48 Hour Book Challenge: Update #1

Yesterday evening, I managed 5 hours of reading, which was actually more than I'd hoped for. The bad news is that I stayed up until 1am reading but woke up at 6am, as I do every morning, and couldn't back to sleep, so I'll have to see if I can focus today. I got halfway through Marina Endicott's Good to a Fault before opting for something lighter. I then finished Eye of the Crow by Shane Peacock.

Eye of the Crow tells the story of the 13-year-old Sherlock Holmes's first case and shows how his origins lead to his developing into Arthur Conan Doyle's famous character. Kate read this book as part of the Silver Birch program and recommended it to me. I've read all the original Sherlock Holmes books, seen many of the Basil Rathbone movies, loved the Jeremy Brett TV series and dragged my family through the Sherlock Holmes museum when we were in England a couple of years ago. I thought Peacock did a great job of developing an interesting plot, forming a faithful characterization of the young Sherlock Holmes, and recreating the atmosphere of 19th century London. Kate found some of the scenes rather scary but loved the novel, and I hope this will inspire her to read the real series when she's older. It looks like Peacock plans to develop this series further, as there is now a second book, Death in the Air, available.

48 Hour Book Challenge: Starting Line

I'll be starting the 48 Hour Book Challenge at 5pm, Eastern Daylight Time. The goal is to read as many hours as I can before 5pm on Sunday! I'm starting with Marina Endicott's Good to a Fault and Shane Peacock's Eye of the Crow.

Cabled Baby Hat and Mittens Pattern

Here is the pattern for a hat and mittens set I made for a friend's new baby. The mittens are thumbless. I ended up using approximately 150m of yarn.

Size: 6-12 months; hat stretches to a circumference of 38-40cm (15-16 in).

Yarn: 1 skein Wool Gatto by Lana Gatto (50g, 165m per skein) or other DK weight yarn.

Gauge: 24 stitches and 32 rows over 10cm (4in) square using larger needles. One cable pattern repeat (over 10 stitches) is approximately 2.5cm (1in) unstretched and 3cm (1.25 in) stretched.

Needles: 3 and 3.75mm (set of 4 double-pointed needles or 2 circular needles) or size to achieve gauge. 1 cable needle.

Abbreviations:
K: knit
P: purl
C4: Make cable over 4 stitches by holding first two stitches on cable needle at front. Knit two stitches from back and then knit the 2 stitches on the cable needle.
M1: Make one additional stitch by working into the previous row before next stitch.
Pat4: Follow the cable pattern for 4 stitches (either K4 or C4 depending on row).
K2tog: Knit 2 together.
SSK: Slip, slip, knit to decrease a stitch.

Instructions for Hat:

With smaller needles, cast on 96 stitches. Join in a round, making sure the row is not twisted and do 10 rounds of 2x2 rib (K2, P2 around).

Change to larger needles.
First round: (M1, K2, M1, P2, K2, P2) 12 times. (120 stitches)
Next 5 rounds: (K4, P2, K2, P2) 12 times.

Start cable pattern:
Round 1: (C4, P2, K2, P2) 12 times
Rounds 2 to 8: (K4, P2, K2, P2) 12 times.
Repeat rounds 1 to 8 until hat measures 14cm (5.5 in) from cast-on row.

Start decreasing for crown, keeping pattern until you start decreases on the 4-stitch cable.
First round: (Pat4, P2tog, K2, P2tog) 12 times. (96 stitches)
Next round: (Pat4, P1, K2, P1) 12 times.
Next round: (SSK, K2tog, P1, K2, P1) 12 times. (72 stitches)
Next round: (K2, P1, K2, P1) 12 times.
Next round: (K2tog, P1) to end of row. (48 stitches)
Next round: K2tog to end of row. (24 stitches)
Next round: K2tog to end of row. (12 stitches)

Draw yarn through all 12 remaining stitches and close tight. Secure yarn in a knot. Weave in ends.

Instructions for Thumbless Mittens (make 2 identical)

With smaller needles, cast on 28 stitches. Join in a round, making sure the row is not twisted. Starting with P2, do 12 rounds of 2x2 rib (P2, K2).

Change to larger needles.
First round: K4, P2, M1, K2, M1, P2, K4, K14. (30 stitches)
Next round: K4, P2, K4, P2, K4, K14.
Next round: K2, M1, K2, P2, K4, P2, K2, M1, K2, K2, M1, K10, M1, K2. (34 stitches)
Next 3 rounds: K5, P2, K4, P2, K5, K16.

Start cable pattern:
Round 1: K5, P2, C4, P2, K5, K16.
Rounds 2 to 8: K5, P2, K4, P2, K5, K16.
Repeat rounds 1 to 8 until mitten measures 7.5cm (3in) from cuff (not including ribbing).

Start shaping top of mitten, keeping pattern until you start decreases on the 4-stitch cable.
Next round: K1, SSK, K2, P2, Pat4, P2, K2, K2tog, K1, K1, SSK, K10, K2tog, K1. (30 stitches)
Next round: K4, P2, Pat4, P2, K4, K14.
Next round: K1, SSK, K1, P2, Pat4, P2, K1, K2tog, K1, K1, SSK, K8, K2tog, K1. (26 stitches)
Next round: K1, SSK, P2, SSK, K2tog, P2, K2tog, K1, K1, SSK, K6, K2tog, K1. (20 stitches)

Divide stitches so there are 10 stitches on each of two needles. Graft stitches together to close the top of the mitten. Weave in ends.

Film Club: Round 4

For round 4 of our film club, Julia chose Clint Eastwood's The Changeling, with Angelina Jolie and John Malkovich. The film featured an intriguing story, based on true events, about a woman whose son is abducted. A boy is returned to her, but despite the authorities' insistence that he is her son, she realizes he is an imposter. Coincidentally, we watched the film shortly before a real child abduction occurred in a nearby community and we recently learned of the sad and tragic conclusion to this situation. However, the film is more an exploration of political corruption and the struggles of women in the 1920's than a story of child abduction. Both Julia and I gave thumbs-up to this movie. It had a great story and excellent acting, and it recreated the 20's atmosphere beautifully. My only disappointment was that Colm Feore, one of my favourite actors, had such a minor role in it, but I'm consoled by the fact that I'll be seeing him as Macbeth at the Stratford Festival in a few weeks.

My choice for this round was Best in Show, directed by Christopher Guest and starring SCTV alumni Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara. I'm grateful to my friend John for recommending this hilarious mockumentary about five dogs and their owners preparing to compete in a dog show. The whole family enjoyed this movie, even though it's probably deemed unsuitable for Kate. She didn't understand (I hope) most of the double-entendres, but she sure loved the cute dogs!

48 Hour Book Challenge

I recently found out about this 48 Hour Book Challenge, and I'm seriously tempted to join in the fun. The idea is to read for as many hours as possible over a 48-hour period on the June 5-7 weekend. MotherReader, the blogger hosting the challenge, emphasizes the "guilt-free" aspect. The problem is that I have to get the rest of my family to buy into this, as laundry, cooking, cleaning, and chauffering will become very low-priority tasks for a couple of days. Actually, Kate wants to read along with me, and we've vowed to give up TV, computer games, Internet surfing and unnecessary social contact for the weekend. However, friends who are willing to BYOB (bring your own book) are welcome to come over and join us.

The timing is good, as I have a huge stack of books to get through. I'm currently reading from the Ontario Library Association's Evergreen list. From it, I've finished Gil Adamson's The Outlander, Steven Galloway's The Cellist of Sarajevo, Christopher Plummer's In Spite of Myself: a Memoir, and most recently, Andrew Pyper's The Killing Circle. (I'm still shivering from that one!) I'm also working through Lawrence Hill's The Book of Negroes, our region's "One Book, One Community" pick for the year. Then, there is a long list of recommendations from my kids, including the Twilight series that Julia loved and the Silver Birch fiction list that Kate enjoyed immensely this year. I'm going to need way more than 48 hours ....

A Busy Concert Season

Kate has been a busy, busy violinist these past few weeks. First, the junior orchestra played their final concert of the season. They worked for months on the third movement of Vivaldi's Summer Concerto and they played it beautifully. They also joined the intermediate and senior orchestras to play a modern piece composed by David Wadley. A few days after that concert, Kate participated in the local Kiwanis Music Festival, in three violin competitions and a composition competition. She had practiced many hours for these competitions, and we were very proud that she played her pieces so well.

The following weekend, Kate's strings school had their annual spring concert. Kate played, with her group, a medley featuring pieces from "The Sound of Music". It was definitely a crowd pleaser and appreciated by Todd's parents, John and Marilyn, who joined us for the weekend. She also played selections from the Suzuki repertoire with the entire school. Even though I have to see this at every Suzuki event, I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing a stage full of kids playing Twinkle variations together! There's Kate in the photo above, among all the violinists in their best black-and-white concert garb.


As if there wasn't enough craziness, Kate also had to attend dance rehearsals the week before the concert. I spent much of the weekend shuttling her between her two dance performances and the group violin rehearsal and concert. The whole family attended the dance recital too, and Kate performed beautifully in her "Pool of Tears" and "Card Guards" dances with the rest of her class. My friend Laura designed this lovely card guard costume in the photo above.

Now, Kate gets a few weeks' break before an upcoming violin exam. Julia had decided some time ago to abandon the arts scene and is no longer doing dance and piano recitals. However, she too has been busy, going to track-and-field meets every week or two with her school team. It's nearly impossible, though, to convince a teenager to pose for a photo for her parents, so you'll just have to imagine her racing in her school colours and spikes.

Film Club: Round 3

For round 3 of our film club, I chose Breakfast at Tiffany's, an old favourite that Julia also wanted to see, especially after hearing that it was one of Blake Lively's favourite movies. I love Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, that sappy Moon River song, but most of all, I love Cat.

Julia chose Twilight, newly released on video. She'd read the entire series and had already seen seen the movie at the theatre with a friend, but she wanted to see it again and share the experience with me (or so I like to imagine). We watched it together with her former schoolmate who was visiting for the day. It's fun, romantic, escapist entertainment, especially if you like watching very pale, serious young people giving each other long meaningful stares (and glares) across the screen. As soon as we were done with the movie, it was Earth Hour, so we got to sit in the dark and contemplate vampires for a while, until some friends invited me for a walk to Starbucks.