L&L Book Club: Matched

I know it’s only Wednesday, but man does it feel like this week has disappeared on me. Yesterday morning I was thinking about a project that I need to do before a baby shower on July 9th. And I thought, meh, I have tons of time. It’ll be quick, I have all of this and next week. Tonight, I’m all:

Holy cast on, Batman! I need this next weekend to knit, and I haven’t even wound the yarn yet!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BV2s-g4D-aJ/?taken-by=doctor_llama

It’s that big pile of turquoise on the right. Sure, Megan-Anne, you’ve got pleeeeeeeenty of time. ;)

So it’s good that I went with a nice and light, Young Adult Sci-Fi romp this week, because apparently I’m not winning at productivity right now. Because if I’d have been reading a heavy book like the Handmaid’s Tale from last week, I think I probably wouldn’t have gotten anything done at all.

I am STOKED about book club next month, in case you’re wondering. We are doing Christmas in July, and I am all in. I fracking love Christmas. Every January, Mr. Llama and I negotiate which decorations I get to keep up all year (I kept Christmas Wookie this time). So it seems only right that I should get second Christmas. For the month of July, I’m reading mysteries and hosting an MKAL. The MKAL is a pair of colorwork mittens. They have a secret beaded design that will reveal itself about half way though the second mitten. I’m going to release the pattern in four clues, one each Wednesday of July. The pattern is free and will be available as a Ravelry download.

To make them you’ll need five coordinating mini skeins, one full-sized skein, and beads. You will need 40 beads for clue one, and about 125 overall. I used Vacation Yarn in Baskerville for my main color, and the Poseidon’s Cabin mini set for my contrast. You can use two full–sized skeins instead, but the beading is way easier with minis. Also, I think it’s prettiest with a gradient set of minis, but use whatever colors float your boat! To participate, just come back here next Wednesday and download clue one. I will update the Ravelry pattern each week with the new clue. Once you’ve downloaded the first clue, you don’t need to do anything to get the other three, Ravelry will notify you that the pattern has been updated. The mittens are nerdy in nature, but they are not fandom/genre specific. They are an intermediate-advanced knit. Don’t forget to post your progress in the Lattes & Llamas forums!

I’m starting off my mysterious Christmas in July reading with Merry Christmas, Alex Cross by James Patterson.

The Book

This week I ready Matched by Ally Condie. Jac didn’t like it at all, but I actually enjoyed it a lot. It wasn’t amazing or anything, but it was fun and easy to knit to. The voice actor for the audiobook was admittedly annoying, but after awhile it stopped bothering me. Overall, it’s pretty much a redo of The Giver, but I liked the main character. I don’t like it when characters are portrayed as some sort of perfect ideal. Katia screws up constantly. It made her accessible. She was in a love triangle with two good guys, and I liked that too. Usually, when there is a love triangle, one of the guys is a crazy controlling a-hole (think Edward disabling Bella’s car so she can’t go see Jacob). I liked that both of them cared about her and treated her well. I was actually pulling for Xander, but she wound up with Ky. Yeah, I know, those are some of the most young-adult-reading-list names ever. And to quote my great thunder-hero, Sam Bee, young adult books are known for their light kissing and heavy sighing. That is certainly the case here. But it was just perfect for listening to while knitting. Five stars for that. I don’t know if I’d have liked it as well if I had read it instead of listening and knitting at the same time, but really, not knitting doesn’t come up that much for me, so I don’t hold my books to that standard.

The Project

I’m currently treating myself to Exploration Station by Stephen West. The cast on was fiddly, but Stephen links to a video in the pattern that explains it well.

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

I’m using Jac’s The Spice Must Flow gradient set. She made the sets a while back, and I’ve been dying to use this one.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVxNhH5DvNC/?taken-by=doctor_llama

It’s worked up on US 6 needles, so it moves pretty fast. I want to have it done in time to show it off at Knit One in Pittsburgh. We’re doing a trunk show there on July 8th, and I like to have something special to wear to trunk shows. :)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BV5DGTXDuYv/?taken-by=doctor_llama

~Megan-Anne

I’m off to to make a baby sized mermaid tail!