Shrug!

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Well, I didn't work on socks at all yesterday. Somewhere a lightbulb went off and I thought of a project I could make for my Eldest Daughter in Hawaii. As I don't have a stash of nice cottons, I'm always at a loss. So I thought a shrug would be a good idea. It'll be a narrow shrug, just sleeves and a bit of covering on the upper back. Very simple in construction: A rectangle that is as long as the sleeve length plus the distance across the back. Sleeves will be seamed and the back left open. Kinda like the Modesty Shrug. So, I started out with this pattern for the sleeves: Row 1: K1, YO, K2tog; Row 2: Knit; Row 3: K2, YO, K2tog; Row 4: KnitThen I switched to cables for the back: Row 1: Knit; Even Rows: Purl, Row 3: K2, C4B; Row 5: Knit; Row 7: C4F K2; Row 8: Purl
Those took me to almost the center of the back. Seeing I don't have measurements, I'm doing four repeats of: Row 1: K; Row 2: P; Row 3: K; Row 4: K; Row 5: P; Row 6: K. Those rows kind of pull together to form a soft ribbing that runs the perpendicular to regular K2, P2 type ribbings. It'll pull together if I make the back too wide, or pull apart some if the relaxed measurement is too small. At least that's the theory. Then I'll do the cables and the open pattern to finish the knitting.

The only iffy part is that I don't have enough yarn to do both sections identically. The part I've done is Malabrigo and Idena Mohair Lux. Very soft and slightly furry. I have some other purple and some handspun white mohair that combined is the same weight as the Malabrigo and Mohair Lux. I just don't know if it's gonna look like a clown shrug then with the two halves slightly different.... I suppose if it does, I can dye the whole thing a deep purple and that'll be that! Fortunately Eldest Daughter loves purple!

Monday Mourning: A Tempe Brennan Novel by Kathy Reichs

rating: 3 of 5 stars
A good book! I didn't have any good guesses on who the perp was until close to the ending. I did figure it out before Tempe and Ryan did, but not till the end which is okay.

Tempe is brought in to help identify three skeletons found buried in the basement of a pizza-by-the-slice joint. Although the police are willing to write them off as "old" bones from the last century, Tempe's not. With the assistance of her best friend, Ann, visiting from North Carolina and her heart throb, Ryan (who has suddenly been acting a bit stand offish and cool) and finally the police, she discovers who the three individuals are, who killed them and why.

Although the formula for Reichs' books is pretty predictable and the highly intelligent Temperance Brennan looses all her common sense to meet the killer face to face alone, it's still a good read.

These books are the very minute basis for Bones, a TV show on the Fox network. The only things the books and show have in common is a forensic anthropologist name Temperance Brennan who works with a hunky law enforcement investigator. Both the show and the books are good in their own rights, but don't expect to find the lab, the lab assistants and the Smithsonian in the books.

The Calling by Inger Ash Wolfe

rating: 5 of 5 stars
What a great murder(s) mystery! It was a little slow in the beginning, but it picked up pace until it was a page turner in the last 150 pages or so. Although all the way through the book we knew "whodunit" how he was going to be caught and if he'd ever be caught was always up in the air. The ending was unusual, but very very good.

View all my reviews.

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Bellamoden has a unique item in her etsy store. She'll sell you several small balls of sock yarn (100 g total) so you can make your own Dobby Socks!

Speaking of Dobby Socks: Check out Kathleen's! Wow!