When done well, stories, especially mysteries, told from different point of views, are terrific. I generally enjoy them. However, in this case because of the way it was done, it didn't work for me. The different points of view were okay, just not in the middle of a scene. I wanted the authors to focus on one main character at a time. Because that focus was divided, I didn't care much for any of the main characters. I found Father Rhun Korza the most interesting of the three, even though he was one of the vampires I said I didn't care for.

I was raised in the Roman Catholic church and am fascinated by anything (including fiction) that attempts to reveal secrets that have been long held by the Catholic church. The church appears to be so secretive, that I can't help but wonder why. I want to peak behind the curtain, so to speak. That's what first drew me to this book. Even though I wasn't enjoying the book, I kept reading because of the promised revelations. However, that didn't really happen. There are a few tidbits here and there, but overall the story was convoluted and not very clear. I guess I wanted clear-cut answers (or at least the authors guesses) to the questions posed in the synopsis: Why do Catholic priests wear pectoral crosses? Why are they sworn to celibacy? Why do the monks hide their countenances under hoods? I don't think I got that.

I've read two other books by Rollins: The Last Oracle and The Doomsday Key. I loved them both. I also have a few other books by Rollins on my to-be-read shelf. I'll definitely be reading those, but I'm not sure I'll be buying any others for awhile.

Sorry, but I won't be recommending this book. If you are into that whole vampire genre, you might like it. I wish I could say there was more to like, but perhaps my lack of interest in vampires clouded my judgement.

For more information about this book, please visit the HarperCollins website.

For more information about James Rollins, please visit his website. For more information about Rebecca Cantrell, please visit her website.

I'd like to thank those nice people at William Morrow for this review copy.

The Blood Gospel by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell, William Morrow (HarperCollins), ©2013. ISBN 9780061991042(Trade paperback), 479p.