{Yarn Along} Two Brand New Pairs

Remember the Laburnum stitch socks I showed you last week? There was a mishap and I wound up pulling one needle loose from the stitches. I was already wishing I'd seen the pattern for Longing for Spring before casting on with the Laburnum stitch...so now I'm making Longing for Spring and rethinking my choices yet again. 

The stitch pattern shows up  better in real life than it photographs. And, except for a mishap when I didn't realize that there was a separate chart for the leg and instep, it's been fun to knit. This far in, I'm realizing that the yarn would've made nice stockinette socks after all but I'm not planning to start over a third time.

And because I can't read charts while watching television with Hubby, I cast on these --

I'm having a lot of fun with my yarn while waiting for Sock Madness to start.




Playmates by Eva Hanagan

For their entire lives, Lucy has been the one to take care of Biddy. The two elderly sisters live alone and get along just fine, until Lucy falls ill and dies in her bed. Biddy understands just enough about their finances and situation to realize that she won't be able to stay in their home if anyone realizes that her older sister is gone, so she keeps up the pretense that Lucy is feeling poorly and doesn't want visitors. The book was originally published in 1978 and it definitely reads like something that was written almost forty years ago. With more than one unreliable narrator, I've still got some questions about what actually happened. That that didn't keep me from enjoying the story, at least not until the very end.



Every Part of the Animal by Duncan Ralston

An off-the-grid hunter and her young son cross paths with an anti-hunting activist. The description promised lots of conflict and I'd already enjoyed Salvage, another book by the same author. But when it came down to it, I didn't really care for either of the two women to win. It's a fast paced thriller and well-written, but I didn't sympathize with the characters.  According to the author's Facebook page, you can get a free copy of this one by signing up for his email list.

Disclosure -- I was provided with advance review copies by the publishers. All opinions are my own. This post is linked to Patchwork Times, Yarn Along