I mentioned in the Ravelry Group that I’m starting our very own fiber enthusiast book club. And now I am actually doing that. Considering my coffee maker broke a couple of day ago and I haven’t had a chance to replace it yet because of Jac’s car accident, I think this is some pretty high-level follow through. So here is how this will work: I, and any of you that want in on the fun, will read/listen to a book and knit/crochet some stuff each week. I love to listen to audiobooks while I’m knitting and dying, and it’ll be even better with you guys joining in! Tag your book club knitting pics on Instagram with #LandLbookclub and I’ll feature photos here each week of what you’ve all been working on. I mostly get my books from my local library using the Overdrive app or use Audible when I really don’t want to wait for a book.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BUcea4XDqCS/?taken-by=doctor_llama

You can suggest books for the group to read on the L&L forum. At the end of each post, I’ll let you know what I’m reading next week. You don’t have to read the same books as me, but it’s more fun if you do. Anyhow, if you read a different book than I’m reviewing, please include your review of it in the comments section each week, so we can all enjoy it vicariously through you. With no further ado, I bring you Book Club!

The Book

So, I’ve actually been reading Codex Alera by Jim Butcher for a few weeks. There are five of them and all of the audio books are over 15 hours, so it’s been a time commitment. I’m obsessed with the Dresden Files, and I needed something to cure my Jim Butcher itch while I wait for the next book to come out. Before certain sisters whose names rhyme with Mac jump down my throat about the Dresden Files… Look, I know that the books have some holes so big you could drive a semi through them. Sure the female characters are all manic-pixie-dream-girls and the sex scenes are about as believable as cheesey 70’s porn, but I still love the books. I won’t apologize. Which brings me to the Codex Alera. This was Butcher’s foray into sword and arrow fantasy. I’m not going to pretend the books are great. I found the first half of the first book kind of hard to get through. If I have to listen to them explain furies one more time, I’ll loose it. This is my artistic rendition of the first 3-4 hours of book one:

I know, right? I’m a SUPER good artist. Anyhow. Mr. Butcher, we get it. Furies. That said, once you get over that and overlook that all the women are still manic-pixie-dream-girls, the plot is really fun. The story centers around Tavi, who grows up in the back woods and is the only person that has no furies. His hobbies include herding sheep and saving the world. As the series goes on, he winds up in a relationship and that works really well. I’m underwhelmed by the main series villain, but the other, smaller villains are cool enough to make up for it. Overall, I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5 for reading on it’s own, and a 4.5 out of 5 for listening to while knitting. It doesn’t require your full attention, and I enjoyed it more when I was especially focused on my project.

The Project

This week I’ve been working on a brand new design in our new Coffee Cakes. It’s called the Waldo Tee and it’s on my blocking wires right now. It will be done blocking tomorrow, and I’m dying to try it on. I’ll be calling for testers on it next Monday, and I’ll post here on the blog about how to sign up once I have the test started.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BUuxgVwjNRx/?taken-by=doctor_llama

I honestly think this gradient yarn is our best work. I’m super into the gradients. I made my tee in size 2X with just one Coffee Cake in Cowabunga and two balls of Vacation Yarn in Baskerville. I was going for a loose, easy to wear summer top with easy sleeves and construction. It’s seamless, worked top down, and I used slip stitches in the middle to give it a slow fade. I haven’t properly tried it on yet, but I’m gonna look super cool in this. I’m also working on some projects for a swap I’m doing right now and I’ll post more about those next week.

Speaking of next week: I’ll be reading the The Handmaid’s Tale. I’ve been watching it on Hulu, but am embarrassed to say I haven’t read the book. Don’t forget to comment about what you are making and reading here and/or on the Lattes & Llamas Ravelry Group.

See you next week!

~Megan-Anne
And then the intrepid young knitter whipped her flowing hair aside before calling on the blog furies to publish her post.

P.S. For those of you on the Geek-A-Long train: Get your week 24 colorways, Invisible Jet and Tesseract, for half off through today. Click here.