"A Visit from the Goon Squad"

This book (actually a collection of inter-related short stories and one PowerPoint presentation) covers the time span from the 1980's to the near future.  The characters are involved in music and some of them go from being uninhibited amateur performers totally in love with music to selling their souls once they actually become employed in the industry.  The goon squad is, of course, time.   The author has managed to incorporate post-modern elements (the PowerPoint chapter and footnotes) without being annoying or precious.

My rating:  ***** (out of 5)

"Foreign Bodies" by Cynthia Ozick

Author Cynthia Ozick says that this book is a photographic negative of The Ambassadors by Henry James.  I've never read that book, but this one is about Bea Nightingale, who re-connects with her overbearing brother Marvin who wants her to travel to Paris and convince his son Julian to return to the United States.  She travels to Paris to find Julian married to a displaced person who Bea at first believes to be taking advantage of Julian but comes to believe is a good match for him.  Bea also re-connects with her ex-husband, a composer, who has left a grand piano in her apartment for the 20-some years they've been divorced.  She takes control of her life by getting rid of all signs of that piano.

My rating:  **** (out of 5)

X-mas Gloves

Pattern:  http://www.freevintageknitting.com/mittens/617-gloves-pattern.html

Yarn:  Dale of Norway/Dalegarn Heilo

I made these gloves for my male Korean ESL student.  I completed the first glove and thought it looked too large, so I did the second glove only up through the palm.  Then I gave it to him on the needles last week so I could see what adjustments I needed.  Fortunately, I only had to shorten two fingers by about 1/2 inch.  I'll give the completed gloves to him on Monday when we meet for our tutoring session.

I'm also making a pair for myself from the same pattern, so am a little tired of this pattern.

Remembering

Nicole Krauss' book "Great House" is about remembering.  It takes the form of 8 short stories about four people who have owned a large, multi-drawered desk at one time or another.  The desk was originally owned by a Jewish family in Hungary prior to World War II and eventually makes its way back to that same family.  I didn't like the book as much as I'd expected to.  Wish I'd had time to re-read it, but I have another book that is due back at the library in a week.

My rating:  *** (out of 5)

My First Shawl

Pattern:  Show Your Colors Shawl

Yarn:  Andean Lace

Needles:  U.S. 4

This is my first lace pattern and I'm quite pleased with it.  I'm not exactly a shawl person, so don't know how much use the garment will actually get.  This was a very simple pattern.  I did much of it at knit night and on an airplane, so distractions were not a big problem with this knitting.  I'm happy with it, but if I were making another shawl, I'd find a pattern with neck shaping so that the shawl doesn't scrunch up around the back of the neck.

Several Finished Objects

Finally my camera has been repaired and I can report on several finished objects.  First up is Truck Mittens for Niepa.  I used some leftover Baby Cashmerino yarn.  The pattern is Vroom-vroom mittens available on Ravelry.

Next are mittens for Ella, the daughter of one of my yoga teachers.  They are Baby Cashmerino also, and I used my basic mitten pattern, available here.

The Bohus Stickening Cuffs are from a class I took at Stitches Midwest.  The technique involves a very fine yarn with colorwork.  Unlike fair isle, there is purling.  Also, the floats can be considerably longer than with fair isle work.  The result is pretty, but I don't have the patience to do this on a larger project.  I received the yarn and pattern in a kit during the class.

My last project is Petrie, done in a linen yarn.  I'm very pleased with how this turned out.  Unfortunately it will be too cold to wear a sleeveless linen top in Michigan until about next June.

"Just Kids" by Patti Smith

This memoir of Patti Smith's relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe recalls the 1960's and 70's in New York City.  She pursues a career in poetry, art, and finally music, while Mapplethorpe, a student at Pratt when she met him, works on his art, eventually focusing on photography.  Their lives intersected with some of the most interesting people of the 1970's, including  Jimi Hendrix, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, and Janis Joplin.  There's even a Bob Dylan slighting.

My rating:  **** (out of 5)