The Touchstone Trilogy by Steve Augarde

The Various by Steve Augarde
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Having happened upon this series with the second book, it was good to read the first and get a bit more background of the story. I continue to thoroughly enjoy the fantasy world that Steve Augarde has created and love the nuances in the personalities and lifestyles of the Various.

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Celandine by Steve Augarde
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I absolutely am in love with this book and Celandine and the Various themselves. I realize I started the series on the second book, but hopefully (it being a prequel) it didn’t spoil too much fun. I found myself browsing the Teen section of the library and am surprised by the intriguing books I have added on my to read list. This book tells a timeless ageless story. I will be encouraging my 8 year old son to read it as well. For a “children’s” or “teen” book it has absolutely no cheesiness whatsoever and is a really truly enjoyable read.

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Winter Wood by Steve Augarde
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Absolutely loved this series and am so sad to see it over. The epilogue was particularly intriguing and I feel lends itself to a possible sequel, but I don’t dare to get my hopes up for that.

I highly recommend this series for anyone who still entertains the idea that there are creatures out there we have yet to discover and they just may be smaller versions of ourselves.

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Betta Loves Shetland

Tags

crafts, fiber, handdyed yarn, knit, knitalong, knitting, lace, lace shawl, pattern, sock yarn, solar dyed yarn, stitch patterns, washable wool, wool, yarn

Finally a fiber arts project to share! I have been a one project woman for a month or more now, which is unusual for me. With the stress of work and lack of creative space (aka junk is reinvading the junk room turned craft room! arggh!), I have been burying myself more in books than yarn. So the fruits of all my knitting time for the past month are here!

Betta Loves Shetland Shawlette by Tiziana Sammuri

Yarn is Brown Sheep Wildfoote solar dyed by yours truly (you can buy it undyed and also in dyed seconds at Sheep Shed Fiber Studio)

I made some modifications to the original pattern to utilize as much of the yarn as I could and make it as large as possible.Firstly, I made it into a square instead of a triangle by simply working in the round with 4 repeats of each section instead of 2. Then, I mimicked a small portion of the pattern a few times over before beginning the last chart and extended the last section by a couple rows as well.

Betta and Books

Sorry I’ve been so quiet here lately. I am diligently working on my Betta Loves Shetland. I am working it in the round and it can’t be spread out on the needles, so it pretty much looks like a blue blob right now!

I have been reading, though and there are some newer reviews on my Devouring Books page. So don’t forget to check back there for some new books to read! The link is always at the top left of the site.

Modern Ballad Exploded Doily

Tags

crochet, doily, exploded lace, handspun

A shawl-sized crocheted doily created using handspun yarns and an upscaled doily pattern from the November 1995 edition of Decorative Crochet Magazine.

“With” Lace Mystery Shawl Finished

Tags

alpaca, bead knitting, beaded lace, beads, handdyed, knit, knitting, lace, lace knitting

With Mystery Shawl (click for more pics and details)

With or Without Mystery Clue 4 Complete

Tags

alpaca, beaded knitting, beaded lace, beads, design, free patterns, handdyed yarn, knit, knitalong, lace, lace shawl, shawl, solar dyed yarn, yarn

Clue 4 of Tiziana Sammuri’s With or Without Mystery Knit-a-long is finished! This one was much simpler and flew off my needles! Ready for Clue 5!

Sorry this pic isn’t as good, but it’s getting a little crowded on my needles now.

Clue 4

 

With or Without Mystery Clue 3 Complete

Tags

alpaca, beaded knitting, beaded lace, beads, cats, design, free patterns, handdyed yarn, knit, knitalong, lace, lace shawl, shawl, solar dyed yarn, yarn

Clue 3 of Tiziana Sammuri’s With or Without Mystery Knit-a-long is finished! This one was a little more complex and I feel very accomplished to have finished finally!

Clue 3

My son has been learning some needlework, too.

With or Without Mystery Clue 2 Complete

Tags

alpaca, beaded knitting, beaded lace, beads, cats, design, free patterns, handdyed yarn, knit, knitalong, knitting, lace, lace shawl, shawl, solar dyed yarn, yarn

Clue 2 of Tiziana Sammuri’s With or Without Mystery Knit-a-long is finished! It was quick and easy, but I’m sure the 3rd clue will make up for that! Better get back to work – the rest of the group is busy with Clue 5!

Clue 2 "With"

Ziggy was quite perplexed by our photo session...camera troubles make confused cats

Stuffed Animal Net

Tags

creativity, crochet, kids, misadventures, parenting, storage, stuffed animals

After years of claiming that we should buy a stuffed animal net for my son’s overflowing collection of stufties, I decided I would make one. I found this pattern online and used some basic red acrylic. Less than 24 hours later, a very reduced collection of my son’s stufties are nestled safe and sound above his bed.

That night, much to our dismay, we realized that the excitement was too much for him. He stayed up all night dressing his beloved monkey (who did not fit in his net) and then awoke early in the morning to take pictures and movies (complete with shots of the clock to be sure we knew just when he did this).

I wish I could post one of the movies (maybe I will figure this out later). Despite our anger at his misadventures, the movies are so cute and my husband and I delighted in the surprise of them when we uploaded the contents of our memory card. The first movie is of his pet gerbil Nerdzy and he narrates it, which is just so adorable. He’s a little filmmaker

With or Without Mystery Clue 1 Complete

Tags

alpaca, beaded knitting, beaded lace, beads, free patterns, handdyed yarn, knit, knitalong, knitting, lace, lace shawl, shawl, solar dyed yarn, yarn

I have finished Clue 1, just in time for Clue 5 to be released of Tiziana Sammuri’s With or Without Mystery Knit-a-long. Even though I am quite a bit behind, I’m allowing myself to enjoy it and not be upset about my slow progress. Thankfully Clue 2 is a shorter one and I should be able to finish it this weekend.

Clue 1 - "With"