I finally finished At Knit’s End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much, by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (aka the Yarn Harlot). With the anticipation of her newest book, Free-range Knitter: The Yarn Harlot Writes Again, I wanted to get this book off of my list. I really enjoyed it but the little meditations were a little hard to get through since it wasn’t a connected narrative. I still liked it though, and can’t wait for the next Yarn Harlot book. I have now read all of her books so I am excited to be ready for the next.

At this point I have read seven books this year. Not as good as I would’ve liked but I think it’s better than previous years.

Still on the nightstand includes: Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and Emma. Hopefully with this off the list, I can return my attention to these novels.

Another book is on the done shelf! It’s been awhile since I finished a book. Four months actually. Shhhh! I’ve been busy! Things have happened! I was reading the whole time, I swear.

It’s actually a good thing that I completed this book since a friend of mine and I started our own little “Jane Austen Book Club.” After watching Becoming Jane and The Jane Austen Book Club, it was pretty obvious to both of us that we needed to read these classics. We’re starting with Emma. Let me rephrase. She’s starting, I’m lagging behind, on Emma.

I’m really rather excited about reading the Austen books considering I’ve been wanting to for some time. I just have to get started. With this off my half-read pile, I’ll feel more inclined to start a brand new book. Now about Lord of the Rings ….

This is book six of 2008.

I finished another book! Hooray! I really enjoyed this book, as with all of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s books. This is one of my favorites of hers especially. It discussed different projects and how some are ughs and some are fantastic and how all you want to do is knit. I feel like this all the time! Knitters of the world unite.

I also am looking forward to the Yarn Harlot’s next book, which I’ve already preordered. She’s coming to Chicago on April 25th. I can hardly wait. I saw her a few years ago in Oak Brook and she was amazing. She’s a wonderful speaker and the gathering of all those lovely knitters really is an amazing experience. I am really looking forward to it!

This is book five of 2008.

Today is the 6th Blogoversary of this blog. I just happened to have overlooked this momentous occasion each year. I look back at this blog, which used to part of my other site idleaudience.com (that is now defunct), and now it stands on its own. Once a sporadic effort to reflect on the day’s events or just things I come across online, and now I’ve made it as much a part of my daily routine as I can.

There’s been some cool additions over the years.

• My afi 100 efforts have been discussed with each movie.
• tunes by luka has been fun adding music each week.
• And weekly roundup was a fun weekly review of online discoveries.
• I’ve blogged about my knitting and crochet projects 137 times.
• This year I started Books of 2008. I’m tracking the books I’ve read this year.

Here’s some other stats:

• There are 574 posts, with 315 comments, over 33 categories. Do I like to organize or what?
• Wordpress’s ShortStat informs me since April 1, 2007, there have been 25,365 unique views. Hey, thanks for reading!
• “Candied rose petals” is a popular keyword, used 126 times.
• There’s a bunch of readers finding this blog through Google. Lately, there’s just as many coming from Ravelry. Hi guys! Thanks for coming!

So thanks everyone for reading and I hope you keep coming back for more!

I don’t want you to get too excited, but I’ve finished my fourth book this year. And it’s only February. If I finish another one this week, it’s like I’ve read a book a week. Which is totally a lie, but it’s my blog and my system so I can do whatever I like!

So now to the finished book. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (aka the Yarn Harlot who has her own Wikipedia entry) Casts Off was an exceptionally quick read. Similar to her blog, I sped through this read like Ethan plays with his catnip toy (or as the Yarn Harlot would insinuate, maybe there’s a “catnip” for knitters that was embedded in the pages of her book … yarn-nip anyone?)

In other words, if you’re a knitter and you have any decency, you should read this book. It often was poignant, endearing, clever and funny. It hits a chord with every knitter; no matter how your far your habit has taken you. I particularly liked the book’s concept as a travel guide to the world of knitting. It made the hobby I already love and adore, feel even more glamorous and exotic (like a trip to Hawaii or something). Probably my favorite read so far. Not that my other books weren’t great or moving, this just seemed to touch a chord faster.

4 books of 2008

I’ve finished my third book of the year, woohoo! How To Be Happy, Dammit: A Cynic’s Guide To Spiritual Happiness was a really funny read. I got this book a few years ago from a friend. It’s been sitting on my shelf ever since.

Taking spiritual advice with a grain of salt, this book approaches the “advice” road with squinty eyes. Broken down into 44 life lessons, makes this book a quick read and packs a bunch of information about zen, philosophy and spirituality into each page. Plus who can resist its happy orange cover with a pretty green flower on it? I know I can’t.

I’ve read three books so far this year.

I’ve finished another book this year: An Open Heart. I have a number of books on Buddhism and I’ve been meaning to read them. I started with this one because I wanted a simplified beginning to the practice. The book turned out not to be as simplified as I expected, but it was still a good read. It reviewed the general basics of Buddhism: karma, meditation, compassion.

I liked the short chapters, which made getting through the somewhat heavier aspects of the read a lot easier.  The book also has a cool concept behind it. It’s based on a three-day series of teachings held by the Dalai Lama in New York City. I just wish I could’ve been there in person.