Review: Sharpe's Rifles (book)

I blame Mom for this one ending up on my To Read list.  Not that it's a bad thing, but it's definitely her influence that got Richard Sharpe and a historical war/adventure series on my radar - not my typical sort of book.  She was hooked on the BBC series ages ago (by ages, I mean her copies are on VHS), and thereby spread the love into subsequent generations.  Because Crazy is inherited ;)

So, for the first Sharpe I'll be reading: Sharpe's Rifles: The French Invasion of Galicia, January 1809 by Bernard Cornwell

My rating: 4 out of 5

Plot Summary (courtesy of Goodreads):

"Bernard Cornwell's action-packed series that captures the gritty texture of Napoleonic warfare--now beautifully repackaged.  It's 1809, and Napoleon's army is sweeping across Spain. Lieutenant Richard Sharpe is newly in command of the demoralized, distrustful men of the 95th Rifles. He must lead them to safety--and the only way of escape is a treacherous trek through the enemy-infested mountains of Spain."

Story comments:

This is the 6th book in the Sharpe series, if you're going by the internal chronology.  It's the 9th by publication date, and the 1st that was made into a TV episode.  So, take that for reference. 

The Sharpe's series is a really good historical adventure series.  For both the TV show and the books, it's a good one to try if you've enjoyed the Horatio Hornblower stories or the Aubrey and Maturin books (the Master and Commander series).  Or vice versa - try those if you like Sharpe.  Just land adventures as opposed to ones at sea.

Cornwell didn't write the Sharpe series in chronological order.  It's one of those commonly asked questions on book sites like Goodreads - "do I read these in chronological or publication order or does it matter?"  Well, personal preference, I suppose.  I started with Rifles as I like the men in the 95th.  Figured it's as good a place as any.  As mentioned above, this is the 6th chronologically (set in 1809), but 9th by publication.  Looking at Goodreads and Amazon reviews, some people found this a bit frustrating.  It means that continuity can be a little off, that characters might not have quite the same presence or developed personality that they did in a earlier/later book, that things referenced might not make 100% sense, that the writing style might not be quite the same.  That makes sense from a writer's perspective - it's a bit of a challenge to keep things flowing completely smoothly when the "next" adventure was really written 8 or 10 or 12 years after a particular story.  Heck, even some series written chronologically have trouble keeping all the details straight and having the characters develop smoothly.  In the grand scheme of things, though, it's not a big deal most of the time.  At least not to me - though there are series where names are inconsistent between books, major details, that sort of thing; then it does get to me.  For Sharpe, it's not a series that has a tight overarching storyline anyway.  Sharpe and the others get promoted, the war proceeds, and events in previous novels are mentioned, but it's not like you need to read the series in completely chronological order in order to follow along.  Just pay attention to the dates given in the novel and remember, "oh yeah, this is before/after (battle name here)"

Just because there's not tons of overarching storylines, doesn't mean there's not a lot of development within the story too.  The characters certainly grow within the individual stories too.  Sharpe starts the story kinda depressed, actually.  He's a fighting soldier, raised from the ranks to an officer, and has been relegated to quartermaster.  So, going from fighting to paperwork and supplies, with no respect from above or below.  Yeah, he's not a happy guy.  He's kinda an antihero to start, not a dramatic born leader ready to inspire men into battle.  Through circumstances, he's now in charge of the men who don't respect him, who have no reason to follow him, and who are stuck in the mountains in winter with not nearly enough supplies.  And honestly?  As a reader, I'm not even sure I liked him and would have followed him.  He grows in confidence and in his leadership, though, and by the end of the story, they really are Sharpe's Rifles.  No, that's not a spoiler - if he didn't grow into being an officer, the series wouldn't really have anymore to do, would it?  A lot of characters are introduced in this one who I know will appear in other books (I have watched the TV show a number of times, after all).  We'll see how their development goes.  The most noteworthy was Sgt Patrick Harper, who will become Sharpe's best friend and ally.  Here, he leads a mutiny and gets into a knockdown-dragout with Sharpe, before eventually getting promoted and gradually coming to respect his Lieutenant. There's the uneasy truce and trust there, but not the close friendship yet, so we'll see how they come to trust each other more as the stories proceed.

Reading other reviews on Goodreads, even people who like the series have split opinions on individual books.  Some like this one, some aren't as fond.  Like most series, I suppose.  Even if the series overall is a good one, individual books can vary. Not having read any of the others yet, I don't have an opinion one way or another.  I suppose that in later posts, I might have more opinion on which Sharpe book is my favorite, but as it is...

Cornwell definitely does his historical research.  Even though the Historical Note at the end of the book basically said, "this isn't how the events really happened," there's a lot of research that's obvious in the details of the fighting, the uniforms, the weapons, the setting.  It is very easy to picture the scenes, given all the description and Cornwell's eye for detail.  For the actual events... the French occupation of Galicia and the British retreat are pretty accurate; it's just the actual events of the story that Cornwell took liberties with. I suppose if you're wanting complete historical accuracy, that might be disappointing, but certain liberties should be allowed in order to make a good adventure.  It's not like he was using lasers or dragons or even machine guns, right?

At times all the historical detail can get kinda tedious, actually.  Mom calls it techno-babble (she uses that description a lot with Tom Clancy books), and just specifies that in Sharpe's stories, it's Napoleonic techno-babble.  If you don't mind a lot of historic detail in your adventure, then it won't be a deal-breaker.  But if that sort of thing turns you off from a book... well, you've been warned.

Favorite quote?

Harper commenting on Sharpe: "He'll fall in love with anything in a petticoat. I've seen his type before. Got the sense of a half-witted sheep when it comes to women... It's a good job he's got me to look after him now" (p.265).

Your hero, ladies and gentlemen: sense of a half-witted sheep.  Not even a full-witted sheep!  And it's true.  Though there are some recurring female leads, Sharpe really is a Napoleonic James Bond (though less suave - more in the new-girl-every-book sense).

A few points comparing it to the TV series:

• Sharpe has black hair???  No.  He is Sean Bean, end of story.
• I missed Teresa.  When the TV writers were adapting the stories to film, they brought her into this story, instead of introducing her later (she first appears in the novel Sharpe's Gold, 9th in the series chronology).  Louisa Parker wasn't bad as Sharpe's love interest - she did have a bit of spark to her - but she wasn't La Aguja. 
• Besides Theresa's appearance, there are a lot of other differences in the events of the book versus the TV episode - a whole chunk of the main mission in fact.  But, quite honestly, there's only so much marching through frozen wasteland that you can film and keep a story entertaining, and large cavalry charges do take lots of horses, extras, and choreography.  So, for filming purposes, the changes are rather understandable.  The "take-homes" are the same - characters are introduced, the gonfalon is raised at Compostela, Harper and Sharpe fight and then come to terms, and Sharpe grows into his role in command of the 95th.  Everything's now set up to head to Talavera.

Audiobook comments:

The narrator for the Sharpe's series, and thus for this book too, is Frederick Davidson.  He does a lot of classics and a good number of mystery series, as well as the Sharpe's series, so I've definitely encountered his readings before.  Never really had any issues with his voice before, but I honestly wasn't crazy about his reading this time.  He has a very flat sort of delivery, a bit dry and pinched at times, which was fine for a lot of the narrative.  It actually really suits some of the other books I've listened to (I though he was the perfect voice for The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth - very much like the 1960s-70s British newscaster-type voice that appeared in the movie).  It wasn't so much the narrative portions that bothered me here, as much as his accents and the associated voices.  The Spanish voices were very deep and gravelly, and sometimes hard to understand, but it was the Irish voices that bothered me the most.  They all went up in range, getting higher.  Which is fine, I suppose, except I really like the Irish characters (and their actors) in the TV series, and a higher voice just didn't work with what I had in my head, or even in the text.  Sgt Harper is constantly described as such a big man, and he's played by Daragh O'Malley in the show - again, a very big guy (he's 6'4" according to IMDB).  A high voice just doesn't fit with that sort of build.  And then there's Hogan, played by Brian Cox in the series.  And I'll be honest, Brian Cox has one of those voices that I could just sit and listen to him read a phone book (also Patrick Stewart, Benedict Cumberbatch, Morgan Freeman... ).  So that's a hard mental image/expectation to beat, or even live up to. 

At any rate, higher tenors just didn't work for either Hogan or Harper, at least IMHO, and that kinda grated on me a bit.  Otherwise, though, Davidson did a pretty decent job with the story, and his reading won't be a deterrent to listening to the rest of the series.

Overall comments:

The story itself is a 4 of 5.  The audiobook version might get docked a half star or so, mostly because of the voices.  But either way, that still is enough stars that it's worth a try.  If you like historical novels or adventure stories, these are good ones to add to your reading list.  Lots of well described battles, good characters, and certainly an eye for periodic detail.

Review: Narcos

Zach and I have been incredibly pleased with the Netflix original programming, and have become outright hooked on several of the titles.  With him being gone for so long last year, I was (incredibly!!) patient and waited for him to get back before catching up on OITNB, Narcos, Longmire, Marco Polo... Like I said, we've been pleased with their original programs :)

 

Which means, now that he's back in the states, that we are catching up.  I know Narcos season 3 is already due out sometime this fall, but here you go: my thoughts on the show thus far.

 

 

 

Plot:  The series so far has followed the rise (and eventual downfall) of cocaine king Pablo Escobar and his cartel, and the efforts of the Colombian police and US DEA agents assigned to bring him down.

 

This has been a very well-done series. 

 

The acting was solid.  No big names, though a few familiar faces, and they all did a good job bringing the characters to the screen.  The standout definitely was Wagner Moura as Escobar.  Unfortunately, he won't be back next season, at least in anything other than a flashback (season 2 ending with Escobar's death, and all), but he was definitely worth watching.  And a bit of trivia?  Moura is Brazilian, so his native language is Portuguese, not Spanish.  He actually learned Spanish for this role!

The story is very well paced.  The plot is really what pulls you in, more than particular characters, and the writers paced things very well to keep the action and the tension going pretty consistently.  Definitely got us hooked.  If you're expecting a generic crime drama, prepare to be pleasantly surprised.

 

Historical accuracy?  Well, as the disclaimer at the start of each episode says, some events, characters, etc. have been dramatized for the purposes of television (or whatever the actual legal wording says).  Obviously, some things have to have been based on imagination, because these are conversations where all participants have since died - Escobar talking to his sicarios, for example.  Some minor characters were based on real people, who may or may not have experienced the same fate as their fictional versions.  And some things were streamlined time-wise to fit the pacing of the show, or were sensationalized a bit for TV - all those little changes to turn Real Life into a Show, you know?  I read an article interviewing the two agents featured in the show, and what they thought about the accuracy.  Pena laughed that his love life wasn't nearly as exciting as it was in the series.  That sort of thing - dramatization.

Part of the dramatization, too, is the good-guy-bad-guy dynamic.  Escobar was a truly violent drug czar, but at the same time, was beloved by a lot of people and considered a Robin Hood-type, supporting communities that the government was practically ignoring at the time.  And let's face it, the US was not squeaky-clean, white-horse, white-hat in their actions, either.  In order to bring down the Medellin cartel, drug enforcement agencies were willing to tread in some rather murky waters.  Though it does get more into the grittiness of reality in the second season, the show did, in some ways, have to simplify these issues.  Part of it was the need to water it down for TV audiences, and part is probably just the challenge of trying to capture how complicated reality actually was.

 

And yet, there are a lot of things that they tried to get right.  The make-up and costuming staff did a great job getting many of the actors to look very much like their real-life counterparts.  There are even articles you can find online comparing pictures of the actors and real photos of their characters.  And the two DEA agents, Murphy and Pena, acted as consultants for the series, so there's input from people who were actually there which (for better or worse) does make a difference. 

 

One of the (very) effective techniques they used to emphasize the realism of the series was including real photos and footage from the time.  There were times where it was almost seamless, the blending of old footage and show footage.  They were getting very good at this through the second half of Season 2, as the drug wars were heating up.  Using news coverage of the bombings and murders really drove home the images.  Very well done.

 

Aside from accuracy, the mark of a good historical piece (to me, at least) is that it makes me want to read more about the real events.  Same way that a good movie from a book should make me want to read the book.  And I've definitely been reading on Escobar as we've been watching this - just like I've been reading on Marco Polo and Ghengis Khan, and on Thomas Cromwell (Wolf Hall).  Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, but just doesn't film as well, you know?  There are some incredible stories out there, and as I'm a curious little mind and into everything, I like when a series does a good job of planting the seeds.

 

Biggest complaint so far?  The sound.  There was something up with the sound of the second season, where the Spanish dialogue seemed much softer than the English.  Don't know if it was something in the show itself, or in the Netflix streaming, or in our devices, but it was a little frustrating.  A shame too.  Even though we don't speak Spanish, it's still fulfilling to hear the dialogue, the sounds and tones and inflections of it.  The acting is well done, and it's a waste to not be able to hear it.  Hearing the emotion, even if we can't understand the words, is part of the experience, after all.

 

SPOILER (though not really, if you know anything about the history told here, or can look up Escobar in Google):
Escobar does die at the end of S2.  This was an incredible episode, very effective - a good emotional gut-wrench.  The inter-splicing of actual news footage and photos was very well done.  Zach and I both had just a stunned moment as the episode ended, one of those "wow" type feelings.  Like I said, very, very well done.

And the questions circulating now, looking at different websites, are where will they take us for S3 and 4 (both of which have been signed for on Netflix)?  The way things look, the Cali cartel will be the next focus, but we shall see in the fall what else they bring to the table!

 

Overall:  4.5 of 5.  Not a warm and fuzzy show (drug wars, after all), but good cast, well written, and well produced.  The story drives it more than anything else, but you still enjoy watching the characters and their interactions.  A few things that could be improved, but still definitely worth watching.  Consider it another win for Netflix original programming.

 

And because I like character-based poster series, here you go :)

 

        

 

Season 1 (above) had pictures of everyone with cocaine and powder sprays/splashes (is it a splash, if it's powder?).  Season 2 (below) had pictures with bullets.  Pretty appropriate really - Season 1 was the building of the Medellin empire, and Season 2 was the war that resulted.

 

       

Review: Telephone by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jen Corace

As you know, dear reader, I finished my library science degree last year, and am now working in a real-life library.  What you might not know yet is that I handle children's programming there.  I've been tracking the books I read as part of several reading challenges, but I'm also keeping notes (via GoodReads) of books that I'll use for story time, STEM programs, my next book order, etc.  An unexpected side effect of that, is that my Total Books Read list for this year is already over 100!!   I've already had to update my expected/goal number twice, and I'm still ahead of schedule!  Looks like I'll be upping it again soon - gotta keep the motivation up after all ;)

 

No, not all of them are picture books! I've always got a book on my Kindle App for on the go, and an audiobook going in the car, plus several others at any given point in time, so a lot of what I've read so far this year would be considered "my" books as well.  But, there are a lot of picture books for story time in my list, I will admit.  And some of them are really clever and deserved to be chattered about just as much as my thoughts on my latest mystery.  So expect to start seeing a smattering of picture books and mid-grade reads appearing here too. 

 

First up:  Telephone by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jen Corace.
 

Plot: A fun illustrated version of the game Telephone, the message transmitted courtesy of an eclectic collection of birds on a phone line.  Will the message get to Peter Pigeon in time to make it home for dinner?  And will he even understand it when it reaches him?

 

I enjoyed the different birds, and how their hobbies obviously affected what they were hearing.  In a larger sense, it's the idea that what we are personally interested in will color how we see (or hear) the world - one of those Big Picture Ideas snuck into kids' picture books :)  I also enjoyed the connections between certain birds and their activities - the cardinal with a baseball bat, for example (any St Louis fans out there?).  My favorite birds were the (spherical) turkey and the owl.  The facial expressions were great!  The owl just looks so deadpan, listening to the Crazy that has reached him on the line.  And I also liked the two little penguins up on the wire with Peter at the end.  Just like the turkey - what are they doing on that phone line?

Extra Bonus?  Chronicle Books has a wallpaper with the owl on it for free on their blog!

 

 

 

Personally, I enjoy Mac Barnett's works quite a bit.  He was a presenter at the Texas Book Festival a few years ago when I was able to attend, and just cracked me up (he was presenting with Jon Scieszka, another favorite, so definitely enjoyed myself).  I've found that his books have a quirky, rather absurd sense of humor, and this one's no exception. 

 

Jen Corace's illustrations are wonderful.  They aren't Heavy Artistic pictures, or overly detailed, but they carry a lot of the story themselves - the ostrich with the feather duster?  The worry on the turkey's face?  Her illustrations add that depth to the simple story.  The simplicity of the illustrations make it a good choice for a story time too.  Books that have incredibly detailed illustrations are wonderful in their own way, but they can be a little too much for 20 4-year-olds at a time.  Barnett himself summed it up well: "Her birds are so bold and bright and charismatic, and can command the attention of a rowdy mob of kindergarteners, but there’s plenty of clever and delicate details you can study with a quiet kid in your lap."

 

As an adult reading the picture book, it's silly fun, but a little simple for me, missing that bit of oomph that would really make it a classic.  However, this is a good story time book, one that will tie in nicely with activities with the kids.  I'd have preferred a little more similarity between the garbled statements as they passed between birds, especially as I'll be reading it aloud at story time, but you could still see how one statement warped into the next. 

 

My rating: 3.5 of 5 (somewhere between Liked and Really Liked)

The other bulky cardigan

Like I mentioned in the other post today, I've made two cardigans out of the Air Wool I was gifted.  This is the other one.  This was started for NaKniSweMo waaaaaaaaay back in 2010, but between finding buttons, figuring out the pockets, a cross-country move, and it becoming lost at the back of my knitting closet... let's just say it took me a bit longer than a month to finish.  And then another year and a half to finally write up...  Love it a ton, now that it's finished, though!  I know some of what I'll talk about below are points I've already mentioned, but it'll be good to have them all together in a (Finally) Finished Object post.

The Yarn

As I have already said, it's Filatura Di Crosa Air Wool.  Lovely, squishy, soft, easy to work with, hard to color-match, sadly discontinued. 

The Pattern

Cumulus by Cirilia Rose.  It's available for free on the Berroco website.

It's a pretty straightforward pattern, and knits up very quickly.  Yay for bulky yarns!  A note on the Berroco website read that this sweater can be knit in 24 hours (not one day, but 24 hours knitting time).  I didn't knit it up that quickly, but I still got it mostly done in a month!  Aside from the above delays in the finishing and the writing up, the knitting time itself did fall within the NaKniSweMo goal :)

Raveled here.

Notes, Alterations, Etc.

Quite a lot on this one, actually.

• Smaller Gauge - After swatching, I decided to go with the US 10 1/2 needles, instead of the 11s.  I reached gauge with the US11s, but by making the gauge a little denser, I get closer to my size (I'm between sizes in the pattern).  By making the bigger size at the smaller gauge, I'll end up with both a warmer sweater and one that's closer to my actual size.
• Long Sleeves - Didn't like the sleeves in the original pattern.  I'm not crazy about 3/4 sleeves anyway, and the puff sleeves just are not flattering on me.  Also, it's a wool-blend sweater, in a heavy yarn, and I knit it in a little bit denser (and therefore warmer) gauge.  Doesn't make sense if the sleeves aren't full length.  Why have a warm sweater-coat with short sleeves?  I made just basic straight sleeves, based off EZ Percentage Sweater math.  Started with 23 stitches, increased 2 stitches every 6 rows (and only 1 stitch on the last increase) to give 42 stitches at the top of the sleeve as required in the pattern.
• Sleeves were knit in the round - I was altering the sleeves anyway.  Besides, I don't like seaming if I can help it :)
• Sleeves grafted - 7 stitches put on holders at underarm (means that line of increases is centered on underside of arm).  The stitches were then grafted to close the seam.  The pattern had called for 6 stitches at the underarm, but of course, my sleeve construction was a little different than the pattern anyway.
• No Puff Hem - Like the puff sleeves, just not flattering for me.  Not a major change in action, just meant that the body was knit on all one needle size, instead of changing to a larger needle after the border.
• No Pockets - I had debated for a long time about how to do the pockets.  I love pockets, but I didn't really want them knit out of the Air Wool.  With a yarn this bulky, there'd just be too much weight and bulk around my upper leg.  Not flattering, and not really a convenient place for pockets for me.  So, I'd debated making pockets out of a lighter weight yarn and sewing them on as patch pockets.  I had left the opening for them, as per the instructions, then eventually changed my mind and seamed them shut instead.  Invisible seaming, and you don't even notice the opening was there.  
• Smaller buttons -  I found 1.5" not 2" buttons, as called for. However, as I mentioned on the other sweater, it's a hard color to match.  I found shell buttons for this one too, but they are a little smaller than what the pattern calls for.  Oh well, they look pretty and still close the sweater :)

Overall, I love this sweater.  It is warm and snuggly and soft, and had enough pattern details that there's some interest, and it was a relatively quick knit, even with having to calculate sleeves and then the delays in finishing.  Yup, one of my favorites that I've made.

Test Knit: Bulky Cardigan

Yup, more knitting.

The title during this test knit was Under the Sea Cardigan, but it was ultimately published as Down the Sloquet River (available for purchase on Ravelry).  I just referred to it in my head as the Bulky Lacy Cardigan.  Obviously, I'm not always creative in my naming!

Yarn

Filatura Di Crosa Air Wool, an unfortunately discontinued yarn.  It's a merino-acrylic blend, machine washable and super squishy-soft.  I really enjoyed working with it. This is actually one of two cardigans I've made with this yarn, which was gifted to me by my wonderful knitting buddy (more on the other cardigan later).  It's a very soft purple-grey color, and since Sarah doesn't wear purple, it got passed along.  I love it!

Honestly, the biggest downside to this yarn was trying to find buttons to coordinate with the color.  Silver looked off, and black or white buttons were too stark.  I ended up using shell buttons for both cardigans.  Since there were so many soft pastel colors on the buttons, they coordinated beautifully with the pastel yarn.

Altogether, I used just about 300 yds for this sweater.  Yay for super bulky yarns!

 

Pattern

The cardigan is a top-down, seamless, cables-and-lace pattern.  And you know me - I love my cables and lace.  So of course, this was a test knit I had to sign up for. 

The set up at the top is a little involved - I had to undo my neck several times to get the short-row shaping correct - but once you get past that, the pattern is very straightforward.  The fiddliest parts are at the cable crosses across the lace.  Just be careful not to drop your stitches!!  Don't ask me how I know... :)

The sizing does offer a good bit of ease, since it's so lacy.  To give you an idea, my cardigan measured 16 inches across the chest (32 inches around).  The chest size I usually knit is 36/37, or thereabouts.  So, yes, this is a very stretch, very forgiving pattern.  A nice plus, in my opinion.  Part of the reason I like lacy patterns - even the more form-fitting designs are relatively stretchy and giving in their sizing :)

Raveled here.

 

Notes, Alterations, Observations, etc. 

It helps to go through first and circle all numbers related to your size first.  I know this is a good rule of thumb anyways, but it REALLY helps on this pattern.  Each size has slightly different stitch counts in fitting the pattern, and no one size is too complex, i.e. the knitting itself isn't too bad.  However, there are a lot of sizes that this sweater is designed for, and it makes for a very big pattern file (I got it electronically for the test knit).   With so many sizes in the pattern and each with their own stitch counts, you don't want to make a mistake and end up following the wrong size.  So, save time and headache and make note of your size in the directions before you make a mistake and have to frog it all.

And on that note, remember to use your lifelines.  I mentioned that the cable crosses in the lace are fiddly, right?

Only one change to the pattern for me.  I did one less lace repeat through the body.  (A) I was running out of yarn and (B) it was long enough (I'm not exactly long-waisted).  The sweater grew a little with blocking anyways - that whole lace-is-forgiving thing - so there wasn't really the need either.  Not a critical change, but one to note.

So what ELSE are you doing in Hawaii?

If you were just reading my last few posts, then you might think that we moved all the way out here to Hawaii, and then I do nothing but knit.  Well, you'd be wrong ... at least a little :)

Quite honestly, it is WONDERFUL being in a real Place again.  Our last 8+ years have been spent in very hot, very dry places, where you have to drive a good bit to get to almost anything one might want to do.  I mean, in CA, we were 40 miles from the closest town; 73 miles from the closest Target, bookstore, and movie theater; 2 hours from the closest Chick-Fil-A (important landmarks, you know); and a bit over 2 hours from either a lake, beach, or wooded mountain.  In Texas, things were a bit better (Target and bookstores were in town, at least) but we still were looking at several hours of driving to get to decent hiking, museums, or most events or activities we wanted to do.  This is really the first time in almost a decade where we're in a Real City again.  Let's face it, the Army doesn't really send you to cities all that often.  The Navy at least almost has to send you to a port (which will also be a City 95% of the time) but the Army... they like their space to drive tanks around and practice blowing stuff up.  Being in a city doesn't really give you that sort of space.  So, we're in a city for now, and we plan to enjoy it!

 

Being in a real Place again, we are facing the relatively unfamiliar position of having to make choices about what to do on a weekend!  I mean, more than one thing might be going on that we want to go to!  Craziness!!  There are cultural festivals, plays, concerts, independent movie theaters, museums (plural!!), sports events, historical sites... plus tons of hiking and beaches and natural activities too.  And people to do it with!!  It's a really nice feeling to be able to get out of the house and do stuff again, without tons of driving to plan in.

 

Even with driving to plan in, though, it's still not ridiculous (assuming traffic cooperates).  My commute to work is across the island, and it's still only about 25-30 minutes (usually).  I have blocked off that amount of time just to get across town in some of the places I've lived. Some people plan on that time (or more) just to commute within Honolulu, and I know people in TX that commuted up from Austin or its suburbs, and they had a 45-60 minute commute.  But the fact that I work "all the way over" on the Windward side... I think it's the mental distance more than the time.  I had to pick something up from a business over in Kailua (Windward side), and when the lady called to tell me it was ready, she said that it could be mailed to me, if I couldn't pick it up myself.  She didn't actually say it, but that "all the way over there" was certainly in her voice.  Coming from driving-happy Central TX, where driving "just down to Austin" (90 minutes away) is no big deal, it really made me chuckle.

 

In total honesty, yes, Honolulu traffic is a bear.  One accident on the H1 and it will back up for miles.  But, as I remind myself, we have traffic here because we have people here.  People are here because they want to be here, because there are things to do here.  So if I want the one, the other comes with - hard to escape it.  And then I turn on my audiobook or the radio (we get NPR again!) and try to relax a bit.  Traffic is what it is, not much you can do to change it.  Years of driving the HRBT taught me that!

 

And just because this post needed some pictures, here's a shot from a sunset hike I did back in the fall.  Several groups around here head to different trails to go hike at sunset on full moon nights.  This one is the view from the trail to the Makapu'u Lighthouse, looking back toward the sunset over Hawaii Kai.  Very, very pretty.

 

A finished project to celebrate a new job!

This was knit up in the fall, so still pretty recent, compared to a few of these others!  I wanted a quick and relatively mindless project as I was going through my Netflix queue, waiting to start my new job.**  This one was waiting in my Ravelry queue, and it just seemed like the time to do it.  Yes, I do realize that it'll probably be in my cedar chest for a while until we get somewhere with enough winter to be able to wear heavy wool again.  But living in Hawaii isn't going to stop me from knitting, sorry!

 

 

The Yarn

Plymouth Yarn Trabajos Del Peru.

A thick-and-thin yarn, which Plymouth has unfortunately discontinued. I seem to find those a lot - yarns I like and have no issues with, but that have been discontinued (possibly as trends and fads change, making way for new textures or materials or colors).  Part of shopping sale bins, I suppose!  Still good finds, great for one-skein projects, and of course more affordable - just disappointing when you find you can't work with the yarn again.

This one is nice and soft and doesn't split.  It's a single-ply yarn, though, so you can inadvertently stick your needle through the yarn itself; something to be careful about.  Like when using most thick and thin yarns, it's best to use a simpler pattern.  The texture on thick and thin yarns tends to overwhelm more intricate patterns (or, alternately, the texture of the yarn is lost, and you might as well have used a smoother, less 'fancy' yarn).

The Pattern

That's One Sexy Librarian! Neckwrap by Brian Atkinson at An Excellent Source of Fiber.

Yes, I totally made this one for the name!  I've graduated, have my degree, and will actually be working IN my field in a few weeks time (something to celebrate for any military spouse!).  So, like with quirky race names (here's to you, Santa Shuffle), the name was a factor in my decision :)  I don't know the story behind his naming of the pattern, but I like it.

The neckwrap's a pretty quick knit, mostly garter stitch, with the loopy X's for something of interest.  It's a great pattern for yarns that you want to show off, ones with some character or texture, but that you don't necessarily have a lot of.  I used the thick and thin yarn, while other Ravelry users knit with tweeds or homespun yarns.

It's truly a neckwrap - or a scarflette, if you prefer.  It's a great one-skein project, but one-skein projects don't make for very long scarves.  So, this one's a nice cozy tuck-around scarf, rather than one that you loop around multiple times.  With the soft wool yarn, though, it's still nice and cozy.

Thoughts, Notes, Alterations, etc.

The only real change I made was in needle size.  I started on US 8, as the pattern called for, but with this yarn, that gauge was making a very tight piece. So, I went up needle sizes to US 10. This created a little bit softer fabric, a little bit more drape, and you can see the thick-and-thin of the yarn more than on the 8s.

I didn't count my rows, the way the pattern called for.  But, using a different yarn than the original pattern, I had slightly different yardage in my skein.  To make the scarflette balanced (with mirror image ends), and still use as much yarn as possible from the skein, I pulled out my kitchen/postage scale and weighed my skein repeatedly as I worked along.  Then, with a bit of math, I could figure out when I needed to start the X's on the second half of the scarf.  Yeah, I'm that knitter :)

**This project was finished back in October, while I was indeed celebrating a new job.  All hired and signed and everything, but had extra time before actually starting to work.  I had to wait extra time for my background check paperwork to clear, since there was a software upgrade at my new workplace right as I was being hired.  So, new job, plus still Netflix & Knitting time - trying to finish up some series I'd started while my toe was healing after the move!