Yarn Along: Hippo Hat & Gonna Be A Movie Read

LOOK! I'm posting early for Ginny's Yarn Along!

I'm making a hat for my little friend G. She turned one year old today, so I'm a little late, but I'll call it a Valentine gift. :) Designing as I go, but I hope it looks like a hippo face. I don't know what's wrong with me lately, but I had to redo this hat 3 times before I got a size that I liked. Frustrating.

I ordered The Knitting Circle after I read that Katherine Heigl is going to be in the HBO movie. I don't always love her movie choices, but I do love Katherine. I'm LOVING this book. It's speaking to me in ways I didn't expect and making me think about my knitting and mourning in new ways. While reading it I realized after Mom died I started crocheting LIKE MAD and then taught myself to knit and haven't stopped. Now it's a really weird day if I don't knit or crochet for at least a little while... and often it's for hours at a time. 

Meanwhile, the support the people in the knitting circle give each other is reminding me a lot of my "home" Ravelry group. The Organized Knitting Club may only meet online, but we've bonded really well. It's a pretty awesome group and it's been so great getting to know them while also using my stash and feeling more productive. YAY!

Banned Books

Inspired by a recent post on the awesome blog Indie Fixx, I thought I would share which of my favorite books have the dubious distinction of being on the Top 100 Banned Books List. As it turns out, my three favorite books of all time are on the list. Guess I'm a rebel at heart. :)

Bridge To Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
By far, one of my favorite books growing up. While I was always a big reader, this was my first "I can't put it down" book. I remember sitting on my stairs reading when my mom called me down for dinner. The whole time we were eating I had the feeling that I was missing something- as though the book as a television show. It captured my imagination and helped me visualize the stories I read from then on.

A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving
My best friend suggested this book to me and I went to the store looking for "A Prayer of O and Mimi". I loved this story so much that I went out and bought every John Irving book I could find. Not a good idea. While he's an amazing author most of his other books had so many random, uncomfortable sexual situations I really couldn't enjoy them. Owen Meany, though, is more gentle, with more heart.

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
This is my most recent read on the list. Hosseini is an incredible writer. His words bring to life a world and culture unfamiliar to most Americans and do so in a raw, courageous, unapologetic way. I think I burst into tears ever 10-20 pages throughout the entire book. My cousin became so engrossed in the story that her husband woke up in the middle of the night to find her huddled on the couch, reading and hysterically crying. It's intense but also beautiful. Sad but also hopeful. I highly recommend Kite Runner and Hosseini's second book, A Thousand Splendid Suns. At the end of the second book I found myself slightly depressed, not because of the story, but because I realized it was only recently published and I would therefore have to wait for quite some time before another book was published. I do hope he's out there writing something.


What are your favorite books? Are any of them on the list? I'd encourage you to check it out and read a couple. Books that get people bent out of shape enough to try to ban them generally have a lot to keep your interest at the very least. :)