“You never know what worse luck…”

“…your bad luck has saved you from.”

I started Navigate – Hurrah!

I fumbled my way through the first few rows of the cast on…and then I dropped a stitch and threw a massive tantrum.

Attempt number 1 = frogged. 

I re-started Navigate – Hurrah!

I fumbled through the cast on successfully, and worked the first 30 odd rows of the pattern chart. I dropped and picked-back-up numerous stiches, had tight bits and loose bits, but I was making my way through.

Then I stopped to count my stiches. One too many. That might explain why the whole thing looks a little….off.

Debated whether or not to frog, thinking I probably should but that I didn’t know if I had it in me to try again.

Then I noticed that I had neglected to knit the TWO FULL INCHES of ribbing BEFORE starting the cable pattern. I skipped that line entirely and just didn’t notice.

Luckily this made the whole decision about whether to frog painfully simple, plus it was pretty funny that my heat-addled brain could make such a huge error and just not realise for so long!

Attempt number 2 = frogged.

Will I re-start Navigate again?

What this space, Phillyphiles.

*Quote from Cormac McCarthy

“Words belong in contexts…”

“…not pegged out like biological specimens.”

Latest in the completed reading pile is La Belle Sauvage, the first in the Book of Dust trilogy by Philip Pullman.

I reread His Dark Materials a few months ago in preparation for this book. I was given it at Christmas and have been itching to read it, but I wanted to do it justice. I originally read His Dark Materials when I was a teenager so although I remembered the basics of Lyra, Dust, Mrs Coulter, Will and Mary, I didn’t remember all the details and how things had ended up.

The reread was better than I remembered, and La Belle Sauvage similarly did not disappoint.
As ever with Pullman, he effortlessly creates characters you feel you know. They have flaws, desires, and weaknesses to juxtapose their strengths. The plot zips along and you quickly get caught in the current of the action and the unfolding mysteries.

As ever with my reviews, there will be no spoilers. All I will say is things get a little weird at one point (which I’m hoping will be explained/developed in the next two books in the trilogy) and the ending comes a bit too quickly. You build up pace, the tension rises – and smack! It’s over and you’re closing the back cover.

Speaking of covers, the dust cover is pretty enough by itself:

But underneath it is just as lovely – I particularly like the quote on the spine rather than just the book title and author as usual:

My only other criticism was at one point I swear an adult’s ferret daemon changed into a mouse daemon, which shouldn’t be possible.

All in all, however, I highly recommend this book and I personally cannot wait for the next book to be released.

*Quote from Philip Pullman

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies…”

“I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”

So I have finished Saco Stripes:

I really enjoyed knitting this. The wool felt nice, the pattern was simple enough that I could watch TV whilst knitting (yet another re-watch of Gilmore Girls) but interesting enough to keep me from getting bored.

The problem reared its ugly head at the end…

I wanted to knit a baggy vest top, but I didn’t appreciate that the ease is written into the pattern, so I’ve knitted one exactly my size. Instead of a few inches of positive ease, I’ve probably done it with a couple of inches negative ease.

*Facepalm*

Not the end of the world. It still fits, it still looks nice, I can still wear it as I planned, plus I’m sure it will stretch a bit after a few wears. Plus it gives me an excuse to knit another one at some point!
The other issue I have with it are the edges. Once I had joined my two pieces my edges were a bit uneven. No problem, I thought, I’ve yet to do the edging. That will neaten things right up!

Except…it hasn’t really. It looks different, but not massively neater.

Again, not the end of the world as it’s just a casual holiday vest top, but I am disappointed. I made the extra effort to finish it and it feels like a bit of a waste really.

Actually those pictures don’t look too bad. Maybe blocking has helped more than I thought!

*Quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald

“You can lead a horticulture…”

“…but you can't make her think.”

Ooh you know what? I think I’m late for my Resolutions update!

So I made 7 resolutions in January (blogged about here) and talked about my total of books read/films watched/knitted things knitted.

So where are we with those?

1. Read 26 books (one every fortnight).
Chugging along VERY nicely with this one as you’ll see in the totals below. I’m reading at least one chapter every day. That just keeps me in the habit of reading and my love of the activity and the stories keeps it from ever being a chore.

2. Knit myself a jumper. 
COMPLETE! Peloponnese blogged about here.

3. Knit CB a jumper. 
Yeah. Still working on that one. It’s the next to be cast on, I swear!

4. Knit myself a pair of socks.
COMPLETE! Socks (and an Easter bird) blogged about here.

5. Knit CB a pair of socks.
I have started these. I’ve knitted one sock…and a bit….and then I ran out of steam. I am still aiming to finish by the end of the year, but I can’t say I see many more socks in my future.

6. Remain the right size to fit into my wedding dress.
Huh. I should probably check that… But I sincerely doubt I can. FAIL.

7. Moisturise after showering.
I have missed doing this a couple of times, but I’m calling this one CURRENTLY BEING ACHIEVED because I do it 9 times out of 10. Well, maybe 8 times out of 10. Still a win!

Now on to the totals! As a recap, 2017 came in at:

• I read 23 books 
• I watched 67 films 
• I knitted 33 items 

So far in 2018 we’re at:

• I’ve read 36 books (plus 3 short stories) 
• I’ve watched 37 films 
• I’ve knitted 7 items

Absolutely smashing that book goal, but I'm a bit disappointed by the number of knitted things. I doubt that will go up by much by Christmas as I’ll be working on a complicated jumper and I’m going on holiday for a month!

*Quote from Dorothy Parker