A Weekend of Goodbyes...

It seems that I've said goodbye to a couple of things in the sidebar...and not in a good way.

First up, Windshift by Andrea De Carlo. I've read that the author translated the book from Italian to English himself, which is pretty intriguing. After plodding through 635 pages of The Golden Notebook and not enjoying very much of it, I've decided not to waste my precious time on books that don't grip me by page 30. I couldn't wait to get into this book about four friends in Italy going to tour country homes with their real estate agent. It's rainy, their car falls into a ditch, and their cell phones have no signals...and they somehow meet up with some agri-naturists and must rethink their beliefs. I just didn't like any of the characters, and the writing...well, I think something must've gotten lost in the translation. I did like the bumbling real estate agent who spends much of his time tanning and making sure his appearance is impeccable. The opening chapter with him readying himself was somewhat entertaining, but then it just got long. When they finally get on the road, the chapter where the friends are in the car all on their cell phones dealing with various business/family problems while the others listen in was annoying. I know that was the point, but I think it could've been accomplished without ticking the reader off as well.

I've replaced this selection with The Lying Tongue by Andrew Wilson. So far, so good. I won't say more now because I think this will be one to discuss in a future blog post.

As for knitting...well, Viena is history. I guess I am completely dumb when it comes to reading the stitches on the needles (I know that might seem kind of harsh, but I'm still a little ticked off about this), so when it came to shaping for the armholes, I screwed it all up. I even asked for help on the Knitter's Review forums and received a response that made sense...in theory. In practice...well, let's just say I made a couple of major mistakes that a novice lace knitter (and a novice sweater knitter) could not easily fix. Lest you think I frogged nearly the entire back of the sweater only due to mistakes, I should tell you that I've been second guessing this sweater for quite some time. I kept putting it up against my body, and I just knew it wasn't going to be flattering. I guess I was in denial because I'd completed so much of it, but the lace mistakes helped me make my decision before I put in more time and effort than necessary.

Good news: I knit a lot on Ribena (I'm almost at the armhole shaping), and I started knitting this Star Pillow for my daughter's birthday next week. I finished one of 10 diamonds that will be pieced together to form the star (5 for the front of the pillow, 5 for the back). I plan to have it finished for her party this weekend, so I'll have Serena take a picture of it for me! I just hope I have enough yarn. I made some modifications to make the pillow slightly smaller, and I hope it comes out okay.

So, even though I tossed out a book and a knitting project, I think I managed to accomplish a lot this weekend! Now I just need to write more of my novel...