Tentacles

Those are tentacles... Well technically they're arms, but it's more fun to say I'm knitting tentacles.

Remember that giant squid I wanted to knit for Teenage Daughter? I took a closer look at the pattern and had second thoughts, but by then I'd already bought the yarn. My only two yarn purchases so far this year have been for that girl. I used the skein that I bought for her Weasley Sweater and I'm determined to  finish this project too. Wouldn't it be nice to end a year and be able to say that I'd made all of the projects I bought yarn for?

It's those bobbles that I'm not so sure about -- by the time I finish tentacle number eight, I'll have done a hundred and sixty of the nasty things. With double stranded yarn, something I don't recommend.



I've mentioned that my youngest two boys have quirky taste in reading material. I'm always looking for books that they'll love and that won't make me cringe. (I'm not about to tell them that I saw a book last week with the title Sir Fartsalot Hunts the Booger.)

Oliver and the Seawigs sounded like fun. Oliver's parents have finally run out of places to explore and he's looking forward to living in a actual house and going to school. He's never done those things before.  But when his parents go to look at some nearby islands and the islands themselves disappear, Kirby puts all of his exploring skills to use and sets off to rescue them. These aren't just any islands, they're wandering islands and are busy constructing wigs for the competition that will determine which of them becomes Chief. Oliver's parents have become decorations on the wig of the meanest island out there, the one that went bad because human sacrifices used to be performed in his temple. On his way to save them, Oliver encounters a near-sighted mermaid, sarcastic seaweed, and an army of sea monkeys. The story is completely different from anything we've read so far (without being dumb or silly) and the illustrations are full of clever little details.  

We're still waiting for the next book in the Imaginary Veterinary series. Got any other recommendations for us?

For more fun projects to drool over, check out On the Needles at Patchwork Times and Work in Progress Wednesdays at Tami's Amis.


Disclosure -- The publisher provided me with an advance ARC.