Saturday, February 4, 2012

What to Read, if You Are Hooked on Twilight!


I am going to start a list, here, but please feel free to add to it!

Hawksong, by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Snakecharm, by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
(There are more, in this series, but I liked the first two, best!)

They start out, a little different, but they, like Twilight, are clean reading, without lots of disturbing content, to keep me up, at night!
These books, which are a part of The Kiesha'ra Series, are romantic fantasy, and have some thought provoking content, about sacrifice, willingness to change, and trust. They are very imaginitive and original.
I would rate them PG13, for a little blood, and sensual references.

The Mortal Instruments series, by Cassandra Clare
I have only read The City of Bones and The City of Ashes, but I was pleasantly surprised, by these! They are, again, pretty clean reads...

With so many vampire-type novels, out there, it's hard to find a series that even remotely keeps you guessing, or isn't too young! I enjoyed these, for these reasons.
Then again, I haven't delved into toooo many vampire novels....The ones I have, though, are a bit gross! This one gets a little gross, but it isn't one giant blood fest, and the story isn't disturbing. These are also romance novels, have some fun characters, and great wit!
My rating is P.G.13, for  some gore, slightly disturbing content, some language.

Harry Potter, of course......We listen to these, all of the time, on tape!

The Host
If you haven't read it, because you don't like the idea of aliens, taking over our bodies, or because it started out, too weird, plow on! It's a good read, with a definite line, between good and evil, and isn't disturbing.

Please feel free to add to this list! Overall, I enjoy fairly clean reads, where the content and characters are more enjoyable, than disturbing! Oh~ and a good sense of humor, helps lots!


Also, if you love Twilight, I have to share my newest creations.:)
http://www.etsy.com/listing/88536012/breaking-dawn-twilight-unique-handspun
http://www.etsy.com/listing/88872567/jacob-black-handspun-artyarn-ooak

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Project Lovelink

I am writing to let people know about a project I am starting up, called Project Lovelink. It is not an organization, as of yet, and there is no money involved.
Last year, I taught free knitting classes...All of the supplies were gradually collected (donated by those with lots of extra acrylic yarn stashed, or granny's inherited yarn).  I collected size 7-8 needles, which is a standard for the majority of these yarns.
I had many willing students; the only catch was that their first project went to an orphanage in Mexico! This project was very successful...110 articles went to the ophans!
Here is how I did it. Using all of the various colors, and odds and ends yarns, we made chainlink scarves. Perhaps you have seen this style.  You knit little rectangles, of various sizes, and sew them together. Unfortunately, I didn't end up with a picture of the happy recipients! (I will include a similar photo, however.)
The beauty of this, is that you use up yarn; naturally, benefit a great cause; give kids a "cool" and colorful, handmade gift!
This project is ideal for beginners. First, they learn casting on and binding off very well, as they do it over and over, and their knit pieces are small. These are skills often forgotten after the actual knitting begins. They also learn to make seams well.
Second, this is a great project to learn multiple stitches on. They can learn garter stitch on a few links, then graduate to stockinette, ribbing, etc. Because of the style, it all looks great! They can graduate to learning hats, because learning ribbing/knit + purl.
Third, the gauge isn't crutial at all! Mistakes are easily hidden.
The approx. size of the rectangles I made was 11" x 2 1/5". But, again, it isn't crutial!
If shipping cost is a concern, you can ask for a small donation for this. After all, you are teaching the class, and donating your time!
The shipping costs for Mexico were going to be a lot...We ended up making scarves and hats for each person (which I wouldn't repeat); this would have been a huge package. Luckily, there were some people from a local church going to that particular orphanage, who offered to take them!!
I will repeat this project, probably this fall, as it worked out really well!