Still working on the Smooth Sailing blanket. According to the pattern I am almost halfway through, but I will probably add another repeat or two since I have enough yarn, and I like baby blankets that are big enough to wrap them up in and continue to use once they're toddlers. I'm wishing now that I had made it a bit wider for that reason. Ah well.
I do like the way it bunches up and looks all squishy and textured right now. But of course I will be blocking it once it's finished; you can see what the lace pattern will look like.
None of these pictures does justice to this shade of blue, especially on a rainy day like today. But Malabrigo has a pretty good picture on their site, a touch greener than in reality.
Still reading all the same books, mostly A Dance with Dragons. It is good but I will be glad when it's over. I feel that George RR Martin is a very self-indulgent writer. There is no reason that this book needs to be so long. Why do fantasy writers do that so often? I once "met" (via NaNoWriMo forums) a writer who was baffled that anyone would write a fantasy short story--how could you build a world in so small a space?
The same way you build any world as a writer, fantasy or realism or any other sort. The world is created by the story itself, and anything that doesn't touch the story somehow--its plot, its characters--doesn't belong there. But I think that gets at one reason why fantasy can tend towards being so overblown; authors get lost in their own worlds at the expense of the story. I suppose it's understandable; world-building is heady stuff, and it's easy to get drunk on as a writer. But again ... self-indulgence. Well-written self-indulgence, but that doesn't change that there's so much in this book that should have been cut before it was published. A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons were originally one book that got too bloated and had to be split in two, if I understand correctly. They could have been trimmed and stayed one.
All in my humble opinion. ;) If you are reading/have read this series I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts!
(As for Hatchling, it is still minus a sleeve. Clearly I hate sewing up sweater parts. But I bought some buttons!)
Linking up with Ginny's yarn along.
What a lovely pattern. Your blanket will be stunning when it's finished! Perfect colour, too x
ReplyDeleteYour blanket is beautiful! almost looks like a Tardis blue? my queue is getting out of control. :)
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you're talking about. I'm on the second Outlander book and they are just SO LONG. I had to switch to the audio books because they were cutting into my knitting time....are there Dance with Dragons cliff's notes? :)
Thought I'd recommend the froot loop sock pattern off knitty to you if you have a hankering for some new socks. I was really pleased with the fit of those. Also, you might try the Chamfer socks by Hunter Hammersen. All of her socks are drop dead gorgeous.
beautiful and I think your photos are fine. Love your new profile photo :) You should knit laminaria-it's fun and challenging enough..
ReplyDeleteYeah I find especially these new series coming out in the fantasy genre like The Pendragon Adventure just drag on and on and you are so ready for it to be done by the end. And what was really bad about that series was that it changed genres to sci-fi about half way through, and then ended with one of the most bizarre philosophical worldviews I've ever come across.
ReplyDeleteOr then there was the Keys of the Kingdom series which is really great and well written and went for 7 books and in each one the protagonist deals with one of the 7 deadly sins, and learns to overcome each one with the opposite virtue. Then it had THE worst ending of anything I've ever read/seen/listen to ever. Again it was another horrible philosophical statement and it was SO unnecessary.