Teaser Tuesdays - A Favourite Author

On the night of my thirteenth birthday, I made an announcement.
'I am never getting married and I am never having children.' (p.1)

The teaser lines today are the first two from the new novel 'Leaving the World' by one of my favourite authors Douglas Kennedy. When one of my friends asked a couple of weeks ago if I would like a copy as he'd seen it going cheap in the city I said "Yes please!"

Since reading 'The Pursuit of Happiness' back in 2001 I've pretty much read every other novel he has written. Some are gripping, thrilling and are great page turners. The last couple however I've found to be a little strange, they start out really good, with all of Kennedy's trademarks, but then they turn, become a bit too fantastical. There's something about them though that I still enjoy, so when a new novel turns up, I go out and get it and start reading it with a good sense of expectation. Hopefully this new one will be another gripping ride.

As for last week's book 'I heart New York' by Lindsey Kelk, I have to say I enjoyed it. At times it got a little tedious/predictable (like most chick lit books do), but for the most part it was a really fun read with little twists here and there to keep you guessing. It helped too that she evoked the city really well, and also mentioned one of my favourite works of art to boot. If you're looking for something light and fun to read, then this one fits the bill.

Laceweight.

Since I started knitting lace earlier this year with Ishbel and the Adamas Shawl I've been getting closer and closer to trying knitting lace in actual laceweight yarn. It hasn't happened yet, but I am using the laceweight for the Featherweight cardigan at the moment and really, it's not that scary.

Seeing as Bells is talking of doing the Summer of Lace again this year I thought I would join in and have been trying to decide which pattern I'm going to do. I think I've worked it out and am considering using some beautiful cashmere that's waiting in the stash to make Miriam L Felton's Hidcote Garden Shawl (Ravelry link).

Then again, I could end up making something completely different, we'll have to wait and see what I come up with, sometimes I surprise myself!

No words Sunday.

Some knitting.

My knitting project at the moment is a little on the tame side, loads and loads of stocking stitch, but at the same time it's quite soothing, and the yarn is just beautiful. I'm making Featherweight Cargidan by Hannah Fettig and am using the yarn called for, Malabrigo Yarn Lace. This yarn is the softest, lightest and finest yarn I have ever worked with and so far I'm loving it. I just keep laying the piece down on my lap so I can touch it, and have been known to rub it against my cheek from time to time too!

I'm starting to reach that point though where my mind starts to wander off to other project ideas, what else can I do, what yarn can I use........yes, castonitis is trying its influence yet again. So far I've been strong, mostly I think because I can't yet decide which new project I want to cast on, there are so many calling to me. Luckily there isn't just one with the loudest "Pick Me" call yet, so Featherweight is safe with my affections, for now!

Attempts at fitness.

In an attempt to boost my motivation for getting fit and healthy I thought I would try something fun that the Lukester and I can play with together, I bought us each a hula hoop!

We had lots of fun this afternoon trying to use them but they're not as easy as I remember. I couldn't get it to work at all, it kept just dropping to the floor. I'm determined to be able to use it though, so hopefully by the end of the weekend, I'll be hula hooping up a storm. Yippeeeeee.

This is funny!

The other day we found the baby dancing to Beyonce on YouTube which is hilarious, they must have had a heap of people using it though because they've now disabled the embedding function, you can still go and check it out here.

While I was looking for it tonight to show you, I came across this other video which I thought was just as good, stick with it as he has some good moves towards the end. Little ones certainly know how to move!!

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Date night.

Tonight, I met my Handsome Husband in the city for an evening out together, we thought we'd try the Night Noodle Markets which are an annual event in Sydney. It was a lovely night, but very crowded with massive queues waiting for the food, and in the end we didn't even bother with lining up to get drinks, just made do with the bottle of water that we had. The atmosphere was pretty happy and relaxed though, I think because it had been a really nice, warm day today, so everyone was enjoying being outside.
It's so nice to spend some time together just the two of us, it's a pretty rare occurrence these days. I think we'll have to make more of an effort to make "Date night" a bit more of a regular event. What do you think Rob????