Fireballs and almost antique books

FIREBALLS

Water tones, earth tones, and now fire tones (with a bit of artistic license for the purple and pink!) Of course, the first one in the series is a helix hat!

 

This next one is another attempt at stranded knitting. I hope to take a class at KKQ in January 2012. On my left hand, my fingers are all thumbs!

ALMOST ANTIQUES

 

There is a bit of my new reading challenge to report. I have read 3 old books so far...2 were old-fashioned fluffy. The other one, at 512 pages, was ponderous at first, but then kept me loving the language and the metaphors and descriptions even though the plot was somewhat predictable.

I can just imagine my mother's delight as a child to find stacks of books under the tree each Christmas- she told me they were usually all read by New Year's Day. One of the ones that had been saved dealt with a teenage girl's trip to Paris for a year of "intensive learning," of language and customs coupled with the fun of shopping and side trips. The other was probably special to Mom, since she shared the same name as one of the 2 protagonists. That book dealt with two dissimilar girls who discover that their strengths and weaknesses complemented each other and that each in her own way was growing into maturity.

Apparently this final book came from my Dad's side of the family. It was given to my Great Uncle John by his sister, Great Aunt "E" (Elisabeth Emily) in 1907. The book was written by Frances Hodgson Burnett, of Secret Garden fame.

This book used the metaphor of a shuttle: not the bus/train/plane, but the shuttle that weaves and interlocks a story using multiple yarns, from simple to elegant. The decorative pattern may change over time, but the completed piece, flaws and all, tells an intricate story and is a work of art. I have never been a fan of English literature (gasp and apologies to all the Jane Austenites) but I did find this book to be a compelling read. The thoughts and actions of the characters were full of expressive detail and the descriptions of the landscape painted the English countryside like a Constable.

This book will NOT be donated to the Friends of the Library yet. It's a keeper.