I am the author of Grounded and the editrix of the What Would Madame Defarge Knit? series of knit (and crochet) pattern books where the patterns are based on characters from classic literature.
You can find out more about my young adult novel Grounded: The Seven, book 1 including sock patterns based on the characters in Grounded here and at the book’s official website.
…You’re on a beach, the sun kissing the sand all around you, an umbrella protecting your skin (freckles + burn = not fun). You lean on your backrest, lift your eyes from the page, look out at the waves and think about what you would do in Nora’s position.
No.
That’s not right.
Lying on a picnic blanket—not unlike Nora’s—in Maritime Park—close enough to hear the clang of the Powell Cable car but not so close as to hear the tourists—you pull your eyes from the page and raise a hand to your brow to block the sparkling sun. Gulls cry overhead; in the distance you think you hear—could swear you hear—the bark of sea lions mixed in with the sound of surf lapping the thing ribbon of sand below you.
But no.
Really you’re sitting next to a wood stove that is blazing away, trying to shut out the sub-zero chill of this Suddenly Very White end-of-February. You’re bundled in thick socks, slippers, flannel PJs, and a snuggly robe, realizing that you really should take a shower and get on with the day—but you can’t.
You
can
not.Like any knitter, you’re used to “just one more row” but now you’re struggling with “just one more page”—a feeling you haven’t had in a long while. But you’re reading an advance copy of Rachael Heron’s latest book, Splinters of Light and now you’re at that ‘can’t put it down’ stage. You wish for an audiobook because you’d really like to have Nora and Ellie and Mariana and Harrison and Paul in your ears (in your head… in you) for just a bit longer and the day is pulling you away from your book cocoon and you don’t want to go but…
That’s what it’s like to find yourself immersed in Rachael’s latest novel. (Well, that plus the pile of tissues you suddenly realize has been growing next to you. Bring a box.)
It snuggles its way into your heart, wraps around it like Mariana’s feet twisting a sheet around Nora’s leg, and doesn’t let go until the heartbreaking/heartwarming, lovely-as-it-should-be end.
There are plenty of others more well-known than I who have favorably reviewed (all of) Rachael’s books—including this one—but I’ll bet few of those reviewers can also tell you this: Rachael is a LOT of fun to Skype with and even more fun at SOAR. That, plus, honestly, she’s one of the nicest people you’ll ever be lucky enough to meet.
Get the book and read it on a beach during Spring Break, sitting by a fire right now, or in bed every night. But don’t say I didn’t warn you that reading in bed will fix your fate: it will be 4am before you look at the clock and remember that you needed to sleep. Like any gateway drug, you won’t be able to put Splinters of Light down. Thank goodness that, when you finish it, there are many dealers bookstores out there from which you can pick up a fix another (or 15) of Rachael’s other books to read right away on your Kindle
Becky Herrick and her friend Calley Hastings have a new book coming from Cooperative Press! The book is near and dear to my heart not only because Becky designed for What (else) Would Madame Defarge Knit, but also because her book combines patterns and recipes (like WWMDfK?). They focus on local ingredients and American made yarns throughout the seasons because the chapters each focus on a new month with a pattern or two and a recipe or three. As you might expect, that means they have “paired fresh summer dishes with simple summer garments while cozy fall sweaters rub elbows with hearty baked goods.”
You will like.
See the purple lusciousness?
I know you will like.
Want to know the best way to learn when the book is available to order? EASY!
<a href=”http://eepurl.com/gIvrr” sl-processed=”1″ class=””>Sign up for the Cooperative Press newsletter</a> . You can <a href=”http://eepurl.com/I82IP” sl-processed=”1″ class=””>sign up for Becky’s too, if you like</a>. Neither of them go nuts with glutting the ol’ inbox. They get too many emails, too, so you’ll pretty much only hear from them when new goodies are coming your way.
Ooooooh! Do I have a cute book for you!
Do you like to crochet?
Do you like to crochet for kids?
Do you like a path to follow like, “do this for January, and this for February, and … ” — if so, then I have a book for you!
Crochet for Baby All Year: Easy-to-Make Outfits for Every Month
There are some extremely clever crochet patterns in this adorable book—including his-and-her stegosaurus onsies (long legs and sleeves for Halloween), June’s crocheted beach “flip-flops” (which may not be all that functional, but they are darn cute!), and a makes-me-hope-my-sons-have-daughters-one-day little girl dress that is “Pretty as a Posy” for April.
My fave, though, both for construction and look is September’s back-to-school set: a letterman’s sweater and cheerleader uniform.
Too!
Cute!
This is not a book for beginners—though I’m confident that if you know sc, dc, and hdc and have a reference book by your side you’d be able to find something you could do in here (boy’s swim trunks? several of the hats?)—but if you’re an experienced crocheter I think you’ll find some nifty things to keep you interested. The construction of that gored cheerleader skirt, for one.
All in all, I found this to be another lovely entry from the ever-busy Tammy Hildebrand. I loved her previous book (and had fun corresponding with her back then) and this looks like another winnah!
A note on the physical book itself: since CraftLit has gotten on Stackpole Books’ mailing list, I’m finding myself very impressed with the quality of the book itself. I like the covers—they’re made with a matte finish, but it’s a matte that feels really silky under your fingers. Very nice. And I like that they have not only a “Yarn and Suppliers” and “Abbreviations” pages at the end of the book, but they also have a visual index, so for those of us who are visual learners (she said raising her hand) it makes it very easy to find the pattern you remembered seeing but for which you can’t remember the name (or in this book, the month).
During the month of August 2014, visit the CraftLit giveaway page to find out how to enter.
OOH! OOH! OOH!
Mister Kotter!!
I have a solution!
So, book riot released this a week and a half ago (and I just saw it, thank you, Heatherly):
20 Books You Pretend to Have Read.
Of course, because of CraftLit I was intrigued. Then, scrolling down past the top twenty-lied-about-books, a reader shared this graphic:
So.
I humbly present my solutions for the world’s lying-about-reading conundrum:
Listen to Audiobooks with Benefits!**
Here—from the graphic:
and from the Top-20 list:
and that’s all you need, right? Everyone is set, now, yes?
Good.
Because these books are a lot of fun!
No!
Really!
And these are the books that are on-deck at CraftLit (meaning there is work being actively done on them—either by book readers or by me:
So there!
Painless classics! No need to be embarrassed and lie any longer–at least not about these 19 from CraftLit and the others I listed here from friends of the show.
*I’m always asked, so I’ll say up front, I can only do classics on CraftLit. The podcast is free so the text has to be as well—that means only books and translations that are in the Public Domain. This is why we haven’t done Russians or things like Don Quixote yet—the translations we have access to are all Victorian and… kinda… dull.
Now, if you would like to secure rights to this
or this
or this
(coupled with this
so we could put any of them on the podcast, I’d be happy to start researching right now!
** Technology has finally caught up to where I needed it to be and thus I’m remastering old audio. It takes awhile (because one-woman-show) but it IS happening. However, if you previously purchased an Audiobook from me, and I release a remaster, you will get an email with the link to the new files. No need to re-pay or re-sign up or hassle with any of that.
Marie Grace Berg—the most enthusiastic business woman I’ve ever had the pleasure of talking with—has released the interview she did with me awhile back for her show Today’s Leading Women.
If you want to hear a bit about the business side of CraftLit and the Defarge books, you can have a listen by clicking the button above or going here TodaysLeadingWomen.com/heather-ordover
or to iTunes
itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/todays-leading-women-marie/id830201866
SO excited by this—Marie Grace is a lovely woman and I am honored that I was given this opportunity.
Sorry for the absence! I’ve been packing boxes.
Like this.
I’ve also been doing this:
But mostly, today, I wanted to talk to you about this:
This book is full of fun patterns.
I love fun.
I decided to highlight two for you today.
The first is Coventry:
I admit that I’m a sucker for this color grey, so I’m immediately drawn to it. But beyond that…
…I really like this stitch pattern repeat. I thought it was simple enough but very elegant—and I liked the button on the (left) side (in picture) beyond all reason.
The other pattern I wanted to highlight for you is this kicky number:
Energy Mitts!
The girl is the picture is holding a skateboard, but it is so clear that if you (like me) have boys at home, these would be ideal. I love the detail work and the instructions are nice and clear. Fear not the zipper!
I found the book to be an easy and pleasant read and I can’t wait to hear more from our lucky Raffle Winner (through midnight, April 30, 2014).
Recently on Facebook I watched a couple of friends experience pain and not a small amount of sorrow when–after going through serious illnesses with their families–they were met with really appalling rudeness from friends and family members.
Not from internet trolls.
Friends.
Family.
Which leads me to wonder if the —-supportive responses like:
and that sort if thing, are really appropriate either?
Now, if the rudeness came from a stranger or even from a vague acquaintance-type person, I’d be right in the middle of the dogpile. But friends? Family?
What the what?!
Maybe it’s because my son gets easily judgy. Maybe it’s because my head’s been hurting so bad for so long I’m just in a stupidly compassionate state, but I’m wondering if the rudeness comes not from cruelty but from lack of words.
To clarify:
My younger son, when he was very little, would get upset and speechless. Or he’d get into trouble for pushing another kid instead of “using his words”—which seemed odd because my kids are (surprise) nothing if not verbal.
When he got into these situations, I started asking, “would you like some words to use if this happens again?” He was always relieved, practiced the phrases we recommended, and his kerfuffles lessened.
When thinking about the visiting-a-chemo-patient-and-starting-by-greeting-them-with-“Gawd you look like hell!” stories I’m left wondering if this isn’t just someone being overwhelmed and not having access to the right words?
In America, as my husband who worked in Slovakia has mentioned, we keep the infirm, the deformed, the slow, and the ugly well-hidden. Look at how much we spend on making our teeth regular and white. Lots.
Anyway. I’m wondering if we aren’t just too far apart too much of the time. Too many screens and too few faces. I don’t know of many kids going to Cotillion or Ticktockers or etiquette classes. If we never see anyone ill, if we don’t grow up learning how to pay a sick visit or support someone after a death, then where do we get those words from? How are we supposed to know?
Y’got me.
But then I thought maybe we could crowd source a list of things to say when someone is hurting. Just to get over the hump. I’m an expert in open-mouth-insert-foot… But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to improve.
Have you ever been struck by someone’s grace under this kind of pressure?
What did they say?
Please share.
I’d love to learn!
Next week is a very big week for me.
We start Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South on Friday on CraftLit.
I have a whole week of giveaways and fun planned for that week, too! More on that shortly (or to get the info before everyone else…
Then on Sunday, February 9th at 10am, I’m presenting at the
Blogger Book Fair!
Everyone is invited to view (and Q&A after). Lots of really interesting writers will be presenting over the weekend.
Let’s see… what else has been happening…
So! A successful couple of months!
Off to do some planning
Vogue Knitting Winter 2013/2014
Hugely gratifying beyond my capacity for speech is having Vogue Knitting Winter 2013/14 give praise to my new book, Grounded.
The review also says that I’m creating sock patterns for each of the main characters, plus a bonus pattern. This is true and the patterns are all out, now! Yay!
It also goes on to say:
“The sock patterns… are being rolled out over time and will appear automatically in the Ravelry libraries of knitters who buy the book.”
This was mostly true of the pre-orders (which is when I spoke with Vogue Knitting), but not planned for perpetual sales of the book. Pre-orders received the first pattern (Rosie’s Firestarter socks) of the eBook Novel Socks.
However, because of this mis-print, I’m more than happy to honor the pre-sale offer for post-Vogue-Knitting-reader-purchases. Just forward your receipt for Grounded (any format, any venue) purchased after January 5, 2013 to me at this address. I’ll pop the same pattern the pre-orders got (Rosie’s Firestarter socks) into an email and (if you give me your Rav ID) into your Rav library, too.
Sorry about the confusion but I hope this helps!
And thank you!
I know I could be risking much by reviewing this film, what with hosting a literature podcast and all, but hear me out. I like to judge a film (or a book for that matter) on whether or not the end goal was achieved.
For me, To Kill a Mockingbird is pretty much the pinnacle of book-to-film that you can find. Sure you lose 98% of the subplots and a lot of important subtext — but was the book represented in a way that did justice to it’s soul?
You betcha!
So now we have a film based on James Thurber’s VERY short story, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”.
What do we know before we even see it?
The first four, dead on.
The fifth–woah!!! Now, I saw folks screaming for blood about this on FB, but my 13 year old made an astute observation while we listened to Stiller (very nicely) read the original story on the way home–Walter only includes that sound in his daydreams when he’s driving. It’s the rattle of his car engine.
This movie takes place largely in NYC—trains and walking… Not so much the car thing.
So, no Topaketa…
Smart kid.
And the sixth?
The Hubs and I thought it was lovely. The kids (13 and 9.11) thought it was AWESOME! I thought it was some of Stiller’s best work—gentle and sad and sweet and smart. Yes it pushed the limits of reality in some parts—it is fiction—and the spirit behind it made me not care about the stuff that couldn’t possibly be.
I also thought Sean Penn was fantastic. Quiet and still and funny and light. When was the last time you saw that line written about him?
So.
Soul of the original? Yes, mostly. A little less sad, not completely Thurber-y, but the daydreams were awesome. I thought the first five minutes would have been enough for me. The realities were a lot of fun too.
There you have it. My 2¢.
You?
MamaO is Heather Ordover, author, designer, mother and knitter... not necessarily in that order. You can get posts from this blog sent directly to your inbox by signing up below, Follow her on Twitter and Like her on Facebook if you're feeling friendly-like.
Vogue Knitting Winter 2013/2014
Hugely gratifying beyond my capacity for speech is having Vogue Knitting Winter 2013/14 give praise to my new book, Grounded. Read more...
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