Wow! I read alot of books in the final two weeks of May. I have Charlaine Harris and Sookie to thank for that!

May books:
1. Dead Until Dark (book 1), Charlaine Harris
2. Living Dead in Dallas (book 2), by Charlaine Harris
3. Club Dead (book 3), by Charlaine Harris
4. Dead to the World (book 4), by Charlaine Harris
5. Dead as a Doornail (book 5), by Charlaine Harris
6. Definitely Dead (book 6), by Charlaine Harris
7. All Together Dead (book 7), by Charlaine Harris

While I did absolutely love Twilight, they also left me emotionally drained. Sookie, on the other hand, is full of energy, life, and mystery. Yes, some do call them trashy, but I thought they were entertaining and fun. I read some of the above books in a day or two and was able to read book 8 and book 9 while we were on vacation in Boston and Maine. Now, Charlaine just has me waiting for the next one to be released! If you haven’t picked up these books, I really suggest giving them a try :)

As a side note: I’m really excited because I’m over half way with my New Year’s resolution goal of reading 52 books this year. I have 27 done already!

Woot!!

Over the last month or two I haven’t been at the wheel a whole lot. I did finish up these two pretties:

The first is a superwash Merino/Bamboo/Nylon in the Lilith colorway from Spincerely. I love, love Tamara and she has a gorgeous color sense. But…. yes, there is a but, I totally screwed up how I spun this. I didn’t want huge blocks of color, and that is what I got! Owell, its a learning experience :) I believe that this is a dk/worsted weight yarn and has about 179 yards.

And, next —->

I dyed up some of my Superwash Merino roving in the Luna colorway, and spun it, as a birthday present for a good friend. I love how this came out - though I was hoping for something a bit thinner. I ended up with about 170 yards of dk weight yarn. She loved it and that of course made happy!

Now, I just need some time to spin up some of this:

It’s my new Merino/Tencel roving in the Unbreakable Vow colorway. I don’t normally hide stuff away for myself when I dye things for the store, but I couldn’t resist!

We had a wonderful trip back East! We saw tons of friends and family, got a chance to have a few days in Maine, and were there to witness two super fun celebrations.

After a long, delayed flight back and a full week of dyeing, I finally had a chance to take a look at some pictures. I’ll let them do the talking for today; enjoy!

Happy weekend everyone!

Some long ago finished projects I want to share!

Pattern: Textured Shawl Recipe by orlane
Yarn: Blue Sky Suri Merino color #411; 2 skeins
Needles: Addi 24″ US 8
Measurements: Small shawl; neck wrap
Started: April 15, 2009
Finished: April 29, 2009
Other Details: I don’t quite remember when I started and finished this, but it was such an easy and relaxing knit! I didn’t even come close to having enough yarn to make it through the 28 garter rows, but thats okay. It is a little small to fit around my broad shoulders, so it looks like I will be wearing it more tied in front.

And another project for a super sweet friend’s birthday -

Pattern: Simple Yet Effective Shawl, by Laura Chau
Yarn: Handspun Pigeonroof Studios
Needles: Addi Lace 32″ US 4 (3.5mm)
Measurements: About 45″ across top and 20″ down center
Started: May 4, 2009
Finished: May 10, 2009
Other Details: I had fun knitting this again in some gorgeous handspun… I started and finished it while we were camping in SE Utah.

Sorry for the not so great pictures! We snapped these a few weeks back, right before a huge thunderstorm moved through. Awell!! I have so many other things to catch up on: gardening, our utah trip, some spinning… We are leaving for Boston on a red-eye tonight but am planning on blogging on our travels. Maybe we will even have some pretty pictures from Maine!

April was a sad, sad month in the reading department. My lack of reading was really due to two factors: I had an extremely small amount of time, and I think I had gone a little overboard with non-fiction the previous months. The book I had barely started a few weeks ago, Body Toxic by Nena Baker, still sits untouched on my night stand. Its not that this book didn’t interest me, I just think I am not ready for a “here’s the truth” kind of book. Time for a break. The solution you ask? Charlaine Harris and the Sookie Stackhouse series. I ordered it on Amazon right before we left on our trip, and it was waiting for me this week. I finally dove in last night with the first book. I think I’ll be back into reading in a heartbeat….

April Books
1. A Gap In Nature: Discovering the World’s Extinct Animals, by Tim Flannery and Peter Schouten
2. Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell

I still have so much to catch up on! Here’s another snapshot of our recent camping trip -

The Claret Cup Cactii were in bloom…. gorgeous reds all over the place provided lots and lots of picture taking opportunities. Have a great weekend!

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